Campus

Bauer Honors builds new commons

Bauer Honors students will have a new place to call home this fall when construction crews complete a renovated commons area on the second floor of Melcher Hall.

Bauer Honors, which used to share its commons with the Honors College in the M.D. Anderson Memorial library, will get its own space in the Bauer School of Business. | Kayla Stewart/The Daily Cougar

Bauer Honors, which used to share its commons with the Honors College in the M.D. Anderson Memorial library, will get its own space in the Bauer School of Business. | Kayla Stewart/The Daily Cougar

The commons area, which will include two classrooms, offices for academic adviser, and study areas, is intended to bolster the academic and social community of the Bauer Honors program.

“Bauer Honors is all about community, so this provides an opportunity to enhance that, since it will create a common space where our business honors students will constantly be utilizing,” said the program’s administrative director Sarah Gnospelius.

Previously, Bauer Honors had been using space in the Honors College, located on the second floor of the M.D. Anderson Memorial Library, as a place to host its events. However, the population of the Honors College has grown, and it has become more difficult to make reservations.

“We wanted a space that could be just for Bauer Honors. Somewhere to have the opportunity to expand our current events, have our alumni to come back to and hold recruiting meetings with employers that want to recruit our students,” Gnospelius said.

Matt Null, a senior finance major and former Bauer Honors Mentor, said that the commons is just another example of the “customer service” that the Bauer Honors program offers to its students.

“It just provides more amenities to the Bauer Honors students,” Null said.

“That’s a major theme throughout Bauer Honors: providing us with all the tools we could possibly use to further our education and professional prospects.”

Colleen Davies, an academic advisor for Bauer Honors, will be moving with Gnospelius into the new commons when it opens.

“It’s a one stop shop for resources,” Davies said.

Davies said the commons will add to the recruitment of prospective students, which already includes a tour of the Honors College, a tour of Melcher Hall, and sitting in on an Honors class.

“This will be an additional way to say: ‘We have all these facilities for you. We just need to get you on campus to see what you could be here to utilize,’” Davies said.

When he gives tours to prospective students, Null said he makes sure to point out the construction.

“We may not have a big name like UT or (Texas) A&M, but we offer a lot of services to our students and (the commons) is just another one of those things that we can offer to get the best and the brightest,” Null said.

Null plans on utilizing the commons himself as soon as the construction is finished.

“It’s going to be where Colleen and Sarah have their offices, so they’ll be really accessible,” Null said. “It’s going to be an awesome social space to hang out with my friends, so I’m really excited about it.”

The commons is scheduled to open with the Bauer Honors Annual Mixer this September.

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