A Short Introduction to Butler University – Lacy School of Business

Last Updated on May 19, 2022 by MBA Gateway Team

Dean, Andre B. Lacy School of Business

Butler University invites nominations and applications for the position of Dean of the Andre B. Lacy School of Business. Butler seeks a collaborative, creative, energetic, entrepreneurial, experienced, and inspiring leader who will not only serve as the chief academic and administrative officer for the school, but also will be outward-looking and visionary in leading the school to new levels of success.

The Dean of the Andre B. Lacy School of Business reports to the Provost.

Programs in the Lacy School of Business are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

 

Butler University

Located in Indianapolis, Indiana, Butler University is a nationally recognized university with six academic colleges: Arts, Business, Communication, Education, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Butler is known for providing students with small classes, opportunities to engage directly with faculty, and experiential education through internships, research with faculty mentors, study abroad, service-learning opportunities such as classroom placements for education students and healthcare site placements for pharmacy students, as well as numerous artistic performances. These opportunities give students the knowledge and skills they need to excel after college – both in the workforce and in life. Butler students have had significant success after graduation, as demonstrated by the University’s 97 percent placement rate within 12 months of graduation.

For the fourth consecutive year, Butler is ranked as the top regional university in the Midwest by U.S. News

• World Report. Additionally, Butler is ranked No. 1 among Midwest Regional Universities for innovation, undergraduate teaching, and the Best College for Veterans. Butler received national rankings for first-year experience (No. 16), and study abroad opportunities (No. 25).

In Fall 2021, Butler University achieved its third consecutive year of enrollment growth and welcomed the most diverse class in the university’s history; 21 percent of first-year students identify as people of color and 18 percent reported that they are first-generation college students. Total undergraduate enrollment currently stands at 4,551 and an additional 383 students are enrolled at the graduate level.

About Butler

From the beginning, Butler has been ahead of its time among institutions of higher education for its commitment to racial and gender equality.

The University was chartered as North Western Christian University by abolitionist Disciples of Christ members, who wanted a university away from the “pernicious influences of slavery.” Upon establishment in 1855, the University immediately began setting educational precedent by admitting students of all races. Butler was the third university in the country to admit women on an equal basis with men and one of the first to endow a chair for a female professorship. In 1877, after the school moved from downtown Indianapolis just a few miles away, its name was changed to Butler University in honor of Ovid Butler, a local abolitionist, attorney, and founder of the university.

In October of 2019, the University launched Butler

Beyond: The Campaign for Butler University with a goal to raise $250 million by May 2022 – its largest multi-year philanthropic effort to date. As of October 2021, more than $240 million has been raised toward the goal. The Butler Beyond strategic vision provides a roadmap of multiple educational models that, together, respects tradition and embraces innovation. At the core of each model is the question: What must Butler University do to prepare the next generation of learners for what lies beyond?

Our nation’s traditional undergraduate approach to education is becoming out of reach for many families, especially those from America’s shrinking middle class. At the same time, students are increasingly interested in flexible curricular paths, online learning, and reassurance that their education will result in a promising career. Butler will respond by continuing to evolve and strengthen its traditional approach with a focus on exploring ways to be increasingly relevant and financially accessible for future generations.

Education is crucial to the development of strong and vibrant communities. Focusing on Butler’s proud founding mission that everyone, regardless of race, gender, or socioeconomic status, deserves a high-quality education, the University aims to address inequities in higher education.

Mission

Butler’s mission is to provide the highest quality of liberal and professional education and to integrate the liberal arts with professional education, by creating and fostering a stimulating intellectual community built upon interactive dialogue and inquiry among students, faculty, and staff.

Strategic Direction

Butler University is at the crossroads of tradition and transformation. The University’s founding ideals of educational equity and academic excellence compel the campus to boldly innovate and expansively educate – thereby strengthening the positive impact the University makes on the learners and communities it serves.

Leadership

A particular strength of Butler is the overall quality of the Leadership Team, including Vice-Presidents and Deans. The Trustees, President, and Provost have made the development, support, and active engagement of a strong leadership team a priority as they recognize the considerable value it has brought to Butler University. There is strong stability and comradery across the leadership team, with the more recent departures the result of opportunities to serve as President at other institutions, which is a positive sign of the quality of Butler leaders.

James Danko became Butler’s 21st President in 2011. During his tenure, he has led a strategy to establish the University as a higher-education innovator through the pursuit of creative new programs and approaches; to advance Butler’s core mission as one that integrates a liberal-arts foundation with professional preparation; and to strengthen Butler’s founding principles of inclusivity, community engagement, and academic excellence. An innovator at heart and in experience, Danko was a successful entrepreneur in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, for nearly two decades before beginning his academic career. At age 19, he founded a medical equipment company, which he later expanded into a multi-location healthcare and fitness equipment provider.

