2019-2020
DEAN’S REPORT Developing Leaders for a Better World
®
1
Message from the Dean
2
Performance
4
Exceptional Talent
6
Worthy Recognition
8
Teaching & Research Initiatives
12
Strategic Plan
14
VSB Brand Growth
18
COVID-19 Response
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES As I reflect on the 2019-2020 academic year —a year unlike any other—I’ve been inspired by so many stories of strength and resilience in our VSB community. The COVID-19 pandemic has required VSB to adapt alongside the rest of the world and we are continuing to do so. While the unprecedented situation presented challenges, the entire Villanova community overcame the hurdles with grace, determination and a sense of unity. As the duration of the virtual learning experience turned from weeks to months, our faculty and staff worked together to address concerns, demonstrate leadership and support our students. Our faculty shared best practices for teaching in a virtual environment, as well as their world-class expertise on the economic and financial repercussions of COVID-19 with the media. VSB partnered with the VU Career Center to advise and mentor students who
4 VILLANOVA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
were facing lost or reduced internships and jobs. Our Class of 2020 did not have the commencement experience they deserved, but they handled a difficult situation with grace and dignity. We’ve heard countless stories of our alumni and student communities applying our Augustinian Catholic values to help those in need in these challenging times; contributions like these are what make me so proud to be part of this Villanova community. We have also been inspired and humbled by efforts these past few months to address racial injustices. When we began working on the VSB Strategic Plan in 2017, we identified diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as integral components. We have made progress in these areas but recognize that we have more work to do. We are listening to our community and are
committed to learning, growing and understanding. Above all, we are committed to creating an environment that is welcoming, fair and inclusive for all students, faculty, staff and alumni. I encourage you to visit our website for additional details and continued updates on our DEI initiatives. This past year was truly like no other, but through it all, I have never been more honored to serve as your dean. I am confident that we will meet the challenges ahead and continue to excel.
Joyce E. A. Russell, PhD The Helen and William O’Toole Dean Professor of Management
DEAN’S REPORT 1
PERFORMANCE
In the 2019-2020 academic year, VSB was once again recognized for excellence through external, independent rankings, helping us attract exemplary students across both our undergraduate and graduate programs. These students continue to achieve impressive outcomes upon graduating and joining the workforce.
CLASS OF 2024
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM
GRADUATE AND EXECUTIVE PROGRAMS PART-TIME CAMPUS MBA
APPLICANTS
5,983
90%
OF ACCEPTED FLEX TRACK STUDENTS ENROLLED
86%
OF ACCEPTED FAST TRACK STUDENTS ENROLLED
ENROLLMENT
424
MID-RANGE SAT
1360-1470 MID-RANGE GPA
4.06-4.42 43% FEMALE
(VS. 39% 2023)
30%
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ANALYTICS
32%
30%
INCREASE IN NEW STUDENTS FROM 2019-2020
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES (IN NEW STUDENTS FOR INCOMING 2019 CLASS)
44%
FEMALE STUDENTS
26%
(UP 26% FROM PREVIOUS YEAR)
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES
(UP 14% FROM PREVIOUS YEAR)
ONLINE MBA
53%
FEMALE STUDENTS
(INCOMING FALL 2019 CLASS)
2 VILLANOVA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
RANKINGS
OUTCOMES CLASS OF 2019
97.7%
SUCCESSFUL PLACEMENT FOR UNDERGRADUATES*
$
CLASS OF 2019
64,714
AVERAGE STARTING SALARY FOR UNDERGRADUATES
96%
SUCCESSFUL PLACEMENT FOR GRADUATES OF MASTER OF ACCOUNTING IN DATA ANALYTICS*
25%
AVERAGE INCREASE IN MBA SALARY UPON PROGRAM COMPLETION
*Graduates who are employed, continuing education or engaged
3
#
#
ONLINE GRADUATE BUSINESS PROGRAMS**
12
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM***
(BASED ON MSA AND MSCM PROGRAMS)
#
9
#
ONLINE MBA
5
ONLINE MBA PROGRAM FOR VETERANS
(VS. #13 IN 2019)**
#
19
EMBA PROGRAM CEO MAGAZINE (VS. #51 IN 2019)
34
#
PART-TIME MBA (VS. #35 IN 2019)**
**U.S. News & World Report, 2020 *** Poets & Quants Best Undergraduate Business Schools, 2019
DEAN’S REPORT 3
EXCEPTIONAL TALENT
VSB attracts world-class teacher scholars— leaders in their field—who feel as passionately about their students’ success as they do their own. Our newest faculty members bring expertise in operations management, economics, management consulting and marketing. We are delighted to welcome their many contributions to the VSB community.
