Farmer School of Business Building (Miami University)

History

The building originally used for the Farmer School of Business, Laws Hall, was located across the street on Oxford’s campus. Although Laws was the official home, not all departments in the school were ever housed in the same building until the opening of the Farmer School. With the growth of the program and a need for more space and better facilities to distinguish itself, Farmer began the transition into creating the new Farmer School of Business.

Construction

The building took 30 months to complete and was finished ahead of schedule and under budget. On December 10, 2004, the university’s board of trustees voted unanimously to approve the site of the building on High Street, where Reid Hall (residence) was located until its demolition in 2006. Eleven different sites were considered for the home of the business school, including Bishop Woods. A 4,500 person petition was signed and kept the building from being placed over the top of one of the university’s oldest and most protected woodlands, which is located rather central to the academic buildings on campus. The building was dedicated at 2 p.m. on November 7, 2009 in a ceremony outside the building.

Financial Contributions

University Financial Reports from the years 2006 and 2007 mention the planning for the Farmer School of Business as a package that included several other construction endeavors put into place by the university. In February 2007, the university issued $83.2 million in general receipt bonds, which were put not only toward the Farmer School but also the renovation of several other residence halls and buildings on the Oxford Campus, as well as the construction of the university’s Voice of America campus in West Chester, Ohio. In the 2006 university report, $6.7 million was granted through the Love and Honor alumni group from a 1969 graduate, William Mayhall, to support the Farmer School of Business.

The Farmer Website states that 80% of the building’s financial backing was through donors and individual or corporate contributions, most notably from Richard T. Farmer, founder of Cintas Corporation. The combined total of all contributions from private donors reached $50 million.

Building Aspects

At 210,000 square feet, the building contains 12 case classrooms, 8 “cluster” rooms, 3 “standard” rooms (one with capabilities to be used as a mock trial room), 3 seminar rooms, 1 trading room, 1 small auditorium (150 persons), 1 large auditorium (500 persons), and 4 teaching labs. There are also 136 faculty offices to house all six Oxford departments. In addition to these rooms and offices, there are also three major centers in the Farmer building. The Thomas C. Page Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Armstrong Interactive, and Center for Business Excellence are all located in the 800 E. High building.

Also a major part of the building is the student commons, which is located on the main level. This area is a place for congregation and meetings among students with power outlets and seating and tables. There are also 13 break-out rooms which can be reserved by students or classes. Student organizations also share a suite in the building. The Forsythe Library and Technology Center is located on the main level near the Taylor Auditorium, which is used as a quiet library-like setting for individual study and printing and tech services.

The building also has a dining services location, Dividend$. A café-like location, Dividend$ offers students take-out food for breakfast and lunch during the week. The location serves a la carte items through the university’s culinary center as well as four major divisions.

Architecture

The Farmer School of business was designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects of New York City and Moody Nolan, Inc. of Columbus. In order to keep with the university’s, the building was built with red brick and copulas. [

Environmental goals

The Farmer School of Business building was the first of Oxford’s campus to receive the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design(LEED) certification. The building utilizes several advanced technologies to help it reduce waste and maintain top-notch efficiency. According to the LEED Consultant and Mechanical-Electrical SystemsDesign Engineer for the project, Heapy Engineering listed the following technologies as crucial to gaining the LEED certification: “energy efficient Mechanical-Electrical systems, maximized use of natural light (and daylight dimming controls throughout), over 80% of project waste was diverted from landfills, water use reduction through the installation of low-flow flush valves and fixtures and the utilization of a fully integrated green cleaning program to improve the health and safety of the indoor environment through the responsible use of the latest in green cleaning technology and practices.”

Importance to the university

The Farmer School of Business is consistently ranked as one of the best programs, undergraduate and graduate, in the nation. Business Week’s 2010 rankings held the school as the 16th best in the nation, and 6th among public schools. It is the highest ranked in the state of Ohio. The facilities received an A+ ranking, which is higher than some of the schools scoring overall higher than the Farmer School. This ranking highlights both the FSB prestige and the impact that the Farmer building has had on the school. The Business Week rankings have been steadily increasing, moving up two spots between 2009 and 2010, and one could presume that with the new technologies and facilities at the Farmer School of Business building, the program itself is becoming better. It is indeed the goal of the Farmer School of Business to continually improve the education of its pupils through the utilization of state of the art technology and better facilities to encourage small team and seminar learning.