New business and technology building hosts dedication gala
(Oliver Yu/Lariat Staff)
A dedication ceremony for Irvine Valley College’s new Business Sciences Building had more than 100 members of the community in attendance on Oct. 22. The ceremony was made official by cutting a ribbon and speech by IVC College President Glenn R. Roquemore.
Students, local political leaders, the Irvine Chamber of Commerce and members of the community were in attendance. Chancellor Raghu Mathur, former president of IVC, delivered a speech regarding the history behind the initial idea of constructing the building.
“Over 10 years ago, having a business sciences building wasn’t even a top priority of the college’s master plan,” said Mathur. “Through faculty efforts, the Business Sciences Building emerged and gave a home to students that were business majors.”
Mathur explained the difficulties involved in the purchasing of the building as a result of the state budget crisis. ”A lack of funds and construction difficulties set the project months behind schedule but thanks to our Board of Trustees, we were able to move ahead and complete the project,” said Mathur. The building has since been open to students as well as the community.
“We’ve had very positive feedback from students and faculty on the new building,” said Roger Owens, dean of the school of business sciences.
This $19 million, 53,000 square foot, two-story building has nine classrooms, new computer centers and seminar rooms. The building has a media resource center equipped with 30 Mac computers available to students for research and homework.
”Unlike the library, students are allowed to talk and interact with their friends while working,” said IVC student Amir Sharifi, 23, business.
Seven computer labs are on hand for multimedia, digital media arts and computer information management courses.
Meeting spaces, as well as two seminar rooms with a 65-person capacity, are available to the community.