On this episode of Deans Counsel, Jim Ellis and Ken Kring speak with Gerry Sanders, Dean of UNLV's Lee Business School. In perhaps our most riveting discussion to date, Gerry walks us through his experience during an active shooter incident targeting Lee, and the confusing aftermath.

In addition to feeling firsthand the myriad emotions that arise during and in the wake of this all-too-common, uniquely American occurrence, Gerry received a crash course in university-level crisis communications -- a complicated experience full of hard-earned lessons to say the least.

You'll come away from this episode with some fascinating and instructive insights, including:

•some basic protocols to have in place in the event that the unthinkable comes to your campus
•addressing the need (and prioritizing the response) for information coming from multiple sources (campus, media, personal)
•the cultural shifts that take place following a traumatic event
•managing the communication conflicts between campus and the public

Learn more about Gerry Sanders: https://www.unlv.edu/people/gerry-sanders

Comments/criticism/suggestions/feedback? We'd love to hear it. Drop us a note at feedback@deanscounsel.com

Thanks for listening.

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Produced by Joel Davis at Analog Digital Arts

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DEANS COUNSEL: A podcast for deans and academic leadership.

James Ellis | Moderator | Dean of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (2007-2019)

David Ikenberry | Moderator | Dean of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado-Boulder (2011-2016)

Ken Kring | Moderator | Co-Managing Director, Global Education Practice and Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry

DeansCounsel.com

66: Gerry Sanders (UNLV) on Crisis Communications in an Active Shooter Situation

We discuss the increasing possibility of a boycott of the FT's rankings by U.S. MBA programs.

What If The U.S. Schools Walk From The Financial Times MBA Ranking?

On this episode of Deans Counsel, Jim Ellis and Ken Kring speak with Blair Sheppard, Special Advisor to Duke Kunshan University, and previously Dean of Duke's Fuqua School of Business. Blair is responsible for directing all of Duke Kunshan's fundraising, corporate development, non-degree program development and regional development for the newly formed campus in China.

From 2012-2024, Blair served as Global Leader for Strategy and Leadership at PwC, where he focused on building resilient strategies and leadership for PwC worldwide, and further sharpened his ability to see further into the future than most of the rest of us.

In this episode, we hear very compelling observations from Blair about four key mega-trends --  climate, technology, global forces and aging -- that he feels will fundamentally reshape every aspect of society (including business, of course). 

With us, he shares some insight into how business schools, through their research and teaching, must soon lean into these abrupt changes in societal needs. In so doing, he also lends advice as to how we as leaders should go about the change process of taking faculty through this difficult process, touching on topics such as:

- Why some long-held assumptions are no longer holding
- Our rapidly changing world's impact on curriculum
- Rethinking the teaching of strategy
- How Ai will shape demand for the MBA

Learn more about Blair Sheppard: https://www.fuqua.duke.edu/faculty/blair-sheppard

Comments/criticism/suggestions/feedback? We'd love to hear it. Drop us a note at feedback@deanscounsel.com

Thanks for listening.

-
Produced by Joel Davis at Analog Digital Arts

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DEANS COUNSEL: A podcast for deans and academic leadership.

James Ellis | Moderator | Dean of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (2007-2019)

David Ikenberry | Moderator | Dean of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado-Boulder (2011-2016)

Ken Kring | Moderator | Co-Managing Director, Global Education Practice and Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry

DeansCounsel.com

67: Blair Sheppard (Duke) on What's Next in Higher Academia

The results are sometimes as mystifying as they are illuminating

The New Princeton Review MBA Ranking

On this episode of Deans Counsel, Jim Ellis, Dave Ikenberry and Ken Kring speak with John Evans, Dean of the VinUniversity College of Business and Management in Hanoi, Vietnam. Prior to joining VinUni, Professor Evans was the Pro Vice Chancellor and President of Curtin University Dubai campus.

John has held numerous senior leadership roles in Higher Education and has extensive senior academic international experience. He is also an active researcher and publishes and teaches mainly in the fields of Corporate Governance, Financial Control and Financial Accounting. He is a Fellow of the CPA and holds a PhD from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign).

Founded in 2020, VinUni is a private, not-for-profit university that has built strategic collaborations with Cornell and Penn, and represents an emerging trend of "startup" business schools. At only five years old -- and with the business school being a year younger -- VinUni faces a unique set of challenges, far different from the many legacy schools with far more history and experience than VinUni.

In this wide-ranging conversation, John walks our hosts through his experience thus far, discussing such topics as:
- attracting top talent
- establishing VinUni as a research as well as teaching institution
- developing key programs in collaboration with Cornell and Penn
- how the university's startup nature differs from administration and systems creation at legacy schools

Learn more about John Evans: hhttps://vinuni.edu.vn/people/prof-john-evans/

Comments/criticism/suggestions/feedback? We'd love to hear it. Drop us a note at feedback@deanscounsel.com

Thanks for listening.

