School of Business Gazette > June 1, 2003

Message from the Dean

As you know, the summer months will be a time of transition for us as we adjust to reductions in our budget and some changes in our administrative structure. The budget cuts are painful and our first priority is to work with affected individuals to find alternative placements. The cuts have come at a time when we were rethinking our strategy and organization. As a result, we can adjust to the budget reductions in ways that sharpen our focus on key priorities and hopefully, we can rally our alumni around our new strategic plan. While we have sent out several e-mail announcements about our administrative changes, a condensed version of these changes is provided below.

R.D. Nair will become senior associate dean for faculty and research. In this role, R.D. will coordinate with department chairs on recruitment, development, promotion and retention of faculty. He will also oversee the Ph.D. program; identify and implement strategies to improve the research environment; and identify opportunities for and facilitate receipt of extramural funding.

Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs James Johannes will be the associate dean for undergraduate programs and administration. He will have supervisory responsibilities for various administrative units within the school, including business services, human resources, the copy center and facilities. He will continue his role leading the undergraduate program and the Puelicher Center for Banking Education.

Professor Don Hausch will become associate dean for master's programs. He will develop and execute strategy and monitor progress in the master's programs. He will work closely with department chairs on scheduling and staffing matters, lead the master's curriculum committee, and work with the assistant dean for master's programs and the Graduate Program Office in managing day-to-day operations and overall student experience in the full-time daytime and Evening MBA programs.

Ted Beck will become the associate dean for executive education and corporate relations. His role in corporate relations will be to identify and increase quality and frequency of contact with top corporate partners. He will do this in collaboration with undergraduate and graduate career services, external relations and faculty and staff involved with corporate partners through centers, departments or other programs.

Pam Benjamin will become assistant dean of corporate relations and marketing. In the area of corporate relations, she will support Ted Beck on the "for-credit" program side and work with him on relationships with significant corporate partners. On the marketing side, she will coordinate an overall marketing plan for School of Business "for-credit" programs.

Phil Miller will assume the new position of assistant dean for the learning environment and take leadership within the school in attracting, developing and retaining a diverse population of students and non-instructional staff. His responsibilities will include efforts through the PEOPLE program, the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management and the Ph.D. Project. It will also include a significant role in managing our efforts to support students who are academically "at risk." He will also oversee administration of the Ph.D. program.

Many people have asked about the exact timing of some of these changes in responsibilities. I think there are three cases: (1) R.D. Nair, Jim Johannes and Ted Beck have begun assuming their new responsibilities already and will coordinate closely as we make this transition, (2) Don Hausch will officially begin July 1, but Joan Schmit and Don are coordinating closely already on policy questions, and (3) Pam Benjamin and Phil Miller will assume their new duties as soon as we can fill the positions created by their moves. We will be hiring an assistant dean for the master's program and an assistant dean for alumni relations.

We are grateful to R.D., Jim, Don, Ted, Pam and Phil for their leadership, dedication and service to the School of Business and their flexibility in taking on these new assignments. This division of duties will better enable us to align with our strategic objectives. The next few months will call for all of us to be flexible as we work through this transition, but I am confident we are poised for progress toward our goals.