December 2025 Message from the Dean

Dear Colleagues,

Happy holidays!  While this is always a busy time, it was great to see so many of you at the Ross Holiday Party.

I would like to start by extending a special thank you for supporting those in need in our local community this holiday season. Your support of our Holiday Sharing Program once again showcased the remarkable generosity of our community. This year, there was a pressing need for warm clothing and essential items. I’m proud to share that we provided more than 200 gifts to 11 families in Ann Arbor, including 23 winter coats, 21 pairs of boots, 14 sets of hats and gloves, six pairs of snowpants, 17 sets of bedding, more than 30 gift cards, and dozens of additional warm clothes and toiletry items. Additionally, those who attended the Ross Family Meal event on Dec. 10, organized by the Office of Community, Culture, and Belonging, collaborated with Bake Back America to create holiday cards for children battling cancer at the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Ann Arbor. These acts of kindness are a powerful indicator of how caring our Ross community is.

In addition to highlighting these meaningful contributions, I would also like to share a few end-of-semester highlights. On the graduate side, our applications are up 5% year-over-year so far. The Full-Time MBA applications are about where they were last year, and we have seen significant gains across our One-Year Master’s Programs and for the Executive MBA Los Angeles cohort. While it is still early in the cycle, these are very encouraging indicators given how volatile the graduate business education landscape is, especially in the Full-Time MBA arena.  

On the undergraduate side, early decision admissions information was released a few days ago, and early action admissions information is on track to be released by the end of January. Since this was the first year the campus offered early decision, our undergraduate team had to work through numerous process changes. Both our graduate and undergraduate program offices have done an amazing job staying ahead of the various changes they have been navigating.

I am also pleased to share that our employment statistics for our 2025 MBA graduates six months post-graduation were up slightly from last year. Our BBA’s 2025 employment rates remain very high. This is excellent news, given the economic uncertainty and all of the press articles about how difficult the job market is for recent graduates.

As we continue to advance in our effective use of AI, I would like to share a creative example that our Office of Action-Based Learning has developed with the support of the Sanger Leadership Center. They created a special Maizey aimed at helping with team dynamics, a common area where students need help. The AI agent draws on research insights, including from our Michigan Model of Leadership, to be an on-demand resource to support our students.  They will be piloting it this upcoming semester.

Another area we have been working on is digital accessibility. Don DuChateau and Sheri Phillip have been working very hard on this and launched an internal working group, which they later expanded into a schoolwide network. Although Sheri has now retired, I would like to thank both of them for their efforts to help us move forward in this important area.

As we look to the new year, there are a couple of upcoming events I want to bring to your attention:

• On Jan. 19, the university will host its annual MLK Symposium, celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This year’s theme is “Unbowed and Unbroken: The Enduring Struggle for Justice,” and will feature keynote speakers Donzaleigh Abernathy, actress, author, civil rights activist, and goddaughter of Dr. King; and Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Their presentation will begin at 10 a.m. in Hill Auditorium, and a host of events will take place throughout the day.
• Our annual Michigan Ross MLK event will feature Steve Pemberton, an African-American author and speaker who has overcome incredible obstacles on his path to becoming an executive and role model. The event will take place on Jan. 28 in Robertson Auditorium. We are still finalizing details, so you can expect more information in your inbox soon.

As always, I welcome the opportunity to connect with you directly during my office hours, which can be found on the dean’s office webpage. I will hold my January office hours in the Davidson Winter Garden on:

• Wednesday, Jan. 7, from 4:15-5 p.m.
• Wednesday, Jan. 21, from 4:15-5 p.m.
• Wednesday, Jan. 28, from 4:15-5 p.m.

As we close out another action-packed year, I wish you all a festive and relaxing holiday break. I look forward to all we can accomplish together in 2026!

Warm regards,

Sharon