Summer Facilities Updates

Final exams are completed, undergrads have packed their bags, and seniors are enjoying one last week on campus before Commencement. During the summer, many units slow down to recharge and retool for the next academic year. Because activities slow down, it is the ideal time for renovations and refreshes in our buildings. Here is an update on what we have planned this summer and beyond:

Summer Hours 
Summer hours for Mendoza and Stayer are 7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. daily. You may use your Irish 1 ID card to swipe into the buildings outside those hours. If you enter or leave after 6 pm, please ensure the exterior doors close and latch behind you to keep our buildings secure.

Stayer Theming Project
The visual theming elements throughout Stayer Center will be updated. Directional signs will be updated to the new University standard, campus imagery will be added to each level of the stairwells highlighting our three Cs, and the illuminated glass panels will be updated to reflect our mission statement and a quote from Cardinal O’Hara. A new lift system will be installed in the Stayer atrium so that banners can easily be changed out seasonally.  Work on this project will begin after Commencement and is expected to be completed by August 1.

Mendoza Behavioral Lab
In alignment with the University's Strategic Framework, one of Dean Cremers’ top goals for Mendoza is to elevate the quality and quantity of research impacting business and society. To that end, a new Mendoza Behavioral Lab will be located in the northwest area of the lower level on the site of the former Cafe Commons and classroom L004. With more than 2,500 square feet of dedicated space, the behavioral lab will significantly increase the quality and quantity of our research efforts. Key features include a 36-seat computer lab with a flexible area for virtual reality or marketing studies, four flexible team rooms capable of running concurrently with the computer lab, two biometrics labs, a large check-in/waiting room, research assistant work areas, a kitchen and equipment storage. Construction on the behavioral lab will begin in January 2025 and is expected to be completed in May 2025.

Classroom Renovations
As we prepare to construct the new Mendoza Behavioral Lab, the function of two classrooms will be swapped this summer. The equipment from computer classroom L004 will be moved to its new permanent home in L050. The configuration of L004 will be changed to a modular/seminar-style classroom for the fall semester until L004 is eventually subsumed into the new Behavioral Lab. Work on this project will begin after Commencement and is expected to be completed before August 24.

Mendoza North Addition
By this time next year, contractors will be staging equipment and preparing to break ground on Mendoza’s north addition. This project will create over 27,000 square feet of new space, including a 130-seat tiered classroom/auditorium, two flat modular classrooms (34-48 seats), group study and conference rooms, nine Ph.D. student workstations, a large undergraduate lounge, a new home for our data science team and 18 new private offices. As you can see in the rendering, the exterior of the north addition matches the existing facade seamlessly,  making it look like it was always there.  Construction on the north addition begins immediately after Commencement 2025 and is anticipated to be completed by August 2026.

Whenever possible, we prefer to execute these construction and renovation projects during the summer months. However, the overlap of the Behavioral Lab and North Addition construction with the academic schedule is unavoidable. Unfortunately, it is simply not feasible to conduct this work only during summer months or limit it to hours outside of scheduled classes. We are working on plans to mitigate disruption, but there will inevitably be noise and inconvenience as we make these major changes to our facilities. For this, we apologize. We appreciate your flexibility and grace through these projects to improve our working and learning environments. Stay tuned for more details and renderings of these projects. 

Ron Grisoli
Facilities Program Director