Fairfield University’s School Of Business To Relocate To New Facility

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield University’s Charles F. Dolan School of Business will relocate to a new state-of-the-art academic building scheduled to open in the fall of 2019, officials announced this week. Plans for the new building feature a simulated financial trading room, big data analytics lab, entrepreneurship center with ideation lab space, visualization and simulation lab, active learning and case-based classrooms, and more.

The new $40 million building is one of several that are planned or under construction as part of the University’s Master Plan supported by the Fairfield Rising Campaign. (To sign up for Fairfield breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

Fairfield Rising — the largest capital campaign in the university’s history — has exceeded its $160 million financial target ahead of the projected timeline. As a result, the university has reset the goal by an unprecedented $50 million, bringing the new target to $210 million with an estimated completion date of December 2018.

“We are humbled and honored by the dedication and commitment of our alumni, parents, and friends,” Fairfield University President Mark R. Nemec, PhD, said in a press release. “The extension of the Fairfield Rising Campaign ensures that Fairfield continues its rise as the modern Jesuit Catholic University, building a community animated by innovative teaching and learning, so that we may continue to best serve the world as it is.”

Read more from the press release below:

“The Fairfield Rising Campaign will ensure that the University meets the needs of today’s students and those of generations to come,” said Wally Halas, Vice President for University Advancement. “The extension of the campaign to $210 million will support new academic programs, endowed faculty, and the infrastructure to support a diverse, growing and demanding population of new students.”

Breaking ground this spring, the new Dolan School building will support the School’s exceptional faculty, nationally-ranked business disciplines, strong student internship, and professional development programs, all backed by the University’s engaged alumni network. Last year, Dolan School graduates achieved a 96.7% placement rate within six-months after graduation.

“This new building will exemplify what the Dolan School has become: a leading center for business education, forming students to be ethical leaders for a global future,” Nemec said. “It will be the nexus for our students, faculty, and staff, allowing them to collaborate in an environment that rivals the most state-of-the-art facilities for its technology and cutting edge spaces.”

The new Dolan School of Business building, at 80,500 square feet, will feature 16 technology-enriched classrooms, collaborative meeting spaces for students and faculty, as well as a new event space. The building will feature innovative spaces including a one-button studio, simulation room, behavioral research lab, and the University’s Center for Applied Ethics. Facility enhancements such as these will further position the Dolan School as a destination of choice for students looking for a business degree informed by Jesuit values.

As one of the highest-ranked business schools in the country, the Dolan School has been named among the best undergraduate business schools in the United States and the best in Connecticut according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, and US News & World Report and College Factual rank its accounting, finance, and marketing disciplines in the top 25 nationally. Additionally, Dolan School is one of only 5% of schools nationwide accredited by AACSB International, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

The Dolan School of Business was named in 2000 in honor of media and communications pioneer Charles F. Dolan, founder of Cablevision and Home Box Office.

Other new facilities under construction or in the planning phases include a new dormitory, a new parking facility, an expansion of the University’s Barone Campus Center to include The Tully Dining Commons, and a new building that will house the nationally ranked Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies. The University will be proceeding with the filing of the required applications for local approval for the new school of business later this month.

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