Melbourne business schools build alliance

An agreement forged between the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Business and Economics (MBE) and Melbourne Business School (MBS) will strengthen the city’s potential of being a world-class hub in business and economics, said the university vice-chancellor Professor Glyn Davis. The new collaboration will see the Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) expand to include the MBS. All graduate programs in business and economics, including the MBA, will be offered through the school, which in turn becomes the sole graduate school for business and economics in Melbourne. “Bringing the capacity of both entities more closely together provides all the ingredients necessary to gain, for all business and economics disciplines at least, the same top 25 international standing as the university currently enjoys in medicine, law and engineering,” said Davis. The new structure, which is planned to be established by May 1, will allow resources to be shared across both the FBE and the MBS. The dean of the FBE, Professor Zeger Degraeve, said the development would present a single co-ordinated face for business and economics in education in Melbourne. “It aligns, co-ordinates and focuses existing resources to effectively face the global competitive challenges Australia experiences in advanced level business and economics education. It will position Melbourne as a global hub for leadership development in the Asian region,” he said. “The complementary nature of MBS’s and FBE’s graduate programs, superbly matched by its world class Bachelor of Commerce program, provides a perfect fit in terms of programs, faculty, and disciplinary breadth to enable a more closely aligned entity to bridge the gap and create in Melbourne a truly world-class business hub.” Under the new structure, Professor Paul Kofman will be joined by Degraeve as joint dean of FBE, having dual leadership over a shared academic staff. Degraeve will continue as dean of MBS.