Life Skills Learning Labs

The Qubein Arena and Conference Center is home to HPU Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams, as well as a venue for major events, speakers, concerts, entertainment, academic symposia and recreational activities. Here, students find experiential learning opportunities. Communication students host game day pre-shows that air on HPU+ and operate video and production equipment to broadcast events on the state’s largest collegiate Jumbotron. Students even play a huge part in helping run the arena by operating the Panther Boutique and Team Store. The opportunities for students in event management, hospitality, sport management, media production and more to gain hands-on experience in the Qubein Arena and Conference Center are endless.

HPU President Nido Qubein teaches a course required for all freshmen. This weekly seminar helps students develop fiscal literacy, time management skills, effective communication, leadership abilities and much more. The seminar also includes sessions with global leaders who serve in residence at HPU, such as Russell Weiner, CEO of Domino’s and HPU’s Corporate Executive in Residence.

While some colleges provide an etiquette class during a student’s senior year, HPU provides students with four years of career preparation inside 1924 PRIME and Alo, HPU’s fine-dining learning labs. Here, students practice their interview and etiquette skills over a weekly dinner as part of their meal plan. In addition, they’re exposed to a wide variety of cultural cuisines and traditions.

Inside the Nido R. Qubein School of Communication is a space that most students only find outside a college campus. A fully operational TV studio with cameras, teleprompters and an operations room is housed here. Communication majors broadcast live shows and work on class projects in the full-size studio equipped with state-of-the-art technology. This space ensures students will be comfortable in a real-world newsroom.

This boutique hotel is one big classroom. Students in hospitality management learn what it takes to run a hotel in the Jana and Ken Kahn Hotel with the help of HPU professors and seasoned staff in the hospitality industry. The Kahn Hotel is a learning lab integrated into the curriculum of the Nido R. Qubein School of Communication. This academic configuration gives hospitality management majors vital experience to succeed in their careers.

Located in Plato S. Wilson Hall, this interactive trading room is where students watch how the market affects funds in real time. A live stock ticker circles this classroom while students use trading software throughout their courses. The preparation students experience in the Tilley Trading Room sets them up for working in the finance industry after graduation.

The Shelton Innovation Lab features multiple stations that allow for different STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) lessons and activities to take place inside HPU’s Stout School of Education. Education students lead classes, learn practical applications for lesson planning and more.

HPU’s Entrepreneurship Center is a collaborative space for students to compete and share business plans, win money for their ventures, gain access to experienced business leaders and so much more. The center breeds collaboration and creativity and is fluid with current business trends and needs. Students learn new venture concepts using real-world scenarios based on the center’s interactions with the local business community and in-residence faculty experts. Pictured is Dee Ann Turner (left), former Chick-fil-A vice president for talent and HPU’s Talent Acquisition Expert in Residence, working with students in the center, including Quentin Barrial (right), a business administration major from Atlanta, Georgia.

HPU’s Caine Conservatory brings the beauty of the arboretum and botanical gardens inside for research and enjoyment. The space provides a living laboratory for classes in the sciences to teach topics related to biogeography, comparative anatomy, horticulture and more. Classes from the arts also use the space for sketching and even dance performances. The innovation found in the Caine Conservatory reflects the university’s commitment to perseverance, adaptability and a growth mindset.

HPU students thrive in real-life scenarios because they test themselves in a similar setting. Inside Plato S. Wilson Hall is an executive boardroom that mirrors the environment students will experience after graduation. This allows students to get comfortable with presenting themselves in a corporate setting.