University President John T. Casteen III announced yesterday that the Commerce School and the College will undertake a joint venture to result in additional classroom space and the creation of interdisciplinary courses and programs.
Commerce School Dean Carl Zeithaml, who led the effort to work with the College, explained the motivation behind the project.
"The Commerce School needed a larger building, and more space was impossible without tearing down Monroe Hall," Zeithaml said. "We looked for alternate sites and Rouss Hall was one of the sites I discussed with [College Dean] Ed Ayers. We spent a long time talking in the spirit of cooperation."
As part of the project, Rouss Hall will undergo renovations and a large classroom building will be constructed behind it. The new building will become the home to the Commerce School and the renovated Rouss Hall will house interdisciplinary classes.
The economics department, currently housed in Rouss Hall, would then move to another location.
A gift of $500,000 from Commerce School alumnus John Griffen, founder and president of Blue Ridge Capital, will go toward the creation of interdisciplinary programs between the Commerce School and the College.
"We're hoping other alumni from the College and the Commerce School will join with him. He's been generous in his gift and getting this started," Zeithaml said.
New interdisciplinary programs and classes between the schools will allow College students to take more Commerce School classes. Additionally, such cooperative planning could create an interdisciplinary business minor in the College.
"We want to expand the number of interdisciplinary classes and work with different departments to develop new courses," Zeithaml said.
Although "the classrooms on the Lawn will be shared between the Commerce School and the College, there will be no sign and the appearance of the Lawn will not change," College Dean Edward L. Ayers said.
Ayers said he was unsure where the economics department will move.
"The economics department is pulling a lot of weight for the College and we want to make sure that they have a first rate building," he added.
Economics department officials also said they did not yet know where administrators would send them.
"I had heard we are going to be moved to one of the new buildings on the South Lawn or the other option is somewhere else on main Grounds, we haven't been told where," Economics Prof. Christopher Otrok said.
Despite losing their Lawn location, Ayers and Zeithaml both believe the project will help the economics department.
"What the College hopes is the opportunity to take courses through the Commerce School will help alleviate the burden on the economics department," Zeithaml said.
Ayers agrees the new arrangement should help lessen enrollment woes.
"It's my hope that this will relieve some of the enrollment pressure on the economics department," since students will be able to take interdisciplinary courses instead of only economics courses, he said.
Plans for renovating Rouss Hall offer a welcome opportunity to those familiar with its climate control and seating problems.
Economics Prof. Ed Olsen said Rouss has many problems. The economics department previously had proposed a renovation of Rouss Hall that would keep the building in their possession, but that never took place.
"People would probably prefer to stay at Rouss, of course it's nice to be on the Lawn. But that's not the most important issue. The issue of hiring faculty is more important," Otrok said.
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