As the Sprunk and Burnham Endowed Dean for the UM College of Business, I am honored to present this new format of communication with you in place of the traditional Dean’s Report. Designed to give you a more effective and sustainable way to stay informed about the business school, this newsletter will be delivered to your inbox each periodically, providing convenient links to all the news, events and information you care about. I hope that this newsletter will prove to be a great representation of all the amazing things happening at the business school – past, present and future.

In my short time here at UM, I’ve seen firsthand the hardworking students, incredibly devoted faculty and staff, and fiercely proud alumni that make up this school and community. With that said, I’ve also seen some things that we can do better, such as the active sharing of our unique story and many impressive accomplishments with the local, regional and global communities.

To better understand the needs and concerns of the school, this summer, I embarked on an extensive listening tour, interviewing all of the school’s faculty and staff as well as key members of university administration. Through this process, I came to understand the growing need for transparency and open communication, not only with faculty and staff but also with alumni, donors and community members. In light of university budget constraints and enrollment concerns, building strong relationships among each of these groups and developing new strategies for student growth and retention will be pivotal components of my role as Dean.

Since the beginning of the semester, I have also made it a priority to connect and engage with current and prospective students. These efforts have included open office hours held each month as well as a hosted Q&A session during which I spent an evening answering questions from prospective students. In November, we also held the very first Dean for a Day competition; after an online video contest in which students both produced the videos and voted on them, I acceded my place as Dean to star business Senior Eduardo Hidalgo for an entire day. While he attended all of my meetings and engagements, I attended his classes (getting lost in the process) and had lunch at his fraternity. This proved to be an amazing way for me to meet students first-hand and see just how involved and dedicated the faculty are to each student’s success.

For photos and videos of the latest events at the business school, such as the Dean for a Day competition, as well as other news and insights, I invite you all to follow and connect with me on Facebook: @MontanaBusinessDean and Twitter @umtbusinessdean. You can also keep track of the latest news on the College of Business Facebook page: @UMCOB and our website: business.umt.edu.

I wish everyone the happiest of holiday seasons and look forward to celebrating many more at the University of Montana College of Business.

Dean Christopher Shook