News

Freeman School announces reorganization

January 19, 2006

The Freeman School has announced a major reorganization as part of the university’s overall restructuring plan in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. According to Angelo DeNisi, dean of the Freeman School, the changes will make the Freeman School a stronger, more focused institution while addressing the significant losses suffered by the university as a result of the storm.

“These decisions have been very painful, but they were necessary as our part of the general plan to keep Tulane University in existence,” says DeNisi. “I am confident that the Freeman School will emerge a leaner and more effective organization going forward.”

The Freeman School will be reorganized into three areas: Behavioral Science; Economic Science; and Legal and Business Studies. The current areas of Strategy and Organizational Behavior will be merged into the Behavioral Science area, and the Accounting and Finance areas will be merged into the Economic Science area. The areas of Marketing (with the exception of emphasis on Consumer Behavior) and Operations Management will be eliminated.

Freeman will continue its strategic focus on a global MBA and experiential learning. Freeman’s global partnerships with schools and programs in Latin America and Asia will be expanded to build a truly global MBA program. A new MBA curriculum is being introduced in spring 2006 that emphasizes the global nature of business. Experiential learning will continue to be focused through such programs as Burkenroad Reports, the Darwin Fenner Student Managed Fund, and a new class that will involve projects associated with the rebuilding of New Orleans.

“This semester will be an interesting one for Freeman School faculty, staff and students,” adds DeNisi. “The university will be centralizing several activities and we will see exactly how this influences our operations. Meanwhile, we will be embarking on an unprecedented double semester this spring, as well as rolling out a new MBA program. I look forward to facing these new challenges together."