This Summer There Will be Nothing Abstract About the Transformation Underway at the Huntsman School of Business

By Ken Snyder
 

At the Huntsman School of Business we often use visionary language about how we are building a better future or going through a transformation. This summer, however, the changes underway won’t be in just philosophy and attitude, they’ll be quite visual and noisy. In addition to the construction underway outside on Huntsman Hall; we’ll be pounding, painting, and remodeling the inside of the George S. Eccles Business Building.

Here are just a few of the things that we’ll be doing inside the Eccles Business Building this summer:

·         The two large flat classrooms on the third floor, at the back of the George S. Eccles Business Building, will become part of expanded facilities for our advising center. These are rooms the students and teachers had sometimes called “the caves” because they are large, and the lighting makes them look dark.

·         We are going to put in skylights in that part of the building, driving the darkness and nicknames away forever. You might wonder how we can put skylights in a third-floor classroom that’s located in an eight-story building. The classrooms we plan to convert aren’t under the main part of the building but in the first three floors of the structure that are wider than the rest of the building. Above those classrooms is blue sky, and we plan to make that natural light available to renovated world below.

·         We will be converting room 107 into a setting where behavioral research can be conducted and observed. A marketing class, for example, might use the room to host focus groups.

·         On the second floor we are going to remove the tiers in room 209 and convert it into a flat classroom with movable chairs, tables and white boards like the experimental classroom we set up in room 318 that features multiple projectors. Flat classrooms are helpful when coursework involves a lot of team work and interaction. 

• We will upgrade the furniture in rooms 116, 320 and 322.
• We will upgrade the lighting in the auditorium.
•  Some of our departmental offices will be renovated.
• We will even be changing our roof material to make it more attractive and LEED-compliant. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, an organization that offers guidance on how to make buildings more environmentally friendly.
• We’ll renovate the restrooms in the building by adding new floor tiles and making other improvements.
• We’ll change the linoleum in our main tower stairwell to tiles, and add rubber treads and new paint to our corner stairwell.
  

That should create enough dust, noise and change this summer to remove any doubts one might have about whether or not the Huntsman School of Business is going through a transformation. They’ll be able to see and hear it happening on the inside and outside of the building. I, for one, am looking forward to a summer ruckus.  

Incidentally, because of all of the work being done in the Eccles building this summer, we will not be holding any classes in the building. All business classes will be held elsewhere on campus.