Dear Friends and Alumni

The University and the Business School were not and are not immune to the challenges that mark the past months and the future for our country. As most of you are aware, the University declared an enrollment emergency in February 2009 resulting in layoffs totaling 55 faculty and 30 staff. The Business School was impacted losing six faculty and two staff. These layoffs were not performance based but were a necessary consequence of the turbulent economic climate. As a result, the School said goodbye to both recent and longtime staff.        

While we will continue to be challenged, we take the view that challenging times are also a period of great opportunity. The faculty, staff and students are seizing the opportunity to strengthen recruitment, upgrade program offerings, re-engage with alumni and broaden corporate partnerships. We have begun by re-emphasizing quality over quantity for our MBA admits. We are using the success of our undergraduate Supply Chain Management Program to develop a supply chain concentration for MBAs. This program was approved by the University for launch in the fall of 2010.     

With the help and support of a cadre of dedicated alums, we have begun to locate and involve our strong base of 3000 graduate and 7000 undergraduate alums. Your involvement in recruitment, curriculum development, mentoring, friend raising, fund raising, and every aspect of your school will be pivotal to our coming success.      

Earlier this year we began the complete renovation of Wright-Young Hall. In the coming months we will update you on the progress as we prepare to move to our state-of- the art facility.      

With this inaugural issue of the on-line Business Chronicle, we are delighted to reconnect with you, our most valued resource. We ask that you inform us of classmates who are not on our email list so that they too can be informed of the wonderful things happening at their institution.

We thank you for your support and invite your comments.   

All the best,    

Edward L. Davis

Interim Dean