J. Mack Robinson College of Business
ASUR Response to Recommendation and Initiated
Action Plan
Prepared by Angie Raub and Libby Crawley
INTRODUCTION
Since the inception of the unit self-study there have been many changes for the J.
Mack Robinson College of Business. As cited in the Administrative Support Unit
Review, we have undergone many administrative changes. At the time the
report was being prepared we had a new Interim Associate Dean and Director of
Master’s Admissions and Advising. At this time, we are facing the resignation of
our Interim Associate Dean, Dr. Julian Diaz and complete departmental
reorganization with the Office of Graduate Admissions and Advising in
combination with the Graduate Career Management Office. We have completed
our joint move to Suite 625. This move has provided the College the opportunity
to better serve our students with full-circle customer service within one
centralized area.
This action plan will act as an ongoing project plan that will perpetually evolve for
the J. Mack Robinson College of Business. This study had critical timing in
forcing the college to focus on old processes and procedures that had been static
for a very long time. The College as a whole has acknowledged and welcomed
opportunities to better serve our students. In a critical recruiting market for
graduate students in the business world, we have realized the dramatic need to
refine and combine some of our processes within the College; MBA/master’s
students, Doctoral programs and the EMBA program. It is greatly appreciated
that our College has been included within this study to make student service
enhancements, but it is also understood that on the majority of college campuses
in the United States law and business schools are not normally combined with a
centralized graduate admissions office.
In this report we will be addressing our Action Plan and the Key Observations
that were made by the ASUR Committee. We would like to first start with the
Key Observations that were missing in the initial report prior to presenting our
current “Project”/Action Plan.
KEY OBSERVATIONS
Office Budget (At our meeting with Timothy Renick, Dr. Diaz and I handed in a
paper copy of the budget. To insure completeness of our report we are including
the requested budgetary information.)
RCB/Office of Academic Assistance/Budget
(Graduate and Undergraduate Offices Combined)
Staff
GRA’s
Student Assistants
Travel
Operating Supplies
Equipment
FY ’00
FY’01
FY’02
516,856
39,600
55,150
22,000
181,184
23,000
541,088
36,720
60,983
27,510
194,690
0
605,442
42,000
72,121
14,531
172,166
1,627
RCB/Graduate Student &Alumni Services/Budget
(Graduate OAA & Career Management Offices Combined)
Staff
GRA’s
Student Assistants
Travel
Equipment
FY ’03
FY’04
785,083
60,695
41,300
17,750
0
646,998
48,100
59,043
8,500
0
Doctoral Programs
1. Unit Profile
Mission: The Doctoral Programs Office is the hub for all administrative services
pertaining to the business doctoral student. The office is responsible for the
coordination of 1) recruitment, 2) admissions (including the evaluation of
international credentials and 3) tracking of applicants and students, 4)
maintaining records of alumni. The office also acts as the students’ liaison with
the college and the university at large. The associate director works with the unit
coordinators to insure that students comply with university procedures and
academic regulations. The office is also responsible for maintaining the RCB
doctoral website.
Number of Employees: One associate director who reports to the director of
doctoral programs. One student assistant helps with basic office tasks.
Customer Base: Prospective and current applicants, students, alumni, faculty
and staff of the college and the university.
Budget Analysis: In FY 04, the unit had a personnel budget of $55,947.15 and
$33,236.00 for supplies, travel, and student assistant pay.
The Doctoral Programs Office is becoming increasingly involved in national
doctoral recruitment events sponsored by DocNet (a committee of Graduate
Management Admission Council and an affinity group of the AACSB). The goal
of these events is to bring more American students, especially minority
candidates, into doctoral programs that lead to careers as academicians.
Emphasis has been on more efficient use of technology (email, internet, instant
messenger).
For example, applicants are contacted concerning their
applications by email. Application materials and information are available on the
internet. Current students may download forms and read requirements from the
doctoral website. Given the small number of students in the program, the office
maintains an open door policy and strives to treat each student with respect.
Anecdotal evidence is that students are satisfied with the service received
through this office.
