Liautaud Graduate School of Business

In fall 2011, students in the UIC Liautaud Graduate School of Business began to take the majority of their classes in the newly renovated Douglas Hall. The university commissioned The Architects Enterprise, Ltd. to design the adaptive reuse of Douglas Hall. Construction began in June 2010. The renovation involved gutting the entire structure and removal or precast concrete and glass, as well as the roof. The building provides an ultra-modern environment while preserving the original concept of Walter Netsch's Brutalist design, which defined UIC's campus. The building has been certified Gold by LEED.

At a projected cost of $11.7 million, the three-story structure occupies space immediately southeast of University Hall, between Halsted and Morgan streets. The building is flanked by Lincoln Hall and Grant Hall.

Interior Architect Harley Ellis Devereaux fitted the 24,000 sq. ft. glass and reinforced concrete structure with modern accents and muted colors.

• Geothermal Technology

A geothermal well is used as a central heating and/or cooling system that pumps heat to or from the ground.

It uses the earth as a heat source (in the winter) or a heat sink (in the summer). This design takes advantage of the moderate temperatures in the ground to boost efficiency and reduce the operational costs of heating and cooling systems,

The earth connection is a series of pipes buried in the ground between Douglas Hall and University Hall. The pipes carry water, which is the medium for heat between the ground and the building. The heat pump removes the heat from the fluid, concentrates it and transfers it to the building. For cooling, the process is reversed.

The thermal distribution system consists of conventional ductwork to distribute the heated or cooled air from the pump throughout the building.

In addition to geothermal heating and cooling, the old windows were replaced with an insulated glass curtain wall that makes use of daylight. They are covered with temperature-sensitive shades.

• Photovoltaic Panels

Photovoltaics is a method of generating electrical power by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity. Photovoltaic power generation employs solar panels composed of a number of solar cells containing a photovoltaic material.

The photovoltaics on the roof of Douglas Hall were partially funded by a grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation.

• Post-consumer Content

Many of the materials used in the construction of Douglas Hall were made from recycled materials.

The floors on the third floor are made from recycled tires, the terrazzo floor on the first level is made from recycled glass and mirrors. The glass curtain wall that wraps around the building is anchored by aluminum made with scrap metal.

• Recycled Rainwater

The paving stones around the building and in the Faith Dremmer Memorial Garden are used to capture rainwater so that it doesn't flow to the sewer. The layers of sediment and crushed stone underneath the paving stones diverts the rainwater to the native plants and flower surrounding the building.

In U.S. News & World Report's 2015 rankings, published in 2014, Liautaud Graduate School of Business was ranked 92nd for best business school.[3]

Liautaud Graduate School of Business continuously appears in The Princeton Review's top 295 business school ranking list.[4]

In 2013, the UIC Liautaud Graduate School of Business introduced a cohort-based, Saturday-only, AACSB-accredited MBA program that can be completed in two calendar years. The cohort program is designed to offer the opportunity for strong team-based collaboration and accelerate the program so that students can complete the required 54-credit hours in two calendar years. Students will take two courses each fall and spring semester, along with a total of three courses over each two-term summer. One summer option includes a two-week travel course in Brazil titled Doing Business in Brazil. Students enrolling in the Weekend MBA will complete all of the core courses required for the degree in the first year of study. In the second year, they will pursue advanced electives and complete a concentration. The concentrations guaranteed to be available in the Saturday offering are finance and general management. All of the classes will be offered in the new LEED gold certified Douglas Hall on the UIC campus.

The Accelerated MBA program is a one-year, full-time degree program designed to provide students with 0–4 years of work experience with all of the requirements for an MBA, including professional development and management skills. Once the core courses are complete, students have the opportunity to choose from one of three specialized areas of study to complete their degree:

• Finance
• Business analytics
• Marketing

• Business Statistics combines an advanced program in statistics and a variety of business applications including accounting, economics, finance, marketing, MIS, operations management and real estate. Students are trained to use state-of-the art computer hardware and software. A second area of support is chosen from departments within the college.
• Human Resource Management emphasizes organizational behavior through an examination of the psychological and sociological determinants of employee behavior in public and private sector organizational settings around the world. Students actively engage in empirical research designed to make theoretical advancements in the understanding of human behavior in organizations.
• Marketing allows for in-depth study of a variety of areas, including consumer behavior, international marketing, entrepreneurship, innovation and product development, and marketing strategy. Students work closely with faculty mentors and develop their own research program to better understand marketplace phenomena and generate new knowledge about marketing processes and buyer and seller behavior.