Business Education Complex

A building’s space has an opportunity to encourage interactions, intellectual stimulation, and high-impact learning experiences. The new Business Education Complex will encompass innovative spaces that promote connectivity, creativity, and collaboration – a physical manifestation of our mission: “To Be a Vibrant Learning Organization.” The Program of Requirements (POR) – one part of the built environment process – was developed in consultation with Ayers Saint Gross and a task force comprised of a cross section of Mays stakeholders. The POR was informed by an array of work sessions with students, former students, faculty, and staff as well as benchmarking tours of peer and aspirant business schools. The POR was approved in January 2021 and the project is advancing into the selection of the Architecture/Engineering firm with an anticipated initiation of the design phase in May 2021. Construction is scheduled to begin in the Fall of 2022 with expected occupancy of the BEC in the Summer of 2024.

The ground floor of the proposed 75,000 square-foot expansion will focus on stakeholder engagement and will feature a grand atrium that can seat up to 350 participants. It will be designed to be reconfigured for a wide range of uses from flexible huddle spaces to recruiting fairs and student events. This floor will also be home to the Center for Retailing Studies, the Reynolds and Reynolds Sales Leadership Institute, five active learning studios, and a roasted beverage café. The second floor will focus on lifelong learning and showcase the Center for Executive Development, high-tech collaboration rooms, and a rooftop garden for events as well as individual study and reflection. The third floor will be dedicated to innovation and include the Mays Innovation Research Center, a broadcast studio, and state-of-the-art communications center. It will also include a suite for emeritus faculty members and a suite for doctoral students, showcasing their research endeavors.

The BEC will be at the epicenter of the pedestrian mall that extends through the campus to the White Creek Greenway. It will be at the heart of the rapidly growing westward expansion of the campus and create a strong identity for Mays Business School.