| VCU B-school’s
extreme makeover
Virginia Business
March 2004
The
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business
is so strong in information technology that it’s
the only one in the country to win accreditation from
the Accrediting Board for Engineering and Technology.
But few people know that in large part because of a
classroom facility so poorly designed that potential
students can’t even find the front door.
That may soon change. The business school, now housed
in a outdated building on the downtown Richmond
campus, wants to build a new 140,000-square-foot classroom
building that it would share with the engineering school
on a new high-profile site adjacent to the main VCU
campus. Together, the two schools will make up VCU’s
first residential college.
Michael Sesnowitz, dean of the business school, anticipates
that the new building — still in the planning
process — will be completed within the next five
years and cost $35 million to $40 million. The goal
is to raise $30 million from private donations and another
$15 million in state funding. Any money leftover is
earmarked for the school’s endowment.
At present, 3,300 students are enrolled in business
courses at VCU. The new building will allow for as many
as 1,200 additional students, and with new features
like tiered lecture halls, community and collaborative
spaces, a career center and a conference center, Sesnowitz
believes that VCU will be able to attract more —
and higher quality — business students.
Virginia
Business - March 2004
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