was something of a baptism of fire: “I’ve been dean at Edinburgh Business School since 24 June 2016. The reason I remember the date so vividly is that I was appointed interim dean the day after the Brexit vote; sta and students were absolutely desolate. That turned into a period of huge political and economic uncertainty – it was a very challenging time”. But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger as they say and, after a competitive recruitment process, she was appointed dean in February 2017. Then, after the hullaballoo of Brexit had died down slightly, she had to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. To her credit, she remains resolutely upbeat: “One of the lovely things about being a business school dean is having the chance to visit lots of schools, discovering their ways of operating, sharing good practice and being part of that peer community. Hopefully, I bring all of that to the role of chair.” Her tenure at the organisation will also see her play an active part in campaigning for political change within the sector. “Every part of the world has its own issues, but one thing in the UK [that we have to contend with] is over-regulation. On the one hand, we have a good quality assurance system, but one of the di culties we’re facing is the political pressure to restrict student visas – particularly the spousal visa.” To this end, Loretto is working with AMBA & BGA CEO Andrew Main Wilson on lobbying the government. “I think it’s a real concern at present for UK deans within the business and management education sphere”, she declares emphatically. Identifying added value Discussing what she hopes to achieve during her time as chair, it’s clear that Loretto has identified some key priorities. “Within the whole triple crown scenario [when schools are awarded accreditation by AMBA and/or BGA, EQUIS and AACSB] it’s important to distinguish what AMBA’s added value proposition is. I think – as board members and employees – we have a kind of gut feeling, but it would be helpful to articulate it and promote it more explicitly; let’s define what flavour AMBA brings to the mix.” She is also focused on actively encouraging the next generation of deans to step up to management roles. “It’s vital to have succession planning in place, whether we do that individually as institutions, or whether we think about it more globally, as part of the deans’ network at AMBA & BGA. It’s something that I’m extremely keen to promote.” Asked how she plans to deal with the often- contentious topic of generative artificial intelligence in academia, she’s initially modest – “Maybe I don’t
know enough about it to understand what I should be afraid of” – and then she turns to the crux of the matter. “The main issue is student integrity and passing o other people’s work as their own.” But she’s quick to play down any fears: “Universities have faced that since the dawn of time; I’ve always found a way to get around whatever systems are in place, so that’s not my big worry”. What concerns her more is that “students could end up less critically engaged as they can get answers easily. It’s not that they’re trying to pass the answers o as their own, but more that their focus will be getting answers from a large language model (LLM), rather than thinking for themselves. We need to harness AI to encourage critical thinking.” She also highlights the positive aspect that some have eschewed in favour of scaremongering rhetoric. “I’ve been amazed and gratified to see colleagues
“It’s vital to have succession planning in place, whether individually as institutions or as part of the deans’ network”
18 | Ambition OCTOBER 2023
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