Dean's Blog

A Changing Landscape Means Changing How to Plan for Risk

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 21:26:19 +0000

A Changing Landscape Means Changing How to Plan for Risk Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/08/2022 - 14:26

Successful risk response is about what happens leading up to a crisis—not the immediate reaction.

Retired four-star general Stanley McChrystal spoke at the University of babyֱ��app Boulder recently, where he shared insights from a long career in defense that included his role overseeing Joint Special Operations Command, including in Afghanistan. One of the main themes he talked about was risk. What was especially interesting was his perspective that, while the specifics of a crisis may be unique—whether a pandemic, an unexpected act of violence or natural disaster—what is most important is what has gone on before the crisis. The resiliency and shared commitment and respect in any organization are critical elements that drive responses to crisis and its aftermath.

In January, we at the Leeds School of Business met with our peer review team as part of the re-accreditation process for AACSB International. And while preparing for that visit is a major lift, it is a useful process that forces us to think more strategically about where we are headed and how we are preparing for uncertainties on the horizon. This is especially true now, as we find ourselves between the COVID crisis and the looming challenges posed by the declining number of individuals in the typical undergraduate student demographic, as well as the robust job market, which can depress the demand for full-time graduate programs in business.

Risk assessment is, of course, a key part of the accreditation process—and something we should all be thinking about more intentionally as we navigate these uncertain times. Here are a few thoughts from different schools on how to assess risk.

Create well-defined strategic priorities

It’s much easier to create effective risk plans when they are tied to clear goals—and it can help get stakeholders on board when they understand the stakes of a challenge like the cliff.

For instance, at Leeds, one of our chief strategic priorities is to develop forward-looking leaders who create important babyֱ��app and social impact. How do we meet a goal like that if we are unable to attract students (and, to a lesser degree, babyֱ��app) because we failed to take the changing demographics seriously? Our risk assessment is looking at the kind of actions we can take now, to be better equipped for the challenges ahead. For instance, we created an initiative, End the Gap, that has helped raise the visibility of women at Leeds, both in terms of attracting more female applicants (prospective students and babyֱ��app) and building pathways to ensure their success. Through these efforts, we are focused on increasing the primary demand for a business education among women.

Everyone in your organization is a risk manager

Effectively owning risk means understanding that babyֱ��app and staff throughout the school offer valuable perspectives that can help you identify challenges and create strategies ahead of a disaster.

At American University of Beirut, disaster came in the form of the 2020 explosion that caused $20 billion in damages. On the one hand, predicting a cataclysmic explosion in your backyard is virtually impossible—the sort of “black swan” event that is so remote that it isn’t worth developing a specific response to. But leadership at the school looked at their actions leading up to the event and in the aftermath to determine how they could better predict and manage risk. A major takeaway they identified was the need for processes that can serve as a blueprint for how to navigate through a crisis. Processes can cover various scenarios—including ones you may not have considered—which makes them more robust than simple response plans.

Another takeaway was a better appreciation for the value of bringing people to the table who understand different facets of the overall picture, not just the leaders. Training everyone in the organization to identify risks as part of their work, in order to uncover insights that could be missed at the top, is incredibly valuable, but must be enacted carefully. If you are constantly on the lookout for risk, you may encourage people to see risk everywhere, and they may become less innovative as a result.

When catastrophic events occur, people have to act in the moment, putting out organizational fires as they start. A better focus on process will help the school be more resistant to shocks and more likely to weather the storm.

Metrics and interventions

With fewer prospective students as a result of demographic shifts, competition among universities will intensify. For undergraduate programs, this means not only competition for new high-school graduates. Schools will have to spend at least as much time on retention activities as they do recruiting future classes, to help students who need extra attention and to prevent the academic or social dissatisfaction that can lead to transfers.

More schools are embracing data to solve this problem. Bucknell University developed a student success intelligence model that helps staff and leadership predict when and how a student is struggling and allows for timely intervention before the student drops out or is forced to withdraw. Knowing when and where students are likely to encounter problems allows for more effective engagement, and can improve retention and graduation rates. While these rates have always been important, they will become increasingly so as students have a wider range of options for where to pursue their undergraduate degree.