A key part of Butler’s growing momentum is President Danko’s commitment to enriching the student experience through the transformation of campus—including academic, research, residential, performance, and athletic spaces. In summer 2019, the Lacy School of Business moved into its new 110,000 square-foot home. In 2021, the University completed phase one of its renovation and expansion for a new sciences complex. Additionally, Danko has led the University through its most successful fundraising years ever, highlighted by a $25 million gift from Andre and Julia Lacy to name the Lacy School and is on pace to meet its $250 million campaign goal in 2022.

In 2013, Danko successfully advocated for Butler’s membership in the BIG EAST Athletic Conference, positioning the University in the company of outstanding peers in both the classroom and athletic competition. He served as Chair of the BIG EAST Board of Directors from 2018-2020.

Prior to Butler, Danko served as Dean of the Villanova School of Business and as Associate Dean at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. During his Villanova tenure, financial gifts to the school increased nearly five-fold, enabling it to implement efforts including a new curriculum, a comprehensive student-services wing, and research centers focused on real estate, innovation, and analytics. In addition, the school moved from regional recognition to being ranked by Bloomberg Businessweek as No. 7 in the nation. He also served in leadership roles and taught entrepreneurship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Babson College, and the University of Michigan.

To learn more about the leadership at Butler, please visit the following links:

Board of Trustees

https://www.butler.edu/about-butler/board-trustees?_ga=2.145065276.900973803.1632752428-1801355208.1629486570

Executive Council

https://www.butler.edu/president/executive-council?_ga=2.48914606.900973803.1632752428-1801355208.1629486570

Academics

Students leave Butler ready to step directly into a career or graduate school with confidence. Boasting career outcomes of 97% placement rate from the Class of 2020 with a median salary of $52,000, that success is tied to the University’s dedication to providing a solid liberal arts education that is coupled with experiential learning opportunities that include internships, study abroad, service projects, and scholarly research. It’s a commitment to both academic excellence and real-world success that creates responsible citizens who go forth and improve the world. With over 27 graduate programs and non-degree programs, the University continues to explore programs that address critical needs and support its historic strengths.

The foundation of Butler students’ success is the Core Curriculum—a series of foundational classes and experiences that broaden students’ educational horizons and give them the tools they need to be successful in whatever field they choose.

Quick facts about the academic program at Butler:

• 11:1 student-to-faculty ratio

• 6 academic colleges (see below)

• 65+ major academic fields of study

• Over 200 study abroad programs in 60 countries
• 40 three-year degree programs

• Master’s degree programs, as well as Doctor of Pharmacy and Doctor of Medical Science degrees offered

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

At Butler, a liberal arts education is at the heart of everything it does. The Liberal Arts emphasizes a well-rounded education that teaches you the power of knowledge for personal gain and social change.

It’s more than following a course checklist. Students will be challenged to experience diverse cultures. Students will develop critical-thinking skills and put them into practice in real-world situations. Perhaps most importantly, students will be prepared to improve the world.

Andre B. Lacy School of Business

In the Andre B. Lacy School of Business, students start prepping for success from day one. Small class sizes and partnerships with real businesses in the community deliver experience that sets students apart from the competition. Experiential learning from real business professionals, and two required internships, means that students are prepared for success long before they even step out into the workforce.

College of Communication

In our increasingly digitized and global society, communication is more important than ever. And in the College of Communication, students are given the tools for success regardless of the field they want to enter. Students study with active scholars and leading professionals in small-class environments with instructors who change the curriculum to meet today’s communication needs.

Student experiential learning opportunities abound on campus including a strategic communication agency, video production company, print, web and broadcast news media, live sports production and speech pathology and audiology clinics ensuring that students will step out of school ready to walk into a successful career or graduate school.

College of Education

The College of Education provides accessible, meaningful, and expansive professional preparation that enables educators to create conditions for individuals to reach their full potentials and for schools and communities to thrive. Students work side-by-side with faculty in a variety of field-based experiences, including our laboratory and partnership schools, to integrate theory into practice. Students in the College of Education receive professional preparation for an impactful career enhanced by a well-rounded liberal arts education for a life of meaning and purpose.

Students collaborate with caring and energetic professionals in a small-class environment that teaches students to learn from and with communities to co-create more equitable schools. Students experience a range of educational models thanks to the University’s metropolitan location and partnership with local schools.

