First week of class and goodbye Dr. Ellstrand

This week has been very busy in the Walton GSB. I wasn't able to finalize fall numbers yet. Surprisingly, I saw several students this week. Typically during the first week of classes, students are settling in to their routine and are not thinking about graduate school. Well, not this year. They came back geared up and ready to go. Hopefully next week I will be able to post the final enrollment numbers for this fall.

I can tell you about the Master of Accountancy program . They enrolled 48 (up from 35 last year); their average GPA is 3.4 and their average GMAT is 583. This class is also 50% female. Early decision deadline for fall 2011 is September 15. Yes, this class just got started and we will be making the first round of admissions decision for next year within the month. Final application deadline is March 1.

Last week we said farewell to our MBA Director, Dr. Alan Ellstrand. Dr. Ellstrand has served as MBA Director for the Walton College for 7 years. He is not leaving us completely but moving on to bigger and better things. He is now the Department Chair for Management. Dr. Ellstrand has been a joy for me to work with and I will miss him. The role of MBA Director will not be filled but will be covered jointly by our new Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Programs, Dr. Moez Limayem, and the Walton GSB Assistant Dean, Marion Dunagan. Here are some pictures of Alan's reception. The first photo is of Dave Gearhart, Chancellor of the University of Arkansas.


Alan is listening to all the very nice things being said about him and his tenure as MBA Director.

Several faculty and staff members (and even a few current and former MBA students) came to honor Alan.

This is Dr. Moez Limayem. He will be assuming many of the responsibilities of MBA Director. Dr. Limayem was formerly the Department Chair of Information Systems and is now the Walton College's Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Programs. I am looking forward to working with Dr. Limayem in this new role.

Marion Dunagan is the Walton Graduate School of Business Assistant Dean. She will be sharing the duties of the MBA Director, along with Dr. Limayem.