THOMAS GRIFFIN, PhD, ’13 CLAS Assistant Professor, Finance & Real Estate
Dr. Griffin attended Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business where he earned a PhD in Finance after earning a BA in Economics at Villanova University. Teaching as a sole instructor at Drexel University, he received a Drexel Graduate College Teaching Excellence Award in 2017. Dr. Griffin was also awarded the LeBow College of Business Clark Outstanding PhD Research Award in 2019. His research interests include corporate finance, corporate governance and creditor control rights.
MONIKA K. SYWAK, DBA
SONYA WILLIAMS-STANTON, PhD
Dr. Sywak joined VSB’s faculty after serving as an assistant professor at Caldwell University and an adjunct professor at Quinnipiac University. Dr. Sywak also has professional experience as the vice president of risk management analytics for GE Capital. After graduating from the University of Connecticut with a BS in Marketing, Dr. Sywak earned her DBA in Finance at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. Her research interests include commodity futures, financial policy analysis, financial risk and financial markets.
After earning a BA degree in Mathematical Economics from Brown University, Dr. Williams-Stanton earned her PhD in Finance from the University of Michigan. She has served as an assistant professor at The Ohio State University, where she received the Fisher College of Business Dean’s Recognition for Outstanding Teaching. Dr. Williams-Stanton’s research interests include corporate agency; finance and social responsibility; and regulation, policy and financial institution behavior.
Assistant Professor of the Practice, Finance & Real Estate
Assistant Teaching Professor, Finance & Real Estate
DEAN’S REPORT 5
WORTHY RECOGNITION
Ingrained in the VSB culture is the importance of recognizing those who advance the mission and uphold our values in various ways. Following are those who received awards this year:
UNIVERSITY-WIDE RECOGNITION Stephen Liedtka, PhD Associate Professor, Accounting & Information Systems The Lafferty Award
Presented by the Provost, the Lafferty Award recognizes faculty members who have made a distinctive and lasting contribution to enhancing the quality of the student experience by engaging with students in significant ways outside a traditional teaching or research relationship and beyond their formal advising duties.
VSB FACULTY AWARDS Steve Andriole, PhD Thomas G. Labrecque Professor of Business Technology, Accounting & Information Systems The McDonough Family Faculty Award for Research Excellence
Michelle Casario, PhD Co-Faculty Director for The Elenore and Robert F. Moran Sr. Center for Global Leadership; Assistant Professor, Economics Media Relations Rising Star Award
Yoon-Na Cho, PhD Associate Professor, Marketing & Business Law The McDonough Family Faculty Award for Research Excellence
Q Chung, PhD Professor, Accounting & Information Systems Gerald A. Dougherty Endowed School of Business Faculty Award 6 VILLANOVA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
David Fiorenza Assistant Professor of the Practice, Economics Media Relations Gold Star Award
Denise Hanes Downey, PhD Kevin Tedeschi ’71 Associate Professor, Accounting & Information Systems Research to Practice Award
Laura Iacona Adjunct Faculty, Accounting & Information Systems William J. O’Neill Award for Undergraduate/Graduate Teaching Excellence
VSB STAFF EXCELLENCE AWARDS Gloria Angel Program Administrator, The Elenore and Robert F. Moran Sr. Center for Global Leadership VSB Diversity and Inclusion Award
Nancy Carpenter Coordinator, Accounting & Information Systems Department VSB Veritas, Caritas, Unitas Award
Scott Hansen
Beth Vallen, PhD
Coordinator, Information Technology VSB Innovation Award
Associate Professor, Marketing & Business Law Thomas J. Carmody, Jr. Faculty Award
Brenda Stover
Jerome Heppelmann Instructor, Finance & Real Estate External Engagement Award
Steve Padovano, Executive-in-Residence; Director, Applied Quantitative Finance Program, Finance & Real Estate External Engagement Award
Michael Licata, PhD Associate Professor, Accounting & Information Systems The Daniel J. O’Mara Villanova School of Business Faculty Award
Assistant Dean, O’Donnell Center for Professional Development VSB Ambassador Award
Chesley Turner Director, Center for Church Management VSB Rookie Award
Marie Witman Associate Director, Program Operations, Graduate Business Programs VSB Student Champion Award
Gerard Olson, PhD Professor, Finance & Real Estate The Daniel J. O’Mara Villanova School of Business Faculty Award
DEAN’S REPORT 7
