I am pleased to announce that following a national search and consultation with a faculty-led search committee and many segments of the CSI community, I have selected Dr. Susan Holak for recommendation to the CUNY Board of Trustees for appointment as Dean of the School of Business. The Board of Trustees approved this appointment at the Monday, Jan. 26 meeting.
Dr. Holak will continue a career at CSI that has been characterized by strong leadership in a variety of positions and offices. She is a Professor in the Department of Marketing where she served as Area Chair from 2003 to 2007. Dr. Holak directed the William E. Macaulay Honors College of CUNY at the College of Staten Island (2005-2007), led a successful effort to establish a Master’s program in Business, and recently championed a Graduate Certificate in Business Analytics of Large-Scale Data. She also served as Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness, providing leadership in accreditation, academic program review, and assessment, as well as overseeing the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment. Dr. Holak also directed the decennial Middle States reaccreditation process, was responsible for coordinating and composing the College’s annual Performance Management Process reports for CUNY, and served as the campus Accreditation Liaison Officer to the Middle States Commission. As Interim Founding Dean of the School of Business, she provided leadership through the College’s restructuring process, planned and executed the launch of the School of Business, and initiated branding and identity-building efforts
Beyond the campus, Dr. Holak was selected to participate in the 2008 HERS Summer Institute for Women in Higher Education at Bryn Mawr College. She was a member of the 2011-2012 Leadership Program Cohort co-sponsored by the American Academic Leadership Institute (AALI) and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).
Dr. Holak graduated magna cum laude with a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where she was named to Beta Gamma Sigma, the business honorary society. She received her MPhil and PhD degrees in Business from Columbia University, where she was the recipient of an AACSB Fellowship and a Richard D. Irwin Fellowship for her doctoral studies.
With the appointment of Dr. Holak as Dean of the School of Business, I am also pleased to announce that Dr. Syed Rizvi, Interim Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness will assume administrative oversight of the Faculty Center for Professional Development (FCPD). Dr. Rizvi is currently evaluating the functions of the FCPD and will be continuing the efforts catalyzed by Dean Holak to maximize the utility of this center to CSI faculty and staff.
