Continuous Improvement
As described on the Koppelman Experience webpage, our continuous improvement efforts focus primarily on three major areas: Engagement, Innovation, and Impact. The examples set forth on this page, though not exhaustive, demonstrate the results of our efforts to date.
Student-Student, Faculty-Student Engagement and Impact
During fall 2011, the dean formed a Student Leadership Council (SLC) that informs and advises the dean on matters pertaining to student life in the Koppelman School of Business (KSB). The dean meets with the SLC several times during the semester to discuss ways of encouraging student-student and faculty-student engagement. An outcome of these discussions was the creation of Business Matters! Specific objectives for this event include helping to build strong ties between business students, business faculty, and the business community by providing a forum that facilitates an exchange of ideas leading to professional growth and getting students involved with the KSB by participating in the various business-related student organizations on campus. In terms of impact, more than 3,000 students and faculty members have attended the event since its inception and hundreds of students have found internships and permanent positions within organizations whose representatives were guest speakers at Business Matters!
Community Engagement and Impact
In 2011 the School of Business entered into a partnership (called the Flatbush Business Connection) with the Flatbush Business Improvement District (BID) for the purpose of facilitating economic development of the Junction (an area in Brooklyn, New York) by offering a series of workshops on a variety of topics designed to help local business owners maximize their profits and meet their goals. Community engagement is also implemented through one of our student programs (VITA [Volunteer Tax Assistance Program]) and our Small Business Center. In terms of impact, the VITA program has helped thousands of Brooklyn citizens and Brooklyn College faculty and staff with their income taxes. The Small Business Center has also served hundreds of clients, created jobs for the community, and increased the wealth of businesses operating in our service area.
International Engagement and Impact
One of our faculty members is internationally known for his work on energy and sustainability. In a keynote address at the November 2010 G20 in Seoul, South Korea, he proposed that civil society, including religious organizations, foundations, private corporations, and family trusts, establish very long-term Green Redemption Funds to finance the saving of the planet. In November 2012, at a Paris conference organized by BPCE, he presented the major elements of Project Volt Gas Volt. He has since collaborated with Corinne Lepage on this comprehensive solution to both global warming and energy independence. They developed a joint proposal for the French energy transition in March 2013. This was also presented to the EU Parliament in May 2013. The June 2013 Planetworkshops Global Conference, held at UNESCO/Paris, devoted a special panel to the subject. At the June 2014 Planetworkshops Global Conference held at Fontevraud, he chaired a panel that largely focused on the topic. In terms of impact, a review of his work was quoted as saying: "This 'new energy revolution' will have wide-reaching impact around the world and will result in energy that will have virtually no monetary value."
On June 4, 2015, another KSB faculty member collaborated with faculty from the University of Paris-Dauphine and the University of Toronto to organize an international conference on New Frontiers in Systemic Risk Measures and Extreme Risk Management. Participants included faculty from the Wharton School, National University of Singapore, London School of Economics, Imperial College of London, Pompeu Fabra University, and McMaster University. On May 15, 2016, still another KSB faculty member will collaborate with faculty from the University of Hertfordshire (located in Hatfield, England) to organize a fashion marketing conference focusing on the luxury industry. This conference is expected to have a major impact on the fashion industry and luxury-related businesses in New York City and beyond. Several other KSB faculty members are engaged in international activities that have some type of impact on business and society.
Research Engagement and Impact
There are currently 53 full-time instructional faculty members in the KSB, 31 of whom are doctoral-qualified (i.e., Ph.D., D.B.A., A.B.D.). Ninety-four percent of the doctoral-qualified faculty members are classified as scholarly academics, indicating that an overwhelming majority of our faculty members are actively engaged in research activities. Based on factors such as citations, downloads, editorships, etc., the research activities of KSB faculty members are having widespread impact as well. As an example, one of our faculty members' research focusing on the association between watching reality television and tanning lamp use and outdoor tanning among college students has been reported in news outlets in countries such as France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain. Another KSB faculty member is an expert on telenovelas and is regularly interviewed on Fox News Latino and has been interviewed by Ginella Diaz, a journalist for Nuevo Mundo TV, Montreal's news and cultural affairs program. His work has had and continues to have an impact on the telenovela industry in Latino countries.
Program Innovation
A generous donation from a Brooklyn College alumna has resulted in the creation of the Lorraine Laighold Summer Leadership Academy for KBS students. A donation from an alumus has resulted in the Herbert Kurz Business Consortium in Rockland County. This consortium is designed to provide a forum for KSB faculty to engage community business leaders outside of our service area.
Curriculum Innovation
The Summer Financial Careers Academy was developed to better prepare our students for successful careers in the financial services industry.
Research Innovation
The BREW (Business Research and Education Workshop) was developed for the purpose of facilitating research and teaching development for junior faculty in the KSB. The BREW occurs at least once each semester.
These examples not only demonstrate the results of our efforts to date, they also represent the template we will use to assess our continuous improvement efforts moving forward. We invite you to visit our website regularly for additional examples and updates on our continuous improvement efforts.
