Letter from the Dean
Cliff Allen, Ph.D., Vergil Miller Professor
Disruption and adversity throughout this historic year challenged us to think differently about what success means at The School of Business. We’re reexamining policy, practices and cultural norms to better serve our community. We’re responding to emerging student wants and needs. We’re committing more deeply to creating a more accessible and equitable PSU.
We quickly adapted to new ways of teaching and learning during the pandemic. Moving forward, our global classrooms will be an essential model for the university, informing new course delivery options like Attend Anywhere that allows students to choose when they attend in-person or remotely. Our dedicated faculty and staff are embracing flexible modalities to meet students where they are.
Impact, innovation and engagement continue to anchor our work — we made progress on our DEI Action Plan, reduced application barriers for graduate business students, reimagined the future of academia and supported neighboring businesses as they respond to new market realities. I’m pleased to share these highlights with you, along with an abundance of community contributions and accomplishments.
Our academic portfolio was strengthened by four new programs that help meet industry demand: Business Minor in Real Estate Property Management, Undergraduate Certificate in Real Estate Property Management, Bachelor’s in Business Technology & Analytics, and Master of Science in Applied Data Science for Business. Each surpassed enrollment expectations despite pandemic-related volatility.
Finally, we are grateful for our loyal and generous donors who make much of our transformational work possible. Our global classrooms mentioned above are an incredible example of how philanthropy is pivotal to student success. We awarded a record number of scholarship dollars, totaling $700,000 and tripling scholarship fundraising over the last four years. Hardship funds benefited 163 students during times of critical need, allowing them to persist toward graduation. We renewed three Portland Professorships to support faculty excellence and secured funding to grow our Finance Lab. And we’re thrilled that business students will soon benefit from a $1 million investment toward enhanced career services.
As always, thank you for being part of our vision to redefine business and transform lives.