 The BuffBusiness eNewsletter No. 5 May 2009
The College of Business will be moving back to the Classroom Center in late July. The remodeling project is nearing completion, and we are now busy packing and figuring out how we want to arrange all of the furniture. New and Returning students will love our facilities! Smart classrooms abound, and technology is everywhere. The 18 months we have spent in the Old Fine Arts Building will soon be a distant memory, but time well spent as our home was brought up to the 21st century.
In this issue of the Buff Business Newsletter you will read about:
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SIFE Rolls To 15th Straight Win
The Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team at West Texas A&M University won a regional championship March 27 at SIFE USA Regional Competition in Rogers, Arkansas, marking its 15th consecutive title. The team now advances to national competition at the SIFE USA National Exposition May 10-13 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. WTAMU's SIFE was recognized as a top 20 finalist nationally in the Environmental Sustainability Individual Topic Competition for their Bolivian Bottle House Project. The SIFE team also won a second top 20 finalists recognition in the Program Sustainability Competition.
Dallas Fed Gets Their Kicks on Route 66
The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Texas Council of Economic Education and the College of Business at West Texas A&M University will host a one-day workshop for secondary teachers at West Texas A&M University July 22, 2009. The program title is Get Your Kicks on Route 66. The event will address the major economic drivers that make this region work, especially as they relate to the natural resources of wind, water, and energy. A look back in time to the Great Depression and its differences and parallels to the current recession will accompany a visit to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum. Featured speakers include
Anne Macy
Blair Roberts
Tim Shaunty
Jean Walker
Richard Ware
Members of Student Advisory Board Tour Glazer's
Student Advisory Board members Luis Cruz, Miles Zachary, J.T. Laramore, Brittany Taylor, and Sebron Young toured the West Texas branch of Glazer's with Drs. Terry, Mills, and Gerlich. Mr. J. Pat Richmond, Branch Manager for Glazer's, hosted the tour. Mr. Richmond is a member of the College of Business Professional Advisory Board and WT alumnus.
Glazer's company began in 1909 in Dallas, Texas, where Louis Glazer opened the Jumbo Bottling Company, which distributed a line of flavored soda waters from the back of horse-drawn wagons. Glazer's Distributors, as the company is known today, was established on September 3, 1933 by Max and Nolan Glazer, two of Louis Glazer's sons. By 1966, Glazer's had expanded beyond Texas to three additional states. Glazer's Family of Companies is firmly established with 43 offices in 11 states.
Students interested in serving on the 2009-2010 Student Advisory Board should send a brief letter of interest and contact information to Ms. Betty Stocker. The student advisory board meets with the dean and associate dean three to five times per academic year. Additional information about the Professional and Student Advisory Boards is available here.
My Kind of Town: Angel User Conference Attracts COB Faculty
The Angel User Conference will be held in Chicago May 13-15, and will provide a hands-on opportunity for institutional representatives and faculty to interact with Angel staff and programmers. Angel is the Learning Management System that powers WTClass. Drs De'Arno De'Armond, Amjad Abdullat and Nick Gerlich will represent WT's College of Business at the conference. The three are heavy users of Angel, and have played pivotal roles in developing and deploying Angel applications for COB classes. Rumor has it the trio may spend their evenings chasing down world-famous Chicago pizza.
Summer Provides Opportunity For Professional Development
Two College of Business faculty members will be heading to Harvard University this summer. Dr. Turkan Dursun-Kilic, Assistant Professor of Marketing, will be attending a 3-day session on the use of case studies. The case method is a very popular instructional technique used by business schools world-wide. They present opportunities to analyze real-life business situations. Dr. Kilic seeks to return with practical knowledge of this method that she can then use in her classes, as well as serve as a faculty resource for other professors wishing to utilize this method of instruction.
Dr. Nick Gerlich, Head of the MMGB Dept., will attend the 2-week Management Development Program. The MDP is designed for lower- and middle-level administrators, and attracts nearly 100 participants from across the country and all academic disciplines. Day-long seminars will be complemented by homework and readings, as well as networking opportunities with other participants. Gerlich is the fourth person from WTAMU (and the third in the COB) to participate in this program.
Hardvard is not the only destination for faculty this summer. Dr. Barbara Wang, assistant professor of finance, will attend a two-day summer seminar hosted by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) in Tampa, Florida. The seminar focuses on methods to enhance teaching effectiveness, technological innovations in higher education, and curriculum development.
COB Faculty and Staff Feted
For 2009 the Teaching Excellence Award went to Karen Cooley, instructor of accounting. The Research Excellence Award was given to Dr. Darlene Pulliam, professor of accounting, and the Service Excellence Award was given to Dr. De'Arno De'Armond, assistant professor of marketing and finance. The Staff Service Excellence Award to Betty Stocker, administrative assistant to the dean. Each of these individuals has demonstrated outstanding levels of contributions to the COB.
The winners of the 2009 awards were announced at the annual COB Faculty/Staff Award luncheon on April 2.
College of Business Announces Hiring of New Faculty Member
Dr. Mark Keith will join the College of Business faculty as assistant professor of information systems August 2009. Dr. Keith is a 2009 graduate of the Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. His primary areas of interest are web development and software services. Dr. Keith has published journal articles in INFORMS Decision Analysis, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, and International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, and book chapters in Always-On Enterprise Information Systems for Business Continuance: Technologies for Reliable and Scalable Operations and Advances in Management Information Systems: Collaboration Science.
COB Students Gain Dining Skills
Last month the Office of Career Services offered a business etiquette dinner to business students. Napkin placement, table settings, dining styles, eating soup, and buttering bread are a few of the basics covered during the dinner. Several local businesses participated and sponsored the event including participation by Smith Ellis, Chief Executive Officer of FirstBank Southwest, Tim McDonald, President/CEO of Great Plains Ag Credit, and Hassan and Jill Dana, Owners of multiple McDonald's restaurants in the Amarillo area. College of Business participants included Dr. Neil Terry, dean and professor of economics, Dr. LaVelle Mills, associate dean and professor of management, and Dr. Nick Gerlich, department head for management, marketing, and general business and professor of marketing. The following student participated in the event:
Quick Links
Remember these 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 Summer. 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 May and the final Spring 2009 edition of the BuffBusiness eNewsletter. With final exams now in our rearview mirror, warm-weather activities and jobs await (and maybe some summer classes as well!).
Bill Gilmer
The College of Business is pleased to announce the following winners of the 2009 faculty and staff awards. These awards go to the individuals voted on by peer reviewers in the COB; they are regarded as being the very best individuals we have in each of the respective areas of accomplishment.
Brittanie Arias, Management
Polina Gryboiedova, Management
Sean Nance, General Business