In Conversation with Acting Dean Jen Baggs

Gustavson School of Business: Jen, thanks for talking with us today. Let’s start with a very important and polarizing question: coffee or tea?

Jen Baggs: Oh, coffee. I like both, but I drink 10 times more coffee than tea.

G: When you were little, what did you think you would be when you grew up?

JB: I wanted to be a marine biologist at one point, I wanted to be a server for a while, I wanted to be a secretary. Economics, which is my academic area, I didn’t hit that one until my 20s.

In my first year of undergrad I took an economics class and I had a teacher who just made the lights come on for me. It was a huge class, one of those 400-person lecture halls, but the material grabbed my attention. It was this fit between my love of math and policy, and it brought them together and I love it. That instructor gave out prizes, for the best mark on the midterm, the final, etc. I still have the microeconomics book he gave me on my shelf. 

And since that time, throughout my entire teaching career, I have always given out a prize to the best student on each assignment and so forth.

G: Do you ever hear from people that they’ve kept the prize you gave them?

JB: Yes, sometimes. Although unlike my undergrad instructor and the book, I give out a ridiculous variety of things: dollar-store medals so I can put them on people, chocolate, and sometimes a book at the end of the term, for the top student in the class.

G: Speaking of your teaching career – when and why did you join Gustavson?

JB: I loved the west coast very much – I’d done my PhD on the west coast. And I was looking for a school that was very holistic, that valued teaching, that valued research, and that allowed everyone to not just do their work, but to do other things. This was the well-rounded institution I was looking for, and it was a very exciting place. I didn’t need a job, I had one – I chose to come here. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

G: What’s been the best part about working here over the years?

JB: My students and my colleagues. The people. I love the students, I love teaching. It brings me the most joy, every year. We have these great students who are interested, who are engaged. Who want to be here, who don’t have a really narrow business focus but see their interest in business very broadly. My colleagues – the whole time I’ve been here, they’ve been fantastic.

G: You’re an economist but you work at the business school. Tell us that story.

JB: Business schools do not always have economics faculty. Often, universities have the standalone economics department within social sciences, but no dedicated economics unit within the business faculty.

When I took the job here, the business school was looking for someone who could teach in the role of business economist, and there aren’t an enormous number of us in Canada. (I did my undergrad and master’s in straight economics, and my PhD in economics at a business school.) I’m cross-appointed in UVic Economics as well, so those colleagues are also very valuable to me and I have a second home with them. It's ended up that I have this really nice niche here in teaching that I like.

G: What value do you think having in-house business economists has provided to our students?

JB: Well, I think it’s twofold. One advantage is definitely teaching. We are able to deliver economics courses to our students that give them the applied, focused context of the broader economy in which their business operates. And although it’s true that you don’t need to be an economist to be a very successful manager, it’s likewise true that every manager manages within an economy. So understanding that economy and having someone who can provide that perspective to create some background in the world in which you’re existing as a manager can be useful. Understanding things like, what is the interest rate, who determines the interest rate, what happens when it goes up and down, how does that affect currency? What about exchange rates? Understanding the basic connections between macroeconomic variables and the landscape of business can be very valuable.

My research area is international trade. It’s been a big couple of weeks, with the news around tariffs. And a lot of the work I’ve done is, how are Canadian firms affected by changing international conditions. So what happens when tariffs go up or down? How does that affect Canadian businesses? What kind of characteristics of those businesses insulate or protect them from tariffs and what give them the ability to take advantage of things when there’s positive movement in international policies? How do those firms succeed in these diverse sets of economic conditions?

Tariffs have an enormous effect on Canadian firms, and having managers graduate from programs that have taught them something of international trade theory, a bit about tariffs, how they work, why economists don’t like them – I think that has value.

G: What are some of the things that the school has coming up? What are you looking forward to as acting dean?

JB: It’s a privilege to lead an organization that you believe in, and I do believe in this one deeply.

One thing I’m really looking forward to as our acting dean is getting to know our business community and alumni better. Many of our alumni I already know because I taught them, but I haven’t had a chance to connect with them for awhile, so I’m looking forward to doing that.

I’m particularly excited about our DEYA gala that’s coming up on the 10th of June. We’re honoured to host the Victoria business community, who are so important to the school, and to celebrate our honourees and their achievements. It’s such a great opportunity to recognize the incredible entrepreneurial community we have right here in Victoria, and recognize all the ways this community engages with the school.

Alongside these external highlights, we have been doing really important work on reviewing our academic programs. It’s a great opportunity to build on our areas of strength and make sure that our programs continue to be a transformational experience for students and that they’re graduating world-ready, with the skills employers are looking for.

At the end of the day, that is why we are here and it’s the work we love: offering students an exceptional business education, creating new management knowledge through research, and serving the community.

The business community have always been such wonderful supporters of the school – I’m keen to engage with them further, as well as those who maybe haven’t been part of the school’s work but would like to be in future.

Are you a member of the business community looking to engage with the school? Check out our Community & Industry page for ideas.