Dean William Hall

The Alfred University College of Business has always embraced innovation, looking for ways to create a unique learning experience for its students that takes them beyond the boundaries of the classroom.

Dr. William Hall, associate provost at AU and acting dean of the College of Business, talks about ways the College will continue to adapt to meet the changing needs of students, faculty and the business world.

Creating unique learning opportunities is nothing new for the College of Business. In 1995, the University became one of the first in the nation to create an investment fund managed primarily by students. The Student-Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) has been a success throughout the last 14 years, with the fund enjoying solid growth and AU students routinely performing well in competitions for student managed stock portfolios.

SMIF has been part of a larger effort to create an environment that places students in “real world” settings, which was cited by the College’s accrediting body, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. “One of the best practices the AACSB said was ongoing at AU was our active learning initiatives,” Hall comments.

Students are actively involved in other projects aimed at giving them hands-on experience. Marketing students have helped area small businesses develop strategic marketing and advertising plans. Hall envisions that program someday expanding to allow students to work with larger businesses in Western New York. Some active learning initiatives have served the local community. For example, each spring, students volunteer to assist foreign students and senior citizens with completing their tax returns.

“I think a culture has developed here, where you have students not getting a grade but still participating” in community-oriented projects, Hall says. “It says a lot about the importance of community service.”

As the economy has become more and more global, so too has the College of Business. “There is increased pressure to globalize and help create a smaller world,” Hall says. “Business can’t be isolationist; we need a broader perspective.”

In addition to study abroad programs that have been available for years, the College has taken other initiatives to introduce students to business in an international setting.

Students have traveled to other countries to present papers, and two summers ago, a group of AU students attended the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in France. The College has been involved in a cooperative exchange with Heidenheim University in Germany. Last spring, a group of AU faculty and students traveled to Heidenheim, participating in lectures and visiting local businesses. German scholars have visited Alfred, Hall says, giving students a presentation on a simulation program, which shows how a business would work in different countries.

In February, the University announced that it had been chosen to host a Confucius Institute, which is devoted to promoting Chinese language and culture through education. Dr. Wilfred V Huang, professor of management in the College of Business, will serve as director of the Alfred University Confucius Institute, one of only 47 in the United States and three in New York State.

“Making our offerings more of a global experience is what we’re aiming for,” Hall comments. “We want to provide an experience that’s richer than what students can get at other institutions.”

More and more emphasis has been placed on technology. A stock trading room in the College’s F.W. Olin Building includes tote boards, financial news displays, and a commodity exchange quote board that allows quick, easy access to electronic source of financial and investment data.

The University is a member of the SAP University Alliances program. SAP, the nation’s largest business software company, provides the College with access to SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, the dominant ERP software used by Fortune 500 companies. Having exposure to the software when they leave AU will attract students to employers, Hall surmises.

The AU College of Business will continue to evolve in the next decade, as it has in the last, Hall speculates. He anticipates a modest increase in undergraduate students and envisions continued growth in the graduate program.

“I don’t see a lot of new academic programs being developed,” Hall says. “We want to strengthen and get depth in our existing programs.”

Hall expects the College’s graduate program to grow over the next decade as students, and not just those who majored in business as undergraduates, realize the value of obtaining their MBA.

“I think we’ll see an increase in the number of non-traditional students pursuing a graduate degree. We’re talking to students in other colleges — engineering, art and design — about what they can do with an MBA,” Hall says. “There is greater pressure on kids to have additional experience, beyond their four-year degree. We’re living in an entrepreneurial world and getting the extra year (of education), getting an advanced degree, is something that gives students an advantage.”

Hall says developing new concentrations in the MBA program, with expanded certificate programs is possible. One example would be development of a track that emphasizes SAP software training; another would be offering accounting coursework to MBA students required for them to sit for the CPA examination.

Hall counts a “diverse and committed” business faculty as one of the College’s greatest strengths. Indeed, the business faculty represents numerous countries, which exposes students to wide and varied viewpoints and sets AU apart from many institutions of similar size. He expects that to remain true a decade from now as AU becomes a greater presence in the region’s business community.

“I think we’ll have a more diverse faculty that is even more representative of our global business environment. We’ll have increased access to academic environments in other parts of the world by using technology,” he says. “And I see us having a greater presence in Western New York through outreach programs.”

Tags: AACSB, Alfred University, College of Business, Confucius Institute, MBA, William Hall

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