Kelley School of Business undergraduate building renamed

Renovation and expansion on the newly renamed Hodge Hall Undergraduate Center, the undergraduate building of the Kelley School of Business, is scheduled to begin in mid-May.

In a presentation ceremony March 30, IU President Michael McRobbie announced the dedication of the building to Kelley alumnus James Hodge. Hodge, president of Permal Asset Management in New York, donated $15 million for the expansion project.

“Forty years later, after the first time I set foot on this campus in fact, both the building and I are due for a facelift,” Hodge said at the ceremony, according to a press release. “It makes me feel really good to do something with the goodness that’s fallen on me, for the institution that’s done so much for me.”

The expansion and renovation are estimated to cost $60 million. In addition to Hodge’s gift, Lilly Endowment provided $33 million. A website devoted to the project is accepting donations, and as of Thursday, donors have provided more than $56 million in funding.

The current undergraduate building is almost 50 years old, and while still structurally sound, Kelley Dean Dan Smith said “the current technology and facilities are not where we want them to be for our vision of where we want to go in the future.”

Part of the renovation and expansion will increase classroom space as well as small-group study space, Smith said. The additional space will in turn affect the number of students admitted to Kelley.

“We will probably increase our enrollment by about 100 to 150 students each year,” Smith said. “So, over the course of four years, we’ll add between 400 and 600 more students to the Kelley School.”

The renovation will also create opportunities for distance learning and other technologies, in line with Kelley’s goal of achieving a more global presence, Smith said.

“The way business education is being delivered now requires a robust technological backbone,” said Rick Dupree, Kelley assistant dean of development and alumni relations.

He said the renovations will allow the school to utilize, among other things, the distance learning technology TelePresence, which he said he hopes will enable the school to digitally bring in CEOs and other executives from around the world.
Dupree described the renovated undergraduate facility as “a beautiful building but not opulent.”

He said he hopes the new facility will create an inviting atmosphere for students of all concentrations to stay after classes, fueling increased cross-collaboration.
The renovation and expansion will occur in two phases, he said.

In the first phase, expansion will take place in a wrap-around fashion in relation to the existing undergraduate facility. This will allow students’ schedules to remain the same, Dupree said, because students will still be able to attend classes in the current building.

Classrooms in the Godfrey Graduate and Executive Education Center will also be used. Phase one will last about two years.

The second phase will consist of renovation of the current undergraduate facility. At that time, students will attend classes in the expanded facility, Dupree said, as well as the graduate facility.

Both Smith and Dupree said the construction will not significantly interrupt classes, as noisy construction will be completed largely during evenings and weekends.