Deans appointed for the School of Marketing and Communication and the School of Management

Doctor of Philosophy Merja Koskela has been appointed as Dean of the School of Marketing and Communication. She has started in the position on 1 August 2024. Koskela’s term as dean runs until 31 July 2027. 

“It is a role I accept with humility and gratitude, and I promise to do my utmost to ensure that we in the School of Marketing and Communication are able to meet the new challenges that have been set for us. It is more than 10 years since my last term as dean and much has changed, but some things in a university take time. One of these is that learning and pedagogical thinking must be at the heart of educational development. In research, quality comes from doing things together, so community and networking are important. Both of these core tasks require perseverance, which I hope to promote in the coming period together with the personnel of our school.”

Doctor of Science (Econ) Adam Smale will continue as the Dean of the School of Management. His term will last until 31 July 2027. In addition to his duties as Dean, Smale's responsibilities include the development of executive education at the University in close cooperation with University of Vaasa Executive Education Ltd.

”The School of Management is an inspiring school to lead with very committed faculty doing high-quality work, performing strongly and with a forward-looking attitude. I feel like I have always had their support and I believe we can overcome any challenges in our path towards the 2030 strategic goals and key international accreditations. Working with executive education and our MBA programme presents an important opportunity to engage more of our university to work alongside the committed team we have in our Executive Education company. The Executive MBA is an important programme for us as a major international player in sustainable business, energy and society, and the university needs to play a key role in order for it to reach its full potential.”

The dean manages the school’s activities, is responsible for its performance, finances and efficiency, and acts as the manager of the employees of the school. The duties of the dean also include promoting collaboration between the schools and research platforms and within the school. The dean is responsible for developing and monitoring the quality of the degree programmes.