 A
Note
From Dean Patrick
Easton
The Year
of the Interim Dean
What's going on
here? There's a very bad picture of some strange guy on the inside cover of Nexus.
My name is Patrick Heaston and I have been a faculty member in the School of Accounting
for the past 19 years. Dean Joe Alber has left for a deanship at Canisius College
in Buffalo, NY, and the faculty asked me to step in for the next year. I am honored
to fill the dean's position for this year, and as those of you who know me may
suspect, I do not intend to just keep the seat warm.
So what exactly do you do when the College is in the process of trying to find
and hire a new dean? Well, we are looking to the future and reexamining everything
that we do. The faculty and staff are engaged in developing a new strategic plan
for the College. We intend this process to be more than a reaffirmation of what
we have done in the past. The increasingly competitive nature of our environment,
the impact of technology on instruction, and the growing complexity of the economy
in which our graduates must be prepared to succeed demand that we clarify our
core values, evaluate the relevance of our curricula, determine the most cost-effective
internal processes for achieving our objectives, and fashion an evaluation and
reward system for faculty that allows them to flourish.
At the same time, we are trying to find ways to better leverage the talent that
we have in more effective ways both within the College and throughout the University.
For example, recent curricular changes in both the MBA and MPA programs will bring
greater integration between the programs, providing more emphasis on management
in the MPA degree and adding breadth to the MBA degree. We are seeking to find
ways to involve faculty from a number of disciplines in providing instruction
about the strategic use of information systems to demonstrate more clearly their
importance and application. And, marketing faculty will be working closely with
faculty in the School of Journalism to create a curriculum to better prepare students
in both colleges for successful careers.
Recently, all of us in the College were stunned by the deaths from cancer of Jack
Manders, professor of business law and Ayn Crowley, professor of marketing. Coming
just one year after the death of David Lawrence, professor of finance, there is
a deep feeling of loss in the College. But at the same time, reflection on the
lives of these three professors, who exemplified the passion and commitment to
teaching that we believe is a hallmark of the Drake experience, reminds us of
the opportunity that we have to impact the lives of our students in positive and
meaningful ways. We can use the example of these three fine professors in the
classroom to renew our own passion and commitment to teaching.
This "year of the interim dean" is a time to shake whatever complacency
may have crept into our College. It is a time for everyone in the College to step
up and contribute to shaping our future. I know that your best wishes will be
with us. |
