Matthews receives makeover

Dr. Brand Kleindl, dean of the school of business

Dr. Brand Kleindl, dean of the school of business

The school of business has taken a step forward by dividing.

Like the other schools at Missouri Southern, the school of business is now divided into departments with a chair over each division. The change took place in July.

“This year we decided to implement a more formal departmental structure,” said Dr. Brad Kleindl, dean of the school of business.

The school will now be divided with a finance/economics department headed by Dr. Richard Rawlins, a marketing/management department and an accounting department. Kleindl said this means the departments will be managed more closely by each department head to improve the quality of the department.

“I think it’s a good thing for the faculty and the students and the community,” Kleindl said.

Dr. Mark Comstock, chair of the accounting department, approves of the school’s change.

“It makes us more efficient and effective in the things we need to accomplish,” he said.

Comstock has many things he’s working on for the accounting department, including discussing graduate programs and changing the curriculum. He said the department needs to “be prepared” when it comes to keeping up with accounting education.

“The field of accounting is dynamic and rapidly changing,” he said.

As new chair of the marketing/management department, Dr. Neal Blades said he has three objectives to attain. The first is making sure each student is getting a quality education.

“We want to be sure we’re doing a really good job of teaching,” he said.

Secondly, he wants more research done in the marketing division. Lastly, he wants the business faculty to be involved in services around the campus and the community.

Blades thinks the school of business should have been divided a long time ago.

“I think what we’ll see is a more precise establishment of goals and objectives,” he said.