With respect to graduate students, analytics to help identify and reach populations that are most likely to be interested in the differentiated aspects of your graduate program offerings will become even more essential. Effectively communicating the value proposition of your graduate degrees will require more sophisticated marketing and communication analytics—especially in a robust job market.

Regular follow up

Risks are a constantly evolving dynamic that need regular attention, to ensure your response efforts are on target. At Leeds, we review our strategic priorities—and associated risks—each year, which allows us to make adjustments to the likelihood or potential impact of a known risk, as well as consider new threats that may be gathering on the horizon.

Sharing ideas

I am always interested in learning how other business schools are identifying risks and planning how to address them. Please consider sharing your thoughts, which we may include in a future newsletter.

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Predicting the Future of Undergraduate Business Education

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 23:35:27 +0000

Predicting the Future of Undergraduate Business Education Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/08/2021 - 16:35

How changes in technology will update the b-school experience.

Advances in technology, pandemic-driven challenges and evolving real-world needs continue to push business schools in new directions. Here are three trends to watch that can shape undergraduate education over the next five years.

Embracing applied learning—with opportunities for reflection

Business schools continue to embrace “learning by doing” to ensure students master the skills they’re taught in the classroom. But just having an experience doesn’t mean the student always learns from that experience. With increasing options to access content knowledge—including many lower priced online options—providing experiential learning opportunities where babyֱ��app guide student learning from these experiences will become even more critical. As one illustration, the Leeds School of Business created a sophomore year capstone experience, called BASE, that challenges students to put their learning to work on real company cases and in consulting projects with partner businesses. Critically, the capstone follows intensive dives into specific disciplines; BASE is where students learn those disciplines interact in real business settings. Students are only required to choose a major after completing BASE, to allow them to see up close what their career experiences might look like. The value-added element of combining experiences with babyֱ��app-directed reflection helps students develop the skill of learning from experiences, something that will serve them well throughout their careers.

Personalized marketing

University marketing budgets are getting more attention as shifting national demographic trends underscore the importance of being able to effectively reach prospective students. Personalized marketing—which uses analytics to improve segmentation and deliver customized, authentic calls to action—is being embraced over more generic practices like buying lists of standardized test-takers. This personalization can also help schools expand their geographic reach into new markets, by recruiting students to programs and campuses that are good fits with student interests.

New specializations

Students entering college now are used to highly personalized access to a very wide range of content as social media has exploded over the last decade. As a result, the demand for a more customized college experience has also grown. In response, business schools are providing an increasing number of options for certificates, micro-credentials, minors and secondary focus areas that allow students to complement deep competence in their business field with unique areas of expertise. For example, Gabelli, at Fordham, offers primary and secondary concentrations in sports business as well as digital media and tech. Babson College offers a host of options, including technology, entrepreneurship and design and legal studies. At the Leeds School of Business, students can pursue a minor across campus in areas such as space, taking advantage of the top 5 program in aerospace engineering and positioning themselves well for excellence career options in the aerospace industry that leverage their foundational business majors from finance to marketing. MIT offers a similar approach at its Sloan School, where majors in management or business analytics are paired with specialties in bioengineering or finance and healthcare.

The challenge for business schools offering increased customization options is to ensure that they map onto career opportunities for students when they graduate. Many firms still hire business school graduates based on traditional major areas of finance, marketing, management or accounting. Ensuring that academic advisors help students navigate the realities of the job market, while also personalizing their college experience, is critical in preparing them for long-term career satisfaction and success.

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Climate Change Heats Up at Business Schools

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 23:06:16 +0000

Climate Change Heats Up at Business Schools Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/08/2021 - 16:06

Forward-looking schools are priming students for profound challenges ahead.

As they step into today’s business landscape and tomorrow’s leadership roles, students are facing a rapidly transforming world, and climate change issues are among the top challenges on the horizon.

But many business schools are not yet addressing climate change and how business may be part of the solution.

