Chigbo Ofong seeks ‘strategic partnerships’
By Meliqueica Meadows
Of the St. Louis American
Dr. Chigbo Ofong has grand plans in store for the newly minted Busch Business Administration School at Harris-Stowe State University. Ofong serves as the first dean of the new school, which officially began offering courses this fall.
“The opening of the new Busch Business Administration School is a major step forward for Harris-Stowe State University,” said Dr. Henry Givens Jr., president of the university. “We recognize the importance of producing top business professionals for this community, and that is exactly what we plan to do with this new initiative.”
Of his new dean, Givens said, “We are looking forward to utilizing Dr. Ofong’s skills and talents to further cultivate our more than 600 business students in a top-notch learning facility with all the resources they need to prepare for and learn the world of business.”
Ofong is carefully plotting the course he thinks will make the new business school a long-term success, saying, “I want us to be a very well-grounded and respected undergraduate program.”
Ofong is a former professor at Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi, where he is credited with increasing business school enrollment by 46 percent. He hopes to have similar success at Harris-Stowe, but said it would take four to five years of work and community involvement to achieve the goal.
“I’d like to build strategic partnerships with businesses, community colleges and the community, as well as strengthen the alumni network,” he said.
“I want our program to be community-oriented so that we can make an impact in the community. I would also like to increase student engagement with the curriculum.”
Other plans include revamping the academic-advising process, providing internships to students and establishing a study-abroad program. “I want to give our students more exposure to the global business environment,” Ofong said.
His study-abroad focus is novel for a business program in St. Louis.
“Because our roots are in Africa, my emphasis would be on Africa. I want to get more of our people to know Africa, not just from the media, but to see it for themselves,” said Ofong, a native of Nigeria.
“Africa is the next continent to open up. This is now the time for Asia, and Europe’s time is gone, but the next continent to open up is going to be Africa.”
Study could lead to profit in this endeavor, he said.
“This will create a major opportunity for us to link up with our brothers and sisters in Africa,” he said, “because most African countries are favorable to doing business with competent and well-meaning African Americans.”
With the influx of new business ventures in the St. Louis area, Ofong said it is the perfect time for Harris-Stowe to start a business school to train minorities to take advantage of the many opportunities.
“We need to make these opportunities available to our people, the minorities, and the best way to do that is to give them the skills that are needed by these businesses that are coming here,” he said.
“We have a business community that seems to be working well with Dr. Givens, and we can identify some niches within this society that we can pursue. We have a number of initiatives which I want to oversee in order to get them done.”
Ofong also has considered calling on some old friends at Howard University, where he taught for 11 years. He said connecting with Howard and other HBCUs would help students and the institution.
“I intend to link up with Howard and some of the other bigger HBCUs so they can mentor us,” he said, “because just as individuals need mentoring, institutions need mentoring.”
Ofong is determined to do whatever it takes to make the business school and its students successful.
“I would like to create an environment that will foster student recruitment and retention as well as the timely progression of highly competitive students. I want our students to be as prepared as any other students around. Even if that means our bending over backwards to be innovative in our teaching,” Ofong said.
“With the continued support of the administration, the community and hard work by the faculty, student body and school of business administration, we should be able to accomplish that. If we do, we will be as proud and competitive as any school in the region.”
