TCNJ: Osagie Brings Entrepreneurial Spirit to School of Business

Mercer Business, Mar 01, 2006 by Golden, Matthew

Change within any large institution usually takes time. In the world of academia, however, it often occurs at a glacial pace. That has not been the case, of late, at The College of New Jersey's School of Business. Since accepting its interim deanship in July of 2004, Dr. Emmanuel Osagie has injected an entrepreneurial spirit into the School of Business and launched a number of innovative programs that are dramatically upgrading the quality of its academic offerings.

TCNJ's School of Business was first accredited in 1998 but has struggled to craft an identity in the years that have followed. Though individual academic programs have excelled, changes in leadership and direction have prevented the School, as a whole, from gaining a strong foothold within the northeast region of the country or developing a reputation that equals the talents and accomplishments of its students and faculty members.

With the prospect of reaccredidation looming in 20072008, Provost Stephen Briggs asked Osagie, formerly vice Provost for research and faculty development, in the spring of 2004 to accept the school's deanship on an interim basis. "The provost wanted me to come in, for at least a year, and help build a strategic plan that would provide clear direction as to what type of business school we would aspire to be," Osagie explained.

After determining this was an assignment that excited him, Osagie was appointed interim dean on July 1, 2004. "The first thing I did," Osagie said, "was to ask a seasoned business school dean from another institution to spend time with a number of key individuals from our school and develop a white paper that contained proposals regarding how a school of business should operate." That group was called the Strategic Design Group, and the product of their efforts was shared at a June 2004 business faculty meeting.

Osagie additionally overhauled the leadership structure of the School of Business by creating program directors that serve in an advisory capacity to the dean. "I didn't think the existing structure fit my leadership style, which is essentially grounded in participation," Osagie said. "I wanted each program to have a way to articulate concerns directly to me, so we established program leaders rather than the division heads that previously oversaw multiple areas."

During the early portion of the fall 2004 semester, a range of stakeholders reviewed the preliminary components of the strategic plan. Concurrently, Osagie recruited a prestigious roster of business executives to serve as a Board of Advisors for the School of Business. Virginia Bauer, secretary of the New Jersey Commerce and Economic Growth Commission; Rex Corlett, executive director of Educational Testing Service's International Division; Jules Frankel, partner at Wilkin & Guttenplan, CPAs; Steven Hill, financial controller for Tibotec Therapeutics; Bill Hogan of the Hogan Leadership Group; Craig Howie, vice president of American Re-Insurance Co.; Mark Iorio, president/CEO of the MegaGroup; Gregory Kubikowski, partner at Pricewaterhouse Coopers; Dr. John S. Watts, sr. vice president/global managing director for ORC International; David Stryker, assistant treasurer at Bristol-Myers Squibb; Michael Rambert from Parker, McCay & Chriswolo, PA; Terri Flanagan of Harris Interactive; Luis Perez of Modell Ventures; and Will Mayhall, president and CEO of Princeton Financial Systems; all agreed to join the Board of Advisors. "I asked them, the faculty, the provost, and student groups to review our strategic plan, and I also set up an employer reception, where the companies that most frequently hire our students could come in and review the plan and provide feedback," Osagie explained.

By mid-fall, a clear direction had been established, with the central premise being a desire to build connections between the school and the business community that could bridge the gap between theory and practice. A primary focus will be on providing all students matriculated in the School of Business with the opportunity to experience an internship in their area of study. Increasing the number of students, who gain international experience, whether through study or internships abroad, is another goal. "I think this is important if our students are to be able to understand business issues on a global scale," Osagie explained.

Working through the spring and summer, the School of Business was able to launch several significant, new initiatives with the opening of the 2005-2006 academic year. A Freshman Executive Colloquia series has brought CEOs and senior executives to campus to share their professional experiences and take first-year students through the complete lifecycle of a business. The concept is that, before asking 17- or 18-year-old students to determine what specific path they want to pursue, they should be exposed to the entire business system. Freshman coming into the School of Business will now understand the many phases from startup to expansion and maintenance to sunset or closing of a business, early in their academic careers. And the individuals taking them through that cycle are practitioners who have tangible experience in those phases. This fall, executives from Wal-Mart, Saturn, and the Trenton Thunder are among those participating in the series.