Nancy Hauserman describes herself as a high-energy, enthusiastic, creative, compassionate but tough as a professor in the Henry B. Tippie College of Business. She has needed all those qualities and more in the past few weeks as she assumed her new position in the college: associate dean for undergraduate studies.
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Nancy
Hauserman, Associate Dean
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The popular professor, known for a lively and difficult Introduction to Law course, took over after former associate dean Lola Lopes decided to return to teaching. It’s hard to make any job transition, but this one was particularly difficult: the small office had four vacancies at once. And it came in the fall, just as record numbers of students enrolled in the college.
"We’ve had so much change in personnel," she notes. "Not only my position, but others as well. But we’ve hired a new director, Susan Felker, who has been teaching undergraduate accounting at Arizona State University, and a new assistant director, Stephen Hubbard, who had been in Orientation. Steve will be working with early admission, our student organizations, and our Living and Learning floors in Burge Residence Hall."
The Living and Learning floors house 50 male and 50 female prebusiness students on separate floors.
At an enrollment of 1,400, the college has more than 100 more students than the Board of Regents, State of Iowa regards as ideal. So the college is raising its admission standards. Students beginning in Fall 2000 will have to have earned a 2.75 grade-point average in order to be admitted to the college, Hauserman adds. It has been 2.60 (of 4.0).
Early admission to the college has been offered to first-year honors students for two years. Currently 33 students are enrolled early, including 11 new first-year students and 22 sophomores. This program offers students the chance to pursue challenging business courses and special research topics from the beginning of their careers at Iowa. For most students, admission to the college follows satisfactory completion of prerequisite courses and junior standing.
Hauserman is looking for ways to make the undergraduate business experience better. "I want to expand our honors offerings," she says. "We don’t have enough faculty to do more honors courses, but we can add discussion sections for honors students. We’re lucky that Lola Lopes will be doing the honors seminar for juniors and seniors.
"We’re also starting to explore the idea of inter-session programs abroad in winter vacation and in May. These three-week programs can be done on a four-year graduation program and some could offer credit."
Hauserman has taught for 25 years, and that won’t end, she says. "I love to teach! I’ll be teaching Introduction to Law this spring, and teaching an honors class in the fall. It’s hard to be in this position and not be a dedicated teacher. I won’t give it up."