NewHavenBIZ

22 n e w h a v e n B I Z | M a r c h 2 0 2 2 | n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m F O C U S : H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo Q uinnipiac University leaders say they want their business school building to feature plenty of space and the latest technology. eir hope? Quinnipiac will be the first choice for students who want to be the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs. In early February, the Ham- den-based university announced its plans for a $244 million construction project to include three new buildings at its Mount Carmel Campus. One of those new facilities will house Quinnipiac's School of Business, which is currently on the campus' north side. Holly Raider, dean of the School of Business, said the current space has served it well, but it now needs more room. "It is a space we long ago outgrew," Eye To e Future As part of $244M investment, Quinnipiac aims to raise business school profile with new facilities, programs and technology Raider said. "Part of the opportunity of a new building is to have a space where we can fit all of our faculty and our programming." Quinnipiac President Judy D. Olian said the space constraints have meant the university has had to schedule classes into the evenings to accommo- date everyone. e university's Board of Trustees recently approved the new buildings for what will be its "South Quad," at the southern end of the campus. e new 79,000-square-foot School of Business building will feature a "Business Innovation Hub" as an incubator for students to explore and test new ideas. Plans are for it to feature a financial technology center, where students can use trading platforms, investment tools and data systems. It will also have offices for faculty and flexible lecture and event space that can seat up to 150 people for large and small gatherings. "We don't have advanced learning spaces that really represent the future," Olian said. "at is what we are build- ing into this new facility." According to Olian, business stu- dents represent a significant portion of Quinnipiac's student body, and they need the space for learning everything from data analytics and finance to accounting and team management. "We design buildings as enablers of learning for careers of the future," Olian said. In-demand programs Quinnipiac enrolls about 9,715 students who have a variety of majors, ranging from business to communi- cations, education, computing, law, medicine and nursing. University leaders have said they plan to keep en- rollment levels stable, between 9,000 and 10,000. e School of Business has approx- imately 1,500 undergraduate and 600 graduate students, according to the university's website. e new business school building will feature special- ly-designed spaces like a "digital sand- box," for data analytics courses. "at's where the workplace for the students will have multiple monitors and a way to spread out so they can have the data and coding and all of the information organized in a way that facilitates learning," Raider said. "You can in real time have the educator dis- playing things around the room, but also on their local workstations." e space will also be helpful for learning about financial asset man- agement, Raider said. e university hosts the largest student-run financial conference in the world, Quinnipiac's Global Asset Management Education Forum. "It is important to us that we have a financial technol- ogy center where our students can learn and be in a space much like they would in a real workplace, a space where they could be trading assets, which features Bloomberg terminals and tickers," Raider said. A key component of the new School of Business building will be hosting events, including large conferences and meeting space for student groups. University officials also foresee con- tinued expansion of business-related coursework. Quinnipiac just recently announced its plans to introduce a new bachelor's degree program in talent management that will teach students about the business aspects of sports, esports or entertainment. e university is also developing a Quinnipiac University leaders Holly Raider, dean of the School of Business (left) and President Judy Olian. PHOTO | GARY LEWIS Arthur H. Rice

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