Bernadotte Sufka – Features & Opinions Editor
Ellen Durnin, Dean of the School of Business, has officially announced her retirement at the end of the 2020 academic year.
“I’ve been very proud to be the Dean of the School of Business for the past 10 years,” said Durnin. “I think we have accom-plished some amazing things. But also, its time for me to step away and for new person to come in and take them to the next level.”
Her contribution to the university has not gone unnoticed. She has aided students within all the programs the school of business has to offer.
One of them included the “SCSU School of Businesswomen’s Leadership Program,” where female students in the School of Business can apply and be granted with career-focused workshops with speakers and experts to enhance their different career options.
“I don’t know her personally, but Dr. Durnin gave good advice at the program,” said marketing major, Bridget Wilkinson, a senior. “She was really nice and informative. She talked about how to nego-tiate one’s salary and was a very good speaker at the program. She has so much experience.”
Durnin may be retiring soon, but she said that did not stop her from going out and accomplishing more. The School of Business building will be expanded into a larger one and she said the works for it have already went underway and will soon be built.
“We have completed the design phase and we are about to go into the construction phase,” said Durnin.
She said they are talking about a groundbreaking in late March or early April. It will be a new 60,000 square foot building on the corner of Farnham and Wintergreen. It will be the first net zero building that the state of Connecticut builds.
“What that means is we will produce our own energy; we will produce more energy than we consume. This is really exciting, particularly since we have the program in public utilities management. It’s going to be great to be in a building that really exemplifies what we’re teaching and what we believe,” Durnin said.
The building itself has the fewest classrooms on campus. With this new project set to date, it will create a better setting for students under these business majors.
“She will be leaving, and we will all be missing her so much. She has been a wonderful contribution to the School of Business,” said Professor of Marketing Young Kyu Kim.
“She hired me. She was one of the people I met when I applied for this position three years ago. I cannot forget the phone call from Dr. Durnin that they were going to hire me. It’s a good memory of her,” said Kim.
As her retirement approaches, Durnin said she will not forget her time at the university. Her plans after are to spend more time with her family and do some fun things she has not had time to do.
“I’d like to stay connected with Southern and the School of Business,” Durnin said. “I would like to help them as much as I can on any of the initiatives that they have. I’d love to work with the new Dean when he or she arrives to help them transition.”
Photo credit: www.southernct.com
