An Extra Sense of Pride

By Terry Tush

Jay Cheves has seen major transformation on Oklahoma State University’s Stillwater campus since arriving as a freshman in 2001. As a project manager for the OSU Long Range Facilities Planning group the past 10 years, he has played an important role in the renovations of several of OSU’s most historic buildings, including Old Central, Murray Hall and the Student Union.

But he says working as the project manager for the new Business Building is an experience he won’t soon forget. Cheves was an OSU business student who earned a bachelor’s degree in management with a minor in marketing in 2006.

“There’s always an amount of pride that comes with saying you had a hand in either restoring those spaces or renovating them, and changing the face of campus. That makes me feel good,” Cheves says. “I take a lot of pride in that because I love this university.

“But the new Business Building will be more special to me because it’s my college. I remember taking classes in the addition that we tore down for this new building, and I remember trying to find professors’ offices. I remember waiting on that elevator little bit more ownership to me, knowing that this will be a huge step forward for the school of business.”

Cheves is OSU’s representative to the construction management firm (Manhattan Construction), the architecture firm (Elliott + Associates), and all other entities involved in the project. This includes the Spears School, OSU Dining (operators of the snack bar on the first floor), and others.

“I’m responsible for looking out for OSU and the Spears School’s interests, making sure they are getting a quality product, making sure their needs are getting met, making sure they are getting a functional space,” says Cheves, who is responsible for making sure the project stays within budget.

“Manhattan Construction and Elliott + Associates have been great to work with. They have just as much pride in the building as I do.”

But the 34-year-old admits there have been challenges in building the 147,450-square-foot building.

“The first challenge was just the structure itself, building on that radius and keeping the crescent shape. The building is faceted, so just making sure everything lined up and making sure it’s structurally sound and weather tight,” he says. “The day-to-day challenges are just balancing the dynamic between trying to make areas special, getting it done in a timely manner, making sure everything is functional, and then keeping everything on budget.

“We really want to give the Spears School a high-quality product that will be unique but also will be functional, serviceable and on budget.”

Cheves knows the new building like the back of his hand.

“I think my favorite space is the Tack Room, the fourth floor south conference room,” he says. “I like to sit in there and look out at the view of the green space south of the library lawn. That’s a view that really hasn’t been seen before on campus because there hasn’t been a building here that would allow for that, and it’s just such a pretty view.”

Although he won’t be taking any classes, Cheves knows where he’ll be the second week of January when the Spring 2018 semester begins. It will be the first time students will be in the building to use the 13 classrooms, 17 breakout/team rooms and numerous other meeting spaces.

“I can’t wait to see the students come in and their eyes get big, watch them stick around and watch them flow through the space, and see where they end up hanging out,” Cheves says. “Probably the best part for me is when you finish and you see the students walk in with that look on their face that says, ‘Wow!’”