BUS 1110 - Associate Dean’s Welcome & 360 Center overview

Business / Strategy / Operations Overview

• Early touchpoint with the business school: The Associate Dean (George Crowley) frames the course as an “early touchpoint” to connect students to faculty/staff, opportunities, and support structures well before the typical timeline (“see you in two years”).
• Core operational theme: early engagement
  • Replace/avoid early-week student detachment by building structured, one-hour weekly/entry-point sessions into the curriculum.

Frameworks / Playbooks / Core Concepts

GEECs (Mission / Vision Mnemonic) — Sorrell College of Business

• G = Globally aware
• E = Ethical empowered
• E = Engaged (with industry, real projects, and the external world)
• K (implied) = Knowledgeable
• S (implied) = Ultimately successful

Curriculum “Sampling” Approach

• Students share a common business core for multiple semesters to explore before committing fully.
• Major decision timing guidance: students generally don’t need to lock in until around year three.

Networking (Practical Definition / Playbook)

Networking is described as:

• Obtaining contact information and
• Creating an “excuse” to follow up later with specific asks, such as:
  • advice
  • industry entry support
  • grad school guidance

360 Center Professional Development: “3 Areas + Wellness”

• Soft skills
• Building relationships (networking)
• Interview prep + public speaking
• Personal Wellness (mental/physical/emotional/spiritual)

Career vs. Job Mindset (Coach Carter Inspiration)

• “Job” is positioned as insufficient and limiting (“just over broke”).
• Target mindset is building a career with:
  • advancement
  • better pay
  • enjoyment/fulfillment

Concrete Programs / Operational Tactics

Early Major Engagement via Curriculum Restructuring

• The Dean’s office replaced content earlier in the curriculum with one-hour college engagement sections.
  • These are positioned as the first of what students are taking now, with online options referenced as well.

Department Structure (How the School Is Organized)

There are 6 academic departments covering majors:

• Management & HR (includes law)
• Economics, Finance & Risk Management
  • decision systems & sciences; analytics/quant methods
• Marketing
• Accountancy (School of Accountancy)
• Hospitality, Sport & Tourism Management
• Global business concentrations referenced as a broader umbrella with an international perspective

Industry Engagement Mechanisms

• Guest speakers
• Internships
• Real projects / consulting-style class work
  • Firms contract with a class to solve a real business problem

Career Fair / Exposure Pipeline

Career fairs are positioned as multi-purpose events for:

• full-time career exploration
• internships
• early visibility and relationship-building before graduation

Timing:

• Campus-wide career fair in September
• College of Business career fair in spring

Actionable Recommendations (Business Execution Behaviors)

• Students should actively “plug in” early

  • Introduce themselves to professors/faculty
  • Use office hours
  • Join student organizations aligned to interests/majors
    • e.g., connect through the management club and department leadership

• Attend career fairs even if you’re not “ready”

  • Walk the fair and talk to employers
  • Practice professional interaction
  • Reduce future interview awkwardness

• Use networking to enable future follow-ups

  • Networking should create opportunities for specific guidance/introductions, not just contacts.

• Take advantage of built-in experiential learning

  • Seek internships and real project opportunities when available.

• Manage academic planning to reduce stress

  • Use degree maps and curriculum sequencing guidance rather than guessing
  • The goal isn’t detailed four-year planning, but understanding upcoming course types and timing

Key Examples / Case Studies

Coach Carter (Real-Life Inspiration)

• Used as narrative support to shift mindset from:
  • “getting a job”
  • to pursuing a long-term “career” with pay, advancement, and fulfillment

Music Industry Concentration Example (Program Design)

• Students asked about “Global Business and Music Industry.”
• The school created a music industry concentration inside Global Business:
  • keeps the core business structure (same foundational core)
  • swaps in specialized music-industry coursework
  • adds relevant business coursework for that industry
• Similar strategy noted: an MBA focus in Music Industry launched ~two years prior

Major-Change Policy Example (Cost / Risk)

Changing majors is described as:

• a simple online form
• low implication while staying within the College of Business (curriculum is largely the same)
• potentially limited impact depending on concentration switches (some courses may stop counting)
• generally “costless” up to later stages

Metrics / KPIs / Targets

• No explicit business metrics were provided (e.g., revenue, CAC, LTV, churn).
• Timing-oriented targets mentioned:
  • Major decision timing: about year three
  • Engagement goal: establish at least one business-school touchpoint early (first year / early in semester)
  • Career fair dates: September (campus-wide) and spring (College of Business)

Presenter / Sources

• George Crowley, Senior Associate Dean, Sorrell College of Business (Troy University)
• Dean Edwards (referenced as part of the Dean’s office leadership)
• Assistant Dean Lord, oversees the 360 Center (referenced)
• Dr. Davis, referenced as a department chair contact for management (referred to)
• Dr. Courtney Baggett, Chair of Economics, Finance & Risk Management; directs the risk management program (referenced)
• Robert Smith, runs the Music Industry Program in the School of Music (consulted; referenced)
• Dr. Ed papan (referenced office/location and named for follow-up in risk management context)