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It
is truly an opportune time to be a School of Business student at Christian
Brothers University. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has fluctuated wildly
over the past four years from a high of over 15,000 points in 2007 to
a low of just over 7,500 points in 2009 and a current average (which I
am sure will have shifted seismically right after this goes to print)
of just over 12,000. This volatility is projected to continue for the
next one to three years. One constant in this frenetic business environment
is the ability of the faculty members in the School of Business at CBU
to steadily prepare our students to be ready for the uncertainty that
surely lies ahead. With an emphasis on the analytical problem-solving
skills needed to survive, grow and succeed in the occupations of today
and tomorrow, the School of Business strives to produce graduates who
will be ethical employees, leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs.
As dean, I will continue to work with our faculty members to create a curriculum emphasizing quantitative analysis and ethical decision-making that is fundamental for success in business in this global century. Locally, we will strive to make meaningful contributions to the development and growth of the Mid-South business community. Through the rigorous cultivation of internship opportunities for our students, the School of Business at CBU will maintain its excellent reputation of placing current students with Memphis area businesses. Our highly qualified graduates thrive in prominent positions in some of the most successful and prestigious companies in the area. Eventually, we plan to introduce a program that will allow undergraduates to complete a fifth year of study by the end of which they will have earned both an undergraduate degree and a master’s degree in accounting.
As a product of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, I fully understand what St. John Baptist de La Salle meant when he conveyed to his fellow Brothers the need to “touch the hearts” of their students as well as their minds. We in the School of Business are dedicated to shaping students who will become future business leaders who will embody the values and integrity that have always been associated with the Christian Brothers.
Jack Hargett, PhD
Dean, School of Business
Photograph by Faith Ferrell (Business Administration and Management '12)
Congratulations to Catherine DelBove (Accounting '13) and Corinne Doder (Accounting '12) for winning the statewide TSCPA scholarship awards! Way to go!
The Gulf South Conference named Lady Buc volleyball libero Corinne
Doder (Accounting '12) Defensive Player of the Week for the
period ending October 4. Doder collected 53 digs in two matches, with
33 digs in the win at VSU and 20 digs in the win at UWG. This is her
second Player of the Week award this season.
Cody Dunn (Sport Management ’12) who had been
working a paid internship with the Redbirds just received a promotion
within the parent company of the team: Global Spectrum. Cody is now
the assistant manager of the box office for The Chaifetz Arena which
can be found online at www.thechaifetzarena.com.
This is the stadium for St. Louis University Athletics, and they outsource
to Global Spectrum which is probably the top sport facility management
company in the U.S. They are also quite prominent internationally as
the name would suggest. We are very proud of him!
The Gulf South Conference named Buccaneer goalkeeper Jaime Garcia
(Business Administration '13) as Defender of the Week after leading
the Bucs to a 3-0 week for the week ending September 23.
The Gulf South Conference named Buccaneer soccer forward Michael
Hollier (Business Administration '14) Player of the Week for
the period ending September 27. Hollier scored the only goal in the
Bucs' 1-0 win over Lindenwood, and he scored twice, including the game-winner,
in the Bucs' 3-2 win over Young Harris.
Abe Villarreal (Finance ’12) and Demarcus
Love (Finance ’13), CBU business students and members
of Delta Sigma Pi, the professional business fraternity, began their
venture after being selected by the Seed Hatchery program
for innovators in early 2011. The first Choomogo
station has been deployed at Newby’s on Highland. Way to go, Abe
and Demarcus! Learn more at http://www.seedhatchery.com.
A group of students in Jennifer Weske’s Fraud
Examination (ACC385) class have entered a fraud competition. The team
is one of 230 teams competing nationwide. The fraud competition challenge
is through the AICPA (The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants).
The team name is The Fraud Squad and team members are: Lauren
Wright (Accounting '12) as team Captain, Tayannia Kerr
(Finance '12), Terri Alford (Finance '13), Catherine
DelBove (Accounting '14), and Jennifer Weske
serving as the Faculty Advisor. You can learn more about the competition
at the official
Web site. The winners will be flown to New York in the spring.
A team of CBU Business majors are participating in the Chartered
Financial Analyst (CFA) challenge which is conducted by the local
CFA chapter. For the challenge the team will analyze the Polaris company,
maker of snowmobiles and ATVs. The challenge includes a written report
and a presentation. Based on performance we hope to move on to the national
level. The team includes Tayannia Kerr (Finance ’12),
Robb Barham (Finance ’13), Terri Alford
(Finance ’13); the professional advisor is David Smith
from Delta Asset
Management; and the faculty advisor is Bjoern Claassen.
Accounting majors Mark Baricos (’02), Bryan Koch (’00) and John Drouillard (’96) have recently been promoted to Managing Directors with CBIZ MHM Thompson Dunavant.
Sandi Martin (MBA ’11) created a business plan
in the CMBA 608 Capstone Project class which is set to open its doors
later this summer. She was featured alongside her husband and business
partner in the Memphis Business Journal.
CBU Alumnus Ramon Marus (Accounting ’81) and
part-time accounting instructor, Michael Wood won the
Memphis Business Journal’s CFO of the Year awards in
the categories Private Company (More than $50 million annual revenue)
and Private Company (Under $50 million annual revenue) respectively.
Marus is also featured in the After Hours section.
Harnish Patel (Management ’04) moved back to
Mumbai, India, got married to a beautiful girl and is heading his father’s
construction company with projects related to irrigation infrastructure
like mini dams, canals, etc. Harnish wrote to Dr. Prien, “Thank
you for the wonderful education and experience while I was at CBU.”