BUILDING ENHANCEMENT SUPPORTS TEACHING AND RESEARCH INITIATIVES The new Victoria and Justin Gmelich ’90 Lab for Financial Markets opened in February 2020. This state-of-the art facility—where students and faculty can study and research in an environment parallel to a Wall Street trading floor with greater exposure to real estate, analytics, management information systems and other fields—was made possible through a $3 million commitment from alumnus Justin Gmelich ’90 VSB and his wife, Victoria, making it one of the largest named gifts for a financial markets lab in the country. Over 50% larger than the prior Applied Finance Lab, the Gmelich Lab for Financial Markets establishes an even stronger connection between the classroom and the business world, improves experiential learning opportunities with alumni and employers, and increases the technological proficiency of all students. The Gmelich Lab for Financial Markets includes a large classroom with 28 workstations and seating capacity for 56, nine 75” LED screens, and fully integrated video conferencing software allowing alumni and business leaders to seamlessly enter the academic setting. It also contains a smaller lab with 13 additional workstations designed for group projects and research. Throughout the Gmelich Lab, students can access high processing computers equipped with Bloomberg access and other market data, including: •H igh-power equipment capable of handling complex, data-intensive computations necessary for curricula involving machine learning and artificial intelligence •A ccess to research and real-time data through Bloomberg, FactSet, Wharton Research Data Services, TraderEx, SDC Platinum (M&W/New Issues), Morningstar Direct, SNL Financial/IW Financial and other financial databases • Access to ArcGIS, a powerful geographic mapping system used extensively in real estate • Virtual reality (VR) capabilities for 3D data visualization for advanced analytics
8 VILLANOVA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
DEAN’S REPORT 9
EXPANDING STUDENT EXPERIENCES
VSB launched the Davis Fund for Student Experiences, which will fund learning opportunities beyond the classroom for both undergraduate and graduate students. Thanks to the generosity of Jim C. Davis ’81 VSB and Kim Davis, the Davis Fund advances VSB’s long-standing commitment to experiential learning by providing resources that enable students to pursue opportunities that push their academic and professional growth to a much higher level. This new fund supports initiatives that extend beyond the curriculum including but not limited to global opportunities, research, independent studies, nonprofit service, conferences, case studies and other experiences that reflect the University’s mission and values. The Davis Fund is one of numerous initiatives established as a result of the historic $50 million gift made through the Davis Family Foundation in 2017, which will ensure that VSB students will have access to the most up-to-date resources and opportunities for generations to come.
Manuel Nuñez ’03 MBA
Jeffrey D. Kudisch, PhD
NEW LEADERSHIP FOR GRADUATE AND EXECUTIVE EDUCATION PROGRAMS
This past year, VSB announced an expanded leadership team to support our growing presence in graduate and executive education. A national search led to the hiring of Manuel (Manny) Nuñez ’03 MBA as the new associate dean of Graduate Programs and Jeffrey D. Kudisch, PhD, as the new associate dean of Corporate Relations and Executive Education. Nuñez now oversees the Part-Time MBA, Online MBA and specialty masters programs as well as enrollment and career strategy services for graduate business students, while Dr. Kudisch focuses on our Executive MBA (EMBA) Program and expanding VSB’s executive education efforts.
SIGNATURE EVENTS
Many of the VSB Signature Events for 2019-20 were scheduled for spring 2020 and subsequently impacted by the COVID-19 closures. In fall 2019, we again partnered with PA Conference for Women where Dean Russell presented two sessions on “Getting Paid What You Are Worth: Tips for Salary Negotiation” in the Career Pavilion Stage. We held a well-received virtual Commencement Celebration the day after the University’s Online Degree Conferral, during which we shared a compilation of special messages from fellow students as well as faculty and administrators.
STRONG CONNECTIONS
Financial support enables VSB to enhance our learning environment, elevate our profile as a producer of groundbreaking research, and enrich the overall educational experience. VSB raised a collective $4.1 million across endowments, restricted gifts and unrestricted funds that helped fund strategic efforts to grow technology, enhance our physical space and provide fiscal support to graduate students. VSB’s most significant gifts were a $1M gift from the Lilly Foundation to support the Center for Church Management, a $200,000 gift to support the construction of the finance lab and another $200,000 gift to support scholarships for VSB students.
