Saint Xavier has just hired Dr. Asghar Sabbaghi as new dean of the Graham School of Management.
Dr. Sabbaghi is taking over as dean of Graham School on July 1, 2014 and has served as a member of the leadership team of Judd Leighton School of Business and Economics at Indiana University South Bend.
During Dr. Sabbaghi’s 19 year tenure, he has worked with numerous faculty, administration, and business advisory board members to advance the Judd Leighton School.
Dr. Sabbaghi stated that, “This experience allowed me to fully develop and hone my critical administrative and leadership skills. These involved program development and assessment, AACSB accreditation, new degree and curriculum development, community partnership development, human resource management, budget development and management, and performance planning and analysis.”
With this knowledge of administrative skills Dr. Sabbaghi believes he can acclimate quite comfortably as new dean of the Graham School of Management.
Of course, with any new dean of Saint Xavier University, there is a curiosity as to what led them to choose this university over other potential universities.
For Dr. Sabbaghi the main reason he was interested in Saint Xavier lies in the Mission Statement of Saint Xavier as well as its Vision 2017 plan.
What resonated as well with Dr. Sabbaghi was the history of Saint Xavier University and its Mercy tradition, Dr. Sabbaghi cited his familiarity with the work of Catherine McAuley in Ireland and Frances Xavier Warde as influencing factors to become part of the Saint Xavier community.
When speaking with the new dean one feels as though he/she is with a faculty member who has been part of Saint Xavier University for years, something not every new faculty member can offer.
As new dean of Saint Xavier University’s Graham School of Management, Dr. Sabbaghi has many plans and initiatives aimed at advancing the Graham School.
The initiatives that Dr. Sabbaghi has planned will revolve around improving the quality of education offered at Graham School, as well as being accountable to the stakeholders of the business program.
Through work with faculty members of the Graham School of Management, Dr. Sabbaghi laid out four initiatives he is planning to focus on as dean. These initiatives include academic excellence, faculty/staff development, enrollment/retention management, and partnership with the business community.
Dr. Sabbaghi shared his vision and explained, “I envision innovation and creativity alongside business ethics in helping the undergraduate business and MBA students to cultivate a unique entrepreneurial spirit at GSM and further develop their knowledge and skills in starting up their own companies.”
This appears to be a vision that many people affiliated with the Graham School of Management would agree with and it explains the motivation behind some of Dr. Sabbaghi’s long term plans as dean.
One of these plans includes the expansion of alumni networks in order to bring some of the past graduates back to Saint Xavier University as mentors. Besides these aims at building alumni networks, there also will be a push towards expanding external communication with the outside community.
As explained by Dr. Sabbaghi, the external communication will highlight the strengths and achievements of the Graham School’s business programs in order to show the local community and institutions the prominence of Saint Xavier University’s graduates.
With a clear vision in his sights Dr. Sabbaghi intends to steer the Graham School of Management into a new era of prestige where students can look forward to many new opportunities that focus on their business education.
For more information on the Graham School of Management continue to follow The Xavierite as we follow the happenings of Graham School and all of Saint Xavier University’s other programs.
Jake Alleruzzo
News Correspondent
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