GOALS
MAXIMIZING COLLEGE ASSETS: The Doctoral Programs Office of the
Robinson College of Business has operated as a separate entity from the
Graduate Admissions and Academic Assistance office since 1984. Staff cuts
and changes in 1996 meant that the office went from having two full-time staff
people (assistant director and assistant) to one person with occasional student
help. Thus, the associate director currently handles many clerical tasks.
Moreover, the doctoral program has become isolated from the rest of the college
and the university at large. Consolidating the resources of the two offices would
be a logical step in increasing the efficiency of the workflow of the doctoral
program and reintegrating the office into the greater community. The clerical
duties related to the admissions process of the doctoral office would be
assimilated into the general application processing of the College Graduate
Admissions Office. This would allow doctoral applicants to take advantage of the
online application and electronic transmission of GMAT scores. These features
are currently in place already in the graduate office. There would be no need to
have a redundant system for the doctoral program. The doctoral office will also
benefit from the expertise of various individuals in the graduate office, especially
in the technical areas, such as BANNER and Crystal Reports.
IMPROVING THE QUALITY: The program will work to increase the quality of the
applicant pool by the use of cooperative and innovative recruiting techniques
(including web casts and chat-room formats) in cooperation with DocNet (the
national organization of directors and associate directors of business doctoral
programs). One such event will be held in October 2005. The doctoral office
will co-host (with Georgia Tech and Emory) a regional doctoral informational and
recruiting event to be held on Emory’s campus.
The program endeavors to retain current students through early intervention and
counseling. With the consolidation of the college resources, the office hopes to
make better use of current university technology (CAPP, Banner, and Crystal
Reports) in order to run a more efficient office.
Finally, there will be a greater attempt to maintain contact with alumni.
Self Study- Question 1 C (This report was also handed in at our meeting with Dr.
Tim Renick)
SELF STUDY – Question 1 C
Mission and Functional Responsibilities
University
Georgia State University
Robinson College of Business
Georgia State University
Grad Office A&S
www.robinson.gsu.edu
www.gsu.edu
Office Type
Administrative Office
Administrative Office
Number of Programs
19 Concentrations
16 Specialized Master’s
7 Doctoral Programs
2, 500 Graduate Students
24 Master’s Programs
12 Doctoral Programs
1,600 Active Graduate Students
Number of Staff
10 Full-time Staff
3 Student Assistants
8 Staff Members
2 student assistants
Structure
1 Dean, 1 Associate Dean of
Master’s Programs, 1 Director
Of Master’s Admissions/Advising
1 Dean, 1 Graduate Dean,
4 Associate Dean’s
1 Director of Graduate Studies
Budget
See Attached
Did not request
Admissions Apps
receives, processes and
Forwards ALL application
Materials for Admissions
receives, processes and
forwards ALL application
materials for Admissions
Apply On-line
Option Available
Option Available
Admissions Decisions
Notifies by mail
notifies by mail
Recruitment
Attends regional, World MBA,
And any viable recruiting func.
Attends regional, helps dept develop
Recruitment materials
Graduate Catalog
On-line only
On-line only
Commencement
Not handled by Office
Not handled by Office
Policy Appeals
Handles student petitions
Handles student petitions
SELF STUDY – Question 1 C
Mission and Functional Responsibilities
University
Michigan State University
Eli Broad Graduate School
Of Management
Arizona State University
W.P. Carey School of Business
www.mba.msu.edu
www.wpcareymba.asu.edu
Office Type
Administrative Office
Administrative Office
Number of Programs
7 Master’s Programs
7 Doctoral Programs
538 Graduate Students
9 Master’s Programs
2 Doctoral Programs
1, 600 Graduate Students
Number of Staff
7 Full-time Staff
3 Student Assistants
25 Full-time Staff
3-4 Student Assistants
Structure
1 Associate Dean of
Master’s Programs, 1 Director
Of MBA Programs
1 Dean, 1 Graduate Dean,
4 Associate Dean’s
1 Director of Recruiting
Budget
Does not want to submit
will not disclose
Admissions Apps
receives, processes and
Forwards ALL application
Materials for Admissions
receives, processes and
forwards ALL application
materials for Admissions
Apply On-line
Only Option
Only Option
Admissions Decisions
Notifies by mail
notifies by mail
Recruitment
Attends regional recruiting
Events
.
