Dean’s Annual Report
Pictured: Executive MBA Program Launch in Nanjing, China, June 2019.
AY19 Goals Progress Update and AY20 Goals
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College of Business — Annual Report
Kathleen McFadden being recognized as the Board of Trustees Professor.
Team Accomplishments
All accomplishments are made possible because of the phenomenal effort of our team of leaders, faculty and staff in the College of Business. Thank you for your passionate commitment to the vision and mission of the College of Business.
Vision Statement
Inspire and empower to innovate, transform business, change lives and make a difference in the world.
Mission Statement
Create knowledge, transform business and develop principled, adaptable global citizens through innovative active learning and personalized experiences.
Core Values
Excellence. Integrity. Caring.
Recognitions Poets and Quants
Selected to be included among the top undergraduate business programs
U.S. News & World Report
In the top 14% part-time MBA program and among nation’s best for five years.
Public Accounting Report
Ranks among the top 25 large programs in the country in a survey of accounting faculty conducted by the Public Accounting Report.
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Reflections from the Dean
Crossing boundaries, transforming lives. On behalf of the team from the College of Business, I am pleased to present our accomplishments for FY19 and portray the way our community comes together to celebrate our successes and recognize the many ways in which we live our theme of Crossing Boundaries. The idea of crossing boundaries inspires and challenges us to explore beyond the classroom by engaging with the business world; beyond disciplines by building cross-disciplinary courses, experiences and programs; beyond the present by envisioning a future shaped by forces of the new economy; beyond our comfort zone by challenging our students to engage in activities that are not part of their program; and much more. In short, it gives us the right to imagine the impossible. And history is replete with illustrations of realities that were once abandoned as impossible. That defines the Huskie spirit — making the impossible possible. Indeed, we owe our success to our current team as well as many who have moved on. We are grateful to those who have inspired us along the way, and we are inspired to execute on our vision of cross-boundary innovation to remain a vibrant institution for many more years. Our success is recognized in many ways. Market rankings are illustrative of just one signal of the reputation of the College of Business. In this vein, U.S. News & World Report ranked us among the nation’s best in 2019 and for 32 consecutive years (2019 ranking). Perhaps more importantly, our student success continues to define the transformational impact of our efforts. Our students ranked second in the CFA regional competition beating out some top-ranked public and private institutions in the state. The stellar performance on the CPA exam is another exemplar of our success. Our student team took first place in the APICS competition. The student organization CAUSE continues to be unbelievably good and put on a great 2019 summit. Our partnership with MATTER, a health care incubator, is growing stronger. We had undergraduate
and MBA students engage with early-stage startups at MATTER creating invaluable experiences. Be assured that we are not resting on our accolades. We recognize that the world around us is changing — and changing profoundly. The promise of a Tesla driving itself without a human is increasingly certain. Even highly specialized skills like studying X-rays are quickly becoming the domain of artificial intelligence. In short, the fourth industrial revolution, as we refer to it, will challenge us to rethink every dimension of what we do. We will challenge ourselves to reinvent how our students learn, engage, work and live. Huskies. Never. Quit. As you will see from this report, our efforts are in this direction. The best years are ahead. Go Huskies!
Balaji Rajagopalan Dean
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
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College of Business — Annual Report
Alumni Award Winners
Deborah Brucker, recipient of the 2019 Distinguished Alumna Award with Dean Balaji Rajagopalan.
Allison Fishman, recipient of the 2019 Young Alumna Award with Dean Balaji Rajagopalan.
Jeffrey Aronin, recipient of the 2019 Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award, flanked by President Lisa C. Freeman and Dean Balaji Rajagopalan.
Chris Millington, recipient of the 2019 Student Engagement Award.
Katie Duxbury, recipient of the 2019 Honorary Alumna Award.
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Key Highlights of Progress Report on Goals for AY18-19 Theme One: Culture of Innovation Goal: Pilot Creativity Lab Progress: • Prototype lab opened in fall 2018 in existing classroom space redesigned as creative space by student team named Innov8. • The Innov8 student group piloted several activities in the creativity lab.
• A fundraising plan is in place and execution has begun for completion of a new lab in Barsema Hall. (Graphic of lab is on the last page of this report.)
Theme Two: Distinctive Student Experiences and Career Success Goal: Design and pilot an integrated platform for cocurricular experiences. Progress: • Barsema Hall, Suite 303 was redesigned as the IMPACT Lab. The space now houses the Experiential Learning Center, Passport, and BELIEF programing and staff. Three program director positions were shifted from SPS to instructors on 2:2 load with release time to manage respective programs. Supervision shifted from associate dean to senior director
with a focus on the IMPACT Lab team and program synergies rather than individual programs. The next phase will be to enhance promotional materials; increase careerrelated services; and expand experiential learning and networking opportunities offered through the IMPACT Lab.