EXTERNAL RELATIONS
Dean Russell has started three new VSB initiatives that also engage our employers and alumni. External partners have offered time, talent and investment to support the business school. Health Care Strategic Initiative
Business of Sports Initiative
A University-wide partnership to develop research, curriculum and professional development opportunities for students at all levels. Highly qualified industry advisors are collaborating with the VSB committee to further this initiative from conception to completion.
A University-wide partnership leveraging Villanova’s athletics pedigree to develop an innovative curriculum and professional development opportunities for current and aspiring professionals and students at all levels.
Sustainability Initiative A collaboration with VU’s College of Engineering and College of Professional Studies, the SEED (Sustainable Enterprise Executive Education & Development) Program is geared toward professionals interested in learning how to design and implement sustainability practices to create value.
TOP EMPLOYMENT PARTNERS
The top employer partners for VSB are those who recruited the greatest number of students from the class of 2019, are O’Donnell Center Corporate Sponsors, and are key employer partners for future pipeline development. The employers are: 3M, Accenture, Bank of America, Barclays, BASF, Bank of Montreal, BlackRock, Boston Consulting Group, Citi, Comcast/NBCUniversal, Crowe LLP, Deloitte Consulting, Digitas, EY, FTI Consulting, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Johnson & Johnson, KPMG, L3Harris, Mercer Consulting, MUFG, News America Marketing, PwC, Quest Diagnostics, Reckitt Benckiser, SAP and Wells Fargo. DEAN’S REPORT 11
VSB’S STRATEGIC PLAN
In tandem and aligned with the University’s Rooted. Restless. Strategic Plan, VSB started with what it values most—the Augustinian Catholic mission and values along with our strong liberal arts core that underpins business fundamentals—to frame our decision-making while inspiring us to do more. We will continue to honor our legacy and build upon it in the coming years. VSB engaged its faculty, staff, students, alumni and other stakeholders in a comprehensive strategic planning process.
The strategic plan spans five years, and three strategic imperatives—areas that must be strengthened for VSB to remain competitive—have been identified:
STUDENT COMPETENCIES Tech, Data and Analytics; Business Communication Skills; Ethics/ Corporate Social Responsibility; and Servant Leadership
FACULTY RESEARCH AND STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
Further, several other areas have been identified as strengths that must remain at the forefront of our work: Direct Student Impact: •C ommunications and Business Writing
• Holistic Experience
•T eaching Innovation
• Facilities and Technology
• I ntegrated Advising and Professional Development/Career Support Strengthen VSB Community to Serve Students: •T alent and Training
• VSB Brand and Visibility
•E xternal Engagement
• Advancement
•O rganization and Governance 12 VILLANOVA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Strategic efforts in support of diversity, equity and inclusion also took shape during this past academic year. The team developed the following goals: •C limate and Data Collection: Consistently measure the impact of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts that deliver a sense of belonging at VSB, as well as general DEI awareness and understanding. •A wareness and Understanding (Training and Education): Encourage VSB community members to take advantage of available DEI training, and provide additional training and educational resources where gaps are identified. •P edagogy (Diversity Pedagogy Theory): Develop a set of principles that point out the natural and inseparable connection between culture and cognition—to be an effective teacher, there must be an understanding and acknowledgment of the critical role culture plays in the teaching-learning process. •R ecruiting and Retention: Increase the number of underrepresented identities and provide a supportive environment for these populations. The work has been further prioritized given the state of race relations in the country and the impact of those relations on Villanova. The team is working to finalize an implementation plan that will begin moving VSB to accomplishing the goals listed above.
DEAN’S REPORT 13
ENHANCE THE VSB NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL BRAND
Building and growing a brand is as important in higher education as in business to remain competitive and attract those who embrace our mission and want to advance it. Recently VSB evaluated the strength of our brand relative to the marketplace—analyzing not only our strategy and messaging but also the needs and expectations of prospective undergraduate and graduate students. This work yielded valuable information that will contribute to our strategic plan.
