Dean: Face-to-face talk, openness soothe conflict

  • Published
  • By Argen Duncan
  • Nucleus editor
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Communication plays a key role in leading diverse organizations, the dean of the University of New Mexico Anderson School of Management told an audience May 6 at the Mountain View Club.

Dean Craig White, the brother of 377th Medical Group Commander Col. Jeffrey White, shared information about the school with a group of Kirtland Air Force Base Airmen and civilians.

Before the presentation, 377th Air Base Wing Commander Col. Eric Froehlich said the ways Kirtland and Anderson leaders mentor people are more similar than different.

Craig White said Anderson is one of 182 schools in the world to have both business and accounting accreditations. It can be a challenge to bring people from both disciplines together as a team, he said.

With almost 1,300 juniors and seniors, and close to 600 graduate students, Anderson offers a bachelor's in business administration and five master's degrees in business and accounting.

White said challenges of leadership at the school include the diversity of on-site and online offerings and making sure faculty members aren't spread too thin.

Also, tenured faculty members have a lot of autonomy. He said that situation provides stability and lets professors speak their minds without worrying about losing their jobs, but they may also resist change.

Furthermore, new faculty members just out of doctoral programs make more than instructors who have been there longer, causing tension, he said.

However, new instructors accept change more easily and push their more experienced counterparts to keep up. In turn, White continued, the experienced professors mentor new faculty members.

He said another challenge is working with all stakeholders, which means balancing what faculty and the business community each want.

White addresses the challenges with communication.

"What are the big issues that we're facing? Why are we doing what we're doing?" he said, explaining the subjects he addresses.

White also makes sure decision-making is transparent, so tenured faculty members are less likely to resist.

Communication is particularly important as the school undertakes an effort to construct a new building and tear down an old one, he said. In the process, faculty members have to deal with less classroom and office space, meaning some have to temporarily share offices.

A weekly newsletter has been a helpful means of communication. White also said he instituted a meeting in which Anderson leaders meet every two weeks to talk about what's happening from everybody's perspective.

"That face-to-face communication has made a difference," he said.