McCombs School of Business
Dean's Office
Dean's Office : Letter to the MBA Students

Dean Gau's message to incoming and returning MBA students
August 19, 2002  

Dear MBA students:

On behalf of the faculty and staff, I am happy to welcome you (Class of 2004) or welcome you back (Class of 2003) to the McCombs School of Business. For the entering first-year students, you and I start a new adventure together because on June 17, 2002 I became the ninth dean of our school. I am honored and pleased to have the opportunity to lead the McCombs School.

As dean, my first goal for our institution is simple: the McCombs School should become the best public business school in the nation. I believe that status is achievable in the near future, however, to become the best we must:

  • Continue to improve our academic programs and be innovative in our MBA curriculum.

  • Strengthen our research environment to retain and attract the best teaching faculty.

  • Build more strategic alliances and partnerships with the business community in Texas and across the nation.

  • Expand our resource base in terms of both faculty and funding.

At this point in our development it is imperative for a new dean of the McCombs School to take a fresh look at all of our programs and services. This fall the school will reconsider its strategic plan and I will appoint a committee of faculty and Advisory Council members charged with working with their colleagues to develop a strategy to achieve our goal of becoming the best public business school. As part of that planning process we will undertake peer reviews of our basic academic disciplines, asking leading academics at top business schools to review our faculty and programs and help us identify our strengths and weaknesses. To my knowledge, this has not been done before in the school’s history.

One of my priorities is to develop a better communication flow between the dean and MBA students. I will look for opportunities to be involved with you as students, periodically dropping by the MBA coffees to hear first-hand about your experiences with the program, and seeking out events where you can help me remain informed about the progress of your McCombs education. Additionally, I am setting aside a couple of hours each month for any interested MBA student to visit me. On the first Friday of every month (beginning September 6th) from 10:00 to noon you can drop by my office to discuss any issue or topic, school-related or personal. No appointment is necessary, simply come to GSB 2.104 during these open hours.

An issue that I have been addressing since my appointment is how we will move forward our entrepreneurship program. This past spring was a difficult time for the school as some raised questions about the school’s commitment to entrepreneurship. The timing of this controversy was particularly regrettable from the perspective of the Business Week MBA rankings since the magazine was conducting its student surveys, which determine 45% of a school’s ranking, in late April and early May when the controversy was at its height. It is quite possible that some of our graduating students used the Business Week survey as an outlet for their concerns over the entrepreneurship situation, and that as a result the rating of the School’s MBA program will not rise or may even fall in the upcoming ranking, which will be published in October 2002.

While this is unfortunate, on the positive side, I can tell you that after a summer of dedicated work by our faculty, the entrepreneurship program remains very strong. I have been monitoring the program and course offerings for the 2002-03 academic year with the chair of the Management Department, Alison Davis-Blake, and I am happy to report that:

  •  All five of the original core entrepreneurship courses will be offered during both semesters of the upcoming academic year.

  • Four of the five core courses will be taught by the same instructors who taught entrepreneurship courses in recent years and we have added two additional faculty members to the program with significant academic and practical experience to complete our teaching roster.

  • Approximately 90% of the course material that was used in previous offerings of the five core courses is available for the upcoming year. Instructors will use this material where appropriate and they have upgraded the course content to reflect important business trends and students’ interests. 

  • The same level of instructional support that was available to the entrepreneurship program in the past will be provided this coming year.

  • The New Venture Creation course (formerly named Entrepreneurship-MOOT CORP) has been added to the entrepreneurship core and will be offered each semester. In the fall semester this course will prepare students for the MOOT CORP competition.

  • An initiative is underway to integrate the Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), the Texas Capital Network (TCN), and the IC2 Institute into the entrepreneurship curriculum. For example, students taking the Launch core course will analyze live cases at ATI and students taking the Opportunity core course will help ATI and TCN screen entrepreneurial proposals.

I also have formed an entrepreneurship program review committee consisting of the full-time senior lecturers who currently teach in the program (Gary Cadenhead, John Doggett, and Jim Nolen), leading entrepreneurs and alumni who are practicing entrepreneurs (Ken DeAngelis, general partner of Austin Ventures; Dave Fruhling, MBA Class of 1999 and CEO of FastTango a young Austin technology company; and, Ingrid Vanderveldt, MBA Class of 1996 and CEO of iVEEA, a multimedia venture company based in Austin and Atlanta), McCombs faculty who are outstanding teachers and have an interest in the entrepreneurship program (Eric Hirst and Bob Parrino), the chair of the Management Department (Alison Davis-Blake) and the director of the Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship (John Butler). Because of the importance of this program to the school, I will initially chair the committee and charge it with the responsibility of overseeing the program and making recommendations to: (1) insure that the quality of the educational experience for students remains at its currently high level and continually improves over time; (2) integrate the program fully into the school; and, (3) facilitate the development of new research ideas by McCombs faculty that will have a significant impact on the entrepreneurial process.

These are exciting times at the McCombs School. With the introduction of The McCombs Plus Program, the renovation of the MBA cohort rooms, and the opening of the Carpenter Family MBA Leadership Center, you will experience significant enhancements to our MBA program. I hope you have a great year and a fulfilling education as a McCombs student.

George W. Gau
Dean
McCombs School of Business