What top schools are doing

Some schools, however, have introduced innovative content and experiences that teach future business leaders how markets and business skills can play a role in identifying solutions that lessen, adapt to, or reverse the impacts of climate change.

Columbia Business School has spent more than a decade developing the curriculum for its Climate Change and Business Program, including courses like New Development in Energy Markets and The Business of Climate Change: Investing and Managing in a Changing Environment. The program provides experiential learning and research opportunities, as well as conferences and seminars that help students develop connections between theory and practice as it relates to climate.

At Stanford Graduate School of Business, The Policy, Politics and Economics for Solving Global Warming course explores how the next generation of leaders will use a combination of forward-looking public policy, political power and technologies to address the climate challenge.

NYU Stern offers courses like Climate Science: Realities and Risks of a Changing Climate, Investing for Environmental and Social Impact, and A Financial Approach to Climate Change, which explores the science and babyֱ��apps of climate change, policy responses to climate change, portfolio choices, and tools to mitigate climate risks.

Leeds School of Business recently launched the Clean Energy MBA Pathway, a curated combination of courses and co-curricular experiences that equip students to lead the transition to clean energy. In partnership with the Masters of the Environment graduate program, Leeds offers courses that include Energy Science and Technology, Renewable and Sustainable Energy in Practice, and Energy Policy in the 21st Century. Recently, the school produced a video on one professor’s research about how environmental entrepreneurship can be part of the climate crisis solution.

From one-offs to all in

While business schools continue to develop courses and programs on the business of climate change, some education leaders recommend that it be woven throughout the core curriculum, from finance to operations to marketing—through class projects, readings, case competitions and guest speakers. When business graduates appreciate how climate change can affect business decisions and opportunities, they will be better prepared to act in ways that not only create babyֱ��app value, but social value as well.

Sharing ideas

If you would like to share what your business school is doing to prepare students to face climate-related challenges, please email us and we’ll include some of these ideas in our next newsletter.

Email us at: leedsmarketingteam@colorado.edu.

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Keeping Donors Connected

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 12:46:52 +0000

Keeping Donors Connected Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 04/21/2021 - 06:46

How to drive results with donors during COVID and beyond

Last March, fundraisers in higher education were facing a bleak future. With no more early morning coffee meetings or dinners with donors possible, ‘road warriors’ were grounded indefinitely. Only 17% of advancement professionals surveyed in June believed they would meet their fundraising goals for FY21.

Like so many other professionals who lean heavily on in-person contact, development officers were forced to find new, innovative ways to connect with constituents. As they began pioneering ideas for virtual engagement, confidence began to grow; and by January 2021, 65% of fundraisers felt confident they would meet their FY21 goals.

Read on for creative ideas that two business schools have implemented to maintain strong connections with alumni, donors and prospects. Some initiatives have been so successful, they will continue well beyond the pandemic.

Filling the void of in-person networking

Virtual events are now more appealing to alumni than they were before the pandemic, according to a new study. Indeed, many schools have experienced a boost in attendance from pre-pandemic levels. And with increased turnout, eight in 10 development officers feel confident about building relationships through virtual events.

In pre-COVID times, when the University of babyֱ��app Boulder Leeds School of Business hosted alumni happy hours, only a handful of individuals would typically show up. Now, Leeds sees 100+ alumni attend virtually. As a result, virtual happy hours will be hosted monthly and include fun, creative breakouts for individuals to connect in a meaningful way.

Transforming ‘road warriors’ into ‘Zoom warriors’

As in-person donor visits and board meetings transitioned to virtual formats, donors and development officers began seeing the efficiencies. Constituents with constrained time or resources no longer had to block-off an entire evening or hop on a plane—engagement became quicker and more accessible.

“Donors are still giving, and we are having conversations over Zoom for transformational gifts and gifts of all sizes,” says Rachel Morrell, associate dean and chief development officer of external relations at Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.

In addition to more convenient conversations with development officers, donors have had access to individual meetings with Marshall’s dean and also with babyֱ��app members, providing a broader range of personal engagement with the school than was possible before.

