Economics And International Business, Department Of
Goal
Promote The Development And Maintenance Of Quality Academic Programs
The Department of Economics and International Business supports the College's and the University's goal of high quality academic programs.
Objective
Perform Preliminary Reviews Of Degree Programs Housed In The Department
In anticipation of more formal reviews of the degree programs found in the College of Business Administration, the department will undergo preliminary reviews of the BBA in Economics degree and the BBA in International Business degree.
KPI
Complete Preliminary Reviews Of Degree Programs
The department will complete initial reviews of the BBA in Economics and BBA in International Business degree programs.
Result
Program Review Progress
The Business Foundation Review has been delayed. COBA has decided to postpone the program reviews until the Foundation Review is complete.
Action
Reschedule BBS Economic Program Review
The BBA Economics program review will be postponed until Fall 2013.
Goal
Support The Recruitment And Retention Of A Productive, High-Quality Faculty
In support of the University's and College's missions, the Department will develop and maintain quality academic programs.
Objective
Recruit New Highly, Qualified Faculty
The department will conduct national searches for new faculty members in the areas of economics, international business, and business analysis.
KPI
Complete Faculty Searches
Following national searches, the department will hire new faculty members in the areas of Economics, International Business, and Business Analysis.
Result
National Search Process
A national search for two assistant professor positions was conducted. A formal departmental hiring committee was formed consisting of Drs. Blackburne, Freeman, Liu, and Quast. The positions were listed on the SHSU HR website and also posted in the AEA Job Openings for Economists.
Action
Hired Two Tenure-track Faculty
After conducting a national search and screening over 200 applicants, the department hiring committee (Drs. Blackburne, Liu, Freeman, and Quast) traveled to the AEA Annual meeting in San Diego to conduct interviews. After the initial interviews of 18 candidates, 5 were selected for on-site interviews. After the interview process completed, we extended offers to 2 candidates (Kumar and Raschke) and each accepted our offers.
Objective
Provide Funding For Development And Professional Travel
To encourage greater research productivity and the professional qualifications of the faculty, funding will be provided for faculty development and for presentations of scholarly works at professional and academic venues.
KPI
Provide Funding For Travel And Professional Development
The department will provide funding to support faculty travel to present papers at academic and professional conferences and for professional development opportunities.
Result
Faculty Travel Results
For AY 2013, the department faculty made 39 trips at an expense of over $30,000 dollars. Although most trips were for faculty to present at acadmic conferences, there were several faculty development trips, recruiting trips, and trips for assessment conferences.
Action
Effectively Budget
Continue to secure adequate faculty travel funds and move to more efficiently allocate funds within the department.
Objective
Maintaining AQ And PQ Percentages
Policies will be implemented to help ensure that AACSB guidelines for the percentage of classes taught by Academically Qualified (AQ) and by both Academically Qualified and Professionally Qualified (PQ) faculty continue to be met.
KPI
Maintenance Of AQ/PQ Percentages
The department will ensure that the number of course sections taught by AQ (academically qualified) and PQ (professionally qualified) meets or exceeds AACSB guidelines.
Result
AQ/PQ Percentages
All but one tenured/tenure-track faculty member meets the AACSB "Academicially Qualified" Criteria. One tenured faculty member is neither AQ/PQ and one part-time lecturer is neither AQ/PQ.
For AY 2013, 89% of sections were taught by AQ faculty.
Action
Continue Monitoring AQ Status
The department DPTAC will continue to monitor the AQ/PQ qualifications of faculty. Per AACSB standards, newly-minted PhDs are AQ for the five years post degree. Tenured faculty and lecturers must be encouraged to increase their qualifications, when possible.
Goal
Provide An Environment Supporting Students' Professional And Academic Success
As a department that houses professional degree programs, the Department of Economics and International Business is cognizent of its responsibility to promote its students' growth both inside and outside of the classroom. Toward that end, the college desires to create an environment that supports students’ professional and academic success.
Objective
Expand Online Course Offerings
To meet student needs and demands for a variety of course options, expand the number of online offerings of courses offered by departmental faculty.
KPI
Expand Online Course Offerings
The department will expand the number and frequency of courses offered through distance (online) education.
Result
Two New Online Classes
BANA 2372 and ECON 2300 were added to the inventory of online classes.
Action
Continue The Development Of Online Courses
The current inventory of online classes is fairly robust at this time.
The most urgent need for online classes is within the MBA program. There is interest in developing an online "Data Analysis" course.
Objective
Encourage Development Of Academic Support Materials
To meet the needs of students requiring addtional reviews of critical conceptual and quantitative course materals, support and encourage faculty efforts to develop academic support material that is readily accessible for those needing such assistance.
KPI
Develop Academic Support Material
The department will develop academic support materials that is available for students to use in reviewing conceptual and quantitative concepts.
Result
Limited Success
Some instructors have moved to increase the amount of academic support materials. However, their use within the department has beeen limited by two factors: 1) the inability to easily share material within Blackboard 2) the lack of IT support to develop materials within the departmental server.
Action
Overcome Technical Challenges
Drs. Berg and Blackburne are actively pursuing options that will easily enable ahring of acadmic support materials across classes within COBA.