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Beginning in fall 2020, St. Ambrose will have a dedicated place for business.

Construction began this spring on a major renovation project that will expand McMullen Hall by 15,600 square feet and renovate an additional 22,000 square feet of the existing structure.

When completed, the building will provide a centralized home for the College of Business and its eight undergraduate and four graduate degree programs.

The new design is intended to reflect a contemporary corporate setting, the hallmark of which is a two-story, light-filled atrium. Major design features will include six classrooms to accommodate new methods of learning and teaching, along with multiple lab spaces, a tiered lecture hall and a student commons area.

Paul Koch, PhD, provost and vice president for academic affairs, said the larger and more adaptive classroom spaces and labs will allow the university to prepare business majors to work in a global business environment.

"The McMullen Hall project provides active and engaging learning spaces such as a new finance lab where students will use some of the industry's leading technology and software," he said. "This kind of in-depth experience will better prepare our graduates and give them a competitive edge in the workplace."

Sister Joan Lescinski, CSJ, PhD, president of St. Ambrose, said there is value in creating a central space where undergraduate business students and graduate students in the Doctor of Business Administration, the H.L. McLaughlin Master of Business Administration, Master of Organizational Leadership and Master of Accounting programs can see adaptation and innovation in action.

"Agility is not just for entrepreneurs," she said. "A successful university must continually visualize and execute strategies that will improve the student experience and outcomes. It's time to make McMullen Hall a place for business."