Work to expand UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School officially got underway Thursday morning, as a groundbreaking ceremony was hosted in the school’s plaza area.
While plans and fundraising work to create an expansion to the nationally-recognized school have been ongoing for years, the $150 million renovation earned the formal stamp of approval from Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz.
“Kenan-Flagler Business School has prepared CEOs, marketers, accountants and entrepreneurs to better serve and make the world a better place,” he said. “The school’s 42,000 alumni work in all 50 states and [97] countries across the world. This is what it means to be a public university: we’re serving our state in preparing the leaders we need for the future.”
Guskiewicz spoke to hundreds of university leaders, business school faculty, students and special guests as part of the event, which served both as a celebration of Kenan-Flagler’s accomplishments so far and an opportunity to ring in a new chapter for the institution. The state-of-the-art Steven D. Bell Hall, which will be constructed on the land behind the school’s parking deck, will be used to help students and faculty meet the challenges of the evolving business landscape and strengthen Kenan-Flagler’s culture of collaboration, according to the chancellor.
Expansion has long been a goal of the business school, which began having to severely limit its undergraduate admissions in recent years due to physical capacity limitations. In 2020, however, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a bill that included $75 million to expand and enhance the Kenan-Flagler campus — only if that money was matched by private fundraising.
New banners and decorations were hung in the courtyard around the Kenan-Flagler Business School on Thursday.
Bell, who is the founder of the apartment investment and management company Bell Partners and is a UNC alumnus, stepped in to make the expansion possible. With his $25 million commitment, the gift of $25 million from an anonymous donor and other donations, university leadership was able to move quickly on planning and development.
Bell took the stage on Thursday and said he is energized to have the opportunity to shape students’ lives as they attend Carolina.
“In life, few people have the opportunity to influence thousands of younger people,” he said. “I am honored and humbled to be able to help double the size of the undergraduate business school.”
Some of the features of the new building are the new classrooms, which will double the teaching space and will have adaptable layouts for teaching styles, remote learning and class size. But the building will also feature a new entrance to the business school off Blythe Drive, new dining facilities and dedicated art gallery space that Guskiewicz described as making the building like “Ackland [Art Museum] South.”
UNC said bidding for the project will begin in early October, with construction expected to begin in late November. The building is expected to take around 26 months to finish, while the existing McColl Building will also undergo renovations expected to last about 12 months. In total, the university and business school expect the full expansion and renewal project to be complete by 2026.
In addition to a change to the physical space and facilities, the Kenan-Flagler Business School is also undergoing a change in leadership. Longtime Dean Doug Shackelford stepped down from the role abruptly on September 19, citing the need to be with his family and for the school to have a dean “who can run at the pace this school deserves.” Kenan-Flagler tabbed Jennifer Conrad, a distinguished professor of finance, as its interim dean on September 23.
Guskiewicz gave significant credit to Shackelford on Thursday, saying he was a crucial driver behind the push for expansion and reason for donations to the business school. He said the expansion should help aid drawing in “top talent” dean candidates during their search of permanent leadership.
“We’ve got a great leadership team here that is stepping up to continue providing great opportunities for our students,” Guskiewicz added to Chapelboro. “A new dean could emerge from within here, or it could come from outside the walls of Carolina.”
The chancellor said the university is aiming to have a new dean for Kenan-Flagler hired and in place by July 1, 2023, with the official search beginning over the next few weeks.
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.
Is it carbon neutral?