The experiential, liberal arts curriculum, combined with the College’s full accreditation by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation makes Butler graduates very attractive to schools.

Jordan College of the Arts

At the Jordan College of the Arts, students will discover an environment that promotes artistic expression while teaching to the interrelatedness of all the arts. Students will be immersed in a thriving community of artists that celebrate creativity and curiosity and encourages artistic expression in all the corners of life.

What makes Jordan College of the Arts so unique is Butler’s commitment to the liberal arts. A well-rounded liberal arts education combined with conservatory-level instruction produces artist-citizens that have clear voice grounded in tradition and marked by innovation.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Butler University strives to create a diverse, equitable, and intentionally inclusive community. To support a preeminent learning and working environment, the University seeks and creates opportunities for each person to better understand their own beliefs, values, and cultures so that we can fully embrace the experience, ideas, perspectives, and traditions of all who come to learn and work here.

Our mission is to “provide the highest quality of liberal and professional education and to integrate the liberal arts with professional education, by creating and fostering a stimulating intellectual community built upon interactive dialogue and inquiry among students, faculty, and staff.” Our intention is to champion an environment where everyone collaborates to make Butler a place where people from all identities, backgrounds, viewpoints, and experiences are embraced, validated and supported. We further recognize that our students, staff, faculty, and community all benefit from and engage in our best learning, research, and community engagement when we are learning from and with each other. Campus diversity is a foundational component of a strong liberal arts education. To these ends, we require all undergraduates to complete a course with a social justice and diversity designation, and we provide inclusion advocate training for faculty and staff who will advocate for equity and inclusion in hiring, faculty-staff-student training to address various aspects of living and working in a diverse society, and a bias response system, among dozens of other programs and support systems. To learn more about Butler’s commitment to DEI and Diversity and Inclusion, please visit: https://www.butler.edu/diversity.

Our founding ideals require us to regularly reflect, re-examine and reclaim and take action in an ever-evolving world to ensure a thriving and inclusive learning community. While we are encouraged by the progress we have made over the past decade, we know that this work is ongoing. The Provost will engage the Butler community in the next steps of understanding, designing, and creating a campus community that is inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible for all students, faculty, staff, and community members and who will help us engage in critical dialogue and action that will bring together, value, and integrate diverse voices as we grapple with and negotiate the educational, social, political, and economic complexities that our graduates, faculty, staff, and community members will face in the coming decades.

 

Indianapolis, Indiana

Butler University is located in the crossroads of America: the bustling community of Indianapolis. With a metropolitan population of over two million, Indianapolis is one of America’s most livable urban cities. Both Forbes and Livability.com rank Indianapolis as one of the best downtowns in the United States, citing attractions including more than 200 retail shops, more than 35 hotels, nearly 300 restaurants and food options, movie theaters, sports venues, museums, art galleries and parks. Further, Indianapolis was listed as #11 on Forbes’ 2017 list of “The Cities with the Happiest Young Professionals,” and USNWR ranked the city as #8 among “Best Places to Live” in 2019.

Green spaces abound with over 135 parks in the metro area. The Indianapolis Cultural Trail – a world-class urban bike and pedestrian path connecting neighborhoods, Cultural Districts, and entertainment amenities – serves as the downtown hub for the entire central Indiana greenway system.

Commonly referred to as The Amateur Sports Capital of the World, Indianapolis has hosted a number of national amateur sporting events and serves as national headquarters for the NCAA, USA Track & Field, USA Diving, USA Gymnastics, and USA Synchronized Swimming. The city is home to professional sports teams in the NFL, NBA, WNBA, USHL, and Triple A baseball. Indianapolis regularly hosts a number of prestigious sporting events including the Super Bowl and the NCAA Basketball Final Four. Indianapolis is also known as The Racing Capital of the World, hosting two of the largest single-day sporting events in the world: the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400.

For more information on events and activities in Indianapolis, please visit: www.visitindy.com

The Andre B. Lacy School of Business

The Lacy School of Business is honored to be named after benefactor, and mentor Andre B. Lacy in recognition of a $25 million gift from him and his wife, Julia. Andre Lacy was Chairman of the Board of Indianapolis-based Lacy Diversified Industries, and served as a senior advisor to the school, sharing more than 50 years of business acumen with students, faculty, and staff. Andre and Julia chose to make their investment in Butler because of its focus on small and family-owned business, and because of the real-world experience its students receive. Learn more about Andre and Julia Lacy.

