Margaret L. Williams,
Dean Rawls College of Business
Texas Tech University
Message from the SWBDA President
Dear colleague,
Greetings from the Southwestern Business Deans’ Association and thank you for visiting our website! If you are a current or former member of SWBDA, you know the outstanding opportunity we provide for an intimate, lively, and relevant conference for business deans and associate deans each June. A special welcome if you are new to SWBDA. Please join the association (click on “Become a Member” at the top of this page) and consider attending our annual conference to be held June 11-13 at Hotel Santa Fe in beautiful Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Jim Payne, Dean of the College of Business Administration at UTEP and President-Elect of SWBDA, along with members of the SWBDA Executive Board, is planning a conference program to focus on strategies and tactics for building student, staff, and faculty engagement; how business schools can demonstrate thought leadership; and a discussion with Coursera about micro-credentialing. An AACSB leader will also be on site to share the latest developments in AACSB accreditation. Please reach out with any topics you would like to see added to our conference program.
If you have a question about SWBDA or the June conference or simply want to reach out, please click on the “About SWBDA” tab for the list of Board members.
We look forward to seeing you in Santa Fe!
Membership Info
We are still accepting memberships for 2022-23. If you have not already done so, please click on "Become a Member" on the home page to renew or to join us!
Bizzell Award
The deadline has passed for submissions for the 2023 Bobby G. Bizzell Innovative Achievement Award. The award will be presented at the 2023 Annual Meeting in Santa Fe.
Testimonials
FINLEY GRAVES
FORMER DEAN AT UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS, NOW RETIRED PROVOST
Those who attend regularly state that they enjoy the intimate feel of the meeting and the philosophy of practical application that guides the content of the sessions. The Association encourages the attendance of Associate Deans as well as Deans, since much in the topics covered is relevant to their work.
ED BASHAW
DEAN, SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, EMPORIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Members tell me they enjoy the intimacy that our conference offers as we typically have 60 to 75 in attendance. Those numbers and the friendliness of the participants allow conference attendees to get to know each other well. One measure of success is the number of productive relationships forged between members who can share ideas, opinions, and data that help us all improve our B-schools.
TANUJA SINGH
FORMER DEAN AT ST. MARY'S UNIVERSITY, NOW PROVOST AT LOYOLA UNIVERSITY NEW ORLEANS
What makes the Southwestern Business Deans' Association one of the best values for the money is the quality, relevance, and timeliness of the topics that are discussed at the annual meeting. Many of our members have also told me that what draws them to the SWBDA is its friendly, intimate, and close-knit community-like structure. Each year, participants comment on the value they derive from sharing ideas, data, opinions, and above all, friendships.