NIU College of Business
STRATEGIC PLANNING COUNCIL XVI MEETING MINUTES
(Academic Year: 2012-13) ~ Friday, December 14, 2012 ~ 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.
STRATEGIC PLANNING COUNCIL XVI (SPC)
SPC Members:
Tim Aurand (MKTG Faculty), Curtis Batterton (Alumni/McDonald’s Corporation), Amy Buhrow
(Coordinator AACSB/Assessment), Anthony D'Andrea (Director, Development, Senior Gift and
Estate Planning Officer – COB), Carolinda Douglass (Vice Provost),Michelle De Jean (Director,
COB Marketing), Ken Elliot (MGMT Instructor, UBUS 311), Geoff Gordon (MKTG Chair), Brenda
Hart (Staff Council President, MKTG Dept.), Lenita Hepker (Administrative Assistant to the Dean),
Vijay Krishnan (MKTG Faculty), Kyle Lundin (Undergraduate Student Rep), Len Lundstrum (FINA
Faculty), Brain Mackie (OMIS Faculty), Sarah Marsh (MGMT Chair), Mark Misic (Director of
Technology), Paul Prabhaker (Associate Dean, College of Business), Denise Schoenbachler (Dean,
College of Business), Rebecca Shortridge (ACCY Faculty), Marc Simpson (FINA Chair)¸ Pam Smith
(ACCY Faculty), Mahesh Subramony (MGMT Faculty), Ursula Sullivan (MKTG Faculty), Beth
Towell (Associate Dean of Undergraduate), Michael Welsh (Alumni/Welsh Industries, Owner),
Dan Wunsch (Associate Dean for Administration), Cassandra Young (Director, Alumni Relations)
Jim Young (ACCY Chair,) and Lei Zhou (FINA Faculty)
SPC Members Unable to Attend:
Mike Cahill (Undergraduate Student Rep), Ann Carrel (Director, Executive, Professional, & FastTrack MBA Programs), Chang Liu (OMIS Chair), Lori Marcellus (Director Undergraduate Studies),
and Nancy Russo (OMIS Faculty)
Guest:
Joan Petros (ELC Director) and Bill McCoy (BELIEF Director)
The Dean welcomed and thanked the group for participating. She reviewed the agenda and
emphasized the goal of the meeting was to share information about the academic programs.
Actions items and priorities for the College will be generated based on what is learned during
the entire exploration process at the March 2013 SPC retreat.
The Dean announced the hiring of a Passport Director, Jill Hayes, to start in January 2013 and
the facilities approval for the Chicago MBA program with an anticipated program/cohort rollout
of early 2014.
Sarah Marsh made a motion to approve the minutes from the September 7, 2012 meeting.
Michael Welsh seconded the motion. The minutes were approved as presented.
Curricular Program Exploration Reports & Discussion
At the September 7, 2012 SPC meeting, each faculty SPC representative was paired with another
faculty SPC representative to conduct a review of a department other than their own. The
teams collected information about the departments via reports and interviews, and then all
available faculty representatives met on October 31, 2012 to discuss a common report
framework. Vijay Krishnan, Brian Mackie, and Pam Smith presented a dashboard to help
categorize current department activities and show alignment with the college strategic plan (See
Appendix A). Teams were given the option to use the framework to report their results.
Prior to the reports, the Dean thanked the faculty SPC representatives for their work on the
curricular program exploration. She emphasized the ambiguity of their task and the uniqueness
of each report. The teams’ reports are located in the Appendix. Highlights and additional
information provided by SPC members are below.
Accountancy Report – Nancy Russo & Lei Zhou (See Appendix B)
The department does a good job recruiting and retaining high caliber students. A small
number of students participate in study abroad programs. The Department is currently
looking at adding a dual accounting degree with an international partner of the college.
Student involvement in co-curricular experiences is strong. The department provides
many opportunities for life-long learning and alumni involvement. A stronger emphasis
on globalization, diversity, and technology may better prepare students for the rapidly
changing business environment. The dual international accounting degree and a new
course on IT Auditing will help address these issues. Expanding life-long learning
opportunities by leveraging the aspects of the Leadership MAS and BELIEF programs is a
potential revenue growth area.
The department provides a rich offering of classes and has strong certification pass and
career placement rates indicating strong curricula. The department also has a mature
Assurance of Learning program which confirms students are achieving the major level
learning objectives. Currency of the curriculum is maintained with the help of advisory
councils and evidenced by new course offerings (SEC Reporting, IT Audit, and Risk
Assessment), an increased focus on communication skills, and the recent addition of the
Ernst & Young Leadership & Professional Development Center. The advisory council has
expressed a need for accountancy graduates to have more background in finance.
As a group, the Accountancy faculty members are active researchers. Individual
productivity varied. The SPC faculty team found a mix of discipline-based and
pedagogical publications. Dr. Jim Young indicated the strong link faculty members have
to the profession that results in applied research.