The home of the Lacy School of Business is Dugan Hall, Butler’s 110, 000 square foot building that opened in Fall 2019. The building houses several university wide units such as the Office of Strategic Partnerships, Division of Professional Studies, Career and Professional Success and features collaborative classrooms and workspaces, a trading room, food service, and a rooftop deck. Dugan Hall supports the Lacy School’s long-term vision to foster further interaction between students and the business community. The building is named for Bill and Joanne Dugan and is in recognition of a $7 million multiyear gift commitment. Bill Dugan is a 1951 graduate and is President and owner of Sign Crafters, Inc., an Evansville, IN based company that designs, manufactures, and installs business signs.

The Lacy School is home to 1,099 undergraduate students pursuing degrees in Accounting, Applied Business Technology (ABT), Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Economics, Finance, International Business, Marketing, Risk Management & Insurance and 234 graduate students who pursue degrees in Accounting, Business Administration, Management, and Risk and Insurance. The Lacy School of Business also hosts the Butler’s Old National Bank Center for Business Excellence, Central Indiana Small Business Development Center, and Innovation Lab. In addition, the Division of Professional Studies partners with the LSB and offers custom and certificate programs to individuals and businesses seeking to expand their knowledge to meet the rapidly changing needs of today’s business environment such as a Foundations in Business Certificate, Design Thinking Certificate, CFP Test Prep Certificate, Cyber

Risk Management Certificate, Enterprise Risk Management Certificate, Insurance and Securities Licensure Test Prep, Coaching as a Mentality, Data Analytics Bootcamp, and a Coding Bootcamp.

The Dean, Associate Dean for Faculty, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs, Assistant Dean for Community Engagement/Faculty Director for Diversity, Equity and Engagement, Executive Director of the Butler Old National Bank Center for Business Excellence, and Regional Director for the Central Indiana Small Business Development Center comprise the Lacy School’s leadership team. Alongside the school’s leadership, 53 full-time and 26 part-time faculty work in a highly collegial and friendly environment to provide a stellar academic experience for students. The Dean oversees an annual budget of $11 million dollars.

Several discipline related student clubs such as the Accounting Club, Alpha Kappa Psi, Butler Global Supply Chain Management Organization, Butler Investment Group, Beta Gamma Sigma, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Club, Financial Management Association, Gamma Iota Sigma, International Business Organization, Management Information Systems and Technology Association, and the Lacy Scholars provide ample opportunity for leadership, professional networking, and socialization.

 

Opportunities and Challenges

The Lacy School of Business is well-positioned for a dynamic, innovative leader who has experience in strengthening an entrepreneurial culture within higher education. The Dean will address several strategic areas, including:

• Growth & Program Development: The next Dean of the Lacy School of Business will have the opportunity to develop a vision of growth and expansion for the school. Building on the success and achievement of the school such as the building of Dugan Hall and the naming of the Lacy School, the Dean will continue to see the promise of the Lacy School, promote the unique aspects of the school, and empower faculty and staff to further enhance programs and curriculum. The recently launched strategic direction, Butler Beyond, focuses on advancing three models of education—enhancing the traditional undergraduate model, growing and broadening lifelong learning, and developing a new, highly accessible and inclusive model. This will afford the Dean the opportunity to establish new and “in-demand” programs at the graduate and undergraduate level in association with the newly launched Division of Professional Studies. The Dean will seek to consistently enhance quality student outcomes at the school. For continued success, the school must sustain and create attractive and academically strong on-ground and online programs that are global, market-responsive and in high demand. The Dean will need to lead the school to meet the growing demand at the graduate level for programs that are geared towards the ever-growing number of working professionals.

• External Relationships and Partnerships: The Lacy School aspires to have an even more robust set of relationships with alumni, friends, foundation and corporate leaders, and others who share and can help to advance the school’s goals, values, and culture of engagement and philanthropy.

Working creatively and persistently to increase the number and diversity of individuals and organizations who donate their time and resources to the school, who recruit Lacy students for internships and jobs, and who partner with faculty on research will be a key priority for the new Dean. The new Dean should demonstrate an ability to fundraise and allocate available resources, so

 

the school’s activities are properly funded and high quality. The school’s relationship with the City of Indianapolis is another area in which even greater investment and growth is desired. And from a global perspective, the Lacy School of Business seeks to collaborate with the newly launched Office of Strategic Engagement to develop additional programs and relationships with global organizations and institutions to complement and build upon the current high levels of student participation.

