Based on individual department reports, it is clear that faculty are stretched beyond their current responsibilities, to the point that we must offer some relief. Despite this challenge, our record of hiring strong new faculty members remains, and faculty groups are benefiting from the addition of full-time tenure track faculty members. During the 2006-2007 academic year, new faculty began in Economics, Finance, Information Systems and Business Education, Management, and Marketing. Many of our open searches have closed; yet, we are still searching in Finance, Information Systems and Business Education, Political Science/Public Administration, and Technology. In 2005, an additional faculty member in Political Science/Public Administration was an important step in the MPA program achieving NASPAA accreditation.

Given that we have not been able to receive further allocation for additional faculty positions, we are now focused upon other strategies that ensure our faculty’s ability to pursue teaching, research, and service obligations associated with their positions. Specifically, we are currently looking at increasing class size as a mechanism to reduce the overall number of sections, as well as creating faculty fellows and chairs to increase the availability of faculty members. Both of these mechanisms allow us to address our growing student body.

Dave Vaaler of Vaaler Insurance pledged his support to fund a faculty fellowship. This fellowship was given to an Associate Professor in Finance, Nancy Beneda. Dr. David Flynn, Assistant Professor in Economics currently holds the Clow Fellowship. Additionally, Dr. Jeffrey Stamp is the current Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship, which was established through a donation from James Ray.

The College successfully completed a search for the Aarestad endowed chair of banking.  In August of 2006, Dr. Steve Dennis joined our faculty.  He had filled an endowed chair of banking (the John H. Poteat Chair) at East Tennessee State prior to joining our faculty.  He has an extensive and well regarded publication record and has worked closely with a student managed investment fund.       

The CoBPA faculty have been very successful in receiving funding from the Office of Instructional Development and the Office of Research and Program Development to attend conferences, present papers, and complete projects.  Across our faculty, many people continue to hold officer positions in their national discipline areas.  We are proud of our active faculty. Steven Light, an Associate Professor in the College’s Department of Political Science and Public Administration and Kathryn R.L. Rand, a Professor and Associate Dean of Law at UND joined forces and founded the Institute for the Study of Tribal Gaming Law and Policy. In addition, Rand and Light’s efforts and research are gaining national attention, as their most recent book, Indian Gaming and Tribal Sovereignty: The Casino Compromise, was the featured selection on C-SPAN’s Book TV in early February 2006.

Faculty within the College are also consistently active in their service to the College, University, and beyond. We have a collection of faculty that is well known for their service commitments. Furthermore, the scholarly pursuits of the faculty continue to display a connectedness with professional organizations at regional, national, and international levels.