The College of Business Administration is renovating a classroom in White Hall to accommodate students interested in the department’s Executive Master of Business Administration program.The classroom will cost about $80,000 and will include a viewing monitor that allows interactive writing, a ceiling mounted with speakers and a high-resolution projector, Luke Cashen, director of the EMBA program, said.

The student demand for the program has risen beyond the University’s classroom availability. On Feb. 6, the third EMBA class began at the Barker Family Executive Classroom in Houma. Twenty-seven students are enrolled.

Cashen said the program, which can be completed in 17 months, is for workers to learn basic business skills and earn a Master of Business Administration degree. The program is designed to assist business professionals, with or without a bachelor’s degree in business, in making the most of their time and talent.

The EMBA program is widely used among working professionals and is designed for students that have been out of school, who are looking to come back and get a graduate education, Cashen said.

Most of the students have been out of school for 13 years or more. The classroom has students who come from very broad backgrounds, such as operation managers, vice presidents and entrepreneurs who are looking to bring their company to the next level, Cashen said.

Another class will begin in October.

Cashen said businesses are starting to use the program more frequently, such as the John Deere Company, which will send its fourth participant, and the American Bureau of Shipping in compliance with Coast Guard Regulations, which will send its third. DynMcDermott Petroleum Operations also uses the program and will send its second participant.

“Companies are starting to recognize the value of the EMBA program,” Cashen said.

Shawn Mauldin, dean of the College of Business Administration, said the EMBA classroom should be ready this fall.