Loyola University Maryland recently named Kathleen Getz as dean of its Joseph A. Sellinger School of Business and Management. Getz comes to the position after serving as dean of the Michael R. Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University Chicago, from 2011 through December 2014.

As the Quinlan School’s dean, Getz oversaw executive, graduate and undergraduate business and interdisciplinary degree and non-degree programs that served about 2,300 students and employed 72 full-time faculty and 29 full-time staff.

Prior to joining Loyola University Chicago, Getz was employed at American University’s (AU) Kogod School of Business, in Washington, D.C., from 1991–2011, including as senior associate dean for academic affairs from 2006-11. Getz began working at AU as an assistant professor of management, earned tenure and was then promoted to associate professor of management in 1997, before chairing the department of management from 1999–2002.

The Sellinger School provides business education in the Jesuit tradition of emphasizing strong ethical leadership and commitment to social responsibility, with a global perspective. More than 1,100 undergraduate students and approximately 500 graduate students are taught by 66 full-time and 69 part-time faculty, and the school offers programs on Loyola’s Evergreen campus and at graduate centers in Timonium and Columbia. The Sellinger School earned Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accreditation in 1988 and is the only private, internationally-accredited business school in Maryland.

Getz has focused her research on corporate political activity, voluntary codes of conduct, business bribery and governmental corruption, and the role of business in peace building. She earned her B.S. in Human Development from Pennsylvania State University, her MBA from Gannon University and her Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh.

What attracted you to Loyola University Maryland?

There were a few factors involved in that decision. Professionally, I liked the new academic affairs leadership team; that’s a great environment to be a part of, because new leaders are more open to new ideas. At the same time, I had been at Loyola Chicago, which is part of the same Jesuit tradition, and I was in tune with Jesuit values and how they apply to business practice.

Third, this university is smaller than Loyola Chicago and AU, which both have nearly 20,000 students; here, we have 5,000. It appealed to me to work at a small institution, where each academic unit is making a more substantial contribution to the university as whole. Lastly, my family is from Pennsylvania, and I wanted to be closer to them.

What was your impression of the offerings that were available at the Sellinger School when you applied for the job?

That Sellinger offers pretty much standard business school fare, though the graduate program has experienced some bumps in the road in recent years. Those bumps are due to increased competition from local universities. Loyola used to have 100% of the Baltimore market, but that’s changed in a big way. Overall, that’s good for the city, but it has created a challenge that we have to address.

What do you see as emerging markets that need to be addressed?

More and more business school students are looking to enroll in specialized programs, rather than a traditional MBA; they want a master’s in accounting or in finance, for example, as opposed to the typical general offerings. A specialized course schedule also means that they can often make themselves more attractive to potential employers while completing a program in about a year.

How is the Sellinger School addressing the global economy?

We’re becoming more deeply engaged in actively seeking international students, and we’re beginning to recruit outside the U.S. We have a pilot program with an affiliated university in Taiwan for its students to come here to work on their master’s with us. We’re working on obtaining approvals and plan to start the program in fall 2016.

Also, much of our faculty conducts research that encompasses international business. You can’t walk down the hall here at the Sellinger School without bumping into someone who is involved in such a project. Finally, a large proportion of our undergraduate students spend time abroad via partnership programs that we have with dozens of universities.

The Sellinger School operates from Loyola’s main campus and two satellite