AT&T and UT Announce Naming of AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center
AT&T Inc. and The University of Texas at Austin have announced the naming of the university’s new AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center and an exclusive communications services agreement in recognition of a $25 million commitment from AT&T to the university.
As the official communications partner of the center, AT&T will deploy
the latest technology, including Wi-Fi service and universal cell phone
and handheld device charging stations, to enrich the
communications and learning experience for continuing education students
and guests.
“By combining UT’s long history of educational excellence with AT&T’s 130 years of communications expertise, we will together create one of the best facilities of its kind in America,” said Jim Cicconi, AT&T senior executive vice president for external and legislative affairs. “As befits a university of the first class, this center will be cutting edge in every respect.”
Under the terms of the 25-year partnership, AT&T will equip the center with the latest innovations in voice, broadband, wireless and television services. The university will provide visitors and guests with complimentary AT&T Wi-Fi service and AT&T television in individual guest rooms, the lobby, educational spaces and other public common areas. Each guest room and conference room will be equipped with universal cell phone and PDA charging stations. AT&T will also equip a full-service business center to provide state-of-the-art technology and communications services. All AT&T services will be provided to the university at or below market rates.
Community Building
Scheduled to open in August 2008, the 500,000-square-foot center will serve the meeting and conferencing needs of the university community and state and national higher education associations. With its comprehensive array of features, it will be among the premier executive education facilities in the nation.
Located on the southern edge of the Forty Acres at the intersection of Martin Luther King Boulevard and University Drive, the center will also serve as a new gateway to the university.
“We are grateful to be the recipients of this major gift from AT&T,” said George W. Gau, dean of the McCombs School. “It is a credit to our faculty, staff and students that a company of this reputation, history and market standing has chosen to make such a significant investment in our executive education efforts.” Gau added that he was particularly grateful to Red McCombs in helping arrange this gift from AT&T.
The architecturally unique facility, designed by the award-winning San Antonio firm Lake|Flato Architects, will contain seven tiered classrooms, a 300-seat amphitheater, multiple breakout rooms, several conference rooms and an 800-seat ballroom to complement 300 guest rooms, three restaurants and 15,000 square feet of office space.
Home Away From Home
An open design allows natural light to permeate the building and makes sweeping views of the UT Tower, the Littlefield Fountain and interior courtyard possible throughout the building. With arches throughout the public spaces and prominent quotes etched into the walls, the building reflects elements of the Main Building. A warm color palette featuring burnt orange, browns and light yellow shades represents the university at every corner. Hotel rooms share the earthy tones, in addition to calming blues, and guests may choose to upgrade their room to president, provost, chancellor or regent suites.
The three restaurants will offer visitors an array of dining options. The Carillon, a 300-seat fine dining restaurant, will replace the Campus Club in Walter Webb Hall. (Heard chiming from the UT tower at 12:50 each day, a carillon is a set of fixed chromatically tuned bells sounded by hammers controlled from a keyboard.) Gabriel’s Sports Café, which is expected to be a primary viewing location for Texas Longhorn football games, will contain a projection screen visible from both inside and outside of the building. The Tejas Dining Room will offer buffet service to guests on the run between class sessions.
The interior courtyard insulates guests from the noise of nearby roads and will feature a fountain and native Texas plants, which have been selected for their rotating flowering schedule throughout the year.
Bounded by University Avenue, Martin Luther King Boulevard, Whitis Avenue, and 20th Street, the center is located two blocks from the McCombs School of Business. It will position the business school, which is the anchor client for the facility, as one of the leading providers of both degree and non-degree executive education in the United States.