Collaboration and teamwork are at the heart of what it means to be a Broad Spartan. Our faculty and staff strive to create a collaborative nature among our students as well as a readiness for teamwork, both necessities for the business world and keys for success on campus.
On Sept. 27, the Broad College of Business officially celebrated the opening of the newly constructed Edward J. Minskoff Pavilion, a new home on campus for business students designed with a single-minded focus on fostering collaboration.
The state-of-the-art addition to the Broad Business Complex represents an exciting future for the college and was made possible with support from more than 1,700 Spartan alumni. The Pavilion offers a wide variety of new spaces and learning opportunities for students, undergraduate and above, and has marked the beginning of a larger transformation taking place on MSU’s campus.
While there are many things to explore, we’ve compiled the top 10 ways students can experience the Minskoff Pavilion.
1. Lear Corporation Lobby and atrium
The Minskoff Pavilion was designed with space in mind to invite conversation and engagement, which is evident in the Lear Corporation Lobby of the main entrance. The walkway and open atrium are great spots for students to rendezvous for group meetings or study sessions. From the terrazzo floor art to the floor-to-ceiling windows that give a perfect view of the Red Cedar River to the wall of donors who made it all possible, the Lear Corporation Lobby and atrium are not to be overlooked.
2. Grand Staircase
The Grand Staircase quickly catches your eye, as you’re at the top of it once you come through the lobby. The progressive design of the Grand Staircase allows it to function as a meeting space for students to think creatively and see things from a new perspective. (It also makes a pretty fun background for an Instagram post to impress your fellow Spartans.)
3. Russell Palmer Career Management Center
The Russell Palmer Career Management Center, located on the first level, offers professional advisory services to both undergraduate and graduate students. The center works closely with top employers who are seeking first-rate applicants. This direct connection between students and employers provides students with an important opportunity to network with prospective employers and prepare for taking their next steps.
4. Brian and Michele Kesseler Team Leadership Lab
Continuing in Broad’s history of collaborative, hands-on learning environments, the Pavilion offers a space devoted to teaching team dynamics leadership, and it’s unlike any other in the world. The Brian and Michele Kesseler Team Leadership Lab, on the second floor, includes simulations to examine team decision making in high-stress environments. The purpose of the lab is to improve team collaboration as well as leadership in unexpected and unconventional situations.
5. Team rooms
For Broad Spartans to make business happen, they need space in which to work together. Much of the new Pavilion is devoted to offering students adequate team workspace. Between the ground level and second floor, there are more than 20 team rooms of various sizes. Each of these rooms comes equipped with a Cisco Webex Room Kit, which allows for high-resolution videoconferencing, wireless device connectivity and easy-to-use multimedia connections.
6. Nooks, alcoves and lounges
An especially nice feature of the Pavilion is the more secluded sitting areas that can be found on each level. These nooks, alcoves and lounges offer a more relaxed environment for students to work on a project, cram for exams or unwind between classes in tucked-away spaces.
7. Entrepreneurship Lab
An exciting new opportunity for Broad students is the Entrepreneurship Lab on the ground floor. The lab is dedicated to fostering the development of students’ independent ventures. It will host workshops and coaching for students interested in striking out on their own. The lab is equipped with cutting-edge technology to give young entrepreneurs the tools necessary to be successful.
8. State-of-the-art classrooms
On each level of the Pavilion are state-of-the-art flexible classrooms that were built with optional partitions to adapt to any class size. The rooms also come equipped with projectors that, unlike most projectors in university classrooms, take only seconds to get started.
9. Panera Bread
Among students, possibly the most talked-about new addition to the Broad Business Complex is the Panera Bread, located on the ground level of the Pavilion. The fast-casual restaurant offers students another food option in addition to Starbucks in the Broad College’s North Complex. It’s a great spot to load up on caffeine and carbs for a long day.
10. The Great Lawn
The Great Lawn, located on the north end of the complex, sits next to the Red Cedar River and serves as the breathtaking backdrop for the open atrium at the heart of the building. The Great Lawn is one of several outdoor gathering spaces for students and faculty that showcase the beauty of MSU’s campus. As fall is now in full swing and we inch closer to winter, you might have to wait until the snow melts to enjoy it — though we’re in Michigan, so never say never.
This list only scratches the surface of what the Minskoff Pavilion has to offer. Eli and Edythe L. Broad Dean Sanjay Gupta described the Pavilion as a “momentous milestone in the Broad College’s journey to being a top-of-mind business school.” If you have yet to explore the Pavilion for yourself, now is your chance!
