By Dan Henson
Reporter
Baylor will soon be getting a new business school building capable of promoting a 21st century learning environment.
The new 275,000-square-foot facility will be located on a development area close to the East Village, west of Bagby Avenue and between Third Street and Fourth Street.
The new highly corporate and sustainable business facility will expand the school’s size and reach by nearly 40 percent from the current business school building, according to a press release.
The new facility will have a centerpiece atrium and a 350-seat auditorium for guest lectures and events.
Dr. Terry Maness, Dean of Hankamer School of Business said he is uncertain of when construction on the facility will begin.
“We are finalizing the public phase of the campaign, and we are starting to work with architects,” Maness said. “The building will be done in the not too distant future.”
The Hankamer School of Business administration has been working toward a goal of $100 million in funding for a new business school facility for three years. Maness said the building will be heavily donor contributed, and most of the funds have been committed.
Maness said he commends Baylor’s strong alumni commitment to funding the new facility.
The Board of Regents approved public fundraising for the construction at their Friday meeting.
Lori Fogleman, Baylor Director of Media Communications said tuition would not increase as a result of funding the new business school.
“The new business school has no connection to tuition,” Fogleman said.
Maness said more than five years ago, the administration at Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business began to feel pressure because of the amount of space the current facility could offer its growing number of students.
According to Maness, the current facility does not have enough space to provide students with the 21st century learning experience required to compete in today’s professional business world.
The administration at Hankamer originally wanted to add another wing to the current building, but after much deliberation, decided a new building would be more beneficial.
After the Hankamer administration presented their reasons for building a new facility, Baylor’s administration was convinced to pursue a new business school building.
“The administration heard our ideas and said, ‘Maybe it is time we look into a new facility,’” Maness said.
Maness said that going forward, the business school is looking to support student interaction and group work in their new facility.
Maness referred to the addition of a new business school to Baylor’s campus as beneficial for the business school and Baylor. He said the business school wins in that they will get an entirely new facility capable of promoting a twenty-first century learning environment and Baylor will be able to renovate the existing Hankamer School of Business, and Cashion Academic Center buildings, and use them as classrooms.
The current facility was built with a simple mode of education in mind. The classrooms were originally designed for instructor-led lecture-based lessons.
The Hankamer School of Business was originally built in 1960. During the ’70’s and ’80’s, the school was progressing so quickly that they made five different additions to expand its facilities and resources, according to the school’s website.
