Defining Excellence in the School of Business

Cougar Business Resource Center: $2 Million

The CBRC will be an approximately 3,700 square-foot complex that will serve as a focal point of resources, programs, and co-curricular activities that are designed to support our undergraduate business programs. The CBRC will include online learning technologies, space for students to practice presentations, communication technology for students to interact with faculty and teammates regardless of location, and space for Executive in Residence offices. The Executive-in-Residence program will be developed as a mentoring/coaching program for students and faculty to take advantage of the experience of business professionals. In addition, the CBRC will include shared office space for student organizations.

The resources, programs, and co-curricular activities to be housed in the CBRC were derived from an intensive curriculum review process undertaken by faculty and staff of the School of Business with input from the business community. The review culminated in a proposal that consists of three major components: 1) Enhancement of learning goals to include mastery of cross-disciplinary skills along with subject area knowledge; 2) Changes in the design of curricular and co-curricular learning experiences; 3) An emphasis on integration of knowledge across business disciplines through the development of cross-disciplinary skills that are delivered early and reinforced often in the curriculum.

Outcomes that we seek from establishment of the CBRC include:

• Creation of a space that is accessible for teams, often made up of a mixture of commuter and residential students, to meet immediately preceding or following classes. If commuting students are encouraged to spend one or two more hours per week working with fellow students and / or accessing learning support materials from the Resource Center, we expect that their academic performance will improve, retention will increase, and time to graduation will be shorter.
  
  
• Moving students from current noisy hallway tables to space that is more conducive to studying, conducting team meetings, and preparing course assignments.
  
  
• We expect that student performance on team projects and presentation skills will improve as students use the dedicated space for team meetings and to practice presentations.
  
  
• We expect improved recruiting of high-quality students and faculty who can see the investment in student learning made by the university.
  
  
• Continuity of student organization activities should increase from year-to-year as a result of the organizations having dedicated space in which to meet and to store documents and program materials.
  
  
• Development of a greater sense of community among business students, leading to closer personal connections and a more active alumni base after graduation.

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