University Business - December 2007 - (Page 51)

It may be a decade old, but continual upgrades at the conference center at Clemson U (S.C.) make it seem brand new. Educational Centers Saint Vincent College (Pa.) will soon see the beneﬁts of a $14 million building that will serve as a conference center and educational hub for promoting early learning and responsible uses of media for children. Funded by public and private sources, “the concept of the building is to integrate an educational and conference center into one facility,” says Don Orlando, director of public relations for the college. “Being such an ‘[Conference centers are] a natural ﬁt. When it imposing and impressive structure, it will stand comes to education and learning, we all look to out on campus and enhance the image of the college,” he says. universities and colleges.’—Ron Naples, hospitality consultant The Fred Rogers Center comprises 9,000 square feet of space for the preservation of the arthese facilities is the Clemson community, which makes up more chives of the longtime PBS television show host, as well as a library research area, a lab/workshop for development and demonstration than 50 percent of the facilities’ users. in early learning and children’s media, and meeting rooms and ofﬁces for staﬀ and visiting experts. The late Fred Rogers, who was Student-Focused Facilities Some conference centers are designed speciﬁcally with students in born in Latrobe (where Saint Vincent College is based) and whose mind. A handful of IHEs, including Cornell University (N.Y.), family is a lifelong friend of the college, collaborated with the instiFlorida Institute of Technology, and the University of Denver tution to plan this facility before his death in 2003. “Now the Fred (Colo.), designed their centers as working laboratories for students Rogers name will continue for many years, a name which holds a lot of meaning for people,” Orlando says. in their hotel-and restaurant-management programs. The 23,000-square-foot conference center will include a banThe University of Denver’s School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management opened a new $18 million, 46,000-square-foot quet room, a large classroom-style meeting room, breakout rooms, facility last December. While it’s professionally managed, students support facilities, an administration suite, and an outdoor area handle the day-to-day business. “The building was designed with an suitable for events. It will also feature a variety of sustainable design expressed purpose of being a living laboratory for students—where features, including wood windows clad in aluminum, geothermal they could learn and participate in actual operations,” says David wells for heating and cooling, and rooﬁng material that maximizes Corsun, director and associate professor at the university. As a re- clean rainwater runoﬀ. The college intends to apply for LEEDsult, these students gain valuable work experience in event manage- Silver certiﬁcation. “This is the college’s ﬁrst building with green construction,” Orlando says. “Aside from the obvious environmenment, food and beverage operations, and customer service. To fund the building, university oﬃcials solicited donations tal beneﬁts, it also has enhanced our ability to fundraise for the from businesses and alumni, who had areas in the conference center building from foundations.” universitybusiness.com December 2007 | 51 $6 million was borrowed for the hotel from a local lending agency; and the $5.1 million for the golf course came from a combination of borrowed money and naming opportunity gifts. While Martin says the conference center is the big draw, he quips, “It’s not enough to just meet ’em. You gotta sleep ’em and eat ’em too.” They also “golf ’em” there, which is an extra perk for golf-loving guests. Martin says it’s common for a group to meet during the day and play nine holes in the afternoon. The golf course also beneﬁts the students, who can play at a heavily discounted rate, and it’s the home of Clemson’s professional golf management school. Ultimately, he says, the intended audience of facility named after them. Once the center is proﬁtable, “the money we generate will be funneled into productive use that beneﬁts scholarship endowment, faculty, and staﬀ development for the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management,” Corsun says. http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of University Business - December 2007

University Business - December 2007 Contents College Index Company Index Advisory Board Editor's Note Behind the News Viewpoint Admissions On The Hill Marketing Future Stock Independent Outlook Technology Spending Survey '08 Conference Call A Working Education 30 Smart Business Ideas Educause in Emerald City What's New Calendar of Events End Note

University Business - December 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.