by Jacklyn Lantaco
News Reporter
University of Houston College of Business Administration Dean Sara M. Freedman recently received top honors when she was selected to join the Board of Directors of the Graduate Management Admissions Council.
GMAC is a globally known organization with a goal of enriching awareness of graduate management education. It also works toward making graduate education more accessible, Freedman said.
Freedman, CBA dean since 1995, was chosen to fill one of five new openings created to stimulate communication between GMAC and the graduate business schools affiliated with it.
"I was nominated and asked if I were willing to serve," Freedman said. She began the process of attaining the position over the summer and received notice about her appointment to the board early this year.
Members of businesses affiliated with GMAC voted to fill the seats.
One of Freedman's new duties is to assist the organization in its work with the Graduate Management Admission Test. Studies sponsored by the GMAC allow a better understanding of the ratio of students who take the test to the students who are accepted into graduate programs, she said. Aspects of race and gender are also involved in their studies.
The knowledge provided by GMAC's studies allows it to give schools assistance to programs to help in administering the business exam, Freedman said.
GMAC also sponsors training programs for testing administrators to ensure a better understanding of the GMAT exam, she said.
Freedman has previously done considerable amounts of work for the GMAC. "I worked as a representative of GMAC and served on (its) large council," she said.
Now that she will be a member of the board, Freedman said her duties will include providing guidance to the organization as a whole, helping to distinguish financial allocations and overseeing other aspects of the organization.
Before becoming dean of the CBA, Freedman held the position of associate dean since 1985. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and joined UH in 1976.
The other business administrators chosen for the GMAC board are from the University of Rochester, London Business School, Dartmouth College and the University of California-Los Angeles.