Busy board members have increased their engagement with the convenience of being virtual, says Morrell. “More board members are attending meetings and actively participating in discussions, and I think we will see a hybrid model going forward with a combination of in-person and virtual meetings.”

Providing thought leadership on timely topics

Weeks after the pandemic shut down in-person classes at the University of babyֱ��app Boulder, Leeds launched the COVID-19 Webinar Series, which quickly expanded into a cross-campus collaboration resulting in 33 webinars and 40,565 constituents engaged from March through December 2020.

Currently in its eighth installment, the series features informative, expert commentary from alumni and world-renowned babyֱ��app across campus. Each presentation provides frank and timely insights for life during and after the pandemic.

Development officers have been able to capitalize on efforts like these by encouraging their prospects to join the webinar and following-up for feedback; they also gain warm leads of individuals who are newly engaged with the school.

In addition, the annual giving team leveraged these webinars by targeting those who had attended but had not donated to the school that year. They sent an appeal thanking the alumni for their support during COVID and asked to extend that support financially for students in need. As a result, they saw 17% of those non-donors donate.

A wide variety of webinars have emerged at schools everywhere. At Marshall, “Tommy Talks” is a series for alumni, donors and the community featuring babyֱ��app experts discussing topical questions of interest. And Leeds’ “Virtual Conversation Series”—intimate babyֱ��app talks in a small-group format—allows the advancement team to provide niche programming that appeals more strongly to a smaller segment of alumni and donors.

Making the dean more accessible

The Marshall School featured their new business school dean on multiple online channels. First, they started a webinar series called “Dean’s Dialogue” where Dean Geoff Garrett explores various subjects with high-level executive guests including Zoom Founder Erik Yuan. Dean Garrett is also active on Twitter, with alumni and donors encouraged to follow him.

“With a new Dean, we are seeing an uptick in giving and gift conversations,” says Morrell.

Trisha McKean, assistant dean of advancement at Leeds, adds, “In the pandemic we found some prospects and donors with more time on their hands, and we have been able to connect with some hard-to-reach constituents, which we are thrilled about and has already yielded results. Normalizing not having to rely on the dean’s travel schedule to make intimate connections has been a big win too.”

Helping babyֱ��app source speakers

Five years ago, advancement leaders at Leeds built the “Leeds Executive Experience” program to provide a high-level, on-campus experience for executive speakers, employers, board members, donors and alumni.

When operations shifted online, they leaned into the Executive Experience to support all-virtual engagements. As part of the shift, babyֱ��app were encouraged to submit requests to the Advancement Office for help in identifying guest speakers to bring learning objectives to life. It has become a valuable opportunity for babyֱ��app, prospects, students and advancement officers alike.

“Cultivate internally as much as you cultivate externally,” says McKean. Over time, she says babyֱ��app have realized the benefit of partnering with her team—as well as the benefit to the school. Some babyֱ��app have become “super users” who rely on the process to fill their virtual classrooms with compelling speakers.

“Instead of going to their personal networks, the world has opened up to babyֱ��app by letting us make recommendations. With the pandemic, we have also normalized international engagement in the classroom,” says McKean.

“The quality of the speakers has been great, and Advancement has been wonderful in sourcing folks that match with the topics I cover each class…students have benefitted greatly from their interactions with the speakers,” says Professor Janet Bercovitz of her entrepreneurship class.

For super-user Doug Bennett, who teaches leadership to MBAs, he sees it as a win-win for students and everyone else involved.

“To have speakers who…can relate their life experiences in the business world strengthens the academic principles that we discuss in class,” says Bennett. “And, naturally, when [a speaker] participates with students…their tie to the school is strengthened.”

What’s ahead?

Looking to the future, when in-person interactions are safe once again, there will be a need for both road warriors and Zoom warriors. Donor engagement will likely encompass a blend of virtual and in-person interactions—with more ways than ever to connect with prospects, alumni and donors based on their preferences and accessibility.

