Texas A&M held a ceremony on Oct. 28 celebrating the groundbreaking innovations to Mays Business School.
Mays Business School plans to expand while bringing in additional space to provide students with expanded educational resources. The advanced facility will be about 82,000 square feet with several lounge and study areas and will offer the latest technology, learning studios, a cafe and an outside complex. 

The Dean of Mays Business School Ricky Griffin said the symbolic groundbreaking on a new facility is to enhance and not replace our existing building. 
“It is going to be a state of the arts facility with innovative classrooms and learning studios,” Griffin said. “We will have tables, movable desks and video monitors and all sorts of digital hook ups and technology available.”

Head of the James Benjamin Department of Accounting Nate Sharp said the new building will hopefully be a more popular study area. 

“This new building is going to become kind of like the crown jewel of the Mays Business Education Complex and we are very excited about it,” Sharp said. 

Griffin said they have already begun some of the building’s infrastructure work. 

“The expected completion date is late fall of 2024 so [it will take] just about two years with full occupation [and] use in 2025,” Griffin said.

Sharp said the building will be focused on experiential learning.

“The classrooms are designed as learning studios which means they’re very versatile,” Sharp said. “They can be used in different ways and different formats.”

Griffin said there will be a lot of public space and a large, open atrium lobby for events. 
“We can actually seat 250 people for seated events,” Griffin said. “There will be a quick service cafe and lots of tables and huddle spaces and collaboration spaces and so forth.  This will be a visually stunning place to help bring people together.” 
Finance senior Alexandra Steward said as of now, there are not a lot of places around the business school that have a large enough area with adequate spacing for students to collaborate and work.

“Fortunately, I have heard that the new business school has been designed with this in mind. They are planning to provide more group study areas,” Steward said. “I believe this will be a big improvement in the lives of business students.”

Sharp said there will be innovation in terms of classroom technology that will take the whole education experience to the next level. 

“That is something we have learned alot about,” Sharp said. “The students of the next decade and going forward for decades in the future — they are using technology differently from when this building was designed.We are going to have innovation in terms of classroom technology that will really take the whole education experience to the next level.”

Sharp said the new classrooms have white boards all the way around them so you can write on the white boards and any wall of the classroom.

“There’s natural light in every single classroom so they are brighter,” Sharp said. “We talk alot about learning on display with the new classrooms which means visitors come into the building they can see what the classrooms look like.They can watch the learning that is taking place in those rooms.” 

Griffin said he wants those teaching the courses to have knowledge on the new technology for a smooth learning experience. 
“We are going to make sure that the classes that we schedule in those learning studios are people who understand how to use that technology and take advantage of it,” Griffin said. 
Steward said the business school is desperately in need of new seats as most of them are worn down and broken. 

“The desks that are attached to the seats are too small,” Steward said. “This presents a challenge when students are taking an exam.”
Griffin said there are a couple of things in addition to the building itself including a large outdoor area called Collaboration Commons, an area reminiscent of Aggie Park.

“It is going to be landscaped with sidewalks and seating areas, some covered areas where people can just sit and talk and work on projects and so forth,” Griffin said. 

Sharp said the new building will be a place where former students can come back and be a part of our Center Executive Development.

“Mays does a lot of executive education and all of that is going to be housed in the new building as well,” Sharp said. 

Griffin acknowledged the effort that is being put into the new building.

“We have a number of major donors that have stepped forward and made some financial contributions,” Griffin said. “It is truly a collaborative effort to get this building up off the ground.”
Sharp said the division of Mays Business School will become the preeminent business school in this country. 

“This building is a very important part of that effort and that vision and dream of being recognized as the best business school in the country,” Sharp said. “We are trying to deliver on that promise to make sure our students have a world-class experience there.”