Maritime Administration Program Ranked First in Country, Department to Host Research Group
January 21, 2019
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By Patrick Temperilli, Academic Affairs
The Department of Maritime Administration at Texas A&M University at Galveston has had a banner year.
After the Master in Maritime Administration and Logistics program was ranked No. 1 maritime management program in the United States and No. 13 globally by Eduniversal, it was announced that the department has been named the Secretariat of the International Association of Maritime Economists for the next five years.
“We’re obviously recognized globally,” said Dr. Joan Mileski, professor and department head.
While the TAMUG campus has grown exponentially in recent years, the meteoric rise of the department is exceptional and begs an explanation. For Dr. Mileski, she feels there are several reasons.
“One is it has been recognized that there’s more to this campus than the science researchers. There’s been investment in our department, and we’ve gone from one researcher to several researchers.”
“We’ve moved away from adjuncts and have been hiring full time faculty,” Mileski said. “We went from three full time faculty to twelve in six years, which was one of the things that I really wanted to do. And the research shows that when you have full time faculty you tend to retain students more and they tend to do better, as indicated by our success.”
Riding a Rising Wave
The International Association of Maritime Economists is a strictly maritime-focused research group. As Secretariat, the Department of Maritime Administration will be the de facto headquarters for the group over the next five years, along with some influence over the group’s decision-making and future direction.“We have conferences every year, and there are several journals affiliated with the group where we publish our findings,” said Mileski. “It’s housed here at Texas A&M University at Galveston and we serve as the money people, the planning people, but this continuity of the five years gives us the ability to have some impact on the strategy of the group.”
With such a prolific and influential organization being housed on campus, there is bound to be an effect on students, which Mileski welcomes. “The students will be involved in any sort of activities that the group has,” she said. “They’ll be on the front line. Last year we sent four students to the conference, which was in Mombasa, Kenya. So students will have more of an opportunity because we’ll be more imbedded within the group.”
“It’s good to be us!” Mileski said. “We’ve got 12 spots to fill above us. That’s our goal.”
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Media contact:temperilli@tamug.edu 409-740-4783
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