• Strengthening Diversity & Inclusion: The Dean will bring a sophisticated understanding of, and practical experience with, initiatives designed to attract, mentor, and retain students, faculty, and staff from underrepresented groups. In addition, the Dean will work collaboratively with the Assistant Dean for Community Engagement/Faculty Director for Diversity, Equity and Engagement and faculty to explore and invest in ways in which curricular and co-curricular programs represent a wide range of perspectives and identities. The Dean will apply an intentionally inclusive approach regarding internal and external communication and relationships, program development, and enrollment and retention strategies.
• Optimizing Enrollment and Retention: The Lacy School actively seeks to enhance its brand and name recognition as part of an effort to strengthen and broaden admissions and increase rates of retention. The Lacy School has seen increasing enrollment over the last ten years and desires to continue this upward trajectory. The next Dean will lead the school in developing a strategic approach to enrollment management and recruitment. The new Dean will actively work with College and University leaders to leverage its strengths and develop strategies for growth and the optimization of the student body by effective marketing, recruiting broadly in the U.S. and internationally, and increasing rates of persistence.
• Faculty Recruitment, Development, and Retention: The Lacy School’s innovative and dedicated faculty represent one of the School’s great strengths, and the next Dean will actively work to more effectively leverage the faculty’s excellence to help raise the profile of the School. The faculty will need to be supported effectively and built strategically, with an eye to the future direction of business education generally, and to the School specifically. The Dean will play a key role in providing guidance for and support of scholarship, pedagogy, advising and mentoring of students, and in identifying resources for the further development of faculty, both individually and as a community of educator scholars. The Dean will also be charged with strengthening the welcoming and inclusive culture at the Lacy School that will both attract and help retain these quality faculty members.

• Inspiring Leadership and Communication: The Dean will serve as a positive and inspiring leader, nurture relationships within the school and will be accessible and visible to all key stakeholders within the school. In addition, the Dean will work collaboratively and creatively with fellow deans

to imagine and bring to life programs and partnerships that synthesize the best that the University has to offer as part of the Provost Advisory Team. The Dean will also recognize that the Lacy School of Business success depends on the work of talented staff members throughout the school and will support their growth and development. Effective communication by the Dean of the Lacy School is key to ensuring that the School’s commitment to community is realized. Inherent in this effort is the need for the Dean to share information, facilitate communication among others, and ensure effective and timely decision making and action.

Desired Qualities and Characteristics

The successful candidate for this position has a record of distinguished academic leadership, research and teaching and/or strong leadership experience in industry. Applicants should have experience in business and management in an academic and/or professional environment including planning, budgeting, team building, problem solving and project management. Candidates should have a proven record of professional accomplishments and effective leadership, and have demonstrated the ability to foster a climate where learning and discovery flourish. In addition, the next Dean of the Lacy School of Business will possess many of the following qualities and experiences:

• Deep knowledge of, and passion for, the possibilities for undergraduate and graduate business education, including a nuanced understanding of the critical challenges facing the field today.
• Experience developing growth opportunities, such as online and graduate level programming.
• A strong track record of successful personnel management, including experience mentoring talented faculty, staff, administrators, and students to perform at their best.
• A genuine commitment to the value and relevance of the liberal arts as a crucial facet of professional business education to produce graduates who are optimally prepared to address the world’s most complex challenges.
• Experience leading an organization toward a shared vision and building consensus among a diverse group of stakeholders.
• Demonstrated commitment and practical experience with creating, maintaining, and ensuring a global, inclusive and welcoming climate in which people of all backgrounds can thrive.
• The interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence to build strong relationships with multiple external constituencies, ranging from corporate and foundation leaders to public officials to advisory board members and university trustees.
• The desire and talent to tell the unique Lacy School story powerfully and persuasively to alumni, friends, and other potential supporters of the school’s mission.
• A transparent and approachable style of leadership, coupled with the ability to make decisions respectfully and with high levels of integrity.
• Budgetary and financial management skills sufficient to oversee a large office and a complex organization.
• Familiarity with AACSB accreditation standards and requirements at a high level; and,
• An entrepreneurial, energetic, and optimistic approach to leadership and a bedrock belief in the power of higher education to positively impact our world.

Applications and Nominations

Review of application materials will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. Application materials will consist of a letter of interest, which among other areas should address areas of leadership and diversity, equity, and inclusion; curriculum vitae, and the names of five professional references. Nominations, inquiries, and application materials should be forwarded in confidence to:

Steve Leo, Managing Director Jeffrey Alston, Senior Associate [email protected]

Butler University is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive and equitable environment for all employees. We welcome applications from all individuals, regardless of age, gender, gender identity, sex, race, religion, color, disability, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, national origin, or any other legally protected category.