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Deans Forecast a New Dawn for Business Education Post-COVID-19

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 19:24:17 +0000

Deans Forecast a New Dawn for Business Education Post-COVID-19 Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 12/15/2020 - 12:24

Faced with the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19, we asked two deans from top business schools to

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Tips for Increasing Inclusion in Remote Learning

Anonymous — Sun, 13 Dec 2020 22:06:12 +0000

Tips for Increasing Inclusion in Remote Learning Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 12/13/2020 - 15:06

[video:https://youtu.be/oxHbRArkbsI]

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Helping Early-Career Faculty Progress in a Pandemic

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 21:56:45 +0000

Helping Early-Career Faculty Progress in a Pandemic Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/27/2020 - 15:56

How Two Entrepreneurial Approaches Filled a Research Void During COVID-19

Conference cancellations, event postponements, and quick shifts to remote formats due to the outbreak of COVID-19 this year created a chasm for academic researchers in the United States and across the world. In the blink of an eye, in-person opportunities for babyֱ��app—especially untenured babyֱ��app—to exchange ideas, workshop research papers and engage in thoughtful dialogue were reduced, as colleges and universities shut down campuses and labs for the undetermined future.

Delaying research even a few months stagnates projects ripe for presentation and feedback, and can have a significant impact on an early career researcher’s ability to build their portfolio of work and their reputation, according to Tony Cookson, associate professor of finance and co-director of the Center for Research on Consumer Financial Decision Making at the Leeds School of Business at the University of babyֱ��app Boulder.

The nature of business education itself, however, is well positioned to identifying opportunities during a downturn. The challenges to academic research caused by this year’s global pandemic ignited entrepreneurial thinking and comaraderie among some senior babyֱ��app at top business schools who shared concern for the career success of their early-career colleagues.

Their interest in helping their junior counterparts fueled two entrepreneurial solutions, one from the University of babyֱ��app Boulder’s Leeds School of Business and another at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management. Both offered early-career babyֱ��app opportunities to continue to move forward with their research and academic careers, despite the obstacles presented by COVID-19.

A series born from necessity

Early on, Cookson recognized the implications that a season of conference cancellations could have for early career babyֱ��app in the business school finance community and decided to address it head-on. He established a series of virtual conferences for finance researchers collectively titled “Finance in the Cloud.” 

The conferences featured presentations from finance babyֱ��app at top business schools around the country as well as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and of Philadelphia.

Cookson understood the hesitancy event organizers had to converting a conference with a top reputation online and the risks that could pose to the integrity of the work, virtual communication and technology, among other issues, but he figured someone needed to try to make it work. His conferences are proof of concept, as many virtual conferences and events of a similar nature have since followed with success.

Cookson’s quick thinking gave these early career babyֱ��app the opportunity to continue to share their research when everything had literally been cleared from their calendars. In addition, hosting conferences solely for junior babyֱ��app allowed the focus to be on obtaining feedback on papers, sourcing ideas, and limiting the disruption to junior babyֱ��app professional development and careers.

“Young researchers need to produce research to benefit their progress toward their tenure track,” says Cookson. “This wave of cancellations is particularly disruptive for those who have not yet fully established their reputations.” 

The online format allowed participants to benefit from their discussions in a way that Cookson notes they wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. He innovated a real-time discussion forum, where listeners would comment and provide constructive feedback in a chat function while the babyֱ��app member presented.

If a co-author was present, that person would handle the clarifying questions while the presenter continued without being interrupted. This allowed the Q&A portion to dive into some nuanced discussion that may not have progressed to the same degree in an equal amount of time.

“What they got out of 45 minutes, they would normally get from, a 90-minute seminar in person,” says Cookson.

A remote research lifeline

Like Cookson, Mary Ellen Carter, associate professor of accounting at Boston College, realized early on the difficulties the pandemic would create for untenured babyֱ��app.
“The opportunity to present research and receive feedback is so important to the advancement of our research and careers—for everyone, not just junior babyֱ��app,” says Carter. “And now there was an added layer of isolation as we toiled in our home offices.”