The department and faculty have strong external support. Despite the strong market
for Accountancy faculty, there has been no attrition from the department.
FINA Department – Kyle Lundin, Ursula Sullivan & Mahesh Subramony (See Appendix C)
Students/Learning – Finance students perform well on standardized tests and
certification exams. Enrollment has been declining since 2007. The decline has been
proportional to the college enrollment decline. A higher GPA requirement may improve
class quality, student morale, and retention. Students expressed concern about the
proposed differential tuition.
Learning/Curriculum – The Finance program has a positive reputation among recruiters
and students. The department will launch the Master’s in Financial Risk Management
shortly. Alumni and recruiters have expressed need for soft skill development and an
application-oriented curriculum that would reduce the need for on the job training.
Students have expressed a need for a greater connection to alumni and applied skill
development. The department advisor role has been redesigned to include internship
management. The careers course has been redesigned to include more alumni
networking and focus on career development. The Executive Advisory Board is being
engaged more to leverage linkages to the business community and employment
opportunities for graduates. The department is exploring new certificate programs to
enhance life-long learning opportunities. Maintaining the current level of resources is
important to meeting current priorities and pursuing future goals. Offering courses for
non-finance majors (ACCY) or double majors could negatively impact resources. Not
responding to alumni, recruiter, and student needs could negatively impact enrollment
and placement rates.
Research/Faculty – Finance faculty research productivity is high and competitive.
Faculty members obtain consistently high student evaluations despite a high studentfaculty ratio. There is little research support (databases, summer grants, etc.) which
could impact retention and motivation. Faculty members have opportunities to develop
expertise in new areas (real estate, insurance).
MGMT Department – Vijay Krishnan, Pam Smith and Brian Mackie (See Appendix D)
Students – Student organizations housed in the department are strong. Scholarship
support, internships and study abroad opportunities could be enhanced. BSBA students
could benefit from a stronger connection to the college. Career Compass and the
careers course may help with this. Management students have the opportunity to
differentiate themselves with the leadership, social entrepreneurship, and human
resources emphases. The BSBA advisory board and student groups need to be
reinvigorated.
Learning/Curriculum – The management curriculum is competency driven and focuses
on behavioral and cognitive outcomes. A BSBA capstone course could be considered to
pull BSBA students and content together. Offering a minor or certificate in leadership to
non-business majors may be a revenue generating opportunity. Leveraging the unique
skill sets of the faculty externally may also be a revenue generating opportunity.
Research – Faculty are research productive and AQ, but lack summer support.
Faculty – The department is down five faculty members. A social entrepreneurship
faculty champion is needed.
MKTG Department – Rebecca Shortridge & Ken Elliot (See Appendix E)
Students – Enrollment in the Marketing Department has decreased. In response, the
department has opened the Marketing minor. Students are very engaged in cocurricular activities, including study abroad. The department would like to be able to
offer more scholarship support to students. The international marketing track has been
placed on hold with the departure of the lead faculty member of that track. Collegewide international programs need to be leveraged.
Learning/Curriculum – The Marketing Department offers several certificate programs
and students can customize an area of study within the major. The Sales Program is
nationally ranked. The Interactive Program has 80-85% placement rates is popular with
boutique sized firms. The Marketing Department has a strong reputation with retail
firms, but no retail certificate program is available. The Sales Program is not producing
enough graduates. The department curriculum committee has several certificate,
specialization, and minor initiatives underway to increase course enrollments.
Research – The faculty has a strong research record with a mix of pedagogical, applied,
and discipline-based publications.
Faculty – Three faculty members are needed to fill retail/consumer behavior, interactive
and sales faculty. Support for travel and research is low. External funding for faculty is
strong.
OM&IS Department – Ann Carrel & Len Lundstrum
Students – The department is largely undergraduate (3/4). Students are involved cocurricular activities (student organizations, study abroad, and internships).
Learning – The undergraduate Assurance of Learning program has provided evidence
that students are meeting the major level learning objectives. Students feel very
positively toward the teamwork and presentations required in the curriculum.
Curriculum – The curriculum has been updated recently, but still needs some
improvement in clarifying what it is doing and what it is not doing (programming vs. not
programming). It includes a shadow day. The department has a strong advisory board.
SAP has been positive addition to the curriculum.
Research – Faculty members have received grants and have published 40 articles in
broad research outlets.
Faculty – Faculty members possess a broad variety of skill sets.
Action Items and Wrap-up
1. Directors of support units will meet on January 11, 2013 from 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. in
preparation for the next full SPC meeting.
The next meeting will be Friday, January 25, 2013 from 8:30-10:30 a.m.
Curt Batterton moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Michael Welsh.
Meeting adjourned at 11:00 a.m.
Respectfully submitted by Amy Buhrow