Almost five years later, Teresa Kase, assistant dean of finance and operations at the business school, said the Hodge Hall expansion is nearly complete.
“The new addition will be open for classes in the fall with the Kelley staff moving in starting early August,” Kase said. “The second phase of the project, the renovation of the existing portion of the undergraduate building, began in May of this year and will be completed for the fall semester of 2016.”
According to the website, the $60-million project was funded entirely through alumni gifts, strategic partners and a Lilly Endowment grant of $33 million.
Kase said even though the project took a great deal of planning, knowing that the building will last for many years and how it will enhance student education makes it worth it.
“Kelley has a strong history of being at the forefront of innovation and progress, and the expansion of Hodge Hall is a tangible symbol of our continued growth and progress,” said Allie Newell, a sophomore Kelley Scholar majoring in marketing, management and international business.
Senior Kelley Scholar Kyle Lin said at first he had many doubts about the expansion project because of the large monetary investment and because the renovations began just as he started at IU.
“It was hard for me to find a definitive purpose for the change to what is already one of the greatest business schools in the nation,” Lin said.
Jamie Carpenter, a sophomore majoring in accounting and finance, said the new classrooms and additional spaces will allow even more opportunities for students.
Sophomore marketing and management major Stephanie Chinn said the growth of the business school shows IU is actively trying to take a prominent place in the undergraduate business world.
“The expansion and new state-of-the-art facilities will give Kelley an additional edge over many other top programs and ensure continual growth, both in its rankings and overall educational value,” said sophomore Tori Champion, a public policy analysis and international business major.
Champion said she is a member of Women in Business, and the extension of Hodge Hall will give the group more resources within the business school.
One such resource the expansion includes is the Indiana Business Research Center, a new sales and business communications lab.
Mark Long, a professor in the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, said the expansion of Hodge Hall opens up new avenues of teaching for him.
“Modern classroom construction will make classes more amendable to discussion and sharing of ideas, and better technology enables me to bring YouTube, Twitter and other audio-visual dynamics into the classroom on a regular basis,” he said. “I believe this sustains Kelley as the premier business school in the world, with not only outstanding students, but now with outstanding facilities to match.”
Josh Skwarczyk, a junior involved in the Kelley Institute for Social Impact, said being part of the first class to have adequate space for I-CORE group meetings in an additional 20 classrooms and various meeting spaces is a welcomed privilege.
“Hodge is a physical representation of Kelley’s commitment to be an elite business school,” Skwarczyk said.
Former Kelley Living-Learning Center resident Daniel Chang said the new Hodge Hall will provide an environment more conducive for teamwork.
“Even structurally, I think the expansion aims to utilize sunlight more, and the choice to install more glass and to have wide, open spaces will influence the atmosphere positively,” he said.
“No longer will there be complaints about the building being ‘old’ or the ‘school’s great, but the classrooms stink’ that I hear about all the time,” Lin said. “Instead, the new generation will experience the new Kelley with the same inner greatness but with an outer greatness now up to par.”
