Campus Connection

New CBA Dean Laura Milner looks forward to sharing the college’s story with alumni, businesses and the community. Keeping all stakeholders focused on student success will be key to the college’s ability to sustain and even thrive during challenging times for the UW System, she says. “Dr. Milner has experience managing a college in a challenging budget environment and she understands the need to engage the business community in our teaching and our research,” says TJ Brooks, chair of Economics and the search and screen committee that hired Milner. “I know she is also looking forward to building financial support to ensure the quality and success of the CBA and its graduates well into the future.” Milner, who starts Aug. 1, brings a wealth of experience in leadership, business outreach and international education. Most recently, she was both associate dean and interim chief international officer at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. She has experience working on six continents with two Fulbright scholarships and has published extensively in international marketing. Milner says her job search brought her to UWL because it is among the five percent of business schools worldwide that have met the rigorous quality standards to become accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). “Certainly the accreditation is the world-recognized symbol for quality, but what it means to me is that the faculty are extraordinary,” says Milner. “Faculty are the foundation of a great business school.” Knowing that faculty are seasoned, vested professionals who are engaged in the development of policies and procedures necessary for the smooth operation of the college, affords Milner the opportunity to take a more external focus, she says. “I believe that CBA is an exceptional business school,” Milner explains. “My focus will be to ensure various stakeholders are made aware of this exceptionality and to invite them to partner with us to help expand our opportunities and to share with us how we may support them in their endeavors.” Milner has a history of forming external partnerships. Since her earliest days as a faculty member, her students were involved in consulting projects in the community. Those community relationships led to professional and networking opportunities for not only students, but also for her as a faculty member. She served on business boards and built future partnerships that were key to obtaining grant funding and providing research opportunities, she says. “Thriving partnerships are key to supporting a life-long learning community,” she says.