CHARTING A COURSE FORWARD The new Dean of CMB and CAS sees opportunity for growth in the year ahead by Mark Donahue
As one of NLU’s newest employees, Christopher Cassirer-Malaeb, Sc.D.,has hit the ground running as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) and College of Manage- ment and Business (CMB). He’s overseeing the next chapter for the schools after a period of reorgani- zation, and it includes not only generating and rede-
challenges head on rather than waiting, like so many institutions are doing, to take the steps necessary to position the University for future success. What are the strengths of CAS and CMB? I think we have a very strong faculty community that is in many cases a mix of both folks with a long history of staying with the institution through its various changes and its evolution as well as a very strong new faculty that has recently joined. What sets CAS and CMB apart from the competition? I’ve observed and experienced in working with the faculty and the staff the strong alignment with the need and the goal of serving the adult working professional student. Our strength is really in our history of serving that population. I don’t think there’s any other institution that has as long a history as NLU of serving the adult professional student. The B.A. in Criminal Justice rolled out last year.
Chris Cassirer-Malaeb
signing academic programs but looking at ways to grow the colleges while better serving students. Cassirer-Malaeb’s background affords him a special perspective on the higher education experience — one he shares with many NLU students. He is the first in his family to attend and finish graduate school, holding a doctor of science in public health from Johns Hopkins University. Cassirer- Malaeb went on to spend the first part of his career
Are there any new programs coming up from CAS and CMB? We’ve been through a new program identification process across the University, and we’re looking at a number of programs for both CMB and CAS. For example, we have a new Bachelor’s in Communication that we’re working on developing and presenting to the community within the next year. For this
in traditional academia, working as professor at the University of Minnesota then George Washington University, before jumping into the for-profit sector at Capella University, where he served in a number of leadership roles, from dean of its school of human services to president.
“I think we’re at a great place in our evolution, and coming out of the changes of the last two years the institution is really positioned for growth...” — Chris Cassirer-Malaeb, Sc.D., Dean of CAS and CMB
I had a chance to catch up with the Dean to talk about what’s ahead for CAS and CMB in the coming year. What drew you to the position at NLU? What drew me to NLU was really the mission of the University and the strategic direction that the institution was taking — and many colleges and universities are struggling, both financially and operationally, in this new regulatory environment, this downturn in the economy. I was attracted to the fact that leadership had taken the brave and courageous move to address some of those
year, the faculty of CMB have done a great job of redesigning our MBA program with a new and fresh focus on leadership throughout the curriculum. This new focus will help articulate a pathway to distinction for CMB by focusing on a professional area that has stronger potential employment opportunities for our graduates. Describe the greater role of career development in what the colleges are doing. In order to best serve the adult working professional,
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