July 26, 2017
New facility for SVSU business programs in store, following state budget approval
Saginaw Valley State University’s College of Business and Management will soon have a new home for students, faculty, staff and business organizations in the Great Lakes Bay Region and beyond, as SVSU moves forward with plans for a 40,000 square foot building addition.
SVSU’s capital outlay request for $9.8 million in state funding received planning authorization approval in the 2018 fiscal year budget for the State of Michigan signed by Governor Snyder Friday, July 14.
SVSU plans to construct an addition connected to the existing Malcolm Field Theatre for Performing Arts, near Curtiss Hall, where faculty offices for the College of Business of Management are currently located.
The SVSU Foundation has initiated a fundraising campaign, and those efforts will now accelerate. SVSU hopes to generate up to $15 million in private donor support for the project.
“The business world is changing rapidly, and we must change with it,” said Donald Bachand, SVSU president. “We have updated our curriculum; we have added a major in supply chain management and we are starting an online M.B.A. this fall, all to ensure our hard-working students receive the best possible academic preparation. This new facility will allow us to modernize classrooms and learning spaces to match 21st century business realities.
“We would like to thank the many state legislators who supported our proposal, especially State Senator Ken Horn and State Representative Tim Kelly, whose leadership in their respective chambers was greatly appreciated.”
SVSU’s College of Business and Management is accredited by AACSB International, placing SVSU in the top 5 percent of business schools worldwide. Included among the 28 academic programs are specialized opportunities that draw upon the unique business resources of the Great Lakes Bay Region, such as academic minors in entrepreneurship and family business management. SVSU hosts the Dow Entrepreneurship Institute and the Stevens Center for Family Business.
Planned improvements for the new facility include:
• a Bloomberg Trading Room, that allows students to learn using financial technology
• an innovation lab, a cross-disciplinary space where students can develop products and market solutions
• a communications, big data and cloud computer lab to allow for the management of diverse sources of unstructured data and cloud computing
• a consumer behavior lab and observation room to study what influences consumers’ decisions
• a focus group lab to allow students to conduct qualitative research
In addition to academic upgrades, the new facility also will feature space for increased collaboration with regional businesses, providing them with access to SVSU faculty and student expertise.
The project still requires construction authorization by the State of Michigan; SVSU hopes to receive that approval later this year with a goal of opening the building during the 2019-20 academic year.