Haslam College breaks ground on new building
The new five-story building is 243,800 square feet and will house 18 classrooms, three research laboratories, and two 300-seat auditoriums.
Community members, businesses, staff, and leaders of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) celebrated the groundbreaking of a new building to expand the Haslam College of Business on Wednesday afternoon.
The project is part of the university’s ongoing infrastructure and expansion plans. The Haslam College specifically has been at the epicenter of the school’s growth, as the largest college at UTK by undergraduate enrollment.
Over the past decade, undergraduate enrollment in the college has increased from 3,800 students to more than 9,000 (which is more than 100 percent growth). The master’s program enrollment has grown by 35 percent over the last five years.
The new building will serve more than 10,000 students, faculty, staff, and guests weekly. It will be a model to promote collaboration among students, instructors, and industry partners.
“This new building is a part of a physical transformation happening across campus — a transformation that reflects the progress we’re seeing across our university,” said Chancellor Donde Plowman. “More students than ever want to be Volunteers. Because of the innovative and wide-ranging support they receive on campus, more students are earning their degrees — and that is great news, because more UT graduates is good for the state, good for business, and good for people.”
The new five-story building is 243,800 square feet and will house 18 classrooms, three research laboratories, and two 300-seat auditoriums.
The building will house the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research, the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the college’s seven academic departments, and its graduate and executive education programs, which offer master’s and doctoral degrees and nondegree courses to business professionals.
The University nodded to the contributions of the college’s dedicated alumni donors, who helped make the dream of the Haslam College expansion a reality.
Brian Broyles, UT’s Senior Vice Chancellor for Advancement, said that with the state and university collectively funding 55 percent of the project’s $227 million budget, alumni supported the rest.
“We appreciate the philanthropic investments of our alumni donors in helping build the future of the Haslam College of Business,” he said. “Their contributions will make it possible for us to continue to equip graduates with the necessary knowledge and skills businesses look for in new hires.”
In attendance at the groundbreaking were the college’s eponym, Jim Haslam, and his wife, Natalie.
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