Message from the Dean
The holidays are over—well, not exactly. The Mardi Gras season is here. Mardi Gras is a BIG deal here in Mobile. The first parade rolls on January 25 with the celebration culminating on Fat Tuesday (February 25). If you haven’t seen Folly with his scepter adorned with gilded pig bladders or caught moon pies and Conecuh Sausage thrown from a float, you don’t know what you’ve been missing. And yes, I said gilded pig bladders, moon pies, and Conecuh Sausage—you can’t make this stuff up. Seriously, visiting Mobile’s Mardi Gras is something everyone should do. If you can’t make it during the season, come to Mobile in late December and watch the Moon Pie drop at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Yes, a Moon Pie—that’s yet another story.
The students returned to campus this week. As with most universities, we are facing
a smaller number of graduating high school students. The decline will continue for
the next few years. Universities that provide students with the skills needed by employers
will survive; those that stick with the “we’ve always done it that way” view will
not. That may seem fatalistic, but competition is increasing in the marketplace primarily
from technology changes in the way that business is done.
At the Mitchell College, we are concentrating our efforts in identifying and accentuating those skills needed for future success. Our Professional Readiness Engagement Program (PREP), a series of three courses highlighting resume and cover letter development, interviewing techniques, and other career preparation skills, gives our students competencies lacking in many of their peers. We also require all students to complete an internship. The internships provide our students the valuable experience (read rude awakening) needed to prepare for full-time employment. A growing percentage of our students are finding employment offers from their providers at the end of their internship.
We have also incorporated new majors and courses into our program of study. At the
undergraduate level, we have added majors in international business and supply chain
and logistics management. We have also added courses in data analytics and are increasing
experiential learning activities across the curriculum. At the MBA level
our Healthcare Administration concentration is underway and we are developing a third
concentration in our PhD program.
We believe that the needed changes in higher education will only accelerate in the coming years. We plan to be one of the schools embracing those changes. Merely keeping time is not an option.