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With a rigorous curriculum renowned for difficulty and challenge, the GSB is committed to providing students with comfortable cutting-edge environs in which to study, dean Edward Snyder told some 100 students at the dedication of the $2.3 million Ida Noyes GSB Study Lounge on March 5. “In addition to setting high expectations of our students, we’re trying to support you so you can meet those expectations,” Snyder said.
Snyder and Stacey Kole, deputy dean for the Full-Time MBA Program, formally cut a red ribbon at the entrance to the new facility, which is located across the summer garden in neighboring Ida Noyes Hall. The GSB student lounge, built on the site of a former student swimming pool, is accessible by key cards to GSB students and contains 72 study carrels equipped with electrical outlets and wireless Internet access.
“We want to experience this together with students, so they can understand why we’re constantly thinking about how we can improve things for our students and faculty,” Kole said. “We want students to celebrate the space and really revel in this space.”
The GSB opened the study lounge as a result of a long-term strategic review, Snyder said. Among the eight goals identified in that process are great students, great faculty, global visibility and brand recognition, improved communications, increased financial resources, celebration of student and alumni leadership profiles throughout the world, continued top rankings consistent with the GSB’s values, and maintaining a competitive edge with facilities, he said.
“This is part of that effort,” Snyder said. “We’re doing this for our students. Our strategy is maintaining this organization as the GSB, the Graduate School of Business, known increasingly throughout the world. That means we take education seriously. The faculty set high expectations of students. We want students to be able to stay on campus and study effectively. Having a place in gothic Ida Noyes, in addition to the Alper Study at Harper Center, to me seems really terrific.”
Second-year student Durant Gipson said he was immediately impressed with the lounge’s natural lighting, provided by the ceiling’s multiple skylights. “I like sunlight when I do anything. It’s better than fluorescent bulbs, so I like that the lounge is open at the top,” Gipson said. “The Alper Study gets very crowded, especially at lunch, so it’s nice to have some place else that is roomy to go to study.”
Gipson plans to use the facility for mid-terms and finals. “This place will come in useful. I like having the ability to go by myself because distractions come really easily.”
--Phil Rockrohr