As construction for the $7 million Alfiero Center draws to a close, grand opening celebrations are tentatively scheduled for late April, according to university officials.
The new center, located next to Jacobs Hall and behind Lockwood Memorial Library on North Campus, will serve as the hub of the management school. The three-story building will house three state-of-the-art classrooms along with numerous group project rooms, offices and interview centers.
"The three classrooms that we currently have in the Jacobs building, and the three additional new ones coming on-line, will not only help us contain our classrooms and maintain them in the manner we want, it frees up campus class space that isn't available to the university today," said Lawrence Michael, assistant dean of the School of Management.
The staff of the School of Management should be in the new center by April, according to Michael, although nothing is set in stone. "The transition is a long and lengthy process," he said.
The new classrooms have two motorized overhead viewing screens with computer access for professors to utilize, along with multi-layered, horizontally sliding whiteboards. The lecture podiums are much smaller than those found in other wired classrooms on campus because the computers are stored in the wall.
Current management classes not held in the Jacobs building are spread throughout campus. The merging of the undergraduate advisement office, the graduate admissions office and career placement services for the School of Management into one facility has many business students excited about the change.
The convenience will enable Dawn Blickenstaff, a senior accounting and finance major, to spend more time focusing on her course load.
"I'll actually be able to hang out here to study in between classes as opposed to having to go off to the library," Blickenstaff said. "It's a great addition to the business school and I'm hoping to take some summer classes here."
Fourteen additional rooms with suites and seminar areas are designated for group work, Michael said. The new wing of the Alfiero Center also has wireless Internet access, Michael added.
Rodrigo Ruiz, an international studies major in his first year of UB's MBA program, said he was happy that students would have more resources to work with.
Those resources include eight rooms specifically set up as interview centers for students and potential employers. The management school employs five placement officers who facilitate interviews between students and prospective companies that are hiring.
"I'm happy to know that the school of management is making every effort to better prepare its students," Ruiz said.
Ruiz added he was particularly interested in the architecture of the Alfiero Center.
"The design of the building is unique to the spine," said Michael. "It is changing the look of that area and we have had a lot of positive feedback about the external design which employs multiple building materials and layers throughout."
The 23,000-square-foot Alfiero Center has social areas including a lounge and caf?(c) located in the atrium of the building, complete with pub-style seating in the eating area and a huge stock ticker on display.
Joseph Wesolowski, a junior in the business school, said he's pleased with the building and the impact it will have on his fellow peers.
"Overall it improves the image of the management school, which helps everybody out."
Jeremy Wynne, a junior accounting major, said the extra class space and consolidation of student services is what will make the Alfiero Center a great addition to the School of Management.
"From what I have heard about it, and seen, it looks like it's going to be awesome," Wynne said.
There will be two inaugural events for the new center - the first will be for campus officials and donors on April 26. The second, open to business school students, will be held on April 27.
