by Alex Solari, Staff Writer
Fresh paint and new classrooms mark the beginning of great opportunities for the students of the Charlton College of Business.
This semester, nearly 2,000 business students at UMass Dartmouth are able to have a central place for their classrooms, meetings, and social events. Some exciting features include an auditorium, “smart” classrooms, and various places for students to study alone or with a group.
This building was made solely for students and was built to “encourage meaningful interactions between faculty and students via seminar rooms, public spaces, technology labs and general classrooms”, according to the UMass Dartmouth website.
This new area, called the Charlton Learning Pavilion, has been under construction for about two years, with a price tag of $15 million. The Charlton Foundation is responsible for making this plan a reality, in addition to a number of generous donations to the university.
Though the project took under two years to complete, it has been in the making for many more years, beginning with a press release discussing the building and the school’s fundraising efforts in October of 2008. The press release reveals that the pavilion once had an $11.4 million budget and, although the budget was exceeded by $3.6 million, most agree the pavilion is worth the extra money.
The 22,000 square-foot Charlton Learning Pavilion connects to the old Charlton College of Business building, which used to be mainly for office space.
Despite the previously limited building situation, the Charlton College of Business has still been able to offer six majors, four graduate programs, and many graduate certificate programs.
It has been accredited by AACSB International, a great honor for any business college, and has been mentioned in The Princeton Review’s “Best 296 Business Schools”.
Before this renovation, students from the business building were forced to use classrooms in places like the Liberal Arts building. If they wanted to meet with a professor or meet with other business students, they would have to travel all the way to the Charlton College of Business.
Kyle Ducharme, a junior Accounting major, says, “It’s really nice and organized. I’m not running all over campus for classes.”
Jacob McCabe, a junior Finance student, agrees. He states, “It’s wicked easy. I have five classes with four of them in the business building and one in Textile. Everything’s so close together.”
In addition to the students, campus professors are also pleased by these new changes.
Paul Bacdayan, a business professor that has worked in the Charlton College of Business since 1997, says, “This is going to be great. It will bring students together and build community.”
Although the building has already opened for the Fall semester, there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 20 at 3 p.m. to celebrate the opening of the Charlton Learning Pavilion.
This event is open to the public and is expected to host tours for students and the public alike. Those interested are asked to RSVP by October 14 through the UMass Dartmouth site.