This post was written by Meghan Daniels. For more Knewton GMAT prep advice, check out the Knewton GMAT blog.
The most important part of b-school is almost certainly the people -- professors, fellow students, alumni, recruiters, etc. But if you’re shelling out the cash to attend a top school, you should also keep in mind the school's facilities.
In the past few years, several top schools have made massive improvements to their campuses; others have major plans in the works.
Here are a few notable developments:
Stanford Graduate School of Business: Knight Management Center
After 10 years of planning and 3 years of construction, Stanford unveiled its brand-new Knight Management Center in April 2011. In 2007, Stanford made significant changes to the MBA curriculum, many of which called for smaller class sizes; the Knight Management Center was built to reflect these changes (for example, there are a variety of designated rooms for individual study, group work, and class breakout sessions). The Knight Management Center is named for Phil Knight, MBA ‘62 and the founder of Nike, who made a $105 million donation toward the building. The Center is seeking a LEED Platinum rating for environmental sustainability.
Some of the features of the Management Center include:
- Bass Center: “intellectual heart” of the building, with classrooms, group/individual study spaces, and the library
- Helmsley MBA Lounge: place for casual student gatherings
- Comex Auditorium: for lectures, speaker series, conferences and other large gatherings (up to 600 people)
- Arbunkle Dining Pavilion: blends indoor and outdoor dining spaces, seats up to 400
- Coffeeshop operated by popular local cafe
- Outdoor spaces for student meetings and gatherings
- Underground parking garage
Learn more about the Knight Management Center here.
MIT Sloan: Building E62
Officially opened in September 2010 -- and in spite of what Boston.com called its “characteristically un-glam designation” -- MIT Sloan’s Building E62 was designed to be the “heart of MIT Sloan.” E62 was designed to bring together Sloan’s faculty in one building, as well as to accommodate classes and collaborative work; before E62 was build, Sloan students didn’t have one particular place in which to congregate. Sustainability was also a key aim of the building from the beginning, and the building has applied for LEED Gold certification. (Read more about the green building process here.)
Some of the features of E62 include:
- A cafeteria on the ground floor, open to the public
- Faculty offices to bring together all business school professors in one place
- State of the art classrooms with cutting-edge instructional technology
- Functional study rooms built for collaborative work
- Eco-friendly design
Yale School of Management: Edward P. Evans Hall
Yale’s SOM celebrated the groundbreaking for Edward P. Evans Hall, the new business school campus, this April. According to a Yale press release, the school’s current campus, “a collection of renovated mansions joined to modern buildings, has constricted Yale’s SOM’s growth.” The new building, which will be funded in large part by a $50 million donation from Yale College alum Edward P. Evans, will feature state of the art classrooms, offices and gathering spaces around a central courtyard. It is scheduled for completion in 2013. The school also plans to employ green building techniques in the building of the campus.
According to the lead architect from Foster + Partners’, the architectural firm designing the campus, some of the most important goals include:
- Classrooms that enable interactive dialogue and discussion
- Classrooms, breakout rooms and other spaces to facilitate teamwork
- Flexible study environments
- Capacity to host major business school community events
Columbia Business School: New Manhattanville Campus
Columbia is currently in the planning stages for a new 450,000 square foot campus in West Harlem’s Manhattanville neighborhood. In fall 2010, the school announced that Henry R. Kravis ‘69, the co-founder, co-chairman and co-CEO of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., had donated $100 million (the largest gift in the school’s history) to the Business School for the project. The facilities will be designed by the architectural firm Diller Scofidio Renfro, well-known for designing the High Line park in New York City as well as many other structures.
While Columbia’s expansion into West Harlem has been met with a great deal of opposition by the neighborhood’s residents, Columbia maintains that the new location will help broaden community engagement programs and support local entrepreneurs, in addition to providing Columbia students with larger, state of the art facilities. The school hopes to have the first phase of construction complete by 2015.
