Ken Kavajecz, dean of the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, has appointed three people to upper leadership positions in Whitman.

Two of the new appointments already have initiatives in mind, with one hoping to encourage undergraduate certification and extracurricular engagement, and the other envisioning changes to the Ph.D. program.

Kavajecz, who started his position as dean of Whitman in July, said he was able to interact with the faculty while traveling between the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was employed before becoming dean, and Syracuse University.

Kavajecz said he got to know how individual faculty members like to spend their time and what they were passionate about during that time.

“You need to find people that can connect with others, that understand their audience, that have a strategic vision and are going to deliver enough energy to keep the program moving when it’s hard,” he said.

The people Kavajecz appointed to leadership positions are: Kevin Bailey, previously Whitman’s director of information technology, Michel Benaroch, associate dean of research and Amanda Nicholson, a professor of retail practice.

Nicholson’s new role will be associate dean of undergraduate programs — which she said came as a surprise to her.

Nicholson said she has been working with Clint Tankersley, the previous associate dean, to learn more about the position’s full responsibilities.

These responsibilities draw on a need to have a “close relationship” with undergraduate students to understand their needs and find what direction the school needs to go in to make them the “most successful graduates they can be,” she said.

Holding office hours, she said, will be a part of this, with an open door as a sign that anyone can walk in and talk to her.

One of the first things she and the undergraduate office will be doing this semester will be certifying freshmen in Microsoft Excel, a program Nicholson said is fundamental.

“Excel is to business what the alphabet is to reading and writing,” she said, adding that Whitman is planning to certify more than 300 freshmen and 100 transfer students this semester.

Other plans for the undergraduate programs aren’t finalized yet, she said, but she plans to have a “creative brainstorming session” later this month to find ways to get students engaged in activities out of the classroom — shifting some focus to extracurricular activities.

Benaroch will now be associate dean of research and Ph.D. programs and has also started forming plans for this semester.

His new position was appended to his previous role as associate dean of research — which he said didn’t surprise him since the responsibilities for both positions overlap.

Research and collaboration with faculty, he said, will be important elements of the changes he plans to make to the program, clarifying expectations for Ph.D. students.

Benaroch wants to refocus the program’s requirements on research, which he said hasn’t been as strong a focal point. The goal, he said, is to have Ph.D. students conduct research, write and publish peer-reviewed articles before graduating — which will let them have publications to show potential employers during job interviews they may begin having during their fourth year.

The question in the past, he said, has been when to allow students to begin focusing on their research and when to begin teaching while in the program. Publishing a peer-reviewed research paper typically takes about two to three years, Benaroch said, and starting after the first year can leave students with too little time to publish.

Benaroch also wants to encourage departments to combine doctoral seminars, such as entrepreneurship, organizational behavior and strategic management to “capitalize on cross-department synergies.”

A good grouping of departments, he said, could strengthen students’ education, allowing graduates to distinguish themselves with more focused, niche knowledge — which he said could give Whitman Ph.D. graduates an edge.

Published on October 8, 2013 at 1:39 am

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