Each month, Raghu Tadepalli — in addition to his many responsibilities as dean of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business — has lunch with senior business students to discuss their praises and critiques of the business school.
Tadepalli does not simply hear complaints from students — he listens to them.
At one of these monthly lunches last year, students voiced their frustrations about the reporting portions of the business school’s internship requirement. They felt the essays and reflections required in addition to the internship were onerous and redundant.
So Tadepalli made changes. He worked with his colleagues to modify the internship requirements and alleviate some of the work. This past summer, he supervised around 20 interns because he wanted to see first-hand the work students were completing to receive internship credit. Seeing that there were still redundancies in the work, Tadepalli helped revise the program further.
Meeting with and listening to students is not only what Tadepalli sees as the most important part of his job, but is also his favorite part.
“I think a large number of students know my door is open, so people drop in,” Tadepalli said. “I think [the students are] really respectful and know that there are also very busy. I’d say that they’re quite a few students who feel comfortable dropping in to chat.”
Kristin Barrier, director of operations and accreditation in the Love School of Business, sits in an office directly across from Tadepalli and witnesses these student interactions daily.
“Dean Tadepalli has a true open-door policy, and he often meets with students who are looking for help or advice,” Barrier said.
Tadepalli’s move to Elon
Tadepalli began his position as dean of the Love School of Business in July of 2012. He came to the university from Babson College, where he previously served as the Murata Dean and professor of marketing in the F. W. Olin Graduate School of Business.
Tadepalli received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in commerce with a major in accounting from Andhra University in India. He then went on to complete his master of business administration degree with a concentration in marketing from Arizona State University and earned his doctorate from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
After earning his doctorate, Tadepalli had several job offers to complete marketing research, but he turned down the offers because he “didn’t see much fun in it.” Tadepalli wanted to continue doing research, but was more excited by the idea of teaching and interacting with students. This led him to begin working in higher education.
Tadepalli held faculty and staff positions at a few other universities before arriving at Elon almost five years ago. While it has been a long time since he last taught in a classroom, he is still able to conduct research, and will have a new study published in a few months.
No matter what position he held, Tadepalli has always made students his biggest priority. His dedication to students is part of the reason he enjoys — working at Elon; because the university as a whole mirrors that same commitment.
“It’s nice to be at a university campus where there is such an undivided attention on making sure that students learn,” Tadepalli said. “I think it’s a value that permeates everything that we as, faculty or staff ... that we do. Students are really at the center of what we do. Here, there is no mistake about it: We are about students. We are about what students are learning and how they’re learning and how we are helping them develop into leaders for tomorrow.”
Exemplifying leadership
His commitment to listening to students is also reflected in his leadership style. For him, listening to those he is leading is the most important aspect of leadership.
“I think listening is very important,” Tadepalli said. “When someone walks into my office, the conversation is about them. It’s not about me. So you have to pay attention to what they’re saying.”
Barrier has seen this through her interactions with him. Barrier is responsible for general, behind-the-scenes work and ensuring that the Love School of Business is meeting all of the requirements for the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accrediting body. They work together to meet the requirements and complete other projects in the school.
“[His leadership is] very laid-back and supportive — he trusts people to do their jobs, and he makes sure they have the resources needed to accomplish what is expected in their job,” Barrier said. “He is incredibly easy to work with, values my opinions and, in my view, a great leader for the business school.”
Junior Franki Filandro had the opportunity to witness this leadership and work closely with Tadepalli when she brought the business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi to campus.
Filandro said Tadepalli “succeeds in making himself available to students,” explaining that he is always around to meet with students or reach out to them if he hasn’t seen them in a while. Listening and staying connected to students is a part of Tadepalli’s leadership style.
“His style is certainly very open and almost a backseat kind,” Filandro said. “He gives you a chance to figure it out for yourself and then guides you in the slightest of ways. I believe that the whole time he knows where you should be going, but he let’s you find it on your own.”
Diversity as a priority
Though many members of the Elon community believe that increasing diversity on campus needs to be a greater priority, Tadepalli recognizes this need and works to bring diverse voices into the business school. He believes that understanding how to manage diverse groups is important to excelling in business and that diversity is one of the business school’s core values.
The business school has about 60 members representing 16 different countries.
He has worked to uphold that value by implementing diversity education initiatives into various class curriculums and recruiting diverse faculty and staff members. Currently, he said the business school has about 60 faculty members representing 16 different countries.
On a personal level, of the six deans at the university, Tadepalli is the only dean of color; so he sees the need for diversity first-hand. It is not uncommon for him to be the only person of color in a room.
“Yesterday morning I was in a meeting, there must have been ten people there, and I was the only nonwhite in that room,” Tadepalli said. “Sometimes, you know I kind of have an out of body experience and I’m thinking, ‘Wow if I were looking down upon me, if there was a picture that was taken, how would this look?’ And I think, in that respect, I came here from Babson College in Massachusetts, which is very diverse. And so, I’d say, at Elon I think the values are there and the respect for diversity is there, but we need more demonstrable programs in that regard.”