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He pointed out that the Gatton College has developed a plan for improvement of all the four Ps. For example, it has proposed a new building concept, is offering innovative programs of study, and continues to recruit and retain faculty of high caliber. Dean Sudharshan pointed out that by innovation and improvements in the four Ps, the Gatton College will help create more jobs and foster more entrepreneurial activity in the Commonwealth.
He stressed that strong academic programs and innovative research are what set top-ranked business schools apart from other schools. Dean Sudharshan then highlighted some specific ways in which the Gatton College is working towards becoming a Top 20 Business School:
• More than 500 books and articles have been published by the college's faculty over the past five years.
• The Gatton College of Business and Economics has 10 Endowed Chairs and 39 Endowed Professorships.
• The Gatton College of Business and Economics has nine research centers. The most recent of these are the Center for Poverty Research and LINKS: International Center for Research on Social Networks in Business.
The Center for Poverty Research is one of only
three federally designated Area Poverty Research Centers
in the nation. The center's research mission is a
multidisciplinary approach to the causes, consequences,
and correlates of poverty and inequality in the United States,
with a special emphasis on the residents of the south.
LINKS: The International Center for Research on
Social Networks in Business is designed to bring together scholars
from different academic disciplines who share a common interest
in social network research and application.
• The Gatton College of Business and Economics provides a classroom experience that combines solid research with hands-on learning opportunities. It offers innovative degree programs and enrichment opportunities to its students.
o  Gatton's 11-Month MBA program combines first-rate teaching with three hands-on modules. These modules provide students the opportunity to work side-by-side with corporate firms through new product development, supply chain management, and mergers and acquisitions. It has grown in size from 51 students in its first year to 74 in its third year. The class has been capped at 78 for the fourth class due to constraints on faculty availability and physical facilities. Companies hiring to date include Deloitte, PWC, KPMG, Crowe Chizek, Humana, as well as several new companies, including Cummins and Eastman. The MBA program faces some challenges in becoming atop-rated program, but it also presents nice opportunities.