We find ourselves in the midst of a significant societal push to combat racism and the systemic discrimination and injustice it breeds in our country. It’s clear that, while equity, diversity, and inclusion lie at the heart of our school’s mission, we have fallen short. As Dean, I take responsibility for that, but I am committed, along with the rest of our leadership, to change. Racism has no place at Owen and we will work to actively combat it within our community. The strategy and initiatives that will come with it will be developed, deployed, and communicated over the coming months. One of our initiatives this summer is to introduce a community read (see below for more details).

After pivoting to remote delivery in Mod 4 because of the international pandemic, I am delighted to say that Owen plans to commence in-person classes on August 17. Earlier this week, Vanderbilt and the Owen School published plans for the fall semester that are intended to get back on campus while keeping our community as safe and heathy as possible. We are all excited to get back to campus. Owen’s personal-scale approach thrives on in-person experiences. We all know that those experiences will be very different this year, but we are working hard to ensure positive ones for students, faculty, and staff. Read more about our plan to open in the fall here.

Best,
Eric

All in-person programs through the end of June have been cancelled due to the current health crisis, but we are offering the following online programs (click for more information):
  o  Strategic Leadership
  o  Strategy & Operations
  o  Finance & Accounting
  o  Strategic Innovation

We also offer technology bootcamps in coding, data analytics, cybersecurity, and FinTech. To learn more, click here.

View short programs

In addition to these programs, Executive Education is also hosting two webinars in July about navigating the post-coronavirus world. These events are free to attend and open to alumni.

Jul 24, 2020 09:00 AM Central Time

For many, ethics and morality are constants: basic values and senses of right and wrong that should not shift with winds of changing business conditions or social turbulence. For others, challenging times require moral flexibility – an openness to adjusting one’s ethics to cope with difficult and dynamic circumstances. 

In this thought-provoking and engaging webinar, Professor Bruce Barry will catalyze conversation on questions like these:

  o  How are business and workplace ethics implicated in a crisis?
  o  How are those ethics implicated in the particular crisis (or should we say crises) of 2020?
  o  How do you think about your own personal and work ethics — do they diverge?
  o  How morally flexible should we be when circumstances change dramatically?

Bruce Barry is the Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Professor of Management at the Owen Graduate School of Management. He teaches business ethics in Owen’s MBA program and has published widely on workplace ethics, rights, conflict, power, and justice. He is editor in chief of Business Ethics Quarterly, a premier international scholarly journal in the business ethics field.

July 28, 2020 10:00 AM Central Time

The option to work from home is a genie the pandemic let out of the bottle. The future for most workplaces will involve far more employee choice about where (flex-place) and when (flex-time) they work. In this session, Corbette Doyle will cover a few popular questions we’ve been hearing:

  o  How do we determine the impact the sudden shift to remote work, furloughs, and layoffs had on our organizational culture?
  o  How do we use this moment in time to strengthen our organizational culture going forward?
  o  Should we increase employee choice about where and when they work? 
  o  Which tools and skills will managers need to build teams with positive cultures in a flex-place (and flex-time) workplace?

Corbette Doyle is a Senior Lecturer in Organizational Leadership, Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations and teaches in Vanderbilt’s Advanced Leadership Program for Executives.