-
Produced by Joel Davis at Analog Digital Arts

--

DEANS COUNSEL: A podcast for deans and academic leadership.

James Ellis | Moderator | Dean of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (2007-2019)

David Ikenberry | Moderator | Dean of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado-Boulder (2011-2016)

Ken Kring | Moderator | Co-Managing Director, Global Education Practice and Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry

DeansCounsel.com

68: John Evans (VinUniversity) on Leading a Business School Startup

A change in the validity period for GMATs and GREs will impact some applicants this year 

Stanford's GMAT Time Bomb For Applicants + An Alarming AACSB Study

In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Ginelle van Tartwijk, Philanthropy Advisor at ABN AMRO MeesPierson and proud alumna of RSM’s Full-time MBA Class of 2024.

Originally from the US, Ginelle moved to the Netherlands with an efficiency mindset – determined to fully dedicate herself to the MBA journey. During our conversation, she reflected on the role of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in her studies at RSM:

“The SDGs are a very big component of what we talk about in class, what we try to focus on, and what we take with us as we graduate.”

The SDG that resonates most with her? SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals.

“I always come back to that one as being most important, because ultimately we have to work together to achieve the other goals. It’s difficult to do it alone - and I see that both in my work and in the big philanthropists I follow.”

For more insights and to hear her full MBA story, listen to the full interview!

Philanthropy and the power of partnerships - with alumna Ginelle van Tartwijk (FTMBA Class of '24)

On this episode of Deans Counsel, Jim Ellis and Dave Ikenberry speak with Bernard "Bernie" Banks, Director of Rice University’s Doerr Institute for New Leaders (and a Clinical Professor of Management within the University’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business).  The mission of the Doerr Institute “…is to elevate the leadership capacity of Rice students and to improve the practice of leader development in higher education.”  

Most recently, Bernie served on the faculty and senior leadership team at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management from 2016-2024 prior to arriving at Rice.

Bernie retired from the U.S. Army in 2016 as a Brigadier General after having successfully led West Point’s Department of Behavioral Sciences & Leadership in his final assignment.  In addition to having studied leadership extensively, he has led multiple military units ranging in size from 10 to over 3000 people.  

In this instructive conversation, Bernie relates to our hosts some of the experiences he's gleaned through his decades as an inspiring leader, touching on topics such as:

- his objectives as Director of the Doerr Institute
- how he measures effectiveness
- acquainting students with the leadership mindset
- creative approaches to leadership development

Learn more about Bernie Banks: https://doerr.rice.edu/people/rice-staff/bernie-banks

Comments/criticism/suggestions/feedback? We'd love to hear it. Drop us a note at feedback@deanscounsel.com

Thanks for listening.

-
Produced by Joel Davis at Analog Digital Arts

--

DEANS COUNSEL: A podcast for deans and academic leadership.

James Ellis | Moderator | Dean of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (2007-2019)

David Ikenberry | Moderator | Dean of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado-Boulder (2011-2016)

Ken Kring | Moderator | Co-Managing Director, Global Education Practice and Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry

DeansCounsel.com

69: Bernie Banks (Rice) on Leadership Development at Large Scale

On this episode of Deans Counsel, Jim Ellis and Dave Ikenberry speak with Avijit Ghosh, Dean Emeritus at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Gies College of Business. He also served as vice president/chief financial officer and comptroller for the University of Illinois System since 2018. Dr. Ghosh's Research and teaching interests are in the area of retail and marketing strategy and sales forecasting. His reas of specialization include locational analysis, technology commercialization, entrepreneurship, and marketing strategy.

In this perhaps provocative conversation, Avijit lends his insights into to the state of higher education today, and expounds on such topics as:

- the value proposition: delivering on the promise of higher education
- the cost of higher education as a barrier to accessibility
- delivering multiple avenues for education (not just undergraduate)
- tech transfer
- his perspectives on today's political environment

Learn more about Avijit Ghosh: https://giesbusiness.illinois.edu/profile/avijit-ghosh

Comments/criticism/suggestions/feedback? We'd love to hear it. Drop us a note at feedback@deanscounsel.com

Thanks for listening.

-
Produced by Joel Davis at Analog Digital Arts

--

DEANS COUNSEL: A podcast for deans and academic leadership.

James Ellis | Moderator | Dean of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (2007-2019)

David Ikenberry | Moderator | Dean of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado-Boulder (2011-2016)

Ken Kring | Moderator | Co-Managing Director, Global Education Practice and Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry

DeansCounsel.com

70: Avijit Ghosh (Illinois Urbana-Champaign) with Strategic Insight into Higher Education Today

We digest the new Financial Times ranking of MiM programs and explain who they are for and what kinds of results grads get from these programs

New tracks tagged #Business school