Pacific Lutheran Scene, Spring 2001

P A C I F I C L U T H E R A N U N I V E R S I T Y

S P R I N G 2 0 0 1

PLU Business Department
Building Bridges

Present & Future

The PLU School of Business is already focused on preparing for the challenges ahead. First, this is a “self-study year” with a process that should lead to the reaffirmation of its accreditation by the AACSB. Then there is the new building—along with the moving and new technology challenges. And finally the impending faculty changes—about half of the PLU faculty will retire in the next decade, and their immense talent will take time and effort to replace.

“Even though there are great challenges for the School of Business, the future is going to be very exciting,” Bell said. “With the new building, it will be the first time we will be a cohesive unit. It can only make us an even stronger community of learners.”

There are so many noteworthy students, clubs and organizations within the School of Business that there isn’t enough room to mention all of them. There’s Beta Alpha Psi, the national honor fraternity for accountants who have given time and accounting help to the community. There is the Center for Executive Development, serving Northwest industry, government and non profits for more than 20 years through high quality seminars, workshops, customized in-house training and development activities. There is the Mary Lund-Davis Student Investment Fund, a fund students have built from a $25,000 endowment into a portfolio valued at $105,000. There are student organizations like the International Business Club and the Society for Human Resource Managers that continue to blossom. There is Ed Wood, a captain in the Washington Army National Guard and MBA candidate, who became the first graduate student to win the PLUS Business Scholarship. The PLU School of Business has too many success stories—and that’s the way it should be.

FOR MORE ABOUT THE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, VISIT www.plu.edu/ encore.

New building approval means move for School of Business

University regents in January approved the preliminary design for construction of the first new academic building on campus since the Mary Baker Russell Music center was dedicated in 1993.

The Center for Learning and Technology— housing the School of Business and the departments of math, and computer science and computer engineering— hopes to open in 2003, deending on fundraising efforts.

President Loren J. Anderson said the center will help PLU integrate new technology in teaching while maintaining its liberal arts focus.

“The need for this project seemed clear four years ago when we first began discussions about how best to help meet the need for the robust integration of technology with our already distinguished academic programs,” Anderson said.

“Today the need is even more compelling.”

The plan calls for a 56,510-square-foot building that will cost $15 to $20 million. It will be located on the lower campus, near Rieke Science Center. The building will feature a three-story south wing devoted to faculty offices and a two-story north wing for classrooms, laboratories and student work rooms. It also will include a variety of computer labs, conference rooms and study areas.

The center will be wired to accommodate current and future technologies.

Anderson said the idea for the center was endorsed during town meetings held throughout the country during the 2010 planning process. Many business alumni said they received a great business education at PLU but wanted more computer training. Similarly, computer science alumni expressed a desire for a broader-based business education.