Somnath Bhattacharya is the new dean of FAU’s largest college.
Bhattacharya, the School of Accounting’s former director, came to FAU in 1999 after being an assistant professor of accounting at the University of Texas. Bhattacharya began as dean of the Barry Kaye College of Business Aug. 15, leading the home of more than 8,100 students, 200 faculty members and 34 degree programs.
“I think the college has some momentum forward and things are falling into place now,” Bhattacharya said.
Bhattacharya has many initiatives in mind for advancing the college. Lecture Capturing and Video Screening (LCVS) is one of them. The college is launching two studios for lecture capturing and video screening. Quantitative Methods in Business, Microeconomic Principles, and Money and Banking are some of the classes currently using the Lecture Screening and Video Capturing, which students must pay an $180.00 fee to use.
Classes with LCVS are located in BU 302, which has cameras capable of live video-streaming and submitting recordings to Blackboard if students miss the live stream.
“This allows us to put our fully qualified faculty members in front of the students and essentially clone him or her to a lot more students than would be possible with just a class of 35,” Bhattacharya said.
The College of Business is divided into six different units. In Bhattacharya’s opinion, the way to move the college forward is to emphasize the strongest units of the college. He plans to emphasize the schools of accounting, international business and entrepreneurship, which are the college’s three major strengths.
“I really like that idea [Lecture Capturing and Video Screening],” Julian Parks, a freshman accounting major, said. “It would definitely be more convenient to watch my lectures at home from my computer instead of going to class.”
Among Bhattacharya’s other initiatives is a plan to expand the School of Accounting’s Scholars Program. This will be the college’s first step to having a university-wide honors program.
When Bhattacharya led the School of Accounting, the first scholars program class of about 40 students finished with a 100 percent job placement rate. Bhattacharya hopes to place around that level again — with 200 students.
Bhattacharya hopes these initiatives will increase the amount of donations the college receives.
“I’m hoping that one of these days, we will be able to cultivate potential donors who would want to, perhaps, name the trading room,” Bhattacharya said. “Who would want to name the School of Accounting, who would want to name the College of Business.”
Provost Brenda Claiborne, Bhattacharya’s supervisor, has high expectations for the college’s future with its new leader.
“The College of Business is a critical component of FAU, with many strengths and an exciting future,” Claiborne said. “I look forward to working with Dr. Bhattacharya, as well as the faculty and staff throughout the college in the coming months.”
