Dean Patrick Socci
October 2011
In July, I marked my one-year anniversary as dean of the Frank G. Zarb School of Business. Because of the energy and enthusiasm of our faculty, administration, staff, alumni and especially our students, the Zarb School continues to make significant strides in strengthening our academic programs, enriching our community outreach efforts and fostering our relationships with the business community.
A school-wide faculty and staff retreat in January 2011 set the stage for a dynamic year, providing significant momentum to efforts to continue to provide a world-class educational experience. Hosted by the Strategic Planning Oversight Committee, ambitious goals were set in the areas of academic excellence, student personal and professional development, internationalization, pedagogical excellence, and innovation and scholarly research. Already, many of these goals have come to fruition. Recognizing the importance of accessibility to our graduate population, the Zarb School launched the first fully online M.B.A. program on Long Island. Eighteen highly qualified students, representing diverse professions and hailing from across the United States, comprise the inaugural cohort. Focusing on strategic business management, the program includes two residencies. The first took place on the Hofstra campus in August with additional meetings in New York City hosted by prominent Zarb alumni. During the second residency, students will travel abroad to engage with global business leaders.
In an effort to enrich our degree offerings and make our students highly competitive in a challenging employment market, the Zarb School launched a full complement of dual degree programs, allowing the completion of both an undergraduate and graduate degree in just five years. These programs include joint B.B.A./M.B.A. or B.B.A./M.S. programs as well as options that allow undergraduates majoring in disciplines such as economics and mathematics to obtain graduate business degrees.
I am very proud of Zarb’s commitment to social responsibility and the many endeavors in which our faculty and students are engaged that enrich our community. Funded by a generous grant from Capital One Bank, the Zarb School in collaboration with the School of Education, Health and Human Services will launch “Money and Me,” a financial literacy program. Beginning in October, Hofstra students will instruct fourth graders in low-to-moderate income districts on Long Island, using originally developed curriculum. Fifth graders from across Long Island will learn about the programs offered by universities when Hofstra opens its doors at Commerce Plaza, a simulated business community in Levittown, New York. In the “Entrepreneurship Challenge,” Capital One funds budding entrepreneurs from Zarb and Uniondale High School to develop and launch their own businesses. In “Ladder to Leadership: Nurturing the Next Generation of Women Business Leaders,” a community outreach program funded by Flushing Bank, graduate students from Zarb Women in Business will mentor young women from Uniondale High School. This fall we will also begin the development of The NASDAQ OMX Hofstra Financial Markets Academy. This Internet-based program will instruct high school students from around the world on securities markets and the various career paths that are available in the financial service industry.
The dedication of Zarb alumni has contributed greatly to our school’s success. We are pleased that Andrew F. Corrado (M.B.A. ’92), senior vice president and market manager and market president, Nassau County of Capital One Bank and Jack A. Weisbaum (B.B.A. ’64), chief executive officer of BDO U.S.A., were presented with Alumni Achievement Awards at a dinner on September 23 while Reginald Andre (B.B.A. ’04), vice president of Goldman Sachs & Co. received the Young Alumnus Award. They stand as models for our students to emulate.
Zarb students continue to be recognized in national competitions. Zarb graduate students took third place in the 2011 Strategy Case Competition sponsored by Public Service Electric and Gas (PSEG). Marketing students placed first in their district in the American Advertising Federation’s National Student Advertising Case Competition.
We look forward to another dynamic year at the Zarb School of Business.
 Andrew Corrado |  Jack Weisbaum |  Reginald Andre |
