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In Brief Edwards named dean of College of Business Charles C. Edwards Jr., dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, was named dean of the College of Business and Public Administration and began serving as dean of both academic units on June 1. Edwards, who joined Drake in 2002, is former publisher and president of The Des Moines Register, which won three Pulitzer Prizes and was named the best of Gannett's 97 daily newspapers three times during Edwards' tenure. He also served on Drake's governing board for 13 years, including chairman of the Academic Affairs Committee. "The dual appointment was made for two primary reasons," said Drake Provost Ron Troyer. "First, Charlie Edwards has demonstrated a remarkable talent for handling complex tasks in both the private sector and at Drake University. He has been outstanding as dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and he has the ability to assume both deanships. Second, there are a number of synergies emerging between the two academic units, which are even developing a joint graduate program. "As dean of both units, Charlie Edwards will be able to further develop connections and collaborations," Troyer added. "These emerging synergies present new opportunities for securing external resources to provide enhanced support for faculty and programs and develop innovative strategies for competing in the marketplace for both academic units." "I have enjoyed my first year as dean of Drake's journalism school and am excited about the prospect of working with both academic units in the year ahead," Edwards said. "These two schools have enormous potential because both contain outstanding faculty, dedicated students and rich community support," he continued, "and our collective goal will be to leverage these assets into additional opportunities for faculty collaboration, curriculum enrichment, professional placement for our students and additional community support." Consultant facilitates CBPA strategic planning The CBPA's effort to develop a strategic plan recently got a boost from consultant Mary Gottschalk of MCG Strategic Services. This fall, Gottschalk began interviewing CBPA faculty in an effort to assess their ideas and concerns regarding the future of the College. Though Gottschalk declined to comment on the outcome of the interviews, she noted that the candor and cooperation she experienced in the interviews will help the College develop a strong strategic plan. Gottschalk said that the process also will give Edwards "a relatively quick understanding of where the faculty stand on various issues and what ideas, criticisms, comments and complaints they might have." The role of the consultant in this situation, Gottschalk said, is to help voice the ideas and concerns of the faculty. "It is often very hard for people on the inside to see what needs to be done. Even when they see it, sometimes political pressures make it difficult for someone to stand up and say, ‘We need to do this differently.' One of the roles of a good consultant is to come in and be the voice for people's ideas and allow people to think through some things that they might not be able to do on their own." The next step will be for Gottschalk and Edwards to assess the overall message coming from the faculty and find the best way to carry that message through to the strategic plan. Last year, Gottschalk facilitated the School of Journalism and Mass Communication's strategic planning process after Edwards was hired as dean of the School. "In both cases," she added, "the faculty was enormously cooperative, constructive and helpful, and it's been a really interesting process."
CBPA announces new administrative structure In addition to a new dean, the CBPA introduced a new administrative structure this fall. In response to faculty requests, CBPA Dean Charles Edwards announced a new structure in which the use of associate deans will allow the dean time for more community outreach. "When Edwards came to the College," said Associate Dean Patrick Heaston, "the primary area of emphasis we saw for the dean was to spend a lot of time outside dealing with our publics and doing some development work while minimizing the day-to-day involvement inside the College. He will still oversee that operation, but will look to the associate deans for help." Heaston, a professor of accounting, was appointed associate dean for academic administration and programs within the CBPA. His responsibilities include curriculum, accreditation and faculty issues/communication. All faculty chairs, the graduate program, as well as the technology office, report to Heaston. Thin is in at CBPA It's not often that a flood brings new opportunity. But when the basement of Aliber Hall flooded in the summer of 2002, the resulting damage served as the catalyst for a new technological era at the CBPA. The equipment damaged by the flood was insured, so administrators were able to use the insurance claim to upgrade the College's computer system with server-based machines known as Thin Client devices. The school was using individual Dell OptiPlex machines that ran independently of one another at 266 Mhz. With Thin Client, those PCs have been replaced by smaller machines that run at 3066 Mhz. While the machines don't store information, they serve as a connection between the workstation and a centralized server that runs the operating system and applications, and stores individual files. The new system is much more efficient. For example, new software can be installed once, on the server, rather than individually on each of the College's 150 personal computer hard drives. Also, because the Thin Client machines have no moveable parts (unlike PCs), they are easier to maintain and should be more reliable. To fully service its current technology, the College would need two-and-a-half technological support staff members. With Thin Client, it now needs only one. "The best thing is that Thin Client enables students to have remote access to the college's computer system," says CBPA Computer Support Specialist Craig Buxton. "They'll gain valuable experience learning how to work within the remote environment, which is becoming increasingly popular in the corporate world." CBPA launches new Web site This summer, the CBPA unveiled a new Web site at www.cbpa.drake.edu. In addition to offering basic information about the College and its programs, the site also features news stories and events for prospective and current students, faculty, staff and alumni. The site also lists internship and employment opportunities that can be submitted by employers through the site. Parsa receives Fulbright Scholar grant  Rahul A. Parsa, professor of statistics at Drake, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture and conduct research at University of Natal, South Africa, during the 2004 spring semester. Parsa will conduct research in the area of data confidentiality/perturbation and also study the methodologies used to collect public health data."I am honored to receive this award," Parsa said. "It provides me an opportunity to do research, and teach in South Africa while gaining a deeper understanding of the local culture and heritage. In addition, it provides me the opportunity to represent Drake University and to interact with faculty and students from a different country." Recipients of Fulbright Scholar awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement and because they have demonstrated extraordinary leadership potential in their fields. 
Drake
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