NE New York Today

Dr. Brian Neureuther has been appointed dean of the SUNY Plattsburgh School of Business and Economics.

Neureuther, professor of supply chain management and international business, had served as associate dean of SBE under then-Dean Rowena Walters. He was appointed interim dean when she left the university in June 2021. His appointment to the deanship followed a nationwide service. Neureuther assumes the full rank of dean July 1.

“As interim dean, Dr. Neureuther led the SBE to a full extension of AACSB accreditation, in which the SBE was highly praised,” said Dr. Anne Herzog, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “He has been a valued member of my leadership team since his appointment as the interim dean. I value his experience, analytical skills, collaborative commitment and the sense of humor he brings to what are often serious discussions and challenges.

“I am incredibly pleased that he has earned this appointment and that our entire campus will continue to benefit from his work,” she said.

Joined SBE in 2006

Neureuther joined the faculty in SBE in 2006 as an assistant professor after having taught at Indiana State University and Gardner-Webb University, where he also served as assistant to the dean of their school of business.

At SUNY Plattsburgh, he’s taken on numerous leadership roles, including coordinator of the supply chain management program and acting as its chair, along with international business. In 2018, he assumed the associate dean position where he helped grow SBE initiatives aimed at making the SBE remain competitive, especially in its successful online completion program in accounting.

In the ensuing years since joining the dean’s office as associate, Neureuther continued to teach courses in supply chain management and, as an active researcher, has produced more than 40 peer-reviewed publications and had one book published and the other under review for publication.

While he’s been in the corner office on the third floor as interim two years, Neureuther said he’s a little nervous — anxious, really — about assuming the full title.

‘Different Level of Responsibility’

“It gives you a whole different level of responsibility,” he said. “But I’m always up for a challenge. What I found over (his time as interim dean) is that it comes with many challenges. I’m good at finding solutions and common ground with the people I work with. But it feels like this is the right direction to go and the place I should be.”

One place he won’t be, however, is in front of a class of students. As interim and now dean, Neureuther said he had to give up the teaching portion of his career, something he misses.

“I miss that,” he said. “You do lose contact with the students and interacting with them to a degree when you’re dean. There’s just too much to do (as dean).”

Part of that continues to be the short- and long-term goals Neureuther sees for the SBE's future: Keep operating, and continue to identify strategies that will help the SBE grow.

Hyflex Classes

“We will continue to look at marketing our programs to encourage healthy enrollment growth and how to develop programs attractive to our traditional student base while marketing online programs as well,” he said.

Neureuther said he wants to see implementation of what’s called hyflex programs — those that accommodate not just face-to-face and online classes, but a combination of three when you throw Zoom into the mix.

“With hyflex, classes can be in person, synchronous (as with Zoom), or asynchronous — entirely online,” he said. “We received funding to turn two of our classrooms into hyflex classrooms that can be face to face, on Zoom and online at the same time. The faculty member can record the class for students to use online. Students can also switch between all three.”

The School of Business and Economics is home to close to 1,000 students with 12 majors, 12 minors and a master’s in data analytics. In the hopper, awaiting final approval from SUNY, is an online supply chain management.

“We’re still the only SUNY school to offer a degree in supply chain management; we thought we’d open it up to the online market and see what happens,” he said. “We’re waiting for final approval, hoping to get it up and out for fall 2023.”

Original source can be found here.