Being on the MSJ Board has its perks, one being the opportunity to sit down and interview Dean Dolan. While we selfishly wanted to select the questions for the interview, we realize that you, our readers, would be better served if the questions came directly from the greater student body. While some of you wanted to question the Dean's taste in carpets, we thought his time would be better spent addressing the most pressing issues here at Ross.
The interview opened with the most commonly asked question amongst students: How is Ross going to maintain its competitive advantage with its action-based learning and what is our high-level strategy going forward?
According to the Dean, our overarching plan has a few different components. While there was some recent debate surrounding whether or not we should abandon our action-based learning as the cornerstone of our brand and pick a "new horse," the faculty has chosen to "feed and care for the horse we've got." In other words, the school recognizes that we do action-based learning better than any of our competitors and it should prevail as our primary differentiating factor. Moving forward, Ross looks to grow this strategy by taking it abroad.
Ross has already successfully established hundreds of relationships with organizations throughout the world via MAP. In doing so it has created a barrier of entry of sorts for other competing MBA programs who aspire to replicate the success of our program. In addition, because MAP is required for all full-time MBAs, the Ross faculty rallies around its students more so than in other programs where action-based programs are merely an optional part of the business school experience.
Beyond improving the value of action-based learning at Ross, the Dean is committed to achieving a stronger global footprint a la the strategic placement of offices throughout the world starting in India and then China. This maneuver helps accomplish a few things. First, having offices in Hyderabad, Mumbai or Bangalore, for example, will help Ross better source field-based projects for MAP. Second, these offices with local roots and community contacts will facilitate better placement of Ross students who desire to work in India upon graduation compared to our current efforts based in the United States. Third, international offices will expand the breadth of international electives currently being offered. And lastly, building offices in international locations will yield a significant increase in international applicants to the Ross program.
The time frame for the rollout of satellite offices to India, China and then hopefully on to South America, while not yet confirmed, is projected to occur some time in the next academic year. The timetable will be partially contingent upon securing financial support.
When asked what piece of advice the Dean would give to Obama, he thought long and hard and safely responded with "No more cash for clunkers type programs." Clearly the Dean managed to avoid some of the more controversial topics such as Health Care reform. Well played, Dean Dolan. . .well played.
There have been rumors flying around that Dean Dolan's departure will occur in the next couple of years. Well, we're here to say that your guess is as good as ours. . .and the dean's for that matter, at least so he says. What he did tell us is that he is looking forward to teaching and that he won't have to wait long. Over the past semester Dolan has been putting his case writing skills to use in preparation for a new class, BA 201 - Business Thought and Action. The class will be rolled out on January 13th and will be instructed by the Dean, Business Information Technology (BIT) professor Scott Moore and WDI Director Bob Kennedy. MBAs, we'll save you the trouble and tell you not to sign up for the class. You're too old. It's only being offered to BBA sophomores and will primarily serve, in a nutshell,to teach students what makes a truly successful or unsuccessful business.
While we can't confirm or deny rumors that the dean is leaving any time soon, we can dispel one nasty rumor - companies recruiting on-campus do NOT have to pay exorbitant fees. Now, this is not to be confused with corporate sponsorships where companies come out to events such as MBA/BBA Games and RSA tailgates and pay thousands of dollars to informally recruit students. We repeat, companies that come on campus strictly as recruiters and not sponsors do not have to pay a fee at all. The only costs they incur are hotel, airfare and food.
After covering some of the more serious topics, we decided to give the dean a break and serve him up a softball. If you are currently unaware, Dolan's wife, Kathleen, has served as the art consultant on a pro-bono basis for Ross and has had the task of procuring all art for thepast 7 years. Realizing this we decided to lay the pressure on thick and ask the following question: "If Ross was on fire [knock on wood] what piece of art would you save first?"
With an initial chuckle at the joke, Dolan became pensive realizing the gravity of the question. After a few seconds he spilled the beans, The Reluctant Hero by John Schwarz, otherwise known as "Ski Man," was the first piece to be saved, located near the 2nd floor elevators. Followed by Emily by Chuck Close, located near the 1st floor elevators. Then finally the Dancing Profiessionals - Cindy, Gretchen, Jules, Max and Raphaelby Robert Longo, located in the Executive Residence. In general Dolan did not give too many details as to why these three pieces, but we think the subtle mystery is exciting.
Oh and let's not forget the elephant in the room - OCD's recent low ranking against competing career development offices. Fortunately the Dean's answer made us feel much better. Hopefully you'll feel the same. According to Dolan, the methodology used to measure the quality of career development programs (the percentage of students who have jobs 3 months after graduation) is flawed. Reason being, Ross students graduate a good 6 - 8 weeks prior to many other business school programs. Therefore, when BusinessWeek collects data for post-graduation employment numbers for Ross students in August, many organizations won't start handing out offers until early September. If our post-graduation employment statistics were to be calculated simultaneously with other top tier programs in September rather than in August, Dolan contends, our numbers are more or less in line with everyone else's.
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