Stritch’s College
of Business and Management has reorganized in alignment with its new mission to
help students gain critical
skills and training to balance people, planet, and profit in service to a
greater good.
Dr. Peter Holbrook, dean of the
college, said that a new way of thinking and operating was required to ensure
that the college continues to produce well-informed, marketable graduates who
are attractive to employers.
As part of an ongoing effort to increase Stritch’s presence and
enrollment in Minnesota, the College of Business and Management and the Ruth S.
Coleman College of Nursing will begin
to operate at a classroom site in Owatonna, Minn., as part of articulation
agreements with Riverland Community College, a member of the Minnesota State
Colleges and Universities system.
The site will serve students in
primarily the Bachelor of Science in Management degree program, with other programs to
be offered later. The College of Nursing will also begin offering its Bachelor
of Science in Nursing-Completion program at the site.
Two
articulation agreements signed this past summer allow students at Riverland Community
College, with locations in Albert Lea, Austin, and Owatonna, to complete their
Associate in Arts (AA) degree with a business emphasis or Associate in Science
(AS) degree in business, then transfer those credits to Stritch’s Bachelor of
Science in Management degree program.
Riverland
Community College serves approximately 4,900 students annually in for-credit
courses and an additional 5,400 students annually in non-credit courses.
The college is segmented into
undergraduate and graduate schools, each led by an associate dean. Dr.
Bruce Loppnow is associate dean for the Graduate School of Business, and Dr. Eileen
Sherman is associate dean for the Undergraduate School of Business. In
addition, Dr. Jennifer Northern is associate dean for assessment, accreditation,
and strategic planning; Dr. Michael Venn is associate dean for instructional
strategy and design; and Susan Boehm serves as assistant dean of academic advising.
The associate dean positions report
directly to Holbrook. Each school now has faculty chairs in programmatic areas,
providing oversight on curriculum, as well as faculty management and
development. These include:
Debra Bruers, Undergraduate
Program Chair, Associate of Science in Business
Dr. Barbara Fischer, Graduate Program Chair, Master of Business
Administration
Mark Gesner, Chair of Community Engaged Learning and Leadership
Dr. Creig Kronstedt, Graduate Program Chair, Master of Science in
Management
Todd Penske, Undergraduate Program Chair, Management
Thomas Scheiding, Undergraduate Program Chair, Business Administration
Deborah
Hanks, Interim Undergraduate Program Chair, Bachelor of Arts in Business
This structure renews the role of the
faculty and strengthens the college’s system of shared governance.
“This realignment was guided by
several guiding principles, including the need for continuing academic
excellence and student service, as well as accreditation,” said Holbrook. “This
new structure allows us to be more adaptable and flexible to meet the changing
needs of the competitive higher education landscape. As a result, the college
is better positioned to prepare business leaders for the 21st century
shaped by a Franciscan worldview.”
The move was also geared to enhance
the marketplace perception that the College of Business and Management has a
demonstrated expertise in business education, allowing for better long-term
growth for both traditional and non-traditional business programs. This change aligns
the University with the best practices of its peer institutions.
In addition, the Department of
Business and Economics, formerly in the College of Arts and Sciences, became
part of the College of Business Management. The move was made for several reasons;
including recent research suggesting that the marketplace was confused as to
why Stritch had a Department of Business and Economics separate from the
College of Business and Management.
As a result of this change, all four
faculty members and the administrative assistant in the Business and Economics
Department moved to the College of Business and Management. Course offerings
for traditional undergraduate business students remain on the main campus
during the day, just like other traditional undergraduate programs, and these students
will continue to be educated by the liberal arts core courses and receive a Bachelor
of Arts degree in business.
The
realignment was led by Holbrook, who served as interim dean of the college
since June 2011 and was named dean in January 2012. He has helped
lead the college’s efforts to be recognized by the Accreditation Council
for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), the leading specialized
accreditation association for business education that supports, celebrates, and
rewards teaching excellence.