The Tippie College of Business held the first of three virtual forums to find a dean on Thursday morning. 

Nearly 150 attendants heard from candidate Paolo Volpin, who emphasized how he would use business school’s role in helping the institution as a whole operate during a global pandemic, financial strain, and a reckoning on racial justice. He currently leads Cass Business School at City, University of London, as interim dean after working his way up in leadership as deputy dean, then vice dean. 

Volpin is the first finalist to virtually visit to campus after the University of Iowa relaunched an external search in June to “recruit a new and diverse pool of strong candidates.”  The UI paused the search in the spring after hosting open virtual forums with three candidates in late April and early May. The three finalists needed to reapply for the position since the relaunch. Volpin is not one of those three candidates, and the remaining finalists will be announced ahead of forums later this week. The UI is using search firm WittKiefer, and the search committee is made up of UI staff, students, faculty, and alumni.

The college began searching for its next dean after Sarah Gardial announced in October, 2019 she would be leaving the position vacant for the first time since 2012. Amy Kristof-Brown has been serving as the interim dean until someone can fill the position.  Gardial ended her tenure at the helm of the Tippie College of Business in March to lead Belmont University’s business school in Tennessee. 

In his introduction, Volpin said he was passionate about research and education. He said clarity on organizational goals, alignment among university leaders and trust to allow for collective leadership were key to managing a complex organization similar to the Tippie College of Business. He said the educational environment requires setting examples from the top of leadership, sharing best practices and communicating with students. 

“Deans lead, I like to lead by example, but they really need to build it up and make sure that it becomes potentially as big as the entire community,” he said. “So successful places are where people are sharing the same values, and working towards the same mission, and they’re proud of being part of that institution.”

He acknowledged the trying times educators are operating in as the world grapples with racial injustice, environmental issues and the pandemic. Volpin said business schools have a role to play in addressing these problems. Conducting research that impacts societal change, building community among the college, alumni and the local community, and curriculum change were some ways Volpin said business schools could help. 

“We need to really educate responsible business leaders, business leaders that think about the implication that their actions have on society,” he said. “It’s inevitable, it really means that the curriculum needs to change. So we need to have courses that we didn’t [need] before.”

Volpin said addressing ethics in big data analysis and how to manage diverse teams were some examples of issues the curriculum needs to address. 

In the UK, Volpin said schools often have a list of diversity, equity and inclusion practices, which leads to “a lot of box ticking.” His approach to DEI involves a bottom up analysis, where a survey of staff and students informs the strategy the school implements. In this model, colleges must communicate commitment to the strategy and monitor the process through metrics and surveys.

He also said students need to learn how to fail, problem solve, and employ critical thinking skills to be prepared for a changing job market. 

“Jobs are not static anymore. We need to teach skills that make our students resilient to the changes that will happen down the line,” he said.

In the last 20 minutes, students and faculty had the chance to ask Volpin questions. One viewer asked how he would adjust the skill set he acquired in London to Iowa City. In response, Volpin said he wants Tippie to recruit more international students and faculty by incorporating international experiences into the curriculum.