Blake
named chair of deans
(May 18, 2000, Gazette)
Dr.
Bill Blake
By Megret Yabsley
At the annual meeting of the Canadian Federation of Business School Deans held in Vancouver in April, Dr. Bill Blake, dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, was elected chair for a two-year term effective July 1, 2000.
The Canadian Federation of Business School Deans, founded in 1976, is the professional association for deans and directors of faculties of business and management in Canada. It has a membership of approximately 50 university level business schools representing 2,800 faculty members and 120,000 students across Canada. The goals of the federation are to raise the profile of management education, to help member institutions strengthen their programs and capabilities, and to play an advocacy role.
“A top priority of the federation during my tenure will be to build awareness among key stakeholders of the important role business faculties must play with respect to increasing productivity within the Canadian economy,” said Dr. Blake. “One of the ways we will try to accomplish this is to initiate a dialogue with senior government officials and business leaders. We want to increase their awareness of the challenges and opportunities facing management education institutions and to discuss ways in which business schools can contribute to enhancing productivity.”
The challenges facing management education in Canada are numerous. While Dr. Blake sees great potential for business schools to participate more fully in the productivity agenda, he also believes their ability to do so may be threatened by looming problems of faculty recruitment and retention.
“It is clearly a seller’s market for business faculty and this will become increasingly true as a result of the expected wave of faculty retirements over the next 10 years coupled with an increased demand for business education,” says Dr. Blake.
“The problem is compounded by the fact that top business schools in the United States have far greater financial resources than their Canadian counterparts and are able to offer Canadian faculty better facilities and higher salaries.”