New business dean appointed, three other key positions filled

By Joseph Kleinsasser and Amy Geiszler-Jones

Bill Schwartz, an accounting professor at Virginia Commonwealth University since 1990, will become dean of the W. Frank Barton School of Business Aug. 1. Schwartz will replace Gerald Graham who, after spending six years as dean of the business school, will return to full-time teaching.

Three other new administrators will join the WSU community this summer, while another bids the university good-bye. Ruth Jackson will be the dean of university libraries effective July 15, Ron Kopita will become vice president for student affairs Aug. 1, and Jim Schaus will become director of athletics July 1. Bobby Patton, vice president for academic affairs for the past five years, will leave WSU to become president of Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg effective Aug. 1.

A certified public accountant, Schwartz has taught accounting at three other universities — Temple University (1981-90), Arizona State University (1978-81) and California State University, Northridge (1972-78).

Schwartz was first introduced to the Barton School when he visited WSU as part of an accreditation team. Schwartz has been a member of four accounting accreditation teams for AACSB-The International Association for Management Education, which sets the standards for business education. During that visit, he said, he was struck by the camaraderie of the business faculty. "That was very much an encouragement and one of the reasons I applied," he says.

Schwartz’s professional activities indicate his avid support of improving accounting education. He has been co-editor of Advances in Accounting Education since 1994. He also has been an editorial board member of the Journal of Accounting Education since 1982. The Virginia Society of CPAs named him Accounting Educator of the Year in 1996.

Schwartz has done considerable work dealing with improving faculty performance. At VCU, he developed a program to help enhance teaching skills and has published articles on faculty development. He has been very active in the teaching and curriculum section of the American Accounting Association.

Schwartz earned the doctorate in accounting in 1978 from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1967 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His master of arts degree, earned in 1973 from the University of Illinois at Chicago, is in political science.

Jackson served as dean of university libraries at West Virginia University in Morgantown from 1988 to February 1999. Since February she has held a full-time faculty position at WVU completing several key research projects.

Jackson holds an undergraduate degree in business administration from Hampton University in Virginia; a master’s in library science specializing in academic librarianship from Atlanta University; and a doctorate in library and information science from Indiana University, Bloomington.

As dean of university libraries at WVU, Jackson collaborated with the libraries of three regional campuses to integrate system-wide program planning. She also served as special assistant to the provost for library outreach programs with responsibility for developing a framework for delivering distance learning library services, and for cost-cutting measures that met the legislative mandate to review and restructure the fiscal base of higher education.

Since 1992, Kopita has served as vice president for student affairs/dean of students and professor of educational psychology and counseling at California State University in Northridge. CSUN has 27,500 students of which 51 percent represent ethnic minorities.

Kopita has had extensive experience as an administrator, college instructor, consultant, professional writer and researcher. His more than 30 years of service in higher education include being a vice president for student affairs at Moorhead State University in Moorhead, Minn. He also has experience as a counseling psychologist at Ferris State College Health Center in Big Rapids, Mich.

Kopita holds a bachelor’s degree in social studies (secondary education) from the State University College at New Paltz, N.Y.; a master’s in college student personnel administration from Michigan State University in East Lansing; and a doctorate in counseling psychology and higher education administration from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Schaus has spent nearly 20 years in athletic administration with a strong emphasis in external relations and internal management. He’s been senior associate athletic director at the University of Texas at El Paso since 1998.

Schaus has 16 years experience in marketing and fund raising. His marketing experience includes being director of marketing for the Washington Redskins; and assistant athletic director of marketing and broadcasting at the University of Oregon.

He has worked directly with or overseen fund-raising departments for more than 11 years at four Division I athletic programs. Schaus was responsible for setting all-time annual fund-raising records and successfully performing capital campaign efforts at the University of Oregon, Northern Illinois University and UTEP.

Schaus has a master of science degree in education from West Virginia University and a bachelor of arts degree in communication from Purdue University.