Goal: Launch a new initiative “IGNITE!” collaborating with the DeKalb Economic Development Authority. Progress: • Five IGNITE! students were placed in area organizations working up to 20 hours per week in professional positions. Positions were funded through the IMPACT Lab.
• One IGNITE! student was offered full-time employment by partner firm.
Goal: Work toward the target of 70% internship. Progress: • Firms hosted 85 Meet and Greet information tables in the Barsema Hall atrium. • College departments and two student organizations hosted seven discipline or business-specific career fairs.
• Micro-internships through Parker Dewey promoted to students. • Questions added to the senior exit survey to understand why students are choosing not to participate in internships.
Goal: Increase the number of students gaining global experiences by 10%. Progress: • The number of students who studied abroad or engaged as leaders in global activities increased from 70 in FY18 to 83 in FY19. Goal: Design the layout for a Data Analytics Lab. Progress: • Fundraising efforts are underway. Working with NIU architect to create rendering of space that includes a flexible, modular layout with shareable monitors and collapsible walls. Goal: Design a concept for the next version of the Sales Lab. Progress: • Working with NIU architect to design vision for Sales Lab 2.0 for FY21.
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College of Business — Annual Report
Key Highlights of Progress Report on Goals for AY18-19 (continued)
Theme Three: Mission and Market Driven Program Transformation Goal: Launch market focused versions of graduate programs abroad for revenue generation from Global MBA plus market focused graduate program offerings abroad (Target revenue: $750,000). Progress: • The 972 credit hours attributed to Global MBA students generated $843,676 in total revenue that includes base tuition plus differential tuition. • Workshops delivered to students from our international partners generated an additional $41,000. • The university continues to benefit from tuition revenue
generated by 2+2 and 3+1 students attending NIU from partners cultivated by COB staff. • Contracts signed to offer graduate programs at international locations were confirmed in FY19: University of Tetovo (Macedonia) and Nanjing Foresight International Education (China).
Goal: Incorporate innovations in the MBA program for differentiation in the marketplace. Progress: • The Graduate Curriculum Committee (GCC) has begun the review process. Hiring is underway for an assistant dean of Graduate Programs who will work with the GCC to guide the process to completion in FY20. Goal: Analyze the value of new Freshmen Business Seminar course for undergraduate students and design next action steps. Progress: • The Freshmen Business Seminar was piloted in fall 2018 with 66 students, of whom 52 were business majors. Students reported the course helped them make career choices and feel like an engaged learner. The students greatly appreciated the live consulting project. The Undergraduate Curriculum Committee approved the course
to be offered as UBUS 110: Business in Action going forward. University committees approved UBUS 110: Business in Action to be designated as a general education course in the Creativity and Critical Analysis knowledge domain. • Four sections will be offered in fall 2019.
Goal: Conduct market analysis and feasibility of offering a practice-oriented doctorate in business. Progress: • Former Associate Dean Paul Prabhaker conducted a preliminary analysis and recommended that the college consider this opportunity further. The project is on hold for now. Goal: Design a new version of the MST program for possible launch fall 2019. Progress: • Master of Science in Taxation (MST) enrollment for fall 2019 was paused pending further review. Fully online and hybrid delivery models are being explored. Goal: Complete the redesign of Master of Science in Financial Risk Management (MSFRM). Progress: • Approval was granted to change the name of the M.S. in Financial Risk Management program to M.S. in Finance. The program will include certificate options in Financial Risk Management and FinTech.
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Theme Four: Recognizing Research Excellence Goal: Pilot research recognition focused on quality by area. Progress: • Three (Accountancy, Marketing, OMIS) of the five departments executed department-specific reward structures. Finance and Management are in the process of developing a recognition model. Goal: Pilot a Global Research Fellows program in partnership with our academic partners across the world. Progress: • Finance professor Lei Zhou will collaborate on a joint research project with a professor from Anhui University of Finance and Economics (AUFE), a partner university. In addition to research, Zhou will collaborate with AUFE staff to further our 2+2 and 3+1 programs.
• A 2018 Research Report was created and disseminated to stakeholders including NIU faculty/staff, alumni and friends. The report featured faculty publishing in top peerreviewed journals and contained a listing of all 2018 journal publications.
