Freeman announces reorganization of Stewart Center for Executive Education
As part of the Freeman School's ongoing effort to improve the quality and delivery of educational programs, Dean Paulo Goes has announced a reorganization of the Stewart Center for Executive Education as well as two senior staff appointments.
Effective Nov. 1, the center will become the Stewart Center for Professional & Executive Education, reflecting its new role as the administrative home for all Freeman School programs aimed at working professionals, including the Executive MBA, the Professional MBA, the Online MBA and executive certificate programs. This integrative approach will enable Freeman to provide innovative educational opportunities to broader groups of working professionals and better meet their changing needs as well as the needs of their employers.
Ashley Francis, who currently serves as director of Online Learning, will take on the new title of Assistant Dean for the Stewart Center for Professional & Executive Education. In this new role, she will oversee all aspects of the Stewart Center’s operations and work closely with the center’s academic program directors, Alex Sleptsov (EMBA), Mark Ratchford (PMBA) and Gans Narayanamoorthy (OMBA), to ensure the quality of professional and executive programming.
Francis has served as Director of Online Learning at the Freeman School since 2020. In that role, she helped launch the Freeman School’s first fully online MBA program in fall 2023. Prior to joining Tulane, she spent almost a decade at Loyola University New Orleans as an educator and administrator, most recently as Senior Director of Online Education & Strategic Partnerships. While on faculty, she was an Assistant Visiting Professor for Marketing and Management. In 2013, she earned the College of Business Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching. She also served as MBA Director. Francis has a BA from Loyola University and an MBA from the Freeman School of Business.
In addition, Carol Spansel, who currently serves as Director of the Stewart Center for Executive Education, has been named Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs. In this new role, Spansel will lead the Freeman School's graduate programs office. She replaces John Silbernagel, who retired in June 2024 after 36 years at Tulane.
Spansel began her career at the Freeman School over 25 years ago in the Stewart Center for Executive Education. She has managed admissions, faculty staffing, marketing, operations and student services for the Executive MBA program, earning high marks for student satisfaction and program innovation. During the last five years, she also provided leadership to the Goldring Institute for International Business, managing faculty staffing and accreditation initiatives for executive programs throughout Asia and Latin America. A native New Orleanian, Spansel holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Tulane University and a master’s degree in English from the University of New Orleans.
"Professional and Executive Programs and Graduate Programs are each critical components of our mission as an institution and our strategy as a school," said Dean Goes. "We have assembled outstanding teams to lead the Stewart Center and the Graduate Programs office, and I look forward to working closely with Ashley and Carol to ensure their success."
