More info on UWF's College of Business

The following message is from Dean Ed Ranelli:

Business Advisory Council (BAC) Members,

As you know the 2010 Budget recently passed by the House and Senate of the Florida Legislature contains PECO funding of $11.8 million for the College of Business (COB) Education Center. I want to personally thank BAC members for your support for the project and for successfully lobbying the legislature and our local delegation for funding. In 2000 upon my returned to UWF as dean of the COB, the BAC and I established a new COB building as a top priority. It has been a longtime coming, but because of your strong support and lobbying at a critical time, we finally have sufficient funding for the construction.

As described in our BAC meeting Friday, below is a brief summary of the COB Education Center which will soon be the permanent home for the COB.

-The COB Education Center is designed to create a "Home" and "Sense of Place" for COB students which encourages and enhances student/faculty interaction and learning.. The Center will feature an iconic multi-story glass entrance atrium and large student lobby facing the UWF green and Library and a secondary glass entrance/lobby accessible from the new UWF Heritage Hall.

-A unique feature of the Center is a large exterior COB Courtyard contiguous to the entrance atrium and lobby and COB classrooms in building 74 and faculty offices in building 76. The COB Courtyard and interior lobby will provide a venue where students can gather, hangout, study and interact with faculty and other students in between classes and partake of snacks and refreshments from the snackbar/coffee shop located in the lobby..

-The 3 story Education Center building will consist of 36,000 gross sq.ft. and include: 2 large classrooms with high tech instructional capability; a large modern case study room; several small team/group study areas; a central COB advising center; career center/interview rooms; offices for COB student organizations; a computer lab/ trading room; an exhibit/activities area; dean's suite, reception/administrative areas and conference room; and offices and administrative areas for business faculty.

The exterior COB Courtyard will be available by the start of the Fall 2010 semester with construction of the COB Education Center building beginning in August-September upon completion of architectural design/engineer and site preparation work .

The COB Education Center will represent the beginning of a new era for the College and will provide the students and faculty of the COB with facilities comparable to facilities at other SUS and AACSB schools.

Again thank you all so much for your continued support for the COB.