An inside look at The Citadel's soon-to-be-completed new business school, Bastin Hall | News | postandcourier.com

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Light rain continues tonight. The showers continued overnight. Thunder might. Low 46F. Drive around WNW at a speed of 5 to 10 mph. It may rain 80%.

Dr. Russell Sobel, Professor of Economics and Entrepreneurship, uses his microphone to help students make Zoom calls during a class at the new Baker School of Business at the Bastien Hall Castle Hotel in Charleston on Tuesday, January 26, 2021 . Andrew J. Whitaker/Staff

On Tuesday, January 26, 2021, Cadet Taurus Brown, majoring in accounting, will attend classes at the Castle New Baker School of Business in Bastien Hall, Charleston, on Tuesday, January 26, 2021. Andrew J. Whitaker/Staff

Take a group photo at Bastin Hall in Charleston on January 26, 2021 (Tuesday). Dr. Michael Weeks, Dean of The Citadel New Baker School of Business. Andrew J. Whitaker/Staff

Professor of Economics and Entrepreneurship, Dr. Russell Sobel, demonstrated his distance learning equipment in the classroom of Bastion Hall’s Castle New Baker School of Business in Charleston on Tuesday, January 26, 2021. Andrew J. Whitaker/Staff

After more than two years of construction, the new home of The Citadel Business School is ready to welcome students and professors.

The Bastin Hall of Tommy and Victoria Baker School of Business is the first new academic building built on the campus of a public military school in 30 years.

The dean of the business school, Michael Weeks, said that the 44,000-square-foot building was built with students in mind.

From the fluent architectural design to the furniture used in the classrooms, everything is specially designed to create creative and collaborative spaces for students to work and study.

Wex said: "We believe that this will indeed change the educational experience of students."

Bastin Hall now hosts some of the university's most popular degree programs. Of the 2,400 members of the Cadet Corps, nearly 600 are mainly engaged in commercial activities. Another 375 castle students are pursuing an MBA or are pursuing an MBA program in school.

Although the finishing touch is still in progress, the first round of classes was held in the building on Monday. It is expected to be completed within two weeks and the opening ceremony will be held in April.

This $25 million building is located at the intersection of Hagood Avenue and Congress Street, across the street from the school’s football field and the alumni center.

It is one of the most popular functions of the college on campus.

After entering the main entrance, visitors will see a spacious public area/collaboration work area equipped with floor-to-ceiling windows and plenty of natural light. A circular stock ticker is hung from the high ceiling, and colorful numbers flash on its surface.

The new Bastin Hall building is a modern upgrade of the former business school residence. Bond Hall was originally built in 1922 and has had business school classrooms since the 1970s. Wicks said: "Here, we have a lot of state-of-the-art spaces, and this is what our previous old buildings did not have."

The brand new Bastin Hall gives you a glimpse of the modern learning environment of the 21st century.

Conyers Bull, the school’s multimedia services manager, said that most of the new classrooms are equipped with dual laser projectors, which have a much faster start/stop time than traditional ones.

Bull said that these rooms also include dual touch screen computer monitors, which means teachers don't have to turn their backs on students while teaching. If they want to write on the board, they can use the stylus to write on the touch screen.

However, one of the most anticipated technologies is the building's professional sales laboratory.

At first glance, this space may look like a traditional Bastin Hall classroom with dozens of tables and corresponding portable whiteboards. Before the start of the global coronavirus pandemic, these whiteboards will be stored next to the students' chairs, but they have since been converted into temporary virus blocking zones.

Inside the sales laboratory, multiple cameras are installed on the ceiling. Professors can use special software to connect it to cameras and microphones in nearby breakout rooms, where they can observe simulated sales promotion and role-playing exercises in real time.

They can even provide feedback or suggestions to speakers remotely from their location in the main laboratory.

Bob Riegler, head of marketing, supply chain management and economics, said that this technology is more than one game changer.

In addition to sales training, the laboratory can also be used to teach interview skills or conflict resolution training.

Riggle said: "This is indeed the most advanced." "This is the best product on the market."

On Monday, Riggle taught his first course in the new building.

He said: "The feedback from the students is amazing. They are really excited." "This is something they need to break to the next level."

Rick Bastin graduated from "Castle" in 1965, and he recalled his business course at Bond Hall.

He said: "When I was there, we didn't have air conditioning, which I didn't expect. We had open windows."

When he recalled his time there and his professors, Bastin was impressed that the university had changed a lot since he entered the campus.

When he was a student, calculator was just getting started.

He said: "We used to have to go to the table and the book to figure out all these things, now everything is at your fingertips."

Now, after Bastin was a student himself for more than 50 years, the Florida resident has been looking forward to finally seeing the new business school building named after him.

The state-of-the-art facilities were made possible because Bastan and his wife Mary Lee provided more than $6 million in gifts through the Castle Foundation.

Their family has provided support to the university for many years, having previously provided funds to create the Bastin Financial Lab. Since then, the space has been renamed Mary Lee and Rick Bastin of Financial Trading Lab '65 and is one of the main focuses of the new business school building.

Bastin said that he hopes that the construction of a new building will help the castle attract highly skilled professors who have not joined the college.

He said: "I want to see them stand at the forefront of technology and bring in teachers who are very comfortable with it."

In addition to the sales and financial laboratories, the new building also houses a consulting center and entrepreneurial innovation laboratory. The new building also includes a roof terrace that can be used for large gatherings and events.

Wicks said: "All these laboratories and all the technologies are connected, so they can take their ideas and put them into practice."

Cadet Taurus Brown, who participated in the castle under an Air Force contract, said that he was not only shocked by the new building, but how far he has traveled since he first enrolled in school.

Brown said: "I just think it will be a good place in the next few years." "I am very happy to see this building, I am very happy to be back and really see its changes."

Liollio Architecture was responsible for the design and construction of Bastin Hall. The THS contractor served as the general contractor for the project. 

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At 843-937-5764. Follow her on Twitter on @jennaschif.

January 26, 2021 (Tuesday), in Charleston, at the new Baker School of Business in Bastien Hall’s castle.

Jenna Schiferl was born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina, and graduated from the University of South Carolina. Since 2019, she has been an education reporter for The Post and Courier.

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