As Harris-Stowe State University was celebrating its homecoming in October, so was Dr. Fatemeh Zakery.
Zakery was recently named the new dean of the university’s Anheuser-Busch School of Business Administration. But she is not a stranger to historic HSSU.
She taught at Harris-Stowe five years ago as an assistant professor of health care management and helped the university acquire several important business program accreditations, respectively, from the Institutional Accreditation for the Higher Learning Commission, Member-North Central Association; the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs; and the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education.
She also aided in developing a program that allows St. Louis Community graduates to move directly into baccalaureate degree programs in business administration at Harris-Stowe.
She left HSSU for the University of California-San Diego business administration school and says her return “is like coming back to family.”
The “family” business school has now moved to the university’s South Campus on the city’s southside near I-44, and enrollment has climbed to 800 students. Business administration is the school’s fastest-growing degree program.
“This campus is great. It gives us an unlimited opportunity to grow and expand,” she said.
“It puts Harris-Stowe in the spotlight for the entire area.”
The business curriculum includes an Accelerated Business Degree for Working Adults; B.S. in Business Administration with options in Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship; B.S. in Accounting; B.S. in Information Sciences and Computer Technology with options in Management Information Systems and Computer Studies; B.S. in Hospitality Tourism; and a B.S. in Health Care Management.
“I want to increase the relevant curriculum to give our students substantial knowledge and skill to enter the competitive business fields with confidence,” she said.
Some of her other goals include tightening the gap between the Anheuser-Busch School of Business Administration and the St. Louis community by raising awareness and communicating to local employers how Harris-Stowe business graduates would be assets to local companies.
She also wants to keep student enrollment on an upward spiral while increasing retention.
Zakery wants to recruit additional qualified faculty and create a “Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.”
“This is where theory and practice meet. It would provide real hands-on experience,” she said.
Of course, to accomplish these goals, “I also have to develop strategies to lead fundraising efforts to bring resources to the school.”
Zakery holds a Ph.D. in Educational Administration with emphasis in Health Services Administration, an Ed.S. in Educational Administration, M.H.A. in Health Services Administration, M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction, and BS in Business Administration/Industrial Management.
“The university is excited to welcome back Dr. Zakery and to see her grow with the university,” says Dr. Henry Givens, Harris-Stowe president.
And Zakery added, “It is great to be home.”
