RUTGERS BUSINESS SCHOOL MOVING TO NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART HEADQUARTERS AT 1 WASHINGTON PARK
August 17, 2009
When Rutgers Business School students arrive for classes this fall, they are in for a treat: a brand new state-of-the-art building and headquarters at 1 Washington Park in Newark, located just a few blocks north of the school’s previous location. The new location will be supported by shuttle transportation to easily get around the expanded Newark campus. Customized public safety initiatives, new food options, and advanced technology provided for the benefit of the RBS community will help make this move an exciting transition for RBS. 1 Washington Park will not only provide countless resources for RBS students, faculty, centers, and staff, but will also provide the entire Rutgers University and Newark community with a northward extension of the Newark campus. The move will spark pedestrian traffic, increase the use of public transportation, and develop the Washington Park, James Street, and Orange Street areas furthering the revitalization of Newark. All RBS offices and classrooms will now be in one main building as opposed to being scattered among three different buildings. “The best part of the building is the new student experience,” said Kevin Dowlin, Director of RBS Information Technology. “Everything is here for student convenience: student services, computer labs, student lounges, food, lockers, and more. With the light rail and train stations nearby, students also have easy access to New York City and beyond.”The first 11 of 17 floors at 1 Washington Park will house Rutgers Business School classes, faculty and staff offices, departments, centers, and will even have a police substation for added security (located on the 8th floor). The facilities will include undergraduate, MBA, PhD, and executive classrooms and meeting spaces to accommodate the student enrollment of RBS of approximately 3,500 students taking classes in Newark. On top of the two-story entry pavilion will be a 12,000 foot rooftop sustainable garden consisting of ornamental grasses and plants for students, faculty, staff, and visitors to enjoy. The remaining floors 12 to 17 will be used by local businesses.State-of-the-art facilityStudents and faculty will derive tremendous benefit from state-of-the-art facilities for study, teaching, and research. Each of the approximately 30 classrooms in the new building is fully outfitted with electronic “smart” classroom technology, to provide for significant interactions between students and faculty with a built-in computer and projector screen for instruction. Approximately five classrooms will have recording capabilities to record lectures and another five will have touch screen podiums. In addition to these “smart” classrooms, there are various distance learning instructional technology classrooms with large screens for presentations. There is also a main non-instructional computer lab for students, six video conferencing rooms, a new VoIP phone system, and the newest, fastest wireless internet connection (802.11n) available throughout the entire building.One of the most unique features of 1 Washington Park is the new RBS trading room located on the ground floor. The trading room is a specialized computer lab, equipped with 64 computers. The trading room will also house two electronic data boards showing real-time stock information that will automatically refresh every 15 minutes. Outside the room will be an electronic stock ticker, in addition to the two electronic stock tickers that will scroll across the outside of the building. The technology created specifically for this trading room will provide students with real-time stock and finance information.Although students are excited about the move, they voiced some concerns about transportation. “I am very excited about the new building,” said Magdalena Galik, RBS senior. “RBS will finally have its own building with smart classrooms, a cafeteria and student lounges. But I am little concerned about commuting to the rest of the campus."Students and visitors will have various transportation options to get to and from 1 Washington Park. Shuttles will take students from the new expanded part of campus to Boyden Hall and the Center for Law and Justice to help students arrive to their classes and cars easily if they would rather not walk the approximately 7-10 minute walk to the south end of campus.The new headquarters will promote the use of mass transit with the Broad Street train station and the Newark Light Rail conveniently located minutes from the building. With these options available, New York City is just a short train ride away.Many people were involved in the creation and vision of the new building and many are responsible for making the move a success. “The cooperation between everyone working on the project has just been outstanding,” said Patricia O’Toole, Senior Department Administrator, who has worked on the project since inception three years ago. “And we are all very excited to move in.”For maps, directions and more information, please visit business.rutgers.edu/building2009. Related Articles: 1 Washington Park spurring redevelopment in Newark, creating a 24/7 cityThe nuts and bolts of 1 Washington Park: parking, safety, food and more Hannah Redmond hredmond@business.rutgers.edu
