Fredonia University Senate

Proposal to Create a
School of Business and Political Economy

S.D. Stahl, Dean
Natural & Social Sciences and Professional Studies
11 December 2000

This proposal focuses on the creation of a School of Business and Political Economy from the following existing departments: Business Administration, Economics, and Political Science. This forward-looking organizational structure will facilitate and support curricular and research innovations of the impacted departments. The sections below detail the rationale, timing, components, administrative structure, funding, and implementation.

Rationale. The first fundamental goal is to elevate the external perception of the accounting, business, economics, and political science programs. All of these programs are underenrolled. The creation of the school will be a marketing tool to increase selectivity and create a positive image east of I-81 in general and in the Hudson Valley corridor and on Long Island in particular. Within western New York, the creation of the school will be used as a marketing tool with industries and agencies to demonstrate SUNY Fredonia's support for and commitment to these programs. Each of these programs will be experiencing a significant amount of faculty turnover over the next three to five years. The school will provide a vibrant, attractive setting that will help recruit faculty in disciplines that traditionally have proven very difficult for Fredonia to attract qualified faculty.

The second fundamental goal is to promote and nurture the development of international and interdisciplinary programs and research within the disciplines of the school. In theory this can happen in the current organization scheme, but in practice such curricula are nacent and underemphasized, and such collaborative research programs do not exist. In particular, political science faculty will be able to facilitate the internationalization of the business curriculum.

Timing. This proposal was developed over the summer of 2000 and brought forward to the leadership of the involved departments at the start of the Fall Semester 2000. Several windows of opportunity close in the near future that necessitate that action be taken this academic year. First, it is a catalog year. Second, the terms of the chairs of each of the existing departments expire at the end of the academic year 2000-01. Third, the onset of the Capital Campaign presents a unique opportunity for fund raising. Fourth, the existence of Mission Review funding provide an opportunity for start-up expenses of the school and student recruitment efforts. Fifth, collectively the departments will be entering a phase of increased retirements, which necessitates that the school to be operational prior to the replacement of faculty.

Components. The School will be composed of four departments, the existing departments of Economics, Political Science, Accounting & MIS, and Business Administration, the latter two being new departments created from the existing Department of Business Administration. The distribution of current tenured/tenure track faculty is six, seven, six, and six, respectively. At 25 faculty, the school will be somewhat larger than the School of Education and somewhat smaller than the School of Music.

Administration. A Director will be the school administrator, who will report directly to the Dean. Each of the four constituent departments will have a Chairperson, who will also serve on the Executive Committee of the School as Associate Director. The Chairs will report to the Director. Departments will maintain current (or develop new) policies and procedures, including those pertaining to personnel matters (reappointment, tenure, promotion, DSI, and evaluation of faculty teaching). The Executive Committee will serve as an advisory board to the Director, providing review and commentary on all matters going forward from the departments to the dean.

Funding. The creation of an additional chairperson, including release, is revenue neutral. This is accomplished by recovering the funds that would have been allocated to the Department of Business Administration to create an Associate Chairperson and those funds that would have gone to the three existing departments to provide a summer stipend to the chairpersons. The only expense is the stipend and release intrinsic to the creation of the position of Director. It may prove necessary to provide additional clerical support in the future.

Implementation. The School of Business and Political Economy will come into existence at the start of the 2001-02 academic year. During Spring Semester 2001, a Founding Director will be appointed from the existing faculty. The faculty of the new departments (Accounting & MIS, Business Administration) will recommend chairs and develop personnel guidelines. The principal task of the Founding Director will be to work with the faculty of the School to develop by-laws and guidelines, develop cross departmental task groups on curricular and research issues, and develop promotional materials. At the appropriate time, the Founding Director will chair the national search for a new Director.

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