POSITIVE EXPOSURE The VSB Communication & Marketing team promotes
Some recent topics include:
the scholarship and expertise of our faculty and staff,
Closing the Gender Pay Gap Equitably
as well as the many success stories of our students and alumni. During the past 12 months, VSB achieved more than 1,430 media hits generating over four billion media impressions. This has included prestigious outlets like Forbes, New York Times, Associated Press, CNN, NPR, Reuters, Bloomberg Businessweek, U.S. News & World Report, NBC News and The Wall Street Journal. We continued our award-winning Inspiring Minds, a VSB faculty research podcast series for which exceptional students are paired with our world-class faculty to discuss their recent research, thus making it more accessible to the marketplace. Since the series launched in 2016, there have been:
33 EPISODES 6,950 LISTENS 420,330 IMPRESSIONS 14 VILLANOVA SCHOOL OF BUSINEESS
Insuring Effective Management Monitoring Are Short-Term Incentives Driving Questionable IT Outsourcing Decisions? The Manager in the Mirror: How Abusive Bosses Hurt Themselves
FEATURING OUR STUDENTS AND ALUMNI Danniela Estrada ’22 VSB recounted her experience studying abroad while interning in London as a member of the Global Citizens Program. Christine Dorfler ’97 VSB, CFO, NBC Sports Group, talked about how VSB helped her develop as a leader in business and build a great foundation for life. VSB produced new videos in our #beingVSB series,
Chris Gheysens ’93 VSB, President and CEO,
which highlights VSB alumni and students sharing
Wawa Inc., described the valuable lessons he learned
what “being VSB” means to them and why the VSB
as an accounting major at VSB that helped him further
experience is so unique. This series is promoted on
the success of Wawa and its purpose of “Fulfilling
social media as a recruiting tool and used to engage
Lives Every Day” for customers, associates
and connect students and alumni by highlighting their
and communities.
classmates. The five newest videos have more than 14,805 YouTube and social media views, an increase
VSB executed a comprehensive communication and
of almost 600% from last year.
marketing plan targeted to accepted early action candidates designed to encourage them to come to
Jade Huang ’20 VSB spoke about her experience
Villanova. The plan included weekly multi-channel
at the VU Women in Tech Conference and how
touchpoints to the students as well as the parents.
technology has helped her decide what career
For a personal touch, postcards were mailed
path she wants to pursue.
from existing VSB students as well as letters from prominent alumni. As an added innovation,
Abby Butkus ’10 VSB described how VSB helped her
every accepted student received a video with
build a fulfilling career as a consultant that focuses on
a personalized welcome from Dean Russell.
the intersection of finance and technology in emerging markets at BFA Global.
DEAN’S REPORT 15
SOCIAL MEDIA The VSB Communication & Marketing team continues to build our brand through our social media presence and engagement. This work has become increasingly important as we work to keep our students, faculty, alumni and staff in community while we are not physically together. We have seen tremendous growth on Instagram and LinkedIn as we strategically engage with our undergraduate students on Instagram and our graduate students and alumni on LinkedIn. The percentage of change from last year is as follows:
COMMUNITY AND EXTERNAL OUTREACH We hosted the virtual Summer Business Academy in partnership with the Center for Access, Success
7.5 INCREASE %
and Achievement this past summer and will continue to manage the College Essay Review program. Our Summer Business Academy is a two-week program that gives Philadelphia high school rising seniors exposure to business and our VSB faculty and staff.
9 INCREASE %
We coordinated sessions on accounting, finance, law, marketing, management, technology and analytics, ethics, and global business, as well topics like personal finance, creating a vision board, Strengths Finder and social media best practices. Dean Russell provided a session on leadership.
44 INCREASE %
The College Essay Review program also continues to grow. This year, we had a 500% increase in essays that we reviewed, with support from over 40 volunteers across the University. We were able
46% INCREASE
to review and give feedback to students from across Philadelphia’s public high schools and provide support for those students wanting to attend college.
16 VILLANOVA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
SPONSORSHIPS VSB again invested in a great opportunity this past year in sponsoring the PA Conference for Women (PACFW). We received over 1.2 million impressions by becoming the Career Pavilion sponsor at one of the largest women’s events in the nation. With Elizabeth Gilbert and Ava DuVernay as the keynote speakers, the conference sold out and garnered national media attention. Dean Russell was invited to speak to over 1,000 women on the topic of negotiation, Dr. Quinetta Roberson presented on “How Is Bias Affecting Your Organization?,” and we personally met and took headshots for over 900 women as we promoted our graduate programs to over 10,000 women in attendance. We also offered career counseling with Dean Russell and our associate deans, which was a popular attraction at our booth, and we helped women with career questions and advice. VSB was the branded sponsor for the entire Career Pavilion, which included all the career counseling sessions and resume review sessions. This opportunity led to additional exposure for VSB and the University, focused on women in business. The PA Conference for Women also has a significant commitment to promoting underrepresented women and diversity, equity and inclusion, which aligns with our strategic plan.
