HBA had a very noteworthy meeting this past Wednesday, February 9th, where Dean Mills of McCombs was featured as a special guest. Mills has been dean of McCombs since June 1st along with a full year of interim Dean, and is the first woman to serve as Dean of McCombs in the school’s history. She was able to give HBA members insight into what it means to be a Dean and what amazing things the future holds for McCombs students.

Dean Mills discussed the structure of the McCombs leadership, programs, and management. She talked about the massive amount of McCombs students, faculty, and staff, meaning that McCombs is a big school that requires great effort to hold it to the standard we see today. Dean Mills plays a huge role in making sure this happens. So what does the day in the life of Dean Mills look like? The first part of an average day is generally one-on-one meetings with someone internal to McCombs, lunch with alums, and then an afternoon of meeting with a department chair. When discussing these meetings, Dean Mills said she especially loves to hear their stories about professional success and interests and recently, even some stories on dove and quail hunting. 

Dean Mills also talked about the infamous “What Starts Here Changes the World,” a very powerful quote that guides many UT students in their everyday life. Dean Mills is no exception to this, as she is also using her reach for the benefit of UT students and staff. I know that many of us look up to this and hope to have our own impacts in the future. But what does the future of McCombs look like? There is currently an underinvesting in the marketing of Texas McCombs and internal IT infrastructure. There is also going to be a new building as well as a sustainability building. The purpose of these efforts are to distinguish McCombs even further as a premier university, who serves as a leader in not only education, but in many important initiatives such as sustainability.

HBA members were also able to gain a sense of their worth and journey as McCombs students through Dean Mills’ insights. She talked about the fact that we will create value in the economy and be able to bring an attitude of growth and inclusivity. Through experiential learning, which has been an expanded process in McCombs over time, we as students gain the experience that will carry us on to our future endeavors. Furthermore, the interconnectedness of McCombs Alum is unmatched, and this is a connection that will serve to help us in the now, not to mention future generations. All in all, HBA students didn’t want to miss this awesome opportunity to learn from Dean Mills herself, in hopes to continue making McCombs proud.