Posted on March 20, 2023 by Wendy Frost
The Carlos Alvarez College of Business at UTSA has realigned its leadership team to better support college strategic initiatives. The college’s associate dean roles have been restructured and expanded into four positions.
“As I have settled into my role over the past nine months, I have had an opportunity to evaluate how we go about the many important functions we are responsible for as a nationally recognized college of business,” said Jonathon Halbesleben, dean of the Alvarez College of Business.
“I’m making changes to our associate dean structure to align closely-related functions and give us greater capacity as we pursue strategic initiatives over the next few years.”
Joining the college’s leadership team is Dan Sass, associate professor of management science and statistics. He has been named Interim Associate Dean for Graduate Studies (pictured below). In this role, Sass will oversee the college’s 14 master’s programs.
Juan Manuel Sanchez
“With graduate programs playing such an important role in the future growth of UTSA and the college, I felt it was important to separate this associate dean role to allow greater focus on this area,” said Halbesleben. “Dan brings to the role extensive experience working with our business analytics program and in faculty governance. I am excited to have him join our leadership team.”
Sass has identified several key goals for this position including increasing graduate enrollments, growing online programs and courses and making more data-driven decisions.
“I relish the challenge of finding ways to not only increase the number of students that we have, but also to increase the quality of education that we provide to students,” said Sass, who has taught at UTSA since 2007. “I plan to work with our faculty and survey our students to determine what we can do to make the programs better.”
Pamela C. Smith
Juan Manuel Sanchez has been promoted to Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Success and Research. This position merges all faculty and research responsibilities into one position.
Joining UTSA in 2017, his administrative responsibilities have included directing the Ph.D. program and serving as Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. He is also the Dean’s Professor of Accounting.
“Manuel will take on faculty personnel matters and provide oversight to our research infrastructure,” said Halbesleben. “He will also continue to lead the college’s Ph.D. programs.”
“I’m looking forward to the synergies within this role,” said Sanchez. “I plan to evaluate our current faculty success initiatives, take a more deliberate approach to recruiting and make sure we have the best tools available for faculty to thrive in their roles.”
Mark T. Leung
Pamela C. Smith is now the Associate Dean for Administration. Her purview will continue to focus on the daily operations of the college, including staff personnel matters, as well as lead the college’s AACSB accreditation efforts.
“With evolving AACSB standards and expectations, it is becoming increasingly important that we dedicate more leadership time to ensuring we are prepared for our next continuous improvement review,” said Halbesleben.
Rounding out the leadership team is Mark T. Leung who will continue in his role as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies. He is responsible for managing the college’s undergraduate programs as well as overseeing the Student Success Center. He was appointed to this role in 2022.
— Wendy Frost
