FGCU Business School

Ambiguity is a favored word of Pegnetter's. So are such words as imagination, energy and innovation. Given the chance to develop a brand new department at a brand new university, he was determined not to go with the same-old same-old. Instead, he has concentrated on recruiting professors as excited as he is about preparing students for today's volatile business climate and gearing them to deal successfully with tomorrow's changes.

"If we can get people to be stimulated and excited about that kind of environment, they'll be successful," he says with surety. A noble goal, to be sure. But how, exactly, will the FGCU business school accomplish it? The simplistic answer is, "With imagination, energy and innovation." Translated into real terms, that means doing things a little differently and reaching far beyond the university's walls.

Setting the stage for innovation Pegnetter, who had served as dean of business at Colorado State University, began fleshing out his vision for FGCU on two fronts: recruiting experienced, forward-thinking professors and soliciting input and ideas from the surrounding, Southwest Florida business community.

"We organized about 10 focus groups, to which we invited people from the business community," he says. "And we asked them, 'What skills and tools would your employees need to be successful?' and 'What programs would serve the current and future needs of Southwest Florida?' At the same time, I began networking with national level corporate executives and entrepreneurs who live here at least part-time."

Pegnetter's theory was that those already successful in business knew best how to achieve success. He also realized there was little sense in providing students with skills that might be antiquated by the time they graduated. By involving the existing business community in the development process, he was not only establishing support but a vested interest in FGCU as well.

In searching for enthusiastic and knowledgeable faculty, meanwhile, Pegnetter had to convince professors to take a chance on a brand new facility and, relatively unheard of in the world of academia, to take that chance without assurance of tenure.

"Most of the faculty (at FGCU) have multiyear contracts instead of tenure," he says. "In the business school, some wondered whether we could recruit faculty without (the lure of) tenure. But I approached it as a marketing challenge. And all of our faculty have PhDs and many were full or associate professors who had tenure elsewhere."

The Chance for Change-and Leadership

Among those willing to take Pegnetter up on his challenge is Gary Bonvillian, associate dean for external and international programs and director of FGCU's Center for Leadership & Innovation. Bonvillian was tempted away from his 20 years at the Rochester Institute of Technology by the exciting prospect of helping to shape the future of both business and business education.

"I think it's safe to say that most people came (to FGCU) because they saw the potential to create something," Bonvillian says. "And it's amazing the things we've pulled off already."

Those things include last April's "Mexico 2000," a day-long seminar cosponsored with Florida International University, which brought together Mexican officials and local business people to examine how cooperative efforts could benefit both locales. Such international connections will continue to be a vital element of FGCU's business school and programs.

"The idea is to not have this be of use for just the university, but to reach out to the business community," Pegnetter says. "We have two schools in Mexico with which we've already laid the groundwork to do business people exchanges (in addition to faculty and student exchanges). We're working on a German connection now."

The Center for Leadership & Innovation

That all-inclusive philosophy is nowhere more evident than at FGCU's Center for Leadership & Innovation. Housed at an off-campus site, the center offers a host of academic and non-academic programs and support services.

Intended as an umbrella organization for all matters relating to business, the center was developed in cooperation with various other agencies. The idea is to coordinate rather than duplicate efforts and to strengthen the economic health of Southwest Florida. The Small Business Administration maintains an office here, as does Enterprise Florida. A cadre of volunteers is available to provide free business counseling and/or mentoring. Seminars on various aspects of business are offered continually. Microsoft and Novell technical training is available, as is connection to SWFLN, the Southwest Florida Library Network, which provides instant access to libraries across a five-county range.

"We also have a couple of faculty-based research institutes in 'Technology and Innovation' and 'Entrepreneurial Studies,'" says Bonvillian. "We're basically providing space for them to go out and build programs."

Technology at the Forefront

Naturally, FGCU also offers a full complement of undergraduate business degrees, as well as a traditional MBA. But even these have been influenced by Pegnetter's drive to be innovative. The MBA, for instance, is being developed as a distance learning program-which means students need not be on campus to participate. Eventually, 25 percent of the business school's courses will be available in this manner.

"Some classes are being offered entirely on the Internet," says Pegnetter, "others through technically enhanced or compressed videos with live interaction. You might have a class in international finance beamed from a university in Mexico. We're offering something in just about every mode.

"The watchword I like to use internally is that we want to be locally responsive," he continues. "But we also have to bring in the things that will make our students nationally and internationally competitive. If we don't, our students will get the interview but not the job."

The tagline for FGCU's EMBA program is "Preparing executive leadership for the 21st century." It seems an apt description for Pegnetter & company's overall philosophy. Stay tuned. At FGCU, the future is happening-right now.

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A Special Type of MBA

Also housed at the Center for Leadership & Innovation is the university's Executive MBA program. Designed specifically for those who have been in the business world for a number of years, the EMBA allows participants to remain in the workforce while learning the skills and tools they will need in the future.

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