Investigation

A description of something for my investigation would have to be Dean Thomas's office. As you walk up to the second floor you go into a gorgeous office where there are two or three office desks one can see. Then you take the right, right as you walk in. You must walk through the Dean's Assistant office to get to his office. Once you enter his office, one may be amazed at the size of it or maybe how beautiful it looks. If one takes a second to look around they will notice a nice sitting area with large chairs and couches. Then after that he has his own meeting area, with a huge long table and the best technology so everyone can get a good feel for what Smeal has to offer. After one looks around to take in the Dean's entire office one can see pictures of his children scattered around his desk and in the book shelves behind his desk. Then if one sits down to talk to the Dean they will notice on one of his chairs he has jacket laying over it, which gives you the feel of a very down to earth person who is just there to assist you in what you have to ask.

Quotes:

Jordan Walls (student) - "It is going to be hard to see the Dean go. He is a very personable man and he makes the atmosphere amazing around Smeal. He tries to give it the feeling of almost like you are home."

Lynn Tressler (Dean Thomas's Assistant) - "He was a great man that all of the professors like talking to as well as the staff. It is going to be hard to see him go because he was a great man to work for and to watch him leave with all the hard work he has put in to make Smeal an amazing business school."

Facts:

Wall Street Journal - Penn State Smeal College of Business is the number one recruiting school companies to higher from and Penn State's business students start at a higher pay then other students around the country.

Lynn Tressler - Dean Thomas is not completely leaving Smeal, he is staying to teach one or two classes a semester. As well as Jim will be staying the Dean till next Summer just to take make sure everything is still running smoothly.

Two other areas of interest that occurred to me while doing research and interviews is the fact that the Dean is not leaving Smeal but staying around to teach. This interest me because I want to know why he still wants to stay and what he plans on teaching as well. Another area of interest is how are they going to pick the new and if Dean Thomas will have any say in who will be taking his position.