Interim dean of the Poole College of Management, Frank Buckless, has been appointed as the new dean of the college, effective July 1. Buckless has worked at NC State since 1989 and has served in multiple positions within the Poole College of Management. 

Technician sat down with Buckless, who recounted his time at NC state as well as his plans for Poole for the future.

How many positions have you held since you started working at NC State in 1989?

I started as an assistant professor, then became an associate professor, became a full professor, became a department head of accounting, and that was probably almost 19 years ago. I was department head for accounting for quite a while. Last year, I was appointed to be associate dean for faculty and academic affairs, and pretty soon after that — I was only in that position for two months — I ended up being appointed as the interim dean [of Poole College of Management].

What are the strengths of the Poole College of Management?

I like that we are at this university because we have such great fields and departments and strengths in STEM fields, and that creates strength for us because we can really look at what’s going on in the world. Having a strength in science, technology, engineering and math really is beneficial in today’s world, so we can really leverage that, so that’s an advantage we have over other schools, as we have such a strength in the sciences. The other thing I really like about NC State and [Poole College of Management] is we really engage well with industry and other organizations, and that really provides really great experiences for our students and our faculty that a lot of other institutions are envious of. I think it creates a huge difference in what we can do with our students and our faculty.

What does the future of the Poole College of Management look like with you as the Dean?

I think we are doing a lot of great things, but there are always opportunities for improvement, so we have to figure out how to use technology better to enhance the experience for our students. I really want us to make sure we figure out how to leverage even more our partnerships with industry and our partnerships across campus to enhance the experience of our students.”

“We have gone from not being ranked to being number 11 in the country. I want us to continue doing that so that we can really enhance the experiences and opportunities for our students and faculty. I think we have a great opportunity to do a better job of taking the great research our faculty are doing and making sure we are bringing it into the classroom, so it’s a better experience for our students, and translating it and bringing it to industries faster. So, taking what we do and making sure it’s getting out and into the world quicker.

What, if anything, would you like to improve within the Poole College of Management as Dean?

The biggest challenge, quite honestly, is resources. We want to make sure that we are delivering on an outstanding education and make sure we are having the resources to do that. We have to invest in technology, we have to invest in helping to train our people so that they can use this technology, just making sure we are getting the resources in place to really keep us in the trajectory we are going, which has been great for quite a while. I think that would be the biggest challenge here and in most places.