'Academic entrepreneur' ready to lead ESB

July 30, 2010

Daphne Taras began a five-year term as the dean of the University of Saskatchewan Edwards School of Business on July 1.  On Campus News sat down with Taras to ask her a few questions about her priorities and goals.

By Mark Ferguson

Before accepting the job at the U of S, what was your previous position?
Prior to my appointment as dean, I was the associate dean (research) at the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary where my primary responsibility was to raise the research culture for the school. I also ran the PhD program of about 50 talented graduate students and looked after the career and research needs of about 85 faculty members. But what I always wanted to be was an academic entrepreneur and the Edwards School of Business has given me the opportunity to be more innovative in what I can do.

What do you think makes a business school a good business school? 
It sounds trite, but a good business school teaches basic business literacy to students. There’s a huge fascination among students about business, but there’s a skill set and a tool box that needs to go along with that and most students want to acquire those skills. For example, students need to know the difference between revenue and profit, or how companies raise money, or how to motivate people. I think students are very hungry for fundamental things about business, so a good business school produces very confident business trained people that a corporation then can take and shape to their own requirements. In essence, we take the rough material, we chip it off and shine it like a diamond, and the corporation can put that diamond into a necklace.

What made the U of S and the position of dean so appealing to you?
The Edwards School of Business has some very exciting elements that make it attractive for someone like me to come here in a leadership position. The thing that makes Edwards great is that students, staff, faculty and alumni have such high engagement and integrity that they are known all over the country as desirable employees, volunteers and business leaders. That is a huge strength.

What kind of relationship do you think a university should have with the business community?
This is a topic of considerable debate within a lot of business schools, and different deans bring different visions to that. Some people say there is a divide and the purpose of the school is to produce academics to do research. But I’m not entirely of that camp. The mandate of Edwards and the U of S was always to produce professionals for national and provincial development and I would really like to pursue that mandate.

What do you want to accomplish in your first term as a new dean?
I don’t want to get on my horse and ride madly in all directions, so I’m interested in three primary things.

The first is accreditation. I want this school to be accredited as a high calibre business school with a fine and consistent level of excellence across all programs.

My second priority is our 100-year anniversary.  Edwards started as an accounting school in 1914 and I want our faculty, our alumni and our students to get ready for the Edwards School of Business 100 year campaign in 2014. We predate most business schools and we have a distinguished history to celebrate.

And my third priority will be to further enhance the student experience. I’m extremely interested in improving the student experience and one way to do that is getting students through their degree more quickly.  I would like to see more courses available during the spring and summer and find ways to help students complete their degrees in a timely manner.