DEAN’S REPORT 17
COVID-19 RESPONSE
VSB worked tirelessly to respond to the changing needs of our community in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since mid-March when we suspended on-campus operations, VSB’s leadership team continuously met virtually to solve issues and proactively plan for the impacts of COVID-19 as well as identify opportunities for us to further our mission. Some high-level accomplishments include:
ONLINE TRANSITION
COMMUNITY ADAPTATION
WORK PLACEMENT SECURITY
They include the following, and we continue to launch new virtual events and content every week.
Dean Russell appointed Julie Pirsch, PhD, associate dean of teaching and learning, as VSB’s point person to offer detailed guidance during the transition to online instruction, which ensured all students had the best possible experience. Dr. Pirsch and her committee also devised innovative solutions for course delivery under all potential scenarios during the 2020-21 academic year.
We anticipated that many VSB students might have internships or jobs lost or reduced due to COVID-19. Brenda Stover, assistant dean of the O’Donnell Center for Professional Development, and her staff worked closely with the VU Career Center to help secure jobs, internships and externships for our VSB students.
SUMMER BUSINESS INSTITUTE
Many non-business students lost internships and jobs this summer due to COVID-19, so we expanded Summer Business Institute to provide an alternative way for them to spend the summer. We enrolled an all-time high number of students in our Summer Business Institute, with 157 students, in six sections, who earned a business minor or certificate in business from VSB.
18 VILLANOVA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Dean Russell worked with the VSB Communication & Marketing team to continue to keep our students, faculty, staff and incoming students connected, feeling supported and in community. Knowing that many touch points would be virtual, we developed innovative ways to reach and engage with our audiences.
• I mmediately established a COVID-19 web presence that highlighted how our community was responding to positively impact the world. •P artnered with VSB faculty experts to share their perspectives and knowledge about the economic and business impact of COVID-19. This crossed all disciplines from finance to international business to supply chain management to marketing. •F eatured stories of VSB students and alumni who are making a positive difference during the crisis. •C reated and promoted special virtual events, like VSB Spirit Day, to engage our community and keep VSB top-of-mind while we are not physically together.
•H osted a virtual ceremony to celebrate the VSB Class of 2020. •C urated additional social media content to remind followers why they love Villanova and VSB to keep our community members engaged and connected. •D eveloped an incoming student strategy to help make incoming students in both the undergraduate and graduate programs feel connected and part of our community.
VSB’S COVID-19 TASK FORCE
In mid-March, Dean Russell supported the creation of a special task force to consider short- and long-term implications of COVID-19 and VSB’s response.
•E xploring medium- and long-term impact and opportunity areas for VSB. The team identified several important themes for us to consider as we refine our strategic plan. The task force had four primary recommendations: •B uild additional high quality, market attractive post-graduate and undergraduate certificates. •C reate a comprehensive corporate partner program. •C reate an elite online teaching excellence program. •D evelop a unique, value-based academic experience for the future of work.
The task force created innovative solutions, such as: •P roviding a meaningful learning experience for VSB students who had their internships or jobs reduced or cut by launching a summer practicum, Leading Through Disruption. Using the current COVID-19 challenge as context, the course explored how business corporations and other organizations adapt, respond, adjust and potentially explore new opportunities during periods of extreme uncertainty.
DEAN’S REPORT 19
Villanova School of Business 800 East Lancaster Avenue Villanova, PA 19085
AS WE LOOK AHEAD…WE REFLECT ON OUR PAST The work never stops as we continue to deliver on our mission. Please stay in touch with us throughout the year for in-the-moment updates on all that we’re accomplishing at VSB. Did you know? VSB turns 100 in 2022! Celebrate with us by sharing your favorite photos, memories and outcomes from your VSB days. Please send to: vsbcommunicationsandmarketing@villanova.edu. @VillanovaSchoolofBusiness
@VU_Business | @VSB_Dean
@villanovabusiness
Villanova School of Business
CELEBRATING 100 YEARS!
