 The BuffBusiness eNewsletter No. 4 March 2009
Among the many things happening is the nearing completion of the Classroom center. Very soon we will return to our home...and all of you can regain the feeling of hanging out in your very own College of Business the way it's supposed to be. COB administrators and staff had a tour a few weeks ago to see how things are shaping up, and it looks great!
In this issue of the Buff Business Newsletter you will read about:
If you'd like to correspond with us, feel free to email us.
The 2009 Torch Awards Light Up Businesses
The Better Business Bureau, in partnership with the College of Business at West Texas A&M University, awarded the Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics to three companies and one nonprofit for 2009. This year's winners are: Zips Care Wash (Small Business), Prudential Ada Realtors (Medium Business), La Fiesta Grande Restaurants (Large Business), and Consumer Credit Counseling Service (Nonprofit). Dr. Duane Rosa serves as the Chairman of the Education Foundation Board for the Better Business Bureau and Dr. Gary Rider serves as a Torch Award judge.
New Online Advising Form Available
As part of the COB's ongoing effort to be stduent-centric, a new Online Advising Form debuted last fall. A text link is provided on the COB home page, which can be bookmarked for easy returns.
Each semester students must be greenlighted before they can register, but often it is challenging for students to make that initial contact with their faculty advisor. The new form takes all the guesswork out of it, and allows students to quickly and easily contact their advisor electronically.
Students must provide some background information via the form, such as the COB Core Courses they have completed, their anticipated graduation date, and planned courses for the upcoming term(s). They can then indicate whether they simply need to be greenlighted, or if they would like additional contact in order to set up an appointment or phone call.
The new form is not intended to minimize the greenlighting process nor the role that faculty play in their advisory capacity. Instead it was built to facilitate more and faster contact between students and professors. Given the confluence of hectic student lifestyles and faculty who teach in Canyon, Amarillo and online, sometimes an electronic first contact is the best way to start preparing for the next round of registration.
COB Etiquette Banquet On The Menu
As a result of the meeting last fall between the College of Business and Career Services, thefirst College of Business Dining Etiquette Training will be held on Thursday April 7th from 6:30 - 8:30pm in the Alumni Banquet Hall.
Top students from each major in the COB will be invited to attend this event The dinner is underwritten by local employers; there is thus no charge to students.
Invited students will dine with recruiters that typically hire candidates with their major. The recruiters will be conducting the training while at the same time getting to know each of the students seated at their table. This is a unique training concept that the students and employers will find helpful.
The purpose of the dinner is to help prepare our students for some of the social aspects of business, which necessarily includes formal dinners.
COB Awards Banquet and Convocation Slated For April
Each spring the COB marks the end of another year with a special banquet for those selected to receive scholarhsips for the following year. This year's Banquet and Convocation will be held on April 23 from 6:15 - 8:00pm in the Alumni Banquet Hall. Dr. Neil Terry, Dean of the College of Business, will address attendees, while the department heads will introduce the winners from the respective departments.
This event is a special occasion for COB students, faculty and donors in that all groups get to mingle and form acquaintances. The COB has been proactive in recent years with regard to scholarship monies, and constantly seeks to recognize top students.
IDM Goes to HP
The department of Information and Decision Management at West Texas A&M University is proud to announce the 2009 participantsfor the department's annual immersion excursion. This year, eleven outstanding CIS students were selected to participate in an exclusive tour of the HP facility in Houston. In addition, the students will enjoy an afternoon of edutainment at the Johnston Space Center Museum.
The immersion excursion is an annual trip sponsored by the IDM department at WTAMU. The trip serves three purposes: First, to recognize and reward exceptional CIS students who aspire to be an active part of a world class organization; Second, to expose these students to the corporate environment and professional culture that drives these cutting edge organizations.; and Third, the immersion excursion serves as an opportunity for the IDM department to showcase its best and brightest students to potential recruiters, with the goal of building relationships that will benefit all parties involved.
In 2008, six students and three faculty members participants traveled to Seattle to visit a Research & Development facility at Microsoft, and toured the Boeing campus. At Microsoft, students were able to meet with several development teams and discuss topics ranging from cutting edge technologies to career advice, and at Boeing, students were provided with insight into the role that technology plays in the aerospace industry.
The 2009 student participants are:
Graham Conner
We offer our congratulations to these students!
Advisory Board Offers Insights
How do business leaders rank the importance of business school learning objectives? In March the College of Business Professional Advisory Board offered their opinion. The following is their rank order prioritization (rank of 1 for highest priority and 9 for the lowest):
1. Critical Thinking (2.68 mean)
The 2009 COB Professional Advisory Board members are:
Quinn Alexander, First National Bank of Canadian & Mayor of Canyon
Professorships Honor COB Faculty
The College of Business is pleased to announce the appointment of two new professorship positions and the continued appointment of four professorship positions.
