Floor-to-ceiling windows at The HUB at Commerce Square accentuate the views of Market Street from one of its many breakout rooms. Even on a soggy night, the sight was something to behold.
“Just amazing,” one current Executive MBA student was overheard saying to himself.
Temple University’s Fox School of Business welcomed more than 100 guests to The HUB for a July 15 reception, celebrating the Executive MBA’s relocation and the Executive DBA program’s launch. Both programs will be housed at the innovative executive meeting facility, located at 20th and Market streets.
This marks the first time in nearly three decades that Fox School’s EMBA has been offered within the city limits, moving the program from the suburbs to Center City.
Current and prospective students, faculty and alumni took in The HUB’s lush facilities and modern amenities on ushered tours of its second-floor suites. In close proximity to major interstate highways, AMTRAK, SEPTA Regional Rail and the Philadelphia International Airport, The HUB will foster an expanded market reach for Fox School’s EMBA program, which earned a top-20 ranking nationally by Financial Times.
The new location also will cater to Fox School’s vision for a greater global reach, with an MBA program opening in early 2015 in Seoul, South Korea, and another following soon thereafter in Beijing, China. Global MBA students have the option to enroll in courses at any other locations offered by Fox, and The HUB will make Philadelphia a more-attractive option for international students, said Howard Weiss, the academic director of Fox School’s EMBA program.
“It’s much better to have the program in the city and it will prove to be much easier, especially for when we have events at The HUB and (Main Campus),” Weiss said. “We look forward to building a strong partnership here at The HUB for many years to come.”
A vibrant business center located in the heart of Center City Philadelphia, The HUB features comprehensive communication services and state-of-the-art audio and visual equipment.
Primary classroom spaces are fitted with moveable, whiteboard walls, which give way to expansive breakout areas. Equipped with free, high-speed wireless Internet access throughout, The HUB also is in partnership with Stephen Starr Events to provide a top-tier, on-site dining experience. Tours of The HUB concluded at its deluxe 120-seat auditorium.
The HUB will house the 16-month EMBA and the three-year, part-time EDBA programs, the latter of which will start its first cohort in September.
Sharon Guess, a resident of Chestnut Hill, couldn’t help but consider how differently her time in the program – which she refers to as “a life-changing experience” – would have been, had The HUB’s prime location been available to her.
“This is an amazing environment … and it makes everything that much easier,” said Guess, a 2010 Fox EMBA alumna and a senior project manager with the School District of Philadelphia. “This is a good move.”