dr. rick wrote:To be honest, this tread bothers me (LOL, part of the internet, i guess). Most posters on this thread fail to realize the job of the B-School dean: 1) raise money, 2) set culture/standards, 3) be public face of the school (corporations, new students, ...). Yes, I am on the faculty at the B-School, and met most of the candidates. One thing to consider is that the new dean had the support of the trustees (e.g., Sewell). Think of the dean as the CEO... He/she then has people to implement programs and make the school work (COO, VP's in corporate terms). Meyers was my favorite, as he had an appropriate vision, fundraising, culture, ... Don't get hung up on credentials... Even Kellogg hires relatively 'unknowns' as their Dean. Let's see how he does.
Thanks for your feedback and your service to SMU. You have a lot of great information.
My criticism with the new Dean is mainly due to the first and second points that you listed. I'm glad to hear that he has the support of the trustees and a good personality. If he is supposed to be good at raising money, I'm not sure if we can really judge his fundraising from Farmer since 55 percent of the funding was raised before he became Dean at Farmer. In terms of culture and standards, I believe that is very important--Cox and more so the rest of SMU needs a change of culture. That is why I feel SMU needed someone with work experience with institutions from the top 25--specifically, MBA programs. For a private school in the Dallas Ft. Worth market, I feel that their is a lot room SMU could move up. SMU is not a well oiled machine, the institution needs someone that will wake it up with fresh ideas--not more of the same. SMU is not even the best business school in the Dallas Ft. Worth area. 2018 US News MBA rankings: #17 UT, #29 Rice, #38 A&M, #38 UTD, #52 SMU, #65 Baylor, #71 TCU, & #93 Houston. Farmer is unranked. Rice and UTD were founded in 1974 and 1975. Without work experience from Top business schools, what cultural standards do we really want from Miami of Ohio? While rankings isn't everything, they at least give you a baseline for key metrics--I think US News is the gold standard and what most use when applying to both college and graduate school.
While Cox may be the bread and butter for undergraduate studies at SMU, it is unsettling to hear that they are not better funded by the rest of the institution.
My opinion is that: 1) we need a new leadership ; 2) we can use better funding; and 3) the board of Trustees is too large for an institution of SMU's size.
New LeadershipIn addition, having President R. Gerald Turner since 1995 isn't good for any institution beyond Harvard, Yale and Princeton. SMU needs an infusion of fresh ideas and better execution. Furthermore, some of the main colleges may be ripe for new leadership. The private schools (SMU, TCU, Baylor) in Texas are all not run well, beyond Rice (and maybe Trinity). The Texas private schools have beautiful campuses but they all leave something left to be desired. I think football has a lot to do with it in terms of sports over academics. I would guess all have spent close to a Billion each in the last 15 years for football. Imagine if they kept the donations for the endowment.
Raising MoneyIn terms of funding, for SMU to have such a rich alumni base and always talk about the amount of CEOs and Billionaires we have, the institution should be better funded. For institutions that always have a high percentage of alumni that give, it starts with the culture and how you treat the students while they are attending the university. I hope SMU will stop building fountains and parking garages. The SMU facilities master plan is ridiculous.
Board of TrusteesIt is likely hard for SMU to get things done with a board of that size. 42 Trustees is too large for an institution of SMU's size, they can easily cut it by half. Where are all the academic trustees? It seems like everyone has a business background. For people that are supposed to help with culture & academic hiring, relying only on business men and the church isn't good.
In your opinion dr. rick, do you have any criticisms of Cox or the rest of SMU that you will be willing to share? Again, thanks for your service at SMU.