dean | The Pulse

Charleston School of Business Faculty & Staff Updates

Summer Reading

Last week, Christine and I took a trip out west with some friends. It was good to get away and spend time in nature. Amazing what a hike in the woods can do for the soul. It was also good to be a bit more intentional and catch up on some reading. We all need…

Summer Productivity (EMBA Update)

As my earlier post mentioned, despite what some outside academia might think, we are not on summer “vacation.” A lot happens over our “breaks.” For example, our EMBA proposal cleared significant hurdles recently. The BOT approved the program proposal on April 20th, then the proposal was approved by the CHE ACAP committee on June 8th,…

Embracing the Ted Lasso Spirit

Today, let’s tap into the spirit of Ted Lasso. If you haven’t watched the series, it quickly became one of my all-time favorites and the last episode just aired. So, with a little help from ChatGPT, I’d like to offer some thoughts on a character who has warmed our hearts and inspired millions. As we…

Summer Tasks

Every time I see this Ph.D. comic, I can’t help but smile. A picture paints a thousand words, and these two frames explain a lot. Summer is different in academia. Not everyone understands what happens over the summer, but you sure do. Academia never stops. Sure, we try to catch up from the busyness of…

AACSB 2024

Summer is a busy time of year for the leadership team. This summer is jam-packed as we prepare for our “year of record” for our upcoming Fall 2024 AACSB Peer Review Visit. We will use data from the forthcoming academic year in our report. I’ve always said that if we were to build a world-class…

Time to Sharpen Your Axe

Last week’s graduation on the Cistern was a memorable experience. What a great tradition. Tradition and transformation are two attributes that describe us well. There are significant signs of progress all across campus. All the positive signs are good, but we must remember to balance things. As the semester wound down, Covey’s Seventh Habit –…

Celebrate!

One thing I learned quickly; Charleston knows how to celebrate. It was great to see everyone at last week’s EOY Business Bash, to celebrate the completion of another year and our incredible colleagues. If you couldn’t attend, check out this post recognizing our award recipients. I am always impressed by the work you do and…

Good News!

Can you say, “Bonus!” Yes, that’s right. Last week, the BOT approved a $1,500 bonus for all permanent CofC employees as of December 2022, which will appear in our May paychecks. And it still looks like there will be another COLA increase and a merit pool. What a difference compared to just a few years…

Leadership Opportunities

I am excited to share with you three graduate program leadership opportunities. The positions are Director of MS in Accountancy, Director of MBA, and Director of EDBA. As leaders, we are responsible for ensuring that our students receive the best education and are prepared for the professional world. The directors of these programs play a…

Belonging

From day one, you’ve welcomed me to the School of Business and made me feel like I belong here. You’ve been patient, explained things, and simply let me be me. But, unfortunately, that’s not everyone’s experience. As the academic year comes to a close, it’s natural to reflect on the previous 9+ months. We’ve progressed…

Respect

What a powerful word and one that is very important to me – and my leadership model (CARE). But, it’s also a word that, when practiced, makes the academic environment unbeatable. As a leader, this quote from Michael Hyatt is something I take seriously: “It’s the leader’s job to guard the line between disagreement and…

A Category of One

At the last BOG meeting, Justin McLain commented that my thoughts about our future reminded him of the book “A Category of One: How to Create and Dominate Your Market” by Joe Calloway. That piqued my interest, so I bought the book, and he was right. It’s how I think about the future of our…

What’s Our Vision?

Imagine it’s 2030, and you are walking around our business school. How have you grown? How are you spending your time? How have we changed? What are we still doing? What have we stopped doing? What have we started doing? You get the idea. Last week I addressed how we should think about values, vision,…

What Are Our Values?

That’s a question I’ve been pondering since July. We say “mission, vision, and values.” Personally, I wish we would say “values, vision, and mission,” which would elevate the importance of our shared values. Our values significantly impact our culture, which underpins everything we do. We each have personal values. Some of us can articulate them,…

Be Curious

I hope you had a great spring break. It allowed me to spend time with family and finish several books. Reading is something I enjoy and need to do more often. I gleaned a few insights, such as instead of focusing on being right, we should consider ways we are wrong and strive to be…

Spring Break

Many things are running through all our minds this spring break. We always use this time to catch up on the semester. Please also use this time to, well, take a break. The virtual world has changed the nature of breaks, but we still need them. So, for this week, I simply want to share…

Be Nice(r)

About a year ago, I read two articles that resonated with me, and I’ve reflected on them regularly since. They have given me new perspectives on what we have been through and the residual effects. While neither article was “encouraging,” they were both affirming that what we are seeing and experiencing is real. The first…

The Fog is Clearing

It’s been more than two decades since my family and I took our first trip to the North Carolina mountains. It was an important trip because we were looking for a house and schools for the kids. We were moving because I was starting my first job after grad school. It was an exciting time…

The Power of “We”

Earlier this week, Chris Mothorpe sent Carrie and I an email noting that we like quotes. He thought something he heard at church would resonate with us: The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say “I.” And that’s not because they have trained themselves not to say “I.” They don’t think…

Epicenter of Societal Impact

This week I am at the AACSB Deans Conference and attended the Societal Impact Seminar. I enjoy these events because I learn that our challenges are not unique, but we also have one incredible business school. This week is no exception. At the CofC, we do so much that positively impacts society. I think it…