Meghan Harmening | Staff Writer
With a new semester comes a plethora of changes in the Siebens School of Business (SSOB). The morning of February 8, Dr. Barb Byrne, Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty, sent out a memorandum including the following changes regarding the Dean of the SSOB.
• Dr. Michael Whitlatch, professor of theatre and Dean of the School of Communication & Arts, has agreed to serve as the Interim Dean of the School of Business when Dr. Ashok Subramanian departs later this spring.
• We are currently working toward hiring a permanent Dean for the School of Business. A committee of faculty members, chaired by a dean, has been enlisted for the search. The committee will recommend candidates to fill the position, keeping student needs and priorities in mind.
• We hope to have a new dean in place by July 1, 2016.
Subramanian will be leaving the university later this spring to assume his position as Dean of the College of Business at the University of Arkansas, Fort Smith.
“This exciting opportunity to lead rejuvenation and innovation at the University of Arkansas is the kind of challenge that I enjoy tackling,” Subramanian said. “These types of opportunities don’t come along very often, very similar to the situation that compelled me to come to BVU and revamp the Business program.”
In his time at BVU, the business program has been radically changed.
“We deconstructed the old program and rebuilt it from the ground up based on design principles we developed based on our research and consultations with business leaders. This is a cutting-edge program that will develop professionals who will build and lead agile and rapid-response business entities for the global economy today and in the foreseeable future,” Subramanian said.
Already, the SSOB is seeing results – 100% of BVU’s accounting graduates have been employed within six months of graduation for the past few years.
As the search for a new Dean begins, Subramanian feels the SSOB’s current successes must be taken into account.
“Most of all, I would like to see the current program be supported and championed so that it can realize its full potential. We set out to make this a signature program, and while we have made a resounding start, the momentum must be sustained,” he said.
Whitlatch, Dean of the School of Communication and Arts and now the Interim Dean of the SSOB, has similar ideas of where the search should begin. According to Whitlatch, the SSOB needs “a team player, one who can build consensus around a sense of direction.”
Whitlatch feels that having a vision for the future and maintaining a sense of purpose will help continue the SSOB success.
“We need someone who understands that we are a teaching institution, first and foremost, to prepare students in all facets better than other universities,” Whitlatch said.
Whitlatch will continue to wear two hats through the end of the spring semester as Dean of both schools. He plans to spend part of his day in each location; students from both the SSOB and C&A can expect to see him in their respective schools.
“I want to make sure things are running smoothly with faculty. But on the other hand, if there are issues that are bothering the students, if the student has a grade issue, if the student has a problem with how a class is being conducted, I want the students to feel free that they will be able to come visit me. Students will see me down there. The needs of both schools will be taken care of,” Whitlatch said.
Photo by Stephanie Steiner
