Educators
Associate Deans Conference
An event designed for decision-makers in business school operations and management.
Date(s)
October 28 – 30
Location
Washington, D.C., USA
Event Type
Conference
Make it a Bundle
Save up to $300
Associate Deans Conference
AoL Culture Change and Faculty Engagement Seminar (Washington, D.C.)
Agenda Timezone:
Agenda:
1:45 PM - 2:40 PM ET
Networking Community Meeting
More details coming soon!
3:30 PM - 4:30 PM ET
Conference Welcome & Keynote I: Navigating Tensions of Business
Leading a business school means navigating tensions. Our attention and resources are continually pulled in opposing directions. Do we focus on knowledge creation or revenue generation? Quality and exclusivity or access and inclusion? Research, teaching or service? Facing competing demands, a common approach is to see dilemmas, then make tradeoffs. We focus on the most urgent, rewarded or comfortable option. Yet such either/or thinking is limiting and best, detrimental at worst.
There is a better way. Marianne Lewis has spent the past 25 years studying the traps, opportunities and navigation of tensions. As a dean, she also lives business school tensions herself. Both/and thinking involves a shift from a tradeoff to a paradox mindset. Embracing competing demands can enable more generative, creative, and sustainable solutions. In this iterative keynote, we will examine how both/and thinking can help you, as fellow business school leaders, learn and thrive amidst tensions.
There is a better way. Marianne Lewis has spent the past 25 years studying the traps, opportunities and navigation of tensions. As a dean, she also lives business school tensions herself. Both/and thinking involves a shift from a tradeoff to a paradox mindset. Embracing competing demands can enable more generative, creative, and sustainable solutions. In this iterative keynote, we will examine how both/and thinking can help you, as fellow business school leaders, learn and thrive amidst tensions.
Marianne W. Lewis
Dean, Linder College of Business
University of Cincinnati
Stephanie M. Bryant
Executive Vice President, Chief Accreditation Officer, and Managing Director, Americas
AACSB International
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM ET
Welcome Reception
Reconnect with old friends, make new ones as you relax and enjoy the company of your colleagues.
8:30 AM - 9:20 AM ET
Networking Community Meeting
More details coming soon!
9:30 AM - 11:00 AM ET
GenAI for Productivity and Well-being
This highly interactive workshop dives into practical applications of GenAI for the Associate Dean. Facilitators will showcase tools for balancing administrative tasks and reclaiming time. Designed specifically for business school administrators, this session will arm you with tools and strategies to boost productivity and increase work satisfaction.
Amit Deokar
Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs, Manning School of Business
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Haya Ajjan
Associate Dean, Love School of Business
Elon University
Natasha Veltri
Associate Dean, Sykes College of Business
The University of Tampa
Zachary Goldman
Director of Online Teaching & Learning, Program Director, Online MBA and Associate Professor of Practice, College of Business
University of Louisville
11:30 AM - 12:15 PM ET
The Business of Relationships
This session will discuss building trust and rapport with faculty, staff, and your dean, including how to best articulate your vision with clarity and passion to gain buy-in for your initiatives and needs. Join us for tips to improve your art of persuasion and influence decision-making without resorting to pressure tactics.
Fabio Fonti
Associate Dean For Faculty And Research
NEOMA Business School
Pushkala Raman
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Texas Woman's University
1:30 PM - 2:15 PM ET
(A1) Innovative Approaches to Experiential Learning Outside of the Classroom
This session will share research and best practices on the benefits of experiential learning, featuring examples from two well established schools that developed an experience-based approach to supporting students’ professional and personal development. Speakers will discuss using technology-based tools to support these initiatives.
Angela Hersch
Vice President, University Success
Suitable
Doug Meyn
Program Director, Bellini Center for Talent Development, Muma College of Business
University of South Florida
Jacqueline Elcik
Senior Associate Dean
Providence College
1:30 PM - 2:15 PM ET
(A2) Moving forward with DEI
Some momentum behind DEI initiatives has waned in the face of a shaky economy, organizational spending restrictions, and growing opposition in the courts and legislatures. This session will share tips for what Associate Deans can do make a difference, even with political and financial obstacles.
