Principles Guide New Business Dean During Pandemic

While serving as interim dean for the John B. Goddard School of Business and Economics, Matthew Mouritsen facilitated a strategic planning retreat for all Goddard faculty and staff to identify strategic initiatives based on their shared guiding principles and values.

In December, WSU announced Mouritsen as dean of the college. Three months later, he put those principles to the test when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

“When we needed them most, our values and principles helped us steer through some of the most trying times any of us have faced,” Mouritsen said. “Compassion was our rule.”

During their retreat, Goddard faculty and staff set guidelines for creating a flex-paced, market-driven curriculum delivered in a student-centered environment. Knowing that they would provide a compassionate and personal touch to serving students made the transition to virtual teaching much easier, Mouritsen said.

Mouritsen has been with the university for nearly two decades.

As former director of the Master of Business Administration program, he established strong relationships with community partners and led strategic initiatives to discover innovative ways to meet student needs. Mouritsen also served as a faculty member and earned his Bachelor of Arts in accounting from Weber State.

As dean, Mouritsen plans to continue a forward-thinking, hands-on-learning approach to help students in the Goddard School build strong portfolios, while putting ethics and trust first. “We look forward as faculty and staff to building new bridges to, and from, the Goddard School,” he said.