With the help of senior colleagues, Carter started the Corporate Governance and Executive Compensation Research Series in early April. She invited early career babyֱ��app, who they thought would benefit from being part of the community, along with top senior scholars in the field. Many of the senior babyֱ��app are also journal editors, who Carter and her colleagues believed would provide constructive, helpful comments and ideas for the early career researchers.

The group meets every Friday for an hour on Zoom, with an average of 20 people to keep it small and interactive. Each meeting offers one babyֱ��app member the opportunity to present their research and get feedback from a group of peers.

Participants represent top business schools from across the country and around the world, with babyֱ��app from IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain, and the University of Melbourne in Australia.

Including senior babyֱ��app was a key element, according to Yonca Ertimur, senior associate dean for babyֱ��app and research and Rustandy esteemed professor at the Leeds School of Business. Ertimur advised Carter at the outset of this project.

“Junior babyֱ��app appreciate the ability to present work to their contemporaries and to senior colleagues,” says Ertimur. “Also being able to give feedback to senior babyֱ��app is important too; it increases junior babyֱ��app visibility.” 

Frances Tice, assistant professor of accounting at the Leeds School of Business at the University of babyֱ��app Boulder, and her co-authors presented a working paper that examines the relationship between inside debt and debt contracting when borrowing firms have credit constraints or experience financial distress. “The findings expand our understanding on the usefulness of inside debt in reducing agency costs,” she says, particularly in times of babyֱ��app downturns.  Having this opportunity to gain feedback during a major revision was extremely helpful for identifying potential concerns in their findings and refining the framing of their key arguments. Tice says the experience also allowed her to build relationships with other babyֱ��app in the same field.

Andrea Pawliczek, assistant professor and BKD Faculty Scholar for the Trulaske College of Business at the University of Missouri, also found the series to be beneficial for building relationships with others in the field, in addition to the helpful feedback she received on her research.

“I think the series provides a partial substitute for some of the intangible benefits normally provided through conference attendance, where I have had the opportunity to meet and get to know other researchers,” says Pawliczek.

Paige Patrick, assistant professor of accounting for the University of Illinois at Chicago’s College of Business, called the series one of the professional highlights of the year.

“The feedback we received was invaluable, says Patrick. “Attending the research series is not only a great opportunity for feedback on our own work but also an opportunity to see what other folks in the area are working on.”

The mother of invention

Although campus activity has resumed to varying degrees across higher education in the United States, research collaboration and dissemination may look and feel different for all babyֱ��app well beyond this academic year.

“I think [Finance in the Cloud] was useful and useful enough that people would be happy to engage in a in a virtual conference experience again, even in a world where they could, as an alternative, travel to a conference and present in-person and meet people and talk with them face-to-face over coffee,” says Cookson.

The feedback Carter has received thus far from participants also has her considering continuing the series even as work, and the world, resumes operations post-COVID-19.

“It’s not just the junior babyֱ��app who have found this helpful,” says Carter. We’ve had six senior folks present (myself included) and the constructive feedback has been useful for pushing projects forward.”

While the coronavirus may have upended the usual mode of operations for academic research, Cookson and Carter’s virtual programs show how remote formats can work, even temporarily, to help early career babyֱ��app progress. Perhaps these types of events provide a window of what’s to come: a “new normal” for career development in academia.

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The Remaking of Business Education Post-COVID-19

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 21:43:19 +0000

The Remaking of Business Education Post-COVID-19 Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/27/2020 - 15:43

B-school will never look the same.

In the years leading up to coronavirus outbreak, business schools faced their fair share of challenges. MBA applications were down at many schools, and some questioned the value of two-year MBA programs that pulled people out of the workforce during a thriving economy.

Then the pandemic hit, causing the most dramatic disruption in the history of higher education. COVID-19 forced us to reassess the traditional business school experience. It turned our teaching model on its head, revamped curricula and challenged how we do admissions.

Some educators believe we are entering a decade-long remake of business education. If so, what will business school look like post-COVID-19?

Here are a few predictions.

