Georgia Southern’s College of Business Administration (COBA), one of Newsweek Magazine’s “Best AACSB Accredited Business Schools of 2016,” has announced plans to renovate and expand its 89,000 square foot facility on Southern Drive.

     The campaign to help fund the project, Building A Legacy, is underway as friends and alumni work to raise the $10 million needed to expand the College to accommodate the current enrollment of 3,600 students and to keep the school among the best in the nation.

     "Our College of Business was built in 1994 and has not undergone any significant renovations since that time," stated Allen C. Amason, dean of the College of Business. "The Building A Legacy initiative will allow us to renovate and expand our current footprint with a financial learning lab, and an atrium we're calling "The Hub." Renovating the building will allow the college to move forward competitively in recruiting the highest quality students and faculty."

     The original COBA building, completed before the internet was incorporated into classroom instruction, was designed to accommodate around 2,000 students and has never undergone significant renovations except for improvements due to average wear and tear, such as paint, carpet and new furniture. The original COBA building was constructed at a cost of approximately $16 million.

     According to reports, many other business schools at comprehensive universities across the nation, like Georgia Southern, have announced renovations and expansions or are building new buildings. The average size of these new buildings is 160,000 square feet with an average cost of $66 million.

     According to COBA’s website, “classroom layout and design needs to be updated to provide greater instructional flexibility. The updated classrooms will be retrofitted with the latest in technology for leading-edge instruction. The financial learning lab will provide a customized facility for studying financial markets, monetary policy, financial securities, investment vehicles and other related topics. The lab will feature the newest technology and provide a venue for guest lecturers, student competitions, board meetings and recruiting events.

     The renovation and expansion will enable COBA to continue to be among the leading business schools in the nation.”

     To become a part of “Building A Legacy” or to learn more about the project, visit http://coba.georgiasouthern.edu/buildingalegacy/.