Giorgio Gotti, interim dean for the Robert C. Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship and a professor of accounting, cracks a joke during the VCOBE dean finalists presentation in the Education Complex Borderlands Room on the Edinburg campus.
Abigail Ollave/THE RIDER
Giorgio Gotti addressed UTRGV faculty and staff Monday on his career qualifications for the Robert C. Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship dean position.
Gotti, a professor of accounting, serves as interim dean of the Robert C. Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship. He has been in office since Aug. 2.
Before becoming interim dean, he served as acting dean in July 2023 and as the director for the School of Accounting.
“So, my role here is to bring opportunities to students that in the past did not have those opportunities available to them,” Gotti said. “This is the way I feel. This is my job. This is our job as a faculty. … This is what I come to school to do every day. What does it mean, helping the student[s] have opportunities? Well, giving students the skills that they need for a successful career and a happy life.”
Gotti’s educational background includes a doctorate in accounting from the University of Tennessee.
He also holds a Master of Accountancy in information systems from the University of Tennessee and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Bocconi University.
During his presentation, which took place in the Education Complex Borderlands Room, Gotti said the college is working on student engagement.
“We want to make sure the student[s] attend events,” he said. “We want to help the student to have these career skills, you know, present yourselves, your resume, your interview-employer relation. And then, we do this in collaboration with the Career Center.
“So, this semester, for the first time, we have these embedded writing tutors in some classes that are helping faculty, that are giving essay homework. The faculty provide content feedback, and the writing tutors are providing writing feedback to the student, and then, hopefully, we will be able to see some results.”
Gotti said it is important to encourage students to study abroad because it is a “life-changing experience.”
He said this year, the Robert C. Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship had 19 proposals for study abroad.
“The plan is next year to hire a student that went to this experience as ambassador and make sure that they are telling the other student[s] how good this is,” Gotti said.
After the presentation, attendees asked Gotti questions.
Francis Andoh-Baidoo, a professor in information systems, told Gotti he timed him and realized he spent 12 minutes talking about accounting.
Andoh-Baidoo asked what he would do as a dean to convince faculty that he is “for the whole college and not [only] for accounting.”
“Well, the dean is for the College of Business, right?” Gotti replied. “I was talking about my experience and I cannot change my past experience. That was as a chair and director of the School of Accountancy. … We went last summer as soon as I [became] interim dean, to visit a major corporation and we got back a quarter-of-a-million-dollar donation that was not for accounting.”
Bin Wang, chair and a professor of information systems for the Robert C. Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship, asks a question on funding for the college during the VCOBE dean finalists presentation in the Education Complex Borderlands Room on the Edinburg campus.
Abigail Ollave/THE RIDER
While Gotti was replying to the question, Bin Wang, an information systems professor and department chair, interrupted him by saying he should not count that as his “quality achievements” because he did not develop the proposal for the donation.
Gotti replied to her comment by asking if it was a question.
After an awkward silence, Peter-James Ehimika, director of Student Success Initiatives at UTRGV, asked what the dean’s role is in ensuring students in the college are making progress toward graduation.
“I think that all these activities and events that are trying to link and connect the student with the campus and with the college, hopefully, will help to student graduation, retention and success, because I think … that’s what research shows,” Gotti replied.
Bryan Smith, program manager for the Office of the Provost, read one of the questions from an attendee present via Zoom, asking Gotti what pressing issues need to be addressed “immediately” and about the first thing he would change or implement.
Gotti said before making decisions he would meet with students and faculty to listen and learn about the community.
Smith told The Rider Thursday that “a couple of weeks” after all the presentations are done, UTRGV President Guy Bailey and Luis H. Zayas, provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, will select the dean.
UTRGV faculty and staff exchange greetings and small talk before the Robert C. Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship dean finalists presentation in the Education Complex Borderlands Room on the Edinburg campus.
Abigail Ollave/THE RIDER
