SBU selects business college dean

After conducting a nationwide search, Southwest Baptist University has decided to promote from within to fill a top-level vacancy among its staff.

Effective June 1, Troy Bethards, an associate professor of business administration, will become dean of the SBU College of Business and Computer Science, according to a news release.

SBU spokeswoman Charlotte Marsch said Bethards succeeds Ken Bandy, who resigned at the end of the 2011-12 academic year in May 2012. She declined to say why he left the Bolivar school. According to his LinkedIn page, Bandy began working in June 2012 as associate dean of academic affairs and director of business programs at Pfeiffer University in North Carolina.

“Bethards has a tremendous breadth of knowledge and great leadership skills,” said SBU Provost Bill Brown, who has served as acting dean of the business college, in the release. “He is very well respected and trusted by the faculty. He understands their goals and what’s important to each of them.”

Bethards, who earned his bachelor's from SBU in 1993, his master's from Missouri State University in 1996 and his doctorate from Anderson University in Anderson, Ind., in 2010, started working at SBU's Springfield campus in 2003 and transferred to the Bolivar campus in 2003, the release said.[[In-content Ad]]