Murphy Helps Teach “Bridge-to-Business” Program

Fisheries and wildlife sciences professor Brian Murphy served as a faculty instructor for the Pamplin College of Business’s post-doctoral “Bridge-to-Business” program, which aims to prepare individuals with doctorates in non-business, yet related, disciplines for new careers as business faculty members. The innovative program is one of only four in the nation developed to help alleviate the critical national shortage of business school faculty. Murphy’s portion of the program, taught in conjunction with the Center for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, focused on the different ways to approach case-study teaching.

“While there is not much of a disciplinary link between the College of Natural Resources and the Pamplin College of Business, there is a shared interest in improving teaching. Recently our college has been conducting research about how case-study teaching helps to improve students’ critical thinking skills. I was happy for the chance to share the results of our research,” Murphy said. “Programs in natural resources face similar upcoming shortages of qualified personnel, as ‘baby-boomers’ begin to retire. Perhaps the Bridge-to-Business Program is an idea that we can somehow adapt to our field, as well.”

11/25/08