RICHARDSON, Texas (Feb. 20, 2006) – Top honors have come to The Executive Education Center at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) School of Management for its initiatives in executive and professional coaching.

The North Texas Chapter of the International Coach Federation (ICF) has awarded the center its 2005 PRISM Award.  The award recognizes demonstrated excellence and organizational results achieved through targeted professional coaching initiatives.  Inaugurated in 2004, the award last year was presented to two recipients – IBM and Oracle.


Representatives of UTD’s program in executive and professional coaching recently accepted the PRISM Award from the North Texas Chapter of the International Coach Federation. Chapter president Frances Shuster (second from right) presented the award to UTD’s (from left) Dr. Jasper Arnold, Judith Feld, Dr. David Springate and Dr. Robert Hicks.

The UTD Executive Education Center won the 2005 honor for establishing a graduate level certificate program in Executive and Professional Coaching and for employing coaching as a critical part of the curriculum in its Executive MBA (EMBA) program.

“The UTD School of Management is taking a prominent role in the positive impact executive coaching makes on the development of business and organizational leaders,” said Frances Shuster, ICF North Texas Chapter president.  “The school is also giving a huge vote of confidence to the executive and professional coaching profession.”

In accepting the award, Dr. David Springate, UTD’s associate dean for executive education, said the school considers executive and professional coaching important to leadership development.

“Our EMBA students gain from the enhanced professional and personal development opportunities these coaching initiatives offer.  The positive influence and culture of coaching touches all of their organizations.  And, our coaching program students are positively influencing their clients and the companies they interact with, as well,” Springate said.

Dr. Jasper Arnold, director of UTD’s EMBA program, noted that each student in both the classes of 2006 and 2007 are assigned their own executive coach.

The school’s executive and professional coaching program was established in 2004 by Dr. Robert Hicks, with assistance from Judith Feld, who holds ICF’s top certification as a Master Certified Coach.  The program meets the requirements for ICF Professional Coaching Certification and also offers academic graduate credits at UTD. 

In addition, last month The UTD School of Management hosted a meeting of the newly formed Graduate School Alliance for Executive Coaching, an organization that works for high academic standards in executive and professional coaching.  Hicks is currently serving as acting president of the organization.  Representatives from eight universities in the United States and one in Australia attended the meeting.

About the UTD School of Management

Based on publications in the top 22 business journals spanning all areas of business, The University of Texas at Dallas School of Management faculty ranks 37th in research productivity nationwide.  Financial Times, using a broader set of 40 journals, ranks UTD’s management faculty 32nd worldwide.  Financial Times also ranks The UTD Executive MBA program 46th in the world and 25th in the US, and U.S. News and World Report ranks the school’s Cohort MBA program among the top 35 at public colleges and universities in the nation. The School of Management is the largest of UTD’s seven schools, with an enrollment of nearly 4,700, of which 2,500 are graduate students.

About UTD

The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor®, enrolls nearly 14,500 students.  The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores.  The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs.  For additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s web site at www.utdallas.edu.