The Dean’s Executive Development Council and What It Does

The College of Business Dean’s Executive Development Council (EDC) is comprised of prominent business/corporate executives who are recognized as business leaders and have a strong belief in the need for private support and involvement in higher education. To enact this belief they have agreed to attend meetings; provide their objective reflections concerning the College of Business’ curriculum, strategy, and operations; and to raise $3,000 each year in development support for the College of Business Excellence Fund. Each EDC member serves a three year term; however, an executive may also serve a second term if the EDC agrees.

The EDC will meet two times each year, typically a Fall meeting in September or October for task force formation, planning and setting objectives, and a Spring meeting that focuses on students and reporting task force results.

Task Forces

The task forces are organized to address specific concerns relative to the College of Business mission strategy or objectives that require the efforts and expertise of people and organizations outside the University. The concerns will change from time to time to reflect the needs of the College of Business, or as a result of successfully accomplishing task force objectives.

Proposed Task Forces for 2006-2007

Speakers Forum and Executives on Campus

This task force’s goal is to enrich the student’s university experience by providing first-hand managerial perspectives into the application of current business theories and practices. Two thrusts are pursued to accomplish this objective:

• Classroom speakers are arranged on the basis of the needs of the faculty

• Annually a major speaker is provided that is cross-functional in focus.

The speakers are managers that come to campus for three to five days during the academic year and serve in a role modeling, coaching, and mentoring capacity. This is accomplished through individual counseling sessions, leading small-group discussions, meeting with student professional organizations, and guest speaking in classes.

These two thrusts create synergy between the College of Business and the business community, as well as enrich the students, the university, the community, and the businessperson and their firm.

Student and Faculty Development

Student:

Experience has shown that students who have an opportunity to experience the “real-world” while earning their academic credentials are motivated to be better professionals. They apply their knowledge quicker and become productive quicker. The Student and Faculty Development Task Force can make an important contribution by arranging opportunities for “real world” experiences for the School of Business students. Student opportunities involve internships, co-ops, student project teams, etc.

Faculty:

One effective way of assuming that the professor’s classroom instruction is supported by solid “real world” experience is to provide the professor with development opportunities. The sponsoring firm receives expertise about infrequent or unfamiliar situations or can use the professor as a temporary expansion of their management team. In return, the professor’s students become favorably aware of the sponsoring firm and the professor can make the firm aware of the best students. Faculty development opportunities include faculty serving internships or faculty in a consulting capacity, faculty utilizing the sponsoring firm as a laboratory, faculty position shadowing, or adopt-a-faculty, etc.

Development Enhancement

Financing of public education today is impacted by dual thrusts. First, the philosophy has changed. State governments have reduced the proportion of their budgets devoted to higher education. In Texas, the reduction is from 19% to 15 % over four years. If the Federal balanced budget movement continues, spending on higher education will be further reduced. Concomitantly, the cost of providing a modern business education has sharply increased because the curriculum has become technology intense. At our time of greatest need for financial resources for technology, for new curriculum development, for faculty development, and to support scholarly contribution, the state governments are reducing their contribution and essentially saying that universities must further develop its financial resources from those who will most immediately gain the greatest contribution from the education, namely the students and the employers.

The objective of this task force will be to assist in developing the linkages and relationships and implement effective advancement and development strategies for the College of Business.