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.)
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Agenda is subject to change. Changes can occur up until the start of the conference.
Agenda Timezone:
Agenda:
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM ET
Metropolitan Business Schools Affinity Group Meeting
Member-Driven
"Metropolitan Business School Leadership Networking Session"
Network with other business school leaders translating “vision into action” in the Associate Dean role and beyond.
Jim Fatzinger
Fulbright Specialist | American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow ('11/'12)
Vanderbilt University
Wafa Hakim Orman
Associate Dean, College of Business
University of Alabama in Huntsville
3:00 PM - 3:45 PM ET
Associate Deans Affinity Group Meeting
Member-Driven
This panel discussion will open by sharing various experiences of designing and executing a school-level strategy, followed by open questions, answers, and suggestions.
Amy McMillan
Associate Dean Research and Faculty Development
East Carolina University
Daniel J. Turner
Associate Dean, Masters Programs
University of Washington
Lee Grubb
Senior Associate Dean
East Carolina University
3:00 PM - 3:45 PM ET
Online Learning Affinity Group Meeting
Member-Driven
"The Impact of Generative AI in the Curriculum"
This interactive session will explore the impact of generative AI in Curriculum design, Curriculum delivery and Assessment
Anna Ni
Associate Dean, Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration
California State University, San Bernardino
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
3:55 PM - 4:15 PM ET
Industry Session: Market Games - How Might We Leverage AI to Nurture the Next Generation of Leaders?
Join us for an interactive collaborative session where we’ll dive into the use of AI, peer evaluation, and our respective school's resources to help our students build the skills employers highly desire.
Torsor Kotee
CEO
MarketGames
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM ET
Conference Welcome & Keynote I: Thriving Amid Tensions: Leading with a Paradox Mindset
Join us for a welcome message from AACSB’s EVP and Global Chief Accreditation Officer and Managing Director of the Americas, Stephanie Bryant. Following her address, attend the opening keynote on navigating tensions of business.
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.
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.
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
Sponsored by
5:30 PM - 6:30 PM ET
Welcome Reception
Relax and enjoy the company of your colleagues. This reception is the perfect opportunity to unwind and continue the day’s discussions in a more informal setting.
Sponsored by
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM ET
Breakfast and Networking
Begin your day by networking over coffee. This is an excellent opportunity to reconnect with colleagues, make new connections, and discuss the sessions ahead.
8:30 AM - 9:15 AM ET
Women Administrators in Management Education Affinity Group Meeting
Member-Driven
"The Next Career Move: Preparing for and Transitioning to a Dean’s Role" Join us with your breakfast for an interactive session with a panel sharing reflections of two Deans and one Associate Dean. We will discuss different paths to deanship and lessons learned along the way.
Christy H. Weer
Dean
Salisbury University
Mary Ann Scully
Dean
Loyola University Maryland
Suchismita Mishra
Associate Dean
Florida International University
9:30 AM - 11:00 AM ET
Workshop: 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, Manning School of Business
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Haya Ajjan
Associate Dean, Love School of Business
Elon University
Natasha Veltri
Professor, Information & Technology Management, 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
Sponsored by
11:05 AM - 11:25 AM ET
Industry Session Knack: Learning & Earning: Investing in Tech to Reinvest in Student Success
This session will explore building a salable network of peer tutors to ensure every business student has access to support in their courses. Speakers will discuss supporting underprepared students and re-investing dollars back into the student body via Knack's contractor model.
Deborah Campbell
Senior Vice Dean
Temple University
Laura Maguire
Senior Partner Executive
Knack Technologies, Inc.
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
Lee Brown
Associate Dean of Research and Innovation, Merrilee Alexander Kick College of Business and Entrepreneurship
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) Advancing Support for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in an anti-DEI Climate
Despite hard fought and won DEI inroads, a wave of recently passed anti-DEI legislation, wide-sweeping organizational budget reductions and increased anti-DEI sentiment have resulted in significant restrictions on a variety of university's DEI initiatives and programs. In contrast, AACSB's Accreditation Standards rightly expects business schools to make a positive societal impact. In this session, we will discuss the critical role Associate Deans can play to advance their school's support for DEI, even in an anti-DEI climate.
Aronté Bennett
Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; Associate Professor of Marketing & Business Law, Villanova School of Business
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 and inclusion of appropriate stakeholders in the budgeting process. Learn how to transform your college budget into a strategic tool that drives growth and accelerates long-term strategic goals. Break down communication barriers and challenge the status quo by engaging your stakeholders in transformative ways that will reshape your college's financial destiny.
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 resource optimization.
Andrew Little
Interim Dean, College of Business Administration
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
Associate deans have long requested an expanded role in the AACSB accreditation process. We are excited to share a new initiative in this session where associate deans will have the opportunity in the future to play an enhanced role in AACSB accreditation. We think you will be thrilled! Please join us to learn more.
Elizabeth Rozell
Regional Head, Americas
AACSB International
Stephanie M. Bryant
Executive Vice President, Chief Accreditation Officer, and Managing Director, Americas
AACSB International
4:30 PM - 5:15 PM ET
Responsible Management Education Affinity Group Meeting
Member-Driven
"Connecting for Change: Building a Community of Responsible Management Educators"
Connect, Share, Collaborate: This networking session is designed to build a community, share responsible management practices, and foster partnerships
Connect, Share, Collaborate: This networking session is designed to build a community, share responsible management practices, and foster partnerships
Luciana Echazu
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education
Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics, University of New Hampshire
4:30 PM - 5:15 PM ET
Small Schools Affinity Group Meeting
Member-Driven
This informal network session is a great opportunity to build connections and discuss a wide range of topics that matter to small schools faculty in a smaller, more intimate setting.
Mary A Coombs
Assistant Dean, School of Business
St. Bonaventure University
8:15 AM - 9:00 AM ET
Breakfast and Networking
Begin the final day with networking over breakfast. Reflect on the insights gained and prepare for the final sessions.
9:00 AM - 9:45 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
10:00 AM - 10:45 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
11:15 AM - 12:00 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) and engaging faculty within the unique context of one’s school. In this session, presenters will reflect on the leadership roles of Associate Deans and evaluate the effectiveness of faculty engagement measures.
Luciana Echazu
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education
Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics, University of New Hampshire
Patrick McGurk
Associate Dean Education
Queen Mary University of London
Seminar