Fulfilling the Duty

Throwing his hat in the ring for the full-time dean position wasn’t initially in the cards, but Bhadury’s call of duty to the Bryan School grew louder as he navigated his time as interim dean.

While Bhadury noticed that some aspects of the Bryan School had evolved since 2007, the culture of care he fell in love with was stronger than ever. He credits initiatives like the Bryan Blueprint Series, a required four-credit professional development curriculum, and Bryan Gold, an interactive career readiness challenge, for that cultural improvement.

However, Bhadury faced no shortage of challenges that also motivated him to pursue the permanent dean role, the most pressing being a nationwide trend – fewer students are seeking a college degree. This challenge, Bhadury explains, is a result of societal factors like volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, better known in the business world as VUCA.

“There’s a sense of quiet pride inside the world of higher education. We don’t wave our flag as much as we should. We know what we do is important, but I think we struggle to tell our own story and to share it widely with society to explain why we’re worthwhile,” he says.

Since earning the official title of dean, he’s made it his mission to help the Bryan School thrive in the VUCA world. According to Bhadury, step one in that process is giving faculty and staff the freedom for self-actualization and growth in areas like research and professional development.

Step two, he says, is to build on our current efforts on employer relationships to make the Bryan School more regionally prominent within the business community. From pounding the pavement and meeting with Triad business leaders to supporting faculty-led AI initiatives in the community, Bhadury is working to wave the Bryan School flag.

“Disseminating the word will take time, but we have world-class caliber in our faculty and staff in the Bryan School, and it’s my dream to spread that word far and wide in the region,” Bhadury says.