By Lan Nguyen

Officials excited over the possibilities of Business School Dean Charlie Moyer’s plan for a new downtown building to house the master’s in Business Administration programs.

The building that currently houses the Business School is “maxed out in terms of space use,” said Moyer. He said the building has no room to add new programs, and the evening classes often have to be held in other buildings that lack the technology needed to teach the classes.

The Business School administration also hopes to institute a non-degree Executive Education program, but due to lack of parking, classroom space, eating facilities and hotel space for executives, officials say the program can’t be located on the Belknap Campus.

Three original proposals by members of the Business School to resolve the problem of overcrowding included expanding the current Business School building, moving programs to the Shelby Campus or constructing a new building downtown. The third proposition garnered the most support.

“[Having a downtown building is] a wonderful opportunity for the university and college of business to be visible in the community, because not everyone gets the chance to see the university campus. Jane Goldstein, assistant dean of the Business School, said. “One of the focuses of the business school is to have a niche in entrepreneurship, and students would get to be in the midst of all that excitement in the middle of Jefferson and Main Streets. It’s a really exciting opportunity.”

Supporters claim the downtown location would be more convenient for most MBA students because most business students work downtown during the day and would have a shorter drive to classes afterwards.

“The downtown location will give us an opportunity to build a new state-of-the-art Business School building. Classrooms will be high-tech and very comfortable. Also, it ties in well with our outreach programs in entrepreneurship, which would probably also relocate downtown. Many downtown companies are looking for A-quality space for their own training needs,” Moyer said.

According to Moyer, the building would include 12 to 14 classrooms, and approximately eight of them would be tiered horse shoe shaped lecture halls. The other classrooms would be easily transformable into business meeting rooms during the day when students aren’t in class. The rooms will be “business resource center” and “a shared venue between the university and business community,” said Kevin Kane, director of the MBA program and supporter of the downtown relocation.

So far, the project has been approved by both the university president and provost. Before the university can proceed with designing and constructing a new building, it must first obtain approval from the state. The university must submit a request to the Council for Postsecondary Education in order to build, buy or lease a new building. The Council will then refer the request to the governor’s office to be included in the budget plan.

During the state legislature’s General Assembly, from January-April 15, 2006, the governor will submit his budget plan. After the plan has been submitted, the legislature and governor will each choose whether to approve the construction project.

As for funding, Moyer said the program is looking to alumni and local corporations for support. If approved, the university can send out requests for bids on the project to various architects and construction companies.

With strong support and fundraising plans already in order, the project may become a reality in the near future.