University of Evansville Plans New Building For School of Business

The building will be named after the Schroeder Family, which has made donations of time and money to the university over many years. The university also says it will make expansions to its Union building.

Source: Inside INdiana Business

Press Release

University of Evansville students and the community will have access to a new School of Business Administration Building by Fall 2007, when the project’s first phase is expected to be complete.

Following the construction of a new addition to the McCurdy Alumni Memorial Union, the School of Business Administration classrooms -- located on the second floor of Hyde Hall since the building opened in 1967 -- will be moved to the new Schroeder Family School of Business Administration Building. University offices now located in the Union will eventually be moved to the new University Center, now in the planning process. The University Center is expected to be constructed in 2008.

An official groundbreaking and community celebration for The Schroeder Family School of Business Administration Building is planned July 14 at 1 p.m. at the construction site.

“This building signifies the importance of business education to the University and for our community,” said UE President Stephen Jennings. “Our respect for the Schroeders and their example-setting success in business and generosity in donations, has led us to name the building for its family members -- John H. Schroeder, John C. Schroeder, Richard Schroeder, and Ruth (Schroeder) Bromm. This will forever honor these individuals who have made such a difference to our community and the University of Evansville.”

The Schroeders have been long-time friends and leaders of the University of Evansville, helping to envision and provide for its future. The late J. Henry Schroeder began the legacy as a leader in the community and a contributor to the foundations of the University in the late 1940’s. His son, John H. Schroeder, founder and chairman of Crescent Plastics, Inc., Cresline Plastic Pipe Co., Inc. Cresline-West, Inc., and Wabash Plastics Inc., became a trustee of the University in 1955 and served on the building committee for Clifford Memorial Library. John H. Schroeder served as Chairman of the University of Evansville Board of Trustees from 1980 through 1983 and has received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University in 1994. He was one of the first trustees to recognize the potential for Harlaxton College, now the University’s premiere study-abroad location. Sons, John C. Schroeder and Richard Schroeder also have contributed to the life of UE, and John C. is now at the helm of the Board of Trustees. John C. is president of Crescent Plastics, Inc., and Wabash Plastics, Inc. His brother Richard is president of Cresline Plastic Pipe Co., Inc., Cresline-West, Inc. and Cresline-Northwest, LLC. Ruth Bromm, sister of John H., has been a friend of the University for years, was named an honorary alumna for her support of the University, and has contributed quietly and on a regular basis for scholarships, deanships, and support endowments for departmental programs at UE.

Phase I of the plan includes 35,000 square feet of a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified new addition to the existing Union, which will uniquely preserve the outer wall of the south side of the Union, transforming it into the interior wall of an atrium connecting the old to the new. The LEED Green Building Rating System is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. Part of the LEED certification includes keeping as much of the natural attributes of an area as possible intact. UE consulted an arborist and based on those calculations will be building around a 65-year-old Northern Red Oak and a Pin Oak in the same age range, currently located south of the building.

The main floor of the new addition will include a 129-seat tiered lecture hall, and two, 48-student classrooms. The lower level will have three, 48-student classrooms, and other small meeting spaces. The top floor of the building will feature an executive board room, three more classrooms and student resource rooms.

In Phase II, which will begin following the completion of the new University Center, retrofitting of existing spaces in the current Union will begin. Dunigan Hall will be transformed into a classroom and lounge area with computer labs and conference rooms. Faculty offices will be located in the lower level and in the area where the Bower-Suhrheinrich Room is currently. The Institute for Global Enterprise will be housed on the third floor of the Union, where the International Center now resides. Phase I and II will encompass a total of 65,000 square feet of space. The new addition, and renovations in the second phase of the project, will total approximately $11 million.

“We are so excited about all of the possibilities this new home for our School of Business Administration can offer,” said Robert Clark, Schroeder Family dean of the School of Business Administration. “The new learning space represented by this facility provides the perfect venue for the global and entrepreneurial business education that is offered at the University of Evansville. It also will be a wonderful resource not only for students at UE, but for businesses and corporations as well.”

Business courses have been offered at the University of Evansville for the past 84 years. During the 1922-23 school year, so many courses were being offered and faculty hired that the Department of Business Administration was formed. In 1968, after advancements in business education at UE, the department became the School of Business Administration. In December 2005, the University earned specialized accreditation for the School of Business Administration’s undergraduate bachelor’s degree programs by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the premier international accrediting agency and service organization for business schools around the world.

The University of Evansville is a private, United Methodist Church-related, comprehensive university that is a member of the Associated New American Colleges. UE celebrates more than 150 years of civic mission and sacred trust, providing life transforming educational experiences that prepare students to engage the world as informed, ethical and productive citizens.

Source: University of Evansville