Nearly a decade ago, Campbellsville University came close to building a new business school until the project “fell flat at the end,” said Devin Hughes, assistant vice president for advancement and planned giving. Now, with renewed funding and a recent grant, university leaders say the long-needed facility is finally within reach.
“We are still not… fully funded yet,” Hughes said. “We are still in this process… but we’re close enough to at least say, hey, this is going to happen.”
University officials say the project has been overdue for years. The School of Business, Economics and Technology has outgrown its existing space, and the new building is intended to expand and bring all departments of the program together. Preston Jones, dean of the School of Business, Economics and Technology, said faculty are currently spread across four buildings.
“If you’re a student, and you would like to speak with a faculty member, you have to go to four different buildings for where they might be,” he said.
Hughes and Jones said the addition of the new building will not only create revolutionary spaces for both study and leisure, but also create a more intuitive environment that makes learning easier and more accessible for students.
Plans for the facility include several specialized spaces, such as a trading room with 27 Bloomberg terminals, which is a feature Jones said will be called “Tiger Street.”
“Not to be confused with Wall Street,” Jones said.
The building will also include large amounts of classroom space, a tiered case-study room and an innovation lab designed to support student and community startups. The lab will house state of the art technology and remain open throughout the day to encourage collaboration and new business ideas.
One CU business student said the current facilities are absolutely a roadblock in learning opportunities.
“[My freshman year], when I met with my advisor, I couldn’t find him. I had to ask around,” said Caleb Kennedy, a sophomore business administration student. “If everybody’s in the same place… it’s going to be pretty straightforward.”
Kennedy said classrooms are often booked back-to-back, which creates conflicts when trying to find meeting places.
“The classrooms are small, and they’re used all day… and it’s hard to find study space,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy said the new building could improve the quality of the program and the educational opportunities.
“I think it’ll make it much easier and hopefully make everybody more dedicated and interested in learning about business,” he said.
Jones and Hughes said the new facility is desperately needed and is confirmed to be coming in the future, but funding has not been entirely secured for the project. Jones and Hughes both said the project is entirely donor funded.
“This building is going to be built from philanthropy and not taking any operational monies away from the university,” Jones said.
He said any money donated towards the project, no matter the size, will be put in a fund that cannot be touched. Although university officials were unable to provide a dollar figure for the entire project, U.S. Rep. James Comer’s office reported that the project has received $3 million through federal community project funding.
As CU continues to face financial strain, questions do remain about the project’s timeline and how it can move forward without affecting other areas of the university. When asked about CU’s current financial status, Hughes said when it comes to capital projects, the project is a top priority.
“We want to be careful how we move forward as we’re in this financial strain that we’re in,” Hughes said. “I really can’t speak on a timeline…what I can say is that we do have momentum.”
Currently, no completion date has been announced for the project. Jones emphasized again that the project will rely entirely on philanthropy and will not draw from the university’s operating budget.
