Joyce Strawser, recently named acting dean of the Stillman School of Business, is "very excited and very proud" to obtain her new position.
According to Strawser, she will "most likely" be acting dean for the next academic year, which is July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011.
However, she said she would be competing for a permanent position as dean of the Stillman School of Business.
A nationwide search will begin to find a permanent dean, according to Strawser.
Strawser said serving as acting dean is a "natural career progression" for her as she already serves as Associate Dean of Undergraduate and MBA Curricula of Stillman and has since 2001.
Strawser hopes to continue the "upward trajectory" that Stillman has been on for the last several years.
"Everyone at the school has worked tirelessly to attract and retain talented students and to provide them with the best possible opportunities to succeed," Strawser said in an e-mail. "We've been able to hire some excellent new faculty, who are already making important contributions to the teaching and research culture at the school."
Stillman earned a ranking of No. 56 in BusinessWeek's fifth annual survey of the nation's best business schools, according to an article on the Seton Hall web site.
Stillman ranked 57 in 2008, showing an increase from then to now, according to the same article.
This year's ranking was based on 139 business programs in the country, according to the BusinessWeek web site.
According to the Seton Hall web site article, eligibility for ranking is based on several BusinessWeek criteria such as program size, test scores, number of full-time tenured faculty and others.
Student and recruiter survey answers are also used to rank the business programs.
Strawser hopes to use those answers to improve the business school.
"There are still improvements that we can make," Strawser said. "I would like to continue the work that we have done to build a strong Stillman community and to develop closer ties to our alumni and other stakeholders."
Jessica Sutcliffe can be reached at jessica.sutcliffe@student.shu.edu.
