Fox expansion will open by end of break

Several graduate programs will occupy the lower floors of 1810 Liacouras Walk.

The Fox School of Business’ new skywalk under construction while students wander underneath it on Aug. 23. Fox’s extension will open after Thanksgiving break. | VEENA PRAKRIYA / FILE PHOTO

The Fox School of Business expansion into 1810 Liacouras Walk, and the skywalk, will open after fall break.

Dozie Ibeh, the associate vice president of Temple University’s Project Delivery Group, said Fox will occupy the first five floors of the extension after Nov. 25. The skywalk between the third floor of Speakman Hall and the fourth floor of 1810 Liacouras Walk will open at the same time, he wrote.

The $49 million expansion into 1810 Liacouras Walk began in August 2017 and the university expected it to be completed during Fall 2018 to coincide with Fox’s centennial celebration. 

Fox Interim Dean Ron Anderson said the expansion will fill the needs of Fox students and faculty.

“It will not take long to see the benefits of our school’s expansion into 1810 Liacouras Walk,” Anderson wrote in a statement to The Temple News. “Also, increased access to the university’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute and its renowned resources will be available to our university’s many makers, creators and entrepreneurs.”

The Business Communications Center, a tutoring center in Speakman Hall that helps Fox students improve their business writing, will occupy the second floor, according to a July 2017 release. It will also have space for Business Communication course instructors. 

The school’s Marketing and Communication division will also be relocated to the second floor, while the Department of Statistical Science will move to the third floor. Fox’s Office of Research, Doctoral Programs and Strategic Initiatives will occupy the fourth floor, and the fifth floor will house Fox’s Center for Executive Education.

The Temple News reported in August 2017 that Fox’s high rankings were one of the driving factors behind the school’s rapid development on campus. In January, Fox’s Online MBA lost its No. 1 rank from U.S. News and World Report after it self-reported a data error. An investigation has since revealed the school submitted falsified data for seven programs for years.

Senior marketing major Jo King is a peer tutor coordinator at the BCC, which will be relocated.

“We technically were supposed to have moved in already, but the date got postponed in the summer to some time this month,” King said.

Teresa Cirillo, the academic director for Business Communications who oversees the BCC, wrote in an email to The Temple News that she expects the center to move into the expansion at the end of the semester. 

“Opening a communications center during midterms or finals seems counterproductive,” King said. 

“I’m pretty neutral about [the move],” she added. “I never really saw the need for extra space at Fox.”

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