Spears Business created a track system for tenured and tenure-track faculty to align their research interests and capabilities with their teaching responsibilities. Under this track system, faculty producing high levels of quality research can be assigned to lower teaching loads, while those with lower research output can move into more teaching-focused tracks. High performance within any chosen track is rewarded. In addition, Spears created a college-wide journal list that bases assessment of journal quality on ABS, ABDC, and FT-50 lists, in addition to the journal lists of peer institutions. Spears Business also increased the hiring of full-time professors of practice from 12 to 35 with the express intent of bringing a practice perspective and more practice interaction into its classrooms.

Under Dr. Eastman’s guidance, Spears Business added multiple Centers that have greatly enhanced the student experience and prepared the next generation of leaders for our state.

• The Center for Advanced Global Leadership and Engagement, better known as CAGLE, offers a once-in-a-lifetime study abroad experience while also coordinating all global activities.
• The Eastin Center for Career Readiness guides and supports students as they pursue their professional aspirations.
• The Center for Sales and Service Excellence instills valuable sales, leadership and customer retention skills.
• The Center for Health Systems Innovation leverages the power of Spears Business and the OSU Center for Health Sciences to focus on business and clinical advancements.

Established in 1937, the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management joined the Spears Business family in 2019 with a goal of educating students and conducting research for the food and beverage, lodging, event planning and tourism management industries. Under the leadership of Dr. Brij Thapa, the school has a heavy emphasis on experiential learning geared toward producing industry leaders.

Always an innovator, Dr. Eastman encouraged Spears Business faculty and staff to submit their “Big Ideas” to the Spears Business leadership. Multiple initiatives are currently in action thanks to the project.

• The Center for Financial Health and Wellness works with students, faculty and staff to raise the level of financial literacy for the OSU community.
• The Institute for Predictive Medicine has a goal of expanding OSU’s research capacity in data science and artificial intelligence to further develop the technology and software that powers the medical industry.

Spears Business revised its undergraduate core curriculum to better respond to the needs of business and to set up students for long-term success. This endeavor moved the core curriculum away from a collection of introductory classes for the various majors to a set of classes that provide the content and skills likely to be needed by all majors. The curriculum changes were a response to requests from recruiters for a heavy emphasis on interpersonal and career-readiness skills, better technology skills, more applied accounting and finance skills, and problem-solving rather than memorization. New developments continue as there is work in progress to expand coverage of data analytics in the core.

A Senior Inclusion Officer position was created at Spears Business, and Dr. Alexis Smith Washington was named to the job. She will work with academic units and faculty to help ensure inclusive hiring practices and workplace culture. Dr. Washington has formed a Spears Diversity and Inclusion Council to promote the council’s mission within the college. Safe Zone training for faculty and staff is offered each year to create a culture of inclusion for LGBTQ+ students. A “We’re First Generation" initiative involving scholarships, bridge activities during Welcome Week, mentoring and student success activities is also being piloted.