Page 20 - spaces4learning, Spring 2021

He discussed how the team removed a critical structural wall, with no small amount of effort, “in order to create an axis that really responded to that formality of that historic building.”
Connell elaborated: “All new systems there, everything from windows down to the slab into the structure. So all interior par- titions except around that historic central stair are new. All new mechanical, electrical systems, of course. It was brought up to full tech, new technologies.”
The dean’s suite lies on the second floor of the newly renovat- ed Hanna Hall—not on the top floor, and not on the bottom, but in the middle, right in the heart of the new business school complex. His office overlooks the atrium from what Schabel said was one of the darkest but most accessible spots in the building. An existing rooftop was renovated to become almost a front porch to his office suite. “It’s not quite intimate, but there’s an intimate feel to it,” he said. “And I think that was a really suc- cessful use of the existing building that I really appreciate.”
The Business School’s Future
Because about 85% of business school students come to BGSU from in-state, the administration—from the university pres- ident down—wanted to focus on upgrading the nearly-50- year-old facilities into the 21st century, both aesthetically and functionally. The nationally ranked program got to the point where its capabilities and reputation had simply outgrown its old home, and the administration was looking for ways to stay competitive with its peers.
Due to the pandemic, Dean Braun said, they haven’t yet seen the uptick in enrollment that they were anticipating. Most stu- dents and faculty were away from campus during the fall; the normal recruiting process for new students has been inhibit- ed; and social distancing prohibits large groups from passing through and touring the building. The events of the last year have left it something of an off-year for statistics, trends, and data, and the Dean admitted that it’s hard to generalize because it’s such an unusual situation.
“Those students who do come love the building and love the program,” he said. “So I don’t know if we’ll see a big uptick this year, but we fully expect it’ll impact enrollments moving forward.”
The building’s opening last fall marked the end of a six-year saga of planning, design, and construction. And now that it’s open for business—now that students and faculty have settled in, become familiar with the new facilities, and are using it day- to-day—the dean said the most rewarding part is watching the business school community as a whole settle into its new home.
“I really enjoy the openness, the transparency, the natural light,” he said. “Seeing all the faculty & students congregating throughout the building. Just makes you feel good about being in that environment.”
Figenholtz recalled watching a student who had been in- volved in some of the early programming efforts two or three years earlier giving a speech at the virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony in Sept. 2020. During planning, she said that even though the student wasn’t negative, it was the student’s first time going through the process—“She’s like, ‘Who are these crazy architects asking me all these questions of what I want?’ Students...they’ll tell you the truth. There’s no filter.”
During the speech, Figenholtz said, “To have her at the rib- bon-cutting ceremony, and just expounding about how much of a home it is for her and for her colleagues, her peers, and how it’s connected her to the program and to the campus, it’s a part of her identity, and how she’s able then to feel really supported as she moves into the world. And when she was speaking, I was getting goosebumps. And we were all texting each other like, ‘Oh, my God, it was the best speech.’”
She said that positive feedback from the university and from Dean Braun is, of course, important, and a major testament to the facility. But she values such enthusiastic, positive feedback from a formerly skeptical student just as much.
Matt Jones is the senior editor of Spaces4Learning and Campus Security and Life Safety. He can be reached at mjones@1105media.com.
20 SPRING 2021 | spaces4learning.com