Dr. Jacob M. Chacko, dean of the Clayton State University School of Business since Jan. 1, 2008, started his final day at Clayton State by taking part in a ceremony that honored one of the highlights of his 11-year tenure in Morrow.
The Clayton State University School of Business Building recently received the First Place Award in the Low-Rise Category in the Georgia Chapter of the American Concrete Institute’s (ACI) annual awards competition. As part of the award, the building’s architect, the Marietta-based Flynn Finderup Architects, received a plaque from ACI commemorating the event.
On the morning of Mar. 9, George Flynn, Lars Finderup and Flynn Finderup associate architect Jeff Robinson visited the School of Business Building to present the plaque to University President Dr. Thomas J. “Tim” Hynes, Jr., and outgoing Dean Chacko, who first came to the Clayton State School of Business as associate dean in 1999, and succeeded Dean Ernest “Bud” Miller upon the latter’s retirement at the conclusion of 2007. As it turned out, Mar. 9, 2010 is also Chacko’s last day at Clayton State, as he leaves to assume the position of dean of Business at Abu Dhabi University in the United Arab Emirates.
“You’re always excited when your home receives accolades from others,” said Chacko during the morning ceremony in the School of Business’ capstone classroom. “This is my last day at Clayton State and I’d like to say how grateful I am to have a part in the process.”
Clayton State dedicated the School of Business Building on Oct. 1, 2008.
“This building was constructed to serve the needs of businesses south of I-20,” said Chacko at the October 2008 ribbon-cutting ceremony. “These needs include general business education, small business development, consulting, and training and development.”
The School of Business Building is 15,000 square feet on two floors. The funds for the building ($4 million) came from the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, and were originally targeted to renovate the existing Administration Building. However, when foundation issues were discovered in the Administration Building, it was decided that it would be more cost effective to use the money to build a new School of Business building as an addition to an existing building.
According to Flynn, the School of Business Building won the award for using concrete in an innovative manner, in that it’s constructed, “sort of like using giant Lego blocks.”
“This is an extraordinary example of a wise use of resources,” said Hynes of the building in his remarks at the award ceremony. “It combines design, functionality and ambiance.”
Chacko’s tenure as dean of the School of Business saw the school continue to build on its elite status of holding accreditation by Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International. That accreditation, coming in April 2006, followed almost six years of intensive effort by Miller, Chacko and the University’s entire Business faculty. According to Tampa, Fl., based AACSB, less than a third of all schools of business nationwide have AACSB accreditation. And, as an international organization, AACSB accredits less than 15 percent of schools of business worldwide.
Chacko’s eight years as associate dean were marked by a high level of responsibility and accomplishments. In addition to leading the AACSB pre-candidacy and candidacy processes, he also led the development of the proposal for the now-thriving MBA program, which currently features cohorts based in Morrow, Peachtree City and Conyers. Among his other duties were developing and maintaining an HR plan for faculty and staff, leading and evaluating the faculty and staff, facilitating the hiring and retention of full-time and part-time faculty, developing and maintaining the school’s budget, developing course schedules, deploying faculty resources and administering RFPs for internal grants and faculty performance awards.