CEOs make the dean's list

By Dustin Walsh

The ability to think and act like a top-level private sector executive is a quality growing in demand for upper echelon leaders in higher education, according to a recent study. And that is translating into a new kind of leader for a number of top posts at Southeast Michigan institutions. This year, funding to Michigan's 15 public universities was cut by 15 percent, in exchange for keeping tuition increases under 7 percent. Wayne State University, for instance, received $32 million less in state funding for the 2011-2012 academic year. The university cut up to 200 jobs, including 80 jobs in July, blaming the funding cuts. Margaret Williams, interim dean of Wayne State's School of Business Administration, said the new master's business student is "for a little bit more of a just-in-time delivery, not a long, full-time plan of study." Williams, who has a doctorate in organizational behavior, helped spearhead a new program set to roll out in the fall -- a 13-hour graduate certificate for non-business graduates looking for a jump-start in business. The new certificate transfers toward WSU's part-time MBA program. "There's more importance (for business school deans) to focus on environmental scanning," she said. "We can't just put courses on the books and expect students to take them. That may have been the higher-ed model of the past, but we need to work hard to make sure the training is relevant to employers more than ever."

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