Theme Five: Building an Inclusive Community Goal: Identify a faculty champion and formalize role as an inclusivity champion. Progress: • Responsibilities for the position were defined but the position has not yet been filled. • A retention and equity coordinator, responsible for managing retention related needs of the college, will be hired for FY20. This person will become part of a larger
campuswide strategic enrollment management network and will work closely with our associate dean, our Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) committee and our faculty champion.
Goal: Launch two events celebrating diversity. Progress: • A multicultural “Global Thursday” series was created. Each week, an international NIU student gives a presentation about their home country. Students attending learn about new cultures from the perspective of their peers. So far, countries featured include South Korea, Philippines, Colombia, China, Italy and Spain.
• Barsema Hall was the site of the “Sharing the Dream” Conference hosted by NIU. Faculty, staff, and community members at NIU and throughout the state came together to hear first-hand from knowledgeable speakers about the financial, social and legal challenges faced by college-ready, undocumented students.
Goal: Execute two initiatives to reduce academic equity gaps and track their effectiveness. Progress: • COB SEM committee was created. While some productive discussions took place, no significant action items to increase enrollment emerged. We will need to do better on this front next year.
• No equity gap-related initiatives were started in FY19. This initiative will receive increased emphasis in FY20.
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College of Business — Annual Report
Key Highlights of Progress Report on Goals for AY18-19 (continued)
Enrollment Management Goal: Formalize enrollment goals for programs. Progress: • Graduate program enrollment targets were established. NIU Strategic Enrollment Plan will guide targets for undergraduates. Goal: Implement two new ideas to grow enrollment. Progress: • The COB Business Olympics expanded to include competitions within all five COB disciplines (Big Pitch, Lucro Island Budgeting, Million Dollar Marketing, Mobile App and Valuation Challenge). Sixty high school and community college students competed with 32 different presentations/ competitions over the five different categories. • In February, 15 students were selected to represent the college as student ambassadors. During the spring semester,
the ambassadors served as group leaders and on student panels on Admitted Student Day, and provided building tours during the Business Olympics and COB open houses. Recruitment will take place each semester to replace graduating students. • No action was taken related to Women in Business for High School Students. Denise Shoenbachler has agreed to lead this project for summer 2020.
Goal: Strengthen Global MBA enrollment (Target: 20). Progress: • Twenty-seven students were enrolled in the Global MBA format in the fall. Nine additional students joined the program for the spring semester. The 972 credit hours attributed to these students generated $843,676 in revenue. Goal: Enrollment target of an initial class of 10 students for the M.S. in Digital Marketing (launch fall 2018) and 10 students for the M.S. in Data Analytics (launch spring 2019). Progress: • Twenty-two M.S. in Digital Marketing students began the program in the fall 2018. These MSDM students enrolled in 178 credit hours in the fall semester and 101 credit hours in the spring semester.
• Twenty-eight M.S. in Data Analytics students began the program in the spring 2019. These MSDA students generated 153 credit hours in the spring semester.
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Technology and Operations Goal: Identify and test two new ideas for transforming business processes/learning. Progress: • Began piloting HooverCam Pilot, an all-in-one mobile podium, in Chicago location and PwC Learning Suite.
Infrastructure improvements: • Enhanced tech capabilities of faculty and staff by installing 42 new work stations (goal: create rotating refresh plan). • Upgraded 256 computers to Windows 10 (goal: improve system to push updates remotely). • Loaned 300-plus laptops to students during spring semester for use in building (goal: install self-service laptop station). • Delivered 177 laptop carts to classroom throughout fall and spring semesters allowing faculty to increase tech-enabled learning in the classroom environment.
• Supported the installation and use of Lockdown Browser, which when enabled disallows access to anything on a user’s computer other than Blackboard, that was adopted by COB faculty for use during online exams taken in Barsema Hall.
• Revised website, working with NIU web team, reducing redundancy and total pages based on analytics provided by web team. • Began planning for the repurposing of static classrooms into cocurricular digitally enabled learning spaces. • Provided technical support and guidance as the college increased opportunities for students to enhance their technology skills: Excel certification testing, CPA exam pilot testing, SAP certification testing, TS410 workshop and SAS bootcamp.
Budget Goal: Streamline budget request processes across units/departments. Progress: While significant progress wasn’t made, simple steps taken included: • COB is one of the first units on campus to pilot the online • Worked to document expectations and requirements for procurement system. those receiving additional compensation.
Alumni Relationships and Advancement Goal: $2.5 million in cash, pledges and estate gifts. Progress: • Total activity: cash, pledges, estate and in-kind exceeded $3.7 million. • Cash: $1,294,397 expendable, $245,027 endowed as of May 9, 2019. Goal: Relaunch of the Executive Club. Progress: • The COB Executive Club was relaunched with the COB resuming control of Executive Club cost center. An Experiential Learning Center team created a website for the revived Executive Club. Goal: Launch Young Alumni Club. Progress: • Young Alumni Board launched with 12 members.