Attends regional, helps dept develop
Recruitment materials
Graduate Catalog
On-line only
On-line only
Commencement
Not handled by Office
Not handled by Office
Policy Appeals
Handles student petitions
Handles student petitions
ASUR GROUP ACTION RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Develop greater cooperation and coordination among the offices.
The recent forming of the Admissions Working Group (AWG) was
established under the Enrollment Management Group and this was greatly
appreciated by all Directors of the Admissions Offices. The Directors have
worked well together in the past and continue to improve communication
with one another. We perpetually e-mail one another for group feedback
as well as having ad-hoc meetings to insure the colleges stay cohesive in
general processes. It has been a tremendous asset to the new members
of the group to have the long-term Directors knowledge base. We could
not have made it through this report without the incredible information and
historical data that was gleaned from these meetings.
We would like to see the Associate Deans Group that used to meet be
resurrected. The Directors group has heard that in the past this group
was a great way for the colleges and admissions staff to receive
immediate feedback on important information. Since most of the Directors
report directly to the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs this seems to
be an incredibly effective communication tool.
2. Develop a larger number of centralized processing functions.
The admissions working group believes that the only functions that
potentially can be centralized would be in receiving the GRE, GMAT and
TOEFL scores. It is also being looked at for the effectiveness of having a
governing group for the verification of International Credentials. The EMG
group charged the Directors with the task of working together to see if a
common application could be viable option to simplify the scanning of
documents at the University. The group did submit what is believed could
be a working common application. We are concerned with each college
then requiring supplemental applications; which still nets an end result of
the prospective student needing to submit college specific required
admission materials. There are multiple deadlines within each of the
colleges which also makes the centralized office completely ineffective in
providing exemplary customer service.
The J. Mack Robinson College of Business is aggressively working to
recruit more top-tiered students into our graduate programs. Our
marketing efforts will have minor deviations on a quarterly basis, thus
making it quite difficult to work within a centralized office. We continue to
increase our visibility in the community by ramping up our efforts to
physically go and meet with Metro-Atlanta corporations (and their HR
managers). The Career Management Office and Recruiting teams are
beginning to work more closely together. We acknowledge that our
combined efforts are the most effective approach to recruiting and placing
our graduates.
We are currently working with the EMBA and Doctoral Programs to
centralize some of the administrative duties for both programs into our
established admissions processes/procedures. We have looked at the
number of applications that both programs receive on a yearly basis and
have determined that we should be able to manage the increase of work
load with our existing team members. We should be bringing these duties
into our office within the next term. This will enable both programs to work
on recruitment and new marketing plans for their programs.
3. Supply units with greater levels of technical support.
The Directors of the many Admission Offices completely agree with the
need to increase technical support. We greatly appreciate the findings
from the ASUR group acknowledging and supporting our offices need for
more technical support.
4. Implement systematic data collection and monitoring of customer
service.
To my understanding, all of the Graduate Admissions Offices have
implemented surveys to monitor customer service issues. At the J. Mack
Robinson College of Business, we survey our students both current and
prospective on several occasions. At our Open Houses and Information
Sessions, we have them fill out surveys to measure the thoroughness and
effectiveness of the function and make any necessary adjustments. Once
a student has completed an application and an admissions decision has
been made we then send a survey on the application process. We
question the effectiveness of our communication plan, the accessibility of
the staff whether it is via e-mail, phone or a walk-in basis. This survey has
provided us with useful feedback. We have a 35% return on these
particular surveys which we feel is a great response for a voluntary survey.
Upon completion of graduate programs, students are required to complete
the Graduation Survey and one sent by the Graduate Career Management
Office as well. We normally have an 85% response rate to the surveys
and have received some dramatic results.
We have also set-up
departmental liaisons among the Academic Advisement Team. This will
increase our customer service effectiveness on a full-circle basis.
5. Assess appropriate staffing and budget.
As stated in our introduction, we are currently working on a viable
reorganization plan for the combining of the Graduate Career Management
Office and the Office of Graduate Admissions and Advising. Once the
Director of GCM is named a plan will be implemented for the reorganization
that will maximize the three directors’ time to work out in the Metro Atlanta
area. These efforts should be directly correlated to an increase of recruitment,
potential internships and future placement of our graduates.