Meghan Mazella/ The Ithacan BUSINESS DEAN candidate Susan Engelkemeyer addresses student concerns at an open session last Thursday. Engelkemeyer is the fourth candidate to inverview for the position.

Like many students, Susan Engelkemeyer took business classes to increase her post-graduate job prospects.

Her equestrian science major at Stephens College in Colombia, Mo., was fun, but there wasn’t a booming demand for horseback riding teachers in the mid-1970s, she said.

Practicality aside, Engelkemeyer soon fell in love with the challenge and excitement of marketing.

After college she turned a dusty, abandoned J.C. Penney store in Cape Girardeau, Mo., into a successful mini mall with 25 percent annual sales growth.

Provost Peter Bardaglio, business faculty and students contemplated the innovations Engelkemeyer could bring to the college when she visited last week to interview for the position of business school dean.

Engelkemeyer is an associate professor of management and the director of the one-year Master’s of Business Administration program at Babson College in Babson Park, Mass.

Babson College is an internationally recognized leader in management education and is known for its successful entrepreneurial alumni.

Engelkemeyer said she’d like to create more local internships, improve the quality of the undergraduate experience and double the number of students enrolled in the MBA program, perhaps through blended online and in-classroom teaching that would appeal to out-of-area graduate students.

“I think that right now a lot of great things are happening,” Engelkemeyer said of the School of Business. Her goals, in line with accreditation standards, “would not necessarily mean big change, but it would mean [finding out] if you graduate from here, this is how you are different.”

Engelkemeyer is the fourth dean candidate who has visited the college since the search began last year. Dean Robert Ullrich has extended his tenure while the search for the new dean continues after two candidates withdrew their applications last year.

Gwen Seaquist, professor of legal studies, is chair of the search committee.

“We’re looking for the best person who can do the job and who’s suitable to a wide variety of constituencies,” Seaquist said. “It’s a tall order for anyone.”

Last year the School of Business was deferred on accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, but benefited from the Park Foundation’s $7 million donation for the construction of a new building.

During an open session last Thursday, administrators like Carl Sgrecci, vice president of finance and administration, quizzed Engelkemeyer on her initiatives at Babson, which include the advising of the school’s re-accreditation program.

Students from various concentrations asked her how the School of Business could better prepare its students.

One of Engelkeyemer’s suggestions was to increase the number of business students who study abroad.

“It’s a rare company now that doesn’t have some aspect offshore. For students to experience at least one other culture sensitizes [them] to the fact that business is not the same everywhere.”

The dean search is important to not only faculty and administrators, but also to the students who want changes made.

Evan Gever, a junior business major who participates in the Dean’s Host committee, attended an open session with Engelkemeyer. Gever said he liked her approach to student questions.

“We need someone who’s going to be a good resource to students, when a student needs help getting an internship or a job,” he said. “I thought she was great. I think she’d be an outstanding dean. She has a lot to bring here.”

Gever, who works for the dean’s host committee, said he wants a dean who can improve the quality of the student body.

“There’s a small minority that are strong students,” he said. “We could get more students who enjoy learning. Our business school has more to offer than most schools in the country.”

Other students at the open session said they’re looking for a dean who will be accessible, encourage student involvement in extra-curriculars and service activities, promote visiting speakers campus-wide, build a stronger connection with business alumni and install the latest technology in the classroom.