CHRISTA NEU 8 LEHIGH BUSINESS MAGAZINE LEHIGH BUSINESS NEWS I KNOW FIRSTHAND HOW EDUCATION CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE. My grandparents had a high school education, my parents have college degrees. I am fortunate to have a graduate degree. Each generation in my family went further in their education than the previous. Education may put you on a trajectory you might not even be aware of. I decided I would have the biggest impact on the greatest number of people by going into administration. I LOVE BEING DEAN. The role gives me a discreet yet powerful set of variables to work with. Although I had a joint appointment in both law and business at Penn, I gravitated toward business as I’ve seen how impactful business education can be, at the undergraduate, masters and executive education levels in making a difference in your life and career. I HOPE THAT I’VE MADE A DIFFERENCE. Recently, a young woman walked up to me and said, “Thank you for being dean.” I said, “You’re welcome!” She continued, “It means a lot to me to see a woman in the position of dean of the business school. It sets an example.” You know the saying, “If you see it, you can be it.” LEHIGH WAS A PERFECT FIT FOR ME BECAUSE THE INSTITUTION HAD, AS WE SAY IN REAL ESTATE, “GOOD BONES.” There were many opportunities for me, but some places were just so big and so totally entrenched in their standard operations that you couldn’t move them; they didn’t have the wherewithal to affect change. I could see that there was capacity and appetite for change at Lehigh. The hiring team was very clear with me that the goal was to move Lehigh upward, into the next echelon of business schools. I was chosen to raise the stature, visibility and prestige of the College of Business. My work here at Lehigh has been an eventful, sometimes challenging, ride. Looking back, it’s clear we’ve made great strides towards achieving our goal. THE BIGGEST, MOST DAUNTING CHANGE IS MODALITY, assessing online versus on-campus graduate programs. There is room for both in-person and remote MBA and MS. The key is to determine the optimal balance. Prior to the massive market shift to online MBA, our FLEX MBA was modality agnostic— you could be in the classroom or live online. This was a point of distinction in the part-time MBA world. Now that online is ubiquitous for part-time programs, we need to successfully pivot and find a way to regain distinctiveness. WHEN WE TALK ABOUT SUCCESS, I LIKE TO TALK ABOUT PEOPLE, PROGRAMS AND PLACES. PEOPLE—our faculty and staff are amazing. Our research profile has exploded in both prestige and visibility. PROGRAMS—I am proud of the changes that we’ve made in the undergraduate, part-time MBA and our 1-MBA programs that are setting our students up for success 2014 | Official university photo from first year as dean.
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