North Texas Daily

Marketing professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of G. Brint Ryan College of Business, Audhesh Paswan, has replaced Wesley Randall as dean of the New College department at UNT Frisco.

Paswan says his focus will be developing new program to further expand the Frisco campus and attract new business investments.

“I decided to take [the position] because it was an exciting playing field,” Paswan said. “Frisco is growing  —  it’s a new market, it’s a new opportunity. In Denton, we have reached a point where we may grow a little bit, but you can see we are kind of reaching a capacity. It’s a marketplace that’s in our backyard.”

The New College, which is available at both the Denton and Frisco campuses, offers Bachelor of Science programs which focus on giving students real-world experiences before graduating to help them get ahead in their future careers.

Project Design and Analysis is one of the programs exclusive to Frisco that gives students practical learning experience with the opportunity to graduate in three years. New College at Frisco is also notable for its Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences program, which offers both virtual and in-person classes. The program is designed for students who are seeking their degree later in life, or have a technical certification from a community college.

Before coming to the university, Paswan worked in the advertising and consumer product industry. His areas of expertise included topics such as franchising and strategy. Colleagues expect Paswan to utilize his longtime experience in academia and business to expand the new Frisco market.

“Paswan has an uncanny ability to think outside the box,” marketing professor Francisco Guzman said. “This kind of thinking is ideal for innovating and moving things forward.”

“Under Dr. Paswan’s leadership, UNT Frisco will continue to grow. But, most importantly, Dr. Paswan is a wonderful and caring person. His caring and empathetic leadership style embodies, and will bring to UNT Frisco, one of UNT’s main values: ‘UNT cares’.”

Paswan has been a faculty member of the university since 1999. In addition to being a professor, he has served as the associate dean of Academic Affairs since 2015. He has since focused on expanding the college’s online MBA programs. 

“Dr. Paswan’s strongest quality is his encouragement for innovation,” university business management alumnus Jesus Gochangco Jr. said. “He always has a metaphor or a life story example that is often applicable to a problem you approach him with. He does this because he won’t hand out answers, that’s not how he works. He’ll ask you questions about your situation, not because he wants to lead you to the answer, but because he wants to learn about how you think and what details you look for. Eventually, you’ll discover the answer you are looking for.”

There are four New College programs exclusive to Frisco, with Paswan’s main focus of expansion being on the project design and analysis and bachelor of applied arts and sciences programs. The other two programs, applied project design and analysis and industrial distribution, are also marketed for transfer students.

“It’s growing, and companies are moving in — technology, entertainment, fast-moving consumer goods, automobiles — making it an ideal place for us to have programs that are more hands-on and applied,” Paswan said. “It’s kind of like, instead of waiting for consumers to come to you, you go to them.”

UNT Frisco was started in 2016, but recently opened the new Frisco Landing campus in January, with construction starting in Fall 2020. Prior to the new campus, the Frisco classes were offered at Hall Park and Inspire Park. 

Frisco is a larger city than Denton and has 12 high schools, making it an ideal location to market to students getting ready for college, according to Paswan. With the new campus opened, a smaller branch means there will be more room to innovate and expand student learning over time.

“I encourage everyone to talk to him and pay attention to his metaphors and anecdotes,” Gochangco Jr. said. “To him, there are no bad ideas or wrong questions. Only opportunities and exciting challenges.”

Featured Image Students walk up stairs and sit at tables in the lobby of Frisco Landing on March 21, 2023. Maria Crane