The sleek lobby, as designed by JSA architects, features a patterned tile floor, a central elevator column and a plasmascreen television.
Internet material into their classes with ease. Vince Narkiewicz, associate professor of marketing and chair of the DCOB building committee, said he and his colleagues are ready to utilize the new classroom features and will receive extensive training. A variety of classroom sizes and layouts were designed, Narkiewicz said, to fit the needs of different class types. Two 50seat “case study” classrooms on the first floor have tiered, semicircular seating to promote interaction among students and teachers in courses that rely on the case study method and group discussion. Traditional classrooms and seminar rooms will house 20, 30 and 40 students. A second-floor trading room will feature video monitors with stock quotes and business news so that finance and investment students can practice real-time decision-making. A “behavior lab” with a glass-walled observation area is well suited for focus groups and other behavioral study exercises. Students will have access to breakout and study rooms, two computer labs, lounges, offices for student organizations and a café. The aeronautics program’s first floor suite will include a flight simulator room and classroom space dedicated to the aviation program. A network of wireless zones will enable highspeed access to the Internet throughout the building. Faculty and administrators are particularly excited about custom-built executive education and meeting space that will allow the college to bring the business community to campus. “We want our companies on campus, using our facilities and being part of our campus,” Lockamy said. Three flexible meeting spaces on the first floor can be partitioned off for executive seminars or joined together for a 200capacity gathering space for lectures, receptions and other campus community events. Kitchen space down the hall provides the facilities necessary for catered events. One of two 50-seat executive training rooms will have a boardroom feel and teleconferencing capabilities that will be particularly attractive to companies and executives working with the business college. He and other professors hope that students and faculty alike will have more opportunities to interact with business professionals through new curriculum initiatives. The college’s new outreach centers are expected to play a major role in linking JU to the greater Jacksonville business community.
Encouraging Business Interaction With 55,000 square feet on two floors, the new building offers plenty of space for classrooms, meeting rooms, offices and customized facilities such as the aviation simulator.
vibrant atmosphere and a new sense of professionalism. In designing the new facility, faculty visited other new business school buildings and researched the best features available to enhance teaching and learning. The classroom technology includes ceiling-mounted projectors and teacher stations with a built-in computer, VCR, DVD player and touch-panel control screen. Faculty will be able to incorporate video, sound, and 18
JU MAGAZINE/FALL 2004
For more than two years, business faculty have been studying the curriculum intensely and defining the college’s niche in business education. At the end of this introspection, the faculty committed to creating a more applied curriculum and encouraging more structured and frequent involvement with executives and local businesses. “One thing that was key in identifying ourselves is we wanted to be an applied school of business, not a theoretical school of business,” Lockamy said. “We want to take what we learn and put it to work.” The two centers are directly related to that goal, she said. Dr. Gordon McClung, a marketing consultant and author,