Spotlight On: Matthew Myers, Dean, Southern Methodist University – Cox School of Business

Spotlight On: Matthew Myers, Dean, Southern Methodist University – Cox School of Business

2022-08-12T13:06:21-04:00August 12th, 2022|Dallas-Fort Worth, Economy, Spotlight On|

2 min read August 2022 Matthew Myers, dean of the SMU Cox School of Business, talked with Invest: about the lessons learned during the past two years and the achievements for the school over that time. Moreover, Myers discussed his priorities for the Cox School of Business in the near term.

What have been the biggest lessons learned during the past two years?

One of our big lessons during the past two years: the technological changes in relation to the way we teach and in the way our employers expect our graduate students to be confident in applying these changes. We had the ability to take a silver lining from the pandemic in terms of how we increased our technological capabilities. I believe that was a great lesson for us. 

What have been some recent achievements for SMU Cox School of Business?

We are putting an emphasis on strengthening our connection with the North Texas community. I came here in 2017 and one of the things I said was that you can’t have a world-class city without a world-class university and you can’t have a world-class university without a world-class business school. Whether it’s true or not, this is something that most of us believe at the Cox School of Business.

Over the years, the trend we’ve seen is that every time we have an inflection point within the economy, the demand for business education goes up. We are now the largest graduate school on campus and we have set an enrollment record. Also, we’ve received a lot of feedback and a lot of it concerns the need for more talent. As a result, and to handle the level of demand, we’ve been able to plan the expansion of business education. On May 6th, we broke ground on a $140 million renovation and expansion project designed to train students for a collaborative and technologically integrated world. The two-year project will expand the school’s footprint by more than 30%, with the construction of four new buildings connecting the existing facilities into cohesive space to support collaboration within the Cox School and across the campus, as well as with the Dallas business community. Our goal is to better prepare our students to be world-changers at all levels: locally, regionally, globally. 

How would you analyze the progress that has been made in keeping education affordable for students?

This is something that needs to be addressed nationwide. Public and private universities need to provide a portfolio of opportunities across the spectrum. SMU is a private university and it has a great history over the years. We have also been expensive for a wide variety of individuals. One of our main goals is to make it affordable for folks who wouldn’t consider coming to a private university. 

If we’re going to do that, we have to raise money for scholarships. We’ve done a phenomenal job so far. One thing that has helped us is going back to the local community. It’s essential to bring talented, diverse, high-achieving students to the Cox School of Business no matter their financial situation. In reality, it shouldn’t matter. As a country, we need to have a higher education policy that helps with the cost.

What can students expect from their experience at Cox School of Business?

Whenever students come here to look at the Cox School of Business, one of the things we tell them is that if they’re looking to go to a place to be anonymous, we are not that place. There is no backroom in our classes. The faculty, staff, students and dean are going to know who you are. What this shows is that we are a small business community. To a certain degree, business schools are reliant on the placement services that they offer. Due to this, we’re expanding our already considerable strategic partnerships.

How has the business community helped ensure that graduates remain in North Texas?

In our undergraduate program, over 70% come outside of Texas. We have a lot of students who come from the tri-state area. Also, we get a lot of students from the Great Lakes region and many from California. It varies year to year, but overall about seventy-five percent of our total graduates stay in Texas. 

On the graduate program side, many MBA and Master of Science students choose us because they’re aware of our network. In both cases, it’s an indicator of what the Cox School of Business can provide. For those who want to stay in the area to build or enhance their careers or for those who want to develop or move their careers beyond Texas, opportunities abound.    

With this level of attraction, how does COX School of Business address major gaps in the educational system?

We’re excited about a new program this summer called Subiendo Academy, modeled after a similar program in UT Austin. This program is designed for Hispanic students who are first-generation college students. We bring them to the Cox School of Business during their junior and senior year so that they can get to know us. We try to make them understand the possibilities we provide them. It’s a great program and it’s a great example of how we’re going out into the community.

Another example of how we’re reaching out into the community is our Latino Leadership Initiative, first founded in 2013 to aid participating companies in unlocking the corporate leadership performance potential of a critical and growing segment of the workforce. The program helps build a corporate pipeline to help develop diverse C-Suite talent. 

What are your priorities for the Cox School of Business?

We want to make sure we stay relevant. The competitive landscape is through the roof. The demand to go to business schools has increased and the ability to perform at the business school level has also increased. The competitive landscape is a challenge for us. Also, we have to get more of the right people behind the podium who care about teaching. This area is also competitive. 

For more information, visit:

https://www.smu.edu/cox 

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