Tuck School of Business accounting professor Philip C. Stocken stepped into a new role as the associate dean of the MBA program on July 1st, replacing M. Eric Johnson, who left to become dean of Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Business. In a recent interview published on the Tuck website, Stocken provides a glimpse of some of the initiatives he plans to focus on in his first year as associate dean, including changes to the core curriculum, a new mentorship program for international students and more.
“Tuck has wonderful resources, and as an associate dean I want to help channel them towards creating a transformative experience for students,” he said. Stocken has coined this student experience the “Fabric of Tuck” – and he wants it to include better interaction both in class and between classes as well as stronger lines of communication between staff, faculty and students. He also has plans for an international mentorship program, in which faculty and staff mentor international students during their time at Tuck, as well as expanded international and small-group dinners, giving all Tuck students greater opportunity to share aspects of their personality and culture, he says.
In the interview, Stocken also mentioned some changes to the MBA curriculum he has implemented since assuming the role of assistant dean. First, the Financial Measurement, Analysis and Reporting course that has been part of the core curriculum has been broken into two parts, with the second part taking place during the spring term, providing room for the Management Communications course to move into the second half of the Fall B term. “The idea was to make the fall term less quantitatively intense, and this was based on the feedback of second-year students and recent alumni,” Stocken said. Second, beginning in November, second-year students will take part in a new leadership program designed to help train them to establish a leadership role early in their new careers.
Looking ahead, Stocken says that Tuck is continuing to explore a global experience requirement, including defining what it means by a global mindset, exploring which courses might satisfy a possible requirement, etc. In recent years Tuck has expanded its capacity for providing global experiences through new initiatives such as learning expeditions, the Tuck Global Consultancy and a first-year project course, and Stocken hopes to enhance these offerings and make them a more integral part of the student experience at Tuck.
“There’s a culture of experimentation here that makes it exciting to try new things,” Stocken said. “The only thing we’re limited by is our imagination.”
