August 26 Proves a Groundbreaking Day in More Than One Way

By Ken Snyder

On Aug. 26 we had a wonderful, positive, and amazing day when we held a historic groundbreaking ceremony that drew an overflow crowd of more than 200 people. It was a rich collection of forward-thinking people that included friends and alumni of the Huntsman School of Business who have played key roles getting this work started. It also drew school and university leaders who helped make this happen. Students, faculty and staff who recognized the significance of the event also came to participate. And took place in front of the Huntsman School on the first day of classes which gave hundreds more the chance to see the historic event as it unfolded.

The speakers included Karen and Jon Huntsman and Jeffrey D. Clark, whose contributions, along with many others, got us to this point in the school’s history. President Stan Albrecht and Dean Douglas D. Anderson also spoke, sharing their gratitude along with their vision for what the school can become. We were even graced with a performance by the American Festival Chorus, led by Craig D. Jessop.

When it came time to break ground eight people were selected to wield the ceremonial shovels but Dean Anderson made sure they were not the only ones to get in the official pictures. He invited more alumni, more school officials, more faculty members, and lots of students to come forward in shifts to use the shovels. Dozens of people proudly became part of history that day.

It was a day full of gratitude, hope and it was all focused on what this would mean to our students and the people they would go out to serve. It was an event where Jon Huntsman expressed his pride in what the school and its students are accomplishing. 

“This business school stands above any other business school in America and throughout the world,” Jon Huntsman said. “You may just think I’m talking that way, but I really, truly believe it.”

It’s hard to have a better business school day than that. I can, however, think of one possibility. Stick around for 2015 when we cut the ribbon for Huntsman Hall.  I predict that will be an even more wonderful, positive and amazing day than what we just experienced. For now, however, we have a groundbreaking day worth remembering and I’m going to do just that.

They are, from left to right, Gary Stevenson, presiding bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Douglas Fiefia, ASUSU president, Jeffrey D. Clark, the founder, chairman and CEO of J.D. Clark & Company, Karen Huntsman, Jon M. Huntsman, Stan Albrecht, USU president; Douglas D. Anderson, dean of the Huntsman School of Business; and Noelle E. Cockett, USU Provost.

The Huntsman Hall Has a Bright Future

By Ken Snyder

I’d like to shed some new light on Huntsman Hall. We have decided that the new facility will be the first on campus to feature LED lighting throughout the building. In the past, this form of lighting has been more expensive to install than traditional lighting. Now our electrical contractor, working with lighting specialists, tells us it will be less expensive to install LED lights than the usual incandescent lights. The cost of maintaining them is also less, and LED lights last longer too.

Brooks Dufner, of “Tec” Electric, 

installs LED lighting in room 218.

The problem is that Utah State University has never installed LED lighting in any classrooms on campus. We literally have no first-hand experience. What if this new lighting technology makes it harder for students to see what is on the board? What if it causes glare off the students’ papers so it causes eye strain? What if it doesn’t work well with broadcast technology – a key part of our strategy on delivering education in the future? These are questions to which we don’t know the answers. We want answers to these questions before we build a new building with 23 new classrooms – all with LED lighting – in them.

 

So we decided to renovate classroom 218 in the George S. Eccles Business Building to use LED lights as a test. This classroom, which was already in the renovation plans anyway, is the classroom that we use most often when we broadcast our courses to our regional campuses. It will be interesting to see how the new lighting affects the quality of the in-class experience, and the quality of our broadcasts.

Contractors Will Soon Pour the Foundation for Huntsman Hall

 By Ken Snyder

If you’ve been watching the Huntsman Hall webcams, you have noticed on the West Side of the George S. Eccles Business Building there are forms set in the ground that make it look like we are about to create a sunken subdivision.

Forms mark where foundation will be.

Those forms will be filled with concrete and will form the foundation of Huntsman Hall. This event, which we now think will probably happen during the first two-weeks of school, will be noticeable to more than just the webcam faithful. It will take about 20 trucks to haul the heavy substance to our building site and they will likely be here all at the same time, waiting in line, because once you start pouring concrete, it’s the kind of job you must finish. 

The best view of all of this happening will still be from our webcams. In the meantime, in a few days, you’ll be able to watch them positioning the steel rods that are needed to strengthen the foundation.

While we consider the tunnels that connected our utilities to the rest of campus the start of construction, all of the work about to take place in August and September will be the first evidence of the building going up. I’ll keep you updated.