Like any industry, a good business school is also an intricate setup, where there are hundreds of professionals working vigorously to keep the institution running which may include the director, advisers, counsellors, accountants, administrators, librarians and many more professionals who work for the betterment of the institution. The faculty is no exception. Faculty help keeps the institution running not only by teaching the students, but also by acting as policy-makers and innovators, contributing to various workloads like approving new curriculum, developing new programs, managing student grievances, and ensuring the excellent educational experience for every student.
Faculty in a Good Business School
Students see professors in the college every day and hopefully, take advantage of their vast knowledge and experience. However, professors have a hectic schedule outside of the time they’re teaching. The professors spend their time not only preparing for classes, grading the students, checking assignments or mentoring students, but also on producing original research work and contributing to the institution and academic industry as a whole. Many of the professors and faculty members are actively involved in research projects and creative work. Research, here, is referred to the way with which we create new knowledge; it’s how we scrutinize the world around us and construct on what the world already knows.
The professors are expected to be constantly engaged in research or creative activity that propels the knowledge of the world and our place in it. Professors and faculty members are also very busy behind the scenes writing papers, articles, and books; conducting experiments; preparing exhibitions; doing fieldwork; and a variety of other activities that help advance knowledge and contribute to the greater good of the public.
In an era where a plethora of information is freely accessible through the internet, the teaching methodology should result in a progressive adaptation of the teacher’s role, and focus less on the transmission of knowledge, and more on how to do use that knowledge. When students are taking a class from a faculty, they should be assured that their teaching is influenced by research and creative work. At any good business school, teaching and research gels together, complementing and abetting each other in an integral manner.
It is predominantly relevant in management programmes where faculty uses innovative teaching methodologies to provide students with the skills required to succeed in the professional front. Students realize the importance of “face to face” atmosphere for understanding about negotiation, presentation, teamwork, and leadership skills which are a crucial part of any management programme.
Business schools use a variety of teaching techniques like simulations, case studies, debates, games, and role plays, besides providing industrial visits and consultancy work for students. Advances in technology unquestionably facilitate these teaching methods, but the role of the competent faculty remains absolutely crucial.
The research professors and member of faculty pursue the innovative breakthroughs, which they accomplish to augment a student learning experience in the classroom.
Professors are dynamic contributors outside of the institution as well. They may be editing academic journals, organizing regional, national, or international seminars and conferences, serving as mentors to other scholars or PhD students, editing or authoring a textbook which students use in their courses every day. Many professors also have research partnerships with professors around the world, while some partner with corporates or government bodies for consulting projects. In the classrooms, faculty guide many students from all over the country in case study discussions, live projects that challenge, instigate, and motivate the students. Under proficient faculty guidance, classrooms become cauldrons for leadership where students test their pragmatism, explore difficult ideas, reflect on their leadership abilities, and embrace new means for successful business management.
High expectations demand extraordinary commitment. For every hour of class time, a good business school faculty dedicates many hours of groundwork that includes individual case review, penning notes and teaching plans, preparing the presentations, and collective analysis amongst fellow faculty members. However, teaching student’s takes the top most priority over any other obligation including research, consulting or any another administrative duty. Faculty commitment is motivated by its reward: an exciting, animated classroom that’s considerately designed, yet open to a plethora of insights and interpretation.
The faculty at a good business school is a pioneer in the study of evolving organizations and industries; they are leaders who have managed prestigious organizations; they are entrepreneurs whose creativity has generated massive opportunities for others and above all, they are mentors who transform students into professionals, proficient in managing and leading organizations.
