By LEAH FOREMAN
For the first time in its history, the John H. Sykes College of Business was ranked last month by Bloomberg Businessweek as one of the Top 100 Best Business Schools, and its full-time MBA program ranked as one of the best business graduate programs.
“We were ranked by Bloomberg Businessweek as one of the Top 80 Graduate Business schools and our rank was 78, and we are very happy to have achieved that,” said Frank Ghannadian, Dean of the Sykes College of Business and finance professor.
The Bloomberg Businessweek ranking was measured by a survey of primarily employers and alumni. The MBA program ranked 12th among colleges and universities in the southeastern United States and sixth among private colleges and universities in the southeastern United States.
Aside from this most recent ranking, the College of Business has also been recognized as number seven for Best Value by Business Insider and as one of the 259 Best Business Schools for the tenth year in a row by The Princeton Review.
“The fact that The University of Tampa’s College of Business appears on many ranking lists, and outranks not only our local competitors, but also highly reputable universities on a national basis, speaks volumes about the quality of our programs,” said Erika Matulich, professor of marketing.
The College of Business has also grown in enrollment. In 2007, when Ghannadian became the dean, the school had roughly 1,800 students, whereas it now enrolls over 3,100, according to Ghannadian.
To cater to the growing student body, the College of Business has expanded its programs and opportunities for students.
“We have so many opportunities for students to not just learn about business, but really be a part of it,” said Deidre Dixon, Assistant Professor of Management and Associate Director of the TECO Energy Center for Leadership, which provides leadership classes and a minor in leadership.
The TECO Energy Center for Leadership is one of the College of Business’ several centers and institutes that provide different skills and hands-on training with real companies in the Tampa Bay area.
Aside from the TECO Energy Center for Leadership at UT, there are various other centers offered by the College of Business such as the Center for Ethics, which gives out the Ethicist of the Year award and educates students on business ethics, and the Naimoli Institute for Business and Strategy, which allows students to work with a real company before they graduate.
“Probably the biggest addition in recent years is the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center,” said
Ghannadian. “It’s located on the top floor of the Innovation and Collaboration Building and is filled with a lot of new student businesses getting over $1.5 billion funding from venture capitalists.”
Despite its growth, the College of Business maintains the benefits of a small
school in that class sizes remain relatively small, with a student-to-faculty ratio of 17:1. The classes are all taught by professors directly, rather than by teaching assistants.
“We are a smaller school, so our class sizes are smaller and more in depth, so you can actually have a relationship with your professor. It’s more personal,” said Amelia Herschede, a senior marketing major.
By keeping classes small and by providing real-world experience with businesses in the area, the College of Business still maintains the importance of serving its students.
“It’s all about the students here,” said Jim Lee, associate professor of marketing.
The College of Business is striving to maintain this student focus as it grows and improves in national rankings.
“Being student-focused is the identity of our college and we have done many things to
preserve that personal touch; our faculty know students, our students know faculty, class sizes are still relatively small, and faculty work with one another,” said Ghannadian. “With our college getting higher and higher we still are maintaining that part.”
Leah Foreman can be reached at leah.foreman@spartans.ut.edu.