Course delivery will transform
Virtual learning won’t take over in-person classes in most cases. But going forward, business schools have no choice but to embrace remote learning and offer more of it. These adaptations will need to be made while predicting tuition revenues, which is also more challenging. Unfortunately, this means that schools that are already struggling financially to survive might not make it.

Instructors will have to continue to learn how to maximize the potential of new technology, balancing remote instruction with in-person experiences. Successful babyֱ��app will develop engaging virtual classes with synchronous activities that activate students’ critical thinking and analytical skills.

Meanwhile, we will need to find new ways to help students reap the benefits of a traditional in-person business education—building a network, finding a job, connecting with a mentor and gaining funding for a startup. Accessing these elements of a business school education flexibly—either in person or virtually—will become key. New technologies that are emerging will allow for more natural, unstilted interactions between instructors and students, potential employers and job seekers, and classmates.

International students will decline
U.S. immigration policies had already begun to curb interest from international students before COVID-19, but now there’s the added risk of traveling and crossing borders. The convergence of these factors could change the makeup of future classes, shifting them to look more like they did 20 years ago when there were fewer international students.
Despite current challenges, there is reason to hope that the development of an effective vaccine and greater therapeutics can together help to reverse this trend. Additionally, immigration policies may receive renewed attention in the wake of this year’s elections.

Curricula will be revamped
Business schools are overhauling curricula and the student experience to meet the demand for new insights and skills that the post-COVID-19 world will require. 
Shortly after the coronavirus reached the U.S., schools began launching courses, seminars and workshops on leadership in a time of crisis—exploring risk management, what strong leadership in a pandemic looks like, and whether conventional leadership approaches will work at a time like this.

Students are showing fresh interest in babyֱ��app sectors the coronavirus has impacted, such as life sciences and healthcare management. They want to know more about how vaccines are developed and brought to market, showing the same kind of excitement as in the past for financial derivatives.

Additionally, courses on supply chain management are in greater demand, with special interest in topics related to reducing the risk of disruption, managing drug supply scarcity, diversify sourcing, and finding an equilibrium between efficiency and resilience.

Future curricula will continue to focus on the wider societal demands on business such as climate change and diversity—a fundamental shift already underway but elevated by COVID-19.

Admissions will meet challenges and opportunities
A silver lining of the pandemic may be the opportunity to rethink how we do things, and admissions is one of them. 

University programs had begun to reconsider testing requirements in recent years, and the pandemic is accelerating this trend. After testing centers shut down last spring, many graduate business programs waived the GMAT requirement and plan to waive it again next year. Meanwhile, more and more undergraduate business programs have made the SAT/ACT optional. Time will tell if these changes become permanent.

Also, for the next few years, it will be very difficult to compare one student’s grades to another’s, given the uneven response of schools to the pandemic, disparities in internet accessibility needed for remote learning, and shifts in familial responsibilities. We will need to come up with ways to consider an applicant’s grades in context and weigh them accordingly.

New areas of assessment will begin to emerge. Soft skills and attributes including self-awareness, curiosity, diligence, social awareness, integrity and ethics are correlated with high engagement in college, which is a strong predictor of future career success. Business schools will create new ways to measure these aptitudes and integrate them into the admissions process. Tactics might take the form of short online interviews, video prompts, or evaluation of samples of writing, music and art.

As business schools develop students to become resilient leaders who can effectively manage change during uncertain and unprecedented times, we need to lead by example.

With countless uncertainties before us, the pandemic provides an opportunity to reimagine business education and make changes to ensure that we are preparing our students to positively transform the future of business.

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Tips From Students: Advice for Improving Remote Learning

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Apr 2020 19:29:57 +0000

Tips From Students: Advice for Improving Remote Learning Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/06/2020 - 13:29

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3dIzx9IP_U&feature=youtu.be]

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6 Tips from Faculty for Teaching Remotely

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Apr 2020 19:23:54 +0000

6 Tips from Faculty for Teaching Remotely Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/06/2020 - 13:23

[video:youtu.be/v0KvxvTeO7A]

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