Students, research, community: New UTSA dean sets his priorities for the Carlos Alvarez College of Business

JUNE 16, 2022 — Jonathon Halbesleben has begun his duties as the new dean of the Carlos Alvarez College of Business at UTSA. He is the first dean to hold two chaired appointments as both the Bodenstedt Chair for the Dean of Business and the Tom C. Frost Distinguished University Chair for Business Excellence.

And he has a plan for what he wants to accomplish as the dean of a business school that encompasses almost 8,000 students, 30 academic degree programs and 190 faculty and staff.

Halbesleben has identified three areas of priority within the college: student success, research impact and community engagement.

With an emphasis on community engagement, Halbesleben stresses that building connections with the business community will be a top priority for immediate action.

“Working together, we are poised to transform the San Antonio business community.”

“The starting point will be meeting with as many people as possible, listening to their needs and helping build connections between our programs and those needs,” he said. "We’ll not only focus on developing workforce-ready skills, but we also want to help entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses.”

Halbesleben also recognizes the importance of making sure UTSA graduates make an impact in their targeted professions. Student success programs are key to that goal. 

“We know that well-designed student success initiatives help all students, but they have a greater impact on members of underrepresented communities,” he said. “By enhancing our professional development and experiential learning programs, we can ensure that our students are well-served and make an immediate impact in their careers. Their careers start the moment they walk in the door at the Alvarez College of Business, not when they leave.”

To advance research impact, Halbesleben will work with faculty to increase research productivity, expand doctoral program enrollments in the college and increase sponsored research grant activity.

“Our faculty, who have consistently been ranked in the top 100 of business schools nationwide, are conducting research that is changing the way we think about business,” he said. “Working together, we are poised to transform the San Antonio business community.”

Reflecting on these priorities and his role as dean, Halbesleben’s vision is that the Alvarez College of Business becomes a business school that others seek to emulate—and one that the college’s stakeholders are proud to contribute to because we are changing the world through our students, research and relationships with the business community.

“Since accepting the position, my experiences have confirmed that the Alvarez College of Business has a strong foundation in place,” he said. “I am thrilled to join the Alvarez College of Business faculty, staff and students to build on that foundation to create an internationally-recognized college that is ambitious, bold and dynamic.”

In addition to his administrative duties at UTSA, Halbesleben will serve as professor of management.

“We are so happy to have Dean Halbesleben here on campus and charging into his role to articulate and implement an updated academic plan for the Alvarez College of Business that advances a culture of excellence and collaboration, the workforce needs of the regional and local business community and the success of our students,” said Kimberly Andrews Espy, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

Prior to joining UTSA in June 2022, Halbesleben served in administrative positions for 12 years at the University of Alabama, first as senior associate dean and Russell Professor of Business Administration in the Culverhouse College of Business and then as dean of the College of Continuing Studies.

Halbesleben has written or edited 17 books and has published over 95 peer-reviewed journal articles on topics such as employee well-being, work-family issues and relationships in and out of the workplace. His research has been funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Department of Defense, among others. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Halbesleben earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in industrial/organizational psychology from the University of Oklahoma and a bachelor’s degree from Winona State University.

— Wendy Frost