Aronté Bennett
Associate Professor of Marketing & Business Law; Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Villanova University
Oscar Holmes IV
Former Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs, Associate Professor & Director of Rutgers University Student Executive (RUSE)
Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey-Camden
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM ET
(B1) Creating Fiscal Resilience
This session will uncover best practices in developing, revising, and managing budgets, including effective communication to and inclusion of appropriate stakeholders in the budgeting process.
Anna Ni
Associate Dean, Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration
California State University, San Bernardino
Reilly White
Associate Dean of Teaching and Learning, The Robert O. Anderson School of Management
The University of New Mexico
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM ET
(B2) Strategic Implementation of Societal Impact
As an administrator responsible for ensuring and communicating impact, the pressure is on to translate your school's mission into tangible societal impact/results.
This session will discuss management of tensions between short, medium, and long-term implementation. Speakers will share best practices for overcoming challenges such as instability of governance, justifying long term investments, and managing short-term pressures of resources optimization.
This session will discuss management of tensions between short, medium, and long-term implementation. Speakers will share best practices for overcoming challenges such as instability of governance, justifying long term investments, and managing short-term pressures of resources optimization.
Andy Little
Associate Dean
Abilene Christian University
Tamim Elbasha
Associate Dean - Learning & Quality Development, Business School
Audencia E.E.S.C.
3:30 PM - 4:15 PM ET
The Emerging Role of the Associate Dean within AACSB
This session will discuss opportunities for associate deans to play a pivotal role in the accreditation process. Join us to learn how you can drive a compelling accreditation narrative for your institution.
Libby Rozell
Regional Head
Stephanie M. Bryant
Executive Vice President, Chief Accreditation Officer, and Managing Director, Americas
AACSB International
8:15 AM - 9:10 AM ET
Networking Community Meeting
More details coming soon!
9:15 AM - 10:00 AM ET
Keynote II: Beyond Strengths: A Leader’s Guide to Personal Development
As an associate or assistant dean, many struggle with identifying the next step in one’s career or personal development. In her 2024 book The Possible Self, author Maja Djikic asks why career success does not necessarily bring whole-life fulfilment. We’re often told that the key to success in life involves advancing in our careers, but why do we feel so stuck and unfulfilled when everything seems to be going right? In this session, Djikic will share the key to discovering one’s purpose and achieving real, lasting change. Learn about Djikic’s transformational system called the Wheel of Change—a simple, five-segment plan that corresponds with the five key parts of ourselves: Desires, Actions, Emotions, Thoughts, and Body.
Maja Djikic
Associate Professor of OBHR Management and Executive Director of the Self-Development Laboratory, Rotman School of Management,
University of Toronto
10:15 AM - 11:00 AM ET
The Transformative Potential for Generative AI in Teaching
In this dynamic session, participants will explore the transformative potential of generative AI in teaching within business education, led by experts from three different institutions from around the world. Through interactive discussions and modeling, participants will gain confidence in their teaching practice, leveraging the potential of integrating generative AI to address the pressing need for educators to stay abreast of technological innovations. This session is focused on staying current with changing needs by ensuring faculty can effectively prepare learners for the future workplace.
Daniel Gruber
Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning, W. P. Carey School of Business
Arizona State University
Lucian Tipi
Associate Dean
Birmingham City University
Tawnya S. Means
Assistant Dean, Educational Innovation, Chief Learning Officer, Gies College of Business
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
11:30 AM - 12:15 PM ET
The Role of the Associate Dean in Assurance of Learning
As an Associate Dean one wears different hats from strategic to operational. This is also the case when managing assurance of learning (AoL) within a school. In this session, presenters will share best practices and challenges from two schools: a stand-alone triple accredited business school in France with 36+ programs in the school of accreditation and a smaller business school in a Moroccan liberal arts university that is in the final stages of AACSB accreditation and is just closing the loop. Presenters will discuss the different approaches and involvement of Associate Deans depending on your business school.
Isabelle J. Fagnot
Associate Dean Quality & Accreditation
KEDGE Business School
Patrick McGurk
Associate Dean Education
Queen Mary University of London
Seminar
Online Course