The two new appointments are for the Gensler and Hickman Professorships.
Dr. Musa Jafar has been named the Phil Gensler Professor of Computer Information Systems. The Gensler Professorship was established in 2007 by friends and former students of Dr. Phil Gensler. The professorship is in honor of Dr. Phil Gensler, a distinguished Computer Information Systems Professor who, through twenty years of professional leadership and dedication to students, provided exceptional opportunities for graduates in Computer Information Systems. Dr. Jafar earned his doctorate degree from the University of Arizona in 1989 and joined the West Texas A&M University faculty in 2004. Dr. Jafar's publication record includes articles in Applied Mathematics and Computation Journal, Southwestern Economic Review, Information Systems and Educational Journal, Journal of Information Systems and Applied Research, and Review of Business Information Systems.
Dr. De'Arno De'Armond has been named the J. Pat Hickman Professor of Marketing. The Hickman Professorship was established in 2008 by Happy State Bank. The professorship is in honor of Mr. J. Pat Hickman, a Texas Panhandle Banker that provided leadership to Happy State Bank with a spirited entrepreneurial vision. Dr. De'Arno De'Armond is an assistant professor of marketing and finance. He earned his BBA and MBA from West Texas A&M University and recently completed his Ph.D. at Texas Tech University. Dr. De'Armond spent six years working for Comp USA and NEC before joining the WT faculty in 2003. Dr. De'Armond teaches courses in advertising, marketing research, sales management, risk management, and financial planning. He was recognized by the College of Business with the Teaching Excellence Award in 2007 and the University Teaching Excellence Award in 2008. His publications include articles in The Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, Financial Planning Association Research Spotlight, and The Southwestern Economic Review. The four continuing appointments are for the Pickens, Edwards Finance, Edwards Banking, and McCray Professorships. The Pickens Professorship of Business was funded through a generous donation by the distinguished oil and gas industry leader, Mr. T. Boone Pickens. Dr. Karyn Friske was appointed the T. Boone Pickens Professor of Business in 2008. In her year as the Pickens Professor, she has traveled to France to study business ethics and published research in Practical Tax Strategies, Journal of Accountancy, Oil, Gas & Energy Quarterly, and Tax Adviser. Dr. Friske teaches in the areas of auditing, financial accounting, and petroleum accounting. The McCray Professorship in Business was funded through a generous donation from James and Mogie McCray of Panhandle, Texas. Dr. Darlene Pulliam was appointed the McCray Professor of Business in 2008. In her year as the McCray Professor, she has traveled to France to study business ethics and presented at the national conference for accounting in Anaheim, California. Since her appointment she has published eighteen different peer-reviewed and practitioner journal articles including work in Today's CPA, Practical Tax Strategies, Journal of Accountancy, CPA Journal, Oil, Gas & Energy Quarterly, and Tax Adviser. Dr. Pulliam primarily teaches in the field of tax accounting. The Gene Edwards Professorship of Finance was funded through donations by Gene and Elaine Edwards and the many friends and admirers of Mr. Edwards as a pioneer in the banking industry. Dr. Anne Macy was appointed the Edwards Professor of Finance in 2008. In her year as the Edwards Professor, she has traveled to Austria to study international healthcare systems and published research in Journal of Economics and Economic Education Research, International Advances in Economic Research, Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, Journal of Business Case Studies, and The Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge. Dr. Macy primarily teaches in the areas of investments and healthcare finance. The second Gene Edwards Professorship is in banking. Dr. Nick Gerlich was appointed the Edwards Professor of Banking in 2008. In his year as the Edwards Professor, his research has appeared in numerous journals including Journal of Case Studies in Accreditation and Assessment, Journal of Business and Economic Research, Southwestern Economic Review, Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, and Christian Business Academy Review. Dr. Gerlich primarily teaches in the areas of retail marketing and electronic commerce. Dr. Gerlich will be attending the Management Development Program at Harvard University this summer.
Quick Links
The COB now has some easy-to-use URLs for quick access to relevant web pages. No longer do you need to drill down through several pages to find what you are looking for. Now you can go directly:
Thanks for reading this far. On behalf of the College of Business, have a great Spring. As always, if you have any suggestions, please feel free to drop me a line.
R. Nicholas Gerlich (The views expressed herein are those of the individual author, and do not necessarily represent the views of West Texas A&M University, its faculty and staff, or its students. Feel free to distribute this as you wish.) |
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Welcome to Spring and the fourth edition of the BuffBusiness eNewsletter. The flowers and leaves tell us that change is afoot; the return of warmth and wind tell us another semester will soon be over. Never mind that snow is in the forecast!
