Cornell Business

Issue date: 2/13/01 Section: Johnson News

As a somewhat controversial grading policy framed the fall semester, with many first-years turning the "Drive for Five" into the "Drive for three point two five," Cornell Business decided to abstain from the discussion entirely and exempt itself from its traditional "Rating of the Dean." We'd rather focus on the phenomenal achievements of Dean Swieringa and the Johnson School in 2000, such as the branding of the school, technological advancements, business-school rankings, the Executive MBA program, corporate sponsorships, and the pipeline of new immersion programs. If in fact we were to engage in a discussion of grades, we'd be compelled to say that the Dean beat the mean by a long shot. But we're not going to say anything. We'll let you all be the judge.

When asked to reflect on the year 2000 and set priorities for 2001, the Dean's first words were that we've increased expectations and aspirations of JGSM students, faculty and staff, solidified our position within the business education community, and made great strides in our immersion and executive education programs. In Dean Swieringa's opinion, the greatest achievement has been the unbelievable momentum the school has had over the past five years. "Universities are traditionally distance runners, not sprinters. And we've been sprinting for the past five years." Stepping into Business Week's Top Ten was a great feat in 1998, but staying our position in 2000 was perhaps more impressive. The challenge for the Dean, therefore, is to maintain that momentum. He wants to continue to encourage that same level of urgency and investment to continually improve the energy and excitement that students and recruiters alike deem so integral to the school.

So what is it that everyone is so excited about? For one thing, it's our brand, our competitive advantage. What makes us different and better? According to the Dean, it's the type of people we attract. "We are competitive in the way in which we help each other, not step on each other. It's an environment where people push each other to new levels of knowledge, skills and achievements. People get out of here and hit the ground running."

On a more mundane level, JGSM has experienced various improvements that many take for granted. Eight new faculty members were hired in 2000, the Office of Women and Minorities in Business is moving full speed ahead, technological glitches that plagued the incoming class of '01 were almost non-existent for the class of '02, and a record number of individual and corporate gifts were donated to the school. Intel's gift for the PeopleSoft Lab, Sam Johnson's creation of the Samuel C. Johnson Chair in Sustainable Global Enterprise, Corning's donation for the e-commerce immersion, and Citigroup's grant for the diversity initiative were major fundraising coups. Overall student satisfaction also increased, according to the Climate of the School Study.

Continued...

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