Tuck School of Business was recently ranked third-best worldwide and number one in the U.S. in facilities and services, according to a survey conducted by The Economist, which asked students to assess their schools based on the quality and availability of services and administrators’ attitudes.
Tuck’s residential atmosphere, sense of community and library resources set it apart from other schools, students and staff said.
John Wheelock Tu’15 said Tuck’s centrally located residential hall is one of its many positive assets, noting that the building’s proximity to classrooms and administrative facilities fosters community among students and faculty.
Tuck’s residential environment differentiates it from other business schools, Mateo Garcia Tu’15 said.
“In terms of services offered, my twin sister goes to Harvard, and I think they are pretty much the same,” he said. “In terms of other things like environment and architecture, we are much better than any other business school.”
He said he also appreciates the resources that students can access, including information on markets and visiting executives.
“In our business library, we have nine Bloomberg terminals, which is pretty unheard of for a school of this size,” he said.
Community at Tuck is the school’s most attractive feature, Adam Wilson Tu’15 said. This includes regular interactions with students, professors, staff and visitors, he said.
Tuck is one of the few top-ranked business schools that is residential in nature, Tuck senior associate dean Robert Hansen said. Most first-year students live on campus, which creates this community.
Though Tuck has 145 on-campus housing rooms, there is demand for 40 or 50 more, assistant dean for strategic initiatives Penny Paquette said.
Also, Hansen and Paquette said Tuck’s dining services need improvement, as the department is currently overburdened.
Yet Wilson and Wheelock said they are satisfied with the physical facilities of Tuck’s campus. Paquette said that building design, with space to chat outside the classroom, makes community building easier for students and staff.
“I think Tuck has a beautiful campus,” Wilson said. “There are other business schools in particular that might have fancier buildings or better cafeterias, but at the end of the day, I don’t think those are the things that make our experience at business school.”
Hansen said Tuck’s facilities also make it more convenient for faculty to do their work. For example, because resources are easily accessible in the library, faculty members do not need private assistants.
Hansen said administrators emphasize that Tuck’s “all-encompassing” environment integrates academic and outside-the-classroom experiences.
“You are living and learning 24 hours a day when you are a Tuck student,” he said. “Facilities support that kind of culture.”
Paquette said that Tuck’s sense of community extends to administrators and faculty as well.
