Spotlight On: Gareth James, Dean, Emory University’s Goizueta Business School
May 2024 — In an interview with Focus:, Dean Gareth James of Emory University’s Goizueta Business School discussed the significant strides the school has made in expanding its curriculum, launching innovative programs, and enhancing community and industry engagement. He highlighted the introduction of new, specialized master’s programs, efforts to integrate technology and data in education and strategies to address the broader challenges facing the education sector today.
What have been the most notable achievements and milestones for Goizueta Business School over the past year?
When I arrived at Goizueta in 2022, we were highly ranked in MBA and undergraduate programs and had a strong foundation overall. We began exploring ways to push even further and improve the experience of our students in new ways. Over the past year, we’ve put a major focus on expanding our specialized master’s programs. We launched a new Masters in Analytical Finance program, now heading into its third year, and plan to increase enrollment in the coming years. We’ve also expanded tracks within our MS in Business Analytics so that students can focus their studies in the areas of AI in Business, Marketing Analytics, or Supply Chain Analytics.
Last year, we started two new degree programs. Our Master in Business for Veterans program, beginning in May 2024, targets active duty military and veterans with a format that enables them to continue work while learning the business fundamentals to transition to a civilian career. Our new Master in Management, starting in fall 2024, is designed for recent non-business undergraduates, appealing to a broad audience including undergraduates from various disciplines from Emory and other top universities. We expect the first cohort to number 35 to 40 students, with hopes to increase significantly. These efforts have led to four growing specialized master’s programs, enhancing our array of offerings and the value we bring to students. For example, our Business Analytics program saw an influx of students from Africa, contributing to the international diversity of the school.
How is Goizueta Business School enhancing its engagement with the Atlanta community and industry sectors?
In strengthening our ties with both the Atlanta business community and beyond, Goizueta aims to leverage Atlanta’s significant expansion and the booming Southeast region. This environment offers ample career opportunities and ways to engage with the community and industry. I’m proud of our Start:ME Accelerator, a key part of our Business & Society Institute, which supports micro-entrepreneurs in underserved communities in metro Atlanta to start and grow resilient businesses. These small enterprises, crucial to U.S. employment, receive essential business training, mentorship, and access to capital through this program. For more than 10 years, Start:ME has significantly contributed to the community, supporting hundreds of businesses and generating substantial revenue.
In the real estate sector, Goizueta has made significant strides, beginning with a student-organized real estate conference in 2022 that drew 700 participants. The success of this now-annual event alongside a similar conference in New York, underscores our growing impact in real estate. Our efforts to position Goizueta and Emory as real estate hubs in Atlanta include fundraising for a distinguished professor chair in real estate, which raised $3 million from the community. This initiative aims to attract a senior faculty member in real estate, advancing our goal of establishing a real estate center and highlighting our commitment to industry engagement.
In each of our degree programs, we partner with for-profit and nonprofit organizations to provide our students with real business problems to apply to their new business schools. This enables students to put their learning into action and our business community partners solutions to existing problems that they may not otherwise have been able to resolve.
How are you incorporating technological advancements or addressing their impact on the school’s curriculum?
Recently, at a conference for deans of business schools in New York, we discussed the rapid technological changes impacting education. At Goizueta, we’re actively integrating technology into our curriculum and teaching methods.
Our faculty are also researching classroom innovation. In fact, a faculty member’s recent experiment with digital avatars in teaching revealed that material designed by professors but delivered by avatars was most effective, indicating the potential of digital avatars to enhance learning while keeping human-created content at the core. Digital avatars also present an opportunity to reduce the cost and time of producing course materials. When AI is part of the classroom experience, schools can deliver content in multiple languages, create hyper-personalized learning experiences, and easily update program materials.
A task force is being formed to further explore generative AI and other technological tools, acknowledging their evolving nature and widespread application. This effort is part of preparing our community for the future. Recognizing the need to adapt, our faculty is committed to incorporating advanced technologies like AI into our education model. This approach reflects our aim to make these tools part of a collaborative learning environment, keeping pace with the changing landscape of knowledge and expertise.
What challenges is the education sector facing, and what strategies do you have in place to navigate them?Challenges in the education sector are widespread. Inflationary pressures are a key issue, affecting our ability to maintain competitive salaries for faculty and staff without commensurate tuition increases. We’re developing innovative strategies to sustain financial health and support both compensation and student scholarships.
We’re also navigating a demographic shift in applications. Undergraduate interest has soared, growing our program from 500 to over 1,500 students in two decades, with business being the most sought-after major. Conversely, MBA applications, especially from domestic students, have dropped, although international interest remains strong. This has necessitated a reduction in MBA cohort sizes. However, Goizueta is seeing a rebound with a 20% rise in domestic MBA applications, indicating potential growth without compromising on quality. Our response to these shifts includes focusing on specialized master’s programs like Business Analytics and Finance, which draw significant interest. These one-year specialized programs are becoming increasingly popular over traditional MBAs. Our strategy involves adapting our offerings to meet market and student needs, ensuring our business education remains relevant and attractive.
How has Goizueta Business School balanced the integration of technology and data with the teaching of leadership and soft skills?
Reflecting on the integration of technology and data in our curriculum, it’s noteworthy that most of our degree programs, including the BBA, MBA, Business Analytics, and Finance programs, are STEM-designated. This is particularly beneficial for our international students, as it offers them the opportunity for extended visas post-graduation. Moreover, it signifies the emphasis we’ve placed on data and technology across our curriculum. While leadership and soft skills remain crucial, the technological and data-oriented aspects of business education have notably expanded at Goizueta and other business schools alike. On the topic of soft skills and leadership, these elements are still foundational to our education approach.
We offer experiential learning to hone leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills through opportunities like our Goizueta Advanced Leadership Academy, a weeklong sailing trip in the British Virgin Islands where students serve as crew; the Leader’s Reaction Course, a team-building obstacle course modeled after military training and held at Fort Moore; and the Delta Leadership Coaching Fellow program that gives students a chance to guide and lead their peers.
We have a retired three-star lieutenant general on our faculty who leads our leadership program and is now overseeing the Master in Business for Veterans program. This past fall, we introduced a one-unit leadership course for our undergraduate students, co-taught by myself and the lieutenant general. The course covered military and academic leadership, enhanced by guest speakers from various fields including industry, nonprofit, and government. Notable guests included former Mayor Kasim Reed, Javier Goizueta of Coca-Cola, and Sean Penn, who shared their leadership experiences.
The course proved to be an enriching experience, not just for the students but for me as well. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with many students citing it as a highlight of their academic journey. We plan to offer this course again in the fall, underscoring our commitment to balancing technological proficiency with the vital soft skills and leadership qualities essential for a comprehensive business education.
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