Taking care of business

The new school of business will feature a café, trading room and study rooms

Liberty University’s new school of business facility will break ground at the conclusion of the spring 2017 semester, featuring a variety of updates in a central location on campus.

The dean of the school of business, Scott Hicks, said the new building is a continuation of President Jerry Falwell’s vision to ensure that as Liberty grows, the facilities are second to none.

“The school of business is a big part of Liberty, and we are honored to be a big part of Liberty,” Hicks said.

“Our president wants us to be the best at everything we do. If it’s Christian, it ought to be better.”

Hicks said the building will consist of a more Jeffersonian look similar to the
Visitor’s Center.

It will heavily integrate technology throughout classrooms and common areas to provide opportunities for collaboration.

“We were looking to build something that was student and consumer-centric not only for our students but the community as well,” Hicks said.

“In business, we are here to serve.”

The location across from DeMoss Hall currently houses the Towns Religion Hall.

Classes normally held there will be moved to the new school of divinity in the Freedom Tower at the start of the fall 2017 semester.

Hicks said there are many benefits to the new building and its location, but he is excited for students to experience the new space, equipment and updates that will be available to them.

“My excitement for them is to be able to give them a place that they take ownership of because the more the students take ownership of it, the more they take ownership of their classes, their programs (and) their degree,” Hicks said.

“This will cause them to take ownership of Liberty, and if they take ownership of Liberty, then they will take ownership of serving him where they are.”

The new building will be one of the most technologically advanced buildings on campus and feature multiple group study rooms, computer labs, active learning classrooms, AV-enhanced conference rooms to simulate going into a board room, trading rooms and Cisco telepresence that will allow students to hear from speakers around the world, as well as a café.

Associate Dean of the school of business David Calland said the new features will give the students the experience they need during their academic careers at Liberty.

“Our students will be and already are, shoulder-to-shoulder with Ivy League schools, but they are going to have that academic experience that underpins it,” Calland said.

The building will also feature a center for entrepreneurship with unique rooms such as the incubation and acceleration rooms, designated for brainstorming, development and growth.

Calland said the trading room will be a room where students will gain real world experience through technology.

“The trading room will consist of ticker boards and a lot of flat screens,” Calland said. “It is a place where students will simulate real world trading as well as simulated trading. The overall space for the students is going to be just phenomenal.”

Hicks said the new building is focused on students and their academic development at Liberty. Each room and the design of the building has been thought-out in order to best suit the students in the future.

“The coolest thing about the facility and what I get excited about is as you come in the front doors, students will be there studying,” Hicks said.

“It makes the statement that this is their’s. There is learning and comradery going on, and that’s what the building should be.”

The building will allow students to interact with faculty easily as the study rooms will be in close proximity to the offices.

Hicks said he is excited for the building because it will provide an anchor for the department.

“This is a place for our students, and it’s an opportunity to be able to serve them where they are and to give them a place that they can call home,” Hicks said.

Conley is a news reporter.