Members of the College’s prestigious Dean’s Council met on October 11, 2005, at the new Downtown Center at Macy*s. Hosted by Council member N. K. Tripathy, president, Macy*s Florida, the group was given updates about the College of Business Administration from Executive Dean Joyce J. Elam and about its Building for Business Campaign by Annabelle Rojas, director, External Relations and Resource Development for the College. Discussion focused on the College’s strategic planning process, re-affirmation of accreditation preparations, and issues related to the College’s funding and staffing challenges in light of the University’s proposed strategic priorities.
Dennis Klinger, vice president and CIO of Florida Power and Light, gave an insightful overview of the energy industry from his firm’s perspective.
Several of the Chapman Graduate School of Business’s advisory boards—business experts who share tactical and strategic experience with decision-makers in the College—also have been busily involved in their fall round of meetings. The Master of Science-Management Information Systems (MS-MIS) and the Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) advisory boards held their sessions in October. The International MBA (IMBA), the Jamaica MBA in Human Resources Management (Jamaica MBA-HRM), and the Master of Science International Real Estate (MS-IRE) advisory board meetings are slated for November.
At a highly productive afternoon session, the MS-MIS advisory board worked through a packed agenda. A number of Chapman School staff members made presentations—spanning internships and mentoring to College accreditation and assurance of learning. Both José de la Torre, dean of the School, and Irma Becerra-Fernandez, associate professor of decision sciences and information systems and faculty director of the MS-MIS program, provided updates. Forty-five-minute breakout sessions examined recruiting and marketing, scholarships, and developed a profile of the ideal student.
“To continue to attract talented students, Dean de la Torre wants to create an endowment,” said Natalia Echeverría, corporate relations manager for the Chapman School. “So, scholarships played an important part in his presentation and in the team breakouts.”
The intense working schedule was followed by a reception on the terrace of the Biltmore Hotel, affording MS-MIS alumni, students, faculty, and board members the chance to network and socialize.
The EMBA advisory board held a breakfast meeting in the MARC building on the Modesto A. Maidique Campus. It was the board’s second gathering. Two key items were up for discussion: how to structure the program’s schedule of electives and how to market and recruit students for the program.
“Board members decided to let the faculty and staff resolve the electives matter,” Echeverría said. “They focused instead on the marketing and recruiting issues, which prompted a passionate dialogue.”
“We approached the question in the same way we’d approach a business problem, making a business case out of the challenge,” said Luis Tapanes, program manager at Beckman Coulter. “Our group includes people with extensive leadership and business skills and a great variety of experience. Because of that variety, we looked at the same information in many different ways and came up with a number of ideas to explore further.”
