University Canada West (UCW) is excited to announce a number of new program chairs.

Academic Affairs, previously known simply as the Academic Department at UCW, has undergone a reorganization. Because of growing enrollment, the MBA program has been divided into three new departments, each with its own chair. The departments are LeadershipManagement, Marketing and Entrepreneurship; and Quantitative Studies.

Dr. Gelareh Farhadian, MBA Marketing, Management & Entrepreneurship Department Chair

Dr. Gelareh Farhadian will be the university’s first Chair of the Marketing, Management & Entrepreneurship Department in the MBA Program.

Dr. Farhadian brings extensive industry experience in Management Consulting in HR development, corporate strategy, organizational and leadership development, start-ups Development, as well as corporate culture in venture capitals, banks, high-tech companies, oil and gas, mining and construction.

Her global work experiences include Middle Eastern countries, Venezuela, Russia, Estonia and Scandinavian countries. She has seven years’ teaching experience at Master and the Doctorate level and as being a research assistant at SFU in Human Resource Management. Dr. Farhadian holds a Doctorate in Business Administration.

Dr. Erik Korolenko, MBA Quantitative Studies Department Chair

Dr. Erik Korolenko is UCW’s first Chair of the Department of Quantitative Studies in the MBA program.

Dr. Korolenko has a PhD Chemical Physics (Institute of Chemical Kinetics and Combustion of Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia) with an extensive educational and industrial experience in science, mathematical modeling, business mathematics and statistics. He has completed a post-doc of the Japanese Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) in Tokyo.

Dr. Korolenko has been involved in fundamental research of spin and magnetic effects and applied research in predictive maintenance of power electric equipment. He has taught mathematics, statistics and physics. He came to UCW in 2008 where he has instructed and supervised numerous MBA thesis projects.

Dr. Michele Vincenti, MBA Leadership Department Chair

Dr. Michele Vincenti is the Chair the Leadership Department. He has also accepted an additional role as UCW’S new Community Relations Ambassador, where he’ll represent UCW and its academic programs in the community.

Dr. Vincenti teaches courses in corporate finance, strategy, and management consulting in University Canada West’s BCom & MBA programs. With over 30 years of experience in the financial sector, both as a consultant and as an executive in financial institutions, Dr. Vincenti holds positions at several different universities teaching in business and management programs. As the president of Alvana Business Consulting Inc., he also offers consulting expertise to his clients in the area of wealth management, leadership and business start-ups.

Cassie Savoie, University Access Program (UAP) Chair

Cassie Savoie is UCW’s Chair of the University Access Program (UAP).

Originally from the East Coast of Canada with a degree in Criminology and Sociology, Cassie spent nine years living abroad in South Korea. After honing her curriculum development, teacher training and teaching skills in Korea, she returned to Canada and began working for ILAC International College in Vancouver, where she managed three unique career college programs for international students and a TESOL program for ESL teachers in training.

Before her time in Korea, she worked in diverse fields such as sales and hospital care, taking on leadership roles at every opportunity. Her passion is helping people find success. She is a firm believer in a strong workplace and a school culture that fosters a positive environment for students, staff and faculty alike. In her role as UAP Chair, she hopes to bring that passion, positive attitude and leadership experience to UCW and looks forward to joining the team.

Dr. Charles Carroll, Undergraduate Program Chair

Dr. Charles Carroll will remain the Undergraduate Program Chair and will now supervise MBAF 501.

Dr. Carroll teaches philosophy, history, writing, and literature at University Canada West. He has a B.A. in philosophy from Vassar College, an MFA in poetry from Emerson College, an MBA in marketing from Boston University and a Ph.D. in English/Comparative Literature from the CUNY Graduate Centre.

He has published poetry and literary criticism in American and Canadian journals, critical work on Jane Austen, and given conference presentations on his dissertation topic—the role of apologies and other forms of persuasive rhetoric in literature.

His research interests are in how literary works represent and evaluate the figure of the entrepreneur and the businessperson. He is interested in working with and learning from faculty at the intersection of business and the humanities.

Congratulations to all our program chairs.

Published on July 31, 2020.