• Pledges and estate gifts included a $1 million estate gift and another $900,000 added on to the $100k gift made recently resulting in a $ 1 million scholarship endowment.
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College of Business — Annual Report
Activity Highlights* Distinctive Student Experiences and Career Advancement Sophomores
Career Courses, Passport, BELIEF, IGNITE!, MATTER/Experiential Learning Center Partnership, Micro-Internships, Discover SCRUM Interns, Employer Meet and Greet Tables, Internships.
Sophomores
Passport, BELIEF, Internships, Employer Meet and Greet Tables.
Freshmen
Freshmen
Career Compass, Passport, BELIEF, UBUS 110: Business in Action, Employer Meet and Greet Tables.
Career Compass, Passport, BELIEF, UBUS 110: Business in Action, Employer Meet and Greet Tables.
Alumni
Prospects
Young Alumni Board, Virtual Alumni Book Club, Executive Club, Alumni Newsletters.
Business Olympics.*
Global Initiatives China EMBA Upcoming • 237 COB students from 31 countries. s Student • 20 COB students traveled abroad. • Four countries features as part of “Global Thursdays.” • $36,000 in COB Study Abroad scholarships (2018) ($10,000 so far in 2019). • Faculty-led study abroad program in marketing to launch in March, 2020. • First scholarship by alumni outside the country established by Korean alumni. • Externado University (Colombia) students attended workshops at NIU.
Resear
ch
• In continuing collaboration with PRIME Business School (Bogota, Colombia), the next cohort of MBA is expected to launch by spring 2020. • M.S. FRM is expected to launch mid/late fall, 2019 in Shenzen, China.
Summer Research Grant
Summer research grant specifically geared to encourage partnership with our global academic partners launched in 2019. Professor Lei Zhou received the first grant working with his collaborator at Anhui University of Finance and Economics.
By the Numbers Revenue Related Metrics
(AY19 as of May 15) • 2,309 undergraduate students. • 737 graduate students. • 58,730 credit hours delivered. • $6,130,330 revenue generated through differential tuition (DT), contract programs, executive education and global initiatives. • $3.7 million in total gift activity.
Reputation
Revenue Reputation
(AY18) • 60% of students reporting placement prior to graduation. • 191 intellectual contributions by faculty. • B alumni rating on Poet’s and Quants survey for “Was your business school experience life-changing?”
Relationships
(AY18) • 232 alumni visits to Barsema Hall. • 237 international students. • 20 industries hiring students. • 168 organizations hired students.
Relationships
* Denotes that activities include many ongoing initiatives as well as those that were recently launched.
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FY 20 Goals Theme One: Culture of Innovation Creativity Lab • Launch the Creativity Lab with basic infrastructure in place. • Offer workshops and programs to impact 100 students. Pedagogical Innovations • Learn from implementation of pedagogical innovation grants. • Redesign and launch next year’s version of learning innovation grants.
Theme Two: Distinctive Student Experiences and Career Success • Steady state of five projects from the IGNITE program. • Experiential Learning Center Projects: eight per semester, impacting 50 students. • Increase number of students going on immersive global experiences by 10%.
• Launch Digital Innovations and Data Analytics Lab. • Complete the conceptual design of Sales Lab 2.0. • Complete the conceptual design of FinTech Lab.
Theme Three: Mission and Market Driven Program Transformation • MBA Program Redesign and Enhancement. • Position the Executive and Chicago MBA programs to be differentiated in the marketplace. Target a minimum of 15 per cohort. • Evening MBA program positioning. • Enhance the Global MBA program through innovative global experiences and new partnerships.
• Launch the redesigned M.S. in Finance program with the first cohort of 15 students. • Strengthen the M.S. in Digital Marketing — curricular and enrollment (from 40 to 60 students). • Strengthen the M.S. in Data Analytics — curricular and enrollment (from 45 to 70 students). • Revenue goal from Global MBA (differential tuition) plus International initiatives (gross revenue): $750,000.
Theme Four: Faculty Research and Professional Development • Faculty research excellence awards model in place by area. • Expand professional development opportunities for staff.
Theme Five: Inclusivity • Hire retention coordinator. • Develop an inclusivity plan.
NIU College of Business Barsema Hall 740 Garden Road DeKalb, Illinois 60115-2828
Creativity and Empathy Lab, Barsema Hall
Architectural renderings of the proposed Creativity and Empathy Lab.