Thank you, Harnish, for the kind words and keeping in touch!
Paul Posey (MBA ’10), Chief Operating Officer
(COO) of Sedgwick CMS, was featured in The Commercial Appeal
on June 16 in an article regarding Sedgwick
CMS’ successful growth and return on investments.
Agam Saigal (Marketing and Management ’08) was
offered a position as Regional Marketing Specialist at Subaru
of America. Agam now assists dealers with their digital marketing,
coordinates marketing events and analyzes Web data. Agam told us recently
that, “I've been a car enthusiast since I was a kid and always
wanted to work for Subaru, and here I am.” Congratulations, Agam!
James Allen (Sport Management) has recently received notification that his research article titled 'Examining Gender Differences in the Effect of Spectator Motivation on Sport Consumption Behaviors at Collegiate Wheelchair Basketball Games' has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Venue and Event Management.
Dan Brandon (MIS) served as Editor for the Mid-South
Conference of CCSC (Consortium for the Computing Sciences in Colleges)
for 2011, and he also presented a tutorial session on HTML5 at their
annual conference at the University of Central Arkansas in April 2011.
Brandon also attended the PMI PDD (Professinal Development Day) where
CBU's MBA Program and MEM program sponsored a booth to market those
programs to the 500+ attendees of that conference; Frank Marion
(Finance) and Glenda Jackson also attended for CBU.
Brandon also represented CBU at the annual Cyber Security Expo at the
University of Memphis and at the BankTech annual conference for the
strategic use of IT in the banking industry; this event is sponsored
by Saywers-Jacobs LLC along with Chris Kelley of the
Barret School of Banking.
Andrew Morgret (Accounting) assisted with the 66th
Overton Park Junior Open Golf Tournament by working as a Volunteer Marshall
each of the four days of the event (July 25 – 28). And, don't
let him fool you about it being "work," as he enjoyed every
minute of it!
Bevalee Vitali (Finance) spoke to the Tennessee Society
of CPAs in June. Her two hour presentation was titled: "When Two
Rights Make a Wrong: Ethical Decision Making for Leaders."
Jennifer Weske, Photographed by Vania Rogers (Accounting '14), while advising.
The CMBA program hosted two new cohorts of MBA students over the weekend of October 15-16 for their Orientation course. These new students will constitute two cohorts who will meet on Wednesday and Thursday nights during their respective programs. Continuing the trend established four years ago with the beginning of the CMBA program, these students set a higher standard for GPAs and improved test scores, despite the institution of a new GRE test format. The other notable aspect of these students is that both of the cohorts have a male/female ratio that is majority female. The CMBA program staff feels this as a continuing trend and will be adjusting their recruiting program accordingly. Given the academic qualifications and professional backgrounds of these students, we have high expectations for these two cohorts.
The program is now gearing up for recruitment for the March start. If
interested in attending a class or to sit down with Dr. Lawyer,
please contact Julie Hagar at jhagar@cbu.edu
or by phone at (901)321-3562.
Other highlights from the MBA Office include:
- In the CMBA 601 Business Ethics class, students are exposed to real
world right vs. right ethical dilemmas experienced by business leaders
in the Mid-South. Our Spring 2011 cohort heard from panelists David
Waters, Connie Lewis Lensing and Nancy
McGee. The two October 2011 cohorts heard from panelists:
Tom Duarte, Zach Cowell, Tanya Hart
(MBA, ’11), Nathan Walters (MBA,’09), and
Wendi Allan (MBA, ’11). Both sessions were moderated
by CBU President, Dr. John Smarrelli.
- This year, we began hosting GMAT and GRE Preparatory classes geared
for students ready to make the next step - toward their graduate degrees.
A total of three series aided 70+ students, many of whom decided to
pursue their MBA at CBU! Encourage your students to participate! If
the participant is a CMBA, MEM or MSEM prospective student, we’ll
waive the $300 fee. We will be offering the series again this fall!
- CBU and Thompson Dunavant have teamed up to present the Memphis Accounting
Excellence Seminar Series hosted by The ServiceMaster Company National
Training Center. These CPE training courses for accountants will take
place quarterly. The next seminar will focus on PCI Compliance and Corporate
Fraud.
- The CMBA team has been active in multiple functions of the Lipscomb
& Pitts Breakfast Club. Most recently, Dr. Scott Lawyer
and Hayley Isaac were guests of the LPBC Radio Show
on AM 990.
CBU School of Business through collaboration with FH Joanneum in Bad Gleichenberg, Austria, will be offering a new concentration beginning in the Fall of 2012. The Hospitality and Tourism Management concentration educates managers who can organize and implement touristic offers in the hospitality and leisure fields. CBU students completing the Hospitality and Tourism concentration will spend three months (October-December) studying at the partner university in Bad Gleichenberg which is located in the Spa Region of eastern Styria. This location is ideal because it is one of the leading tourist regions in Austria both in terms of quantity and quality and continues to achieve above-average growth rates in the tourism sector. Bad Gleichenberg has a long tradition as a spa resort and training center for the tourism and hotel industry. Courses in this new concentration include Foundations of Tourism, Foundations of Hospitality Management, Foundations of Event Management and Applied Project in Tourism. Contact James Allen for more information at jallen9@cbu.edu.
Delta Sigma Pi is a professional fraternity organized to foster the study of business in universities; to encourage scholarship, social activity, and the association of students for their mutual advancement by research and practice; to promote closer affiliation between the commercial world and students of commerce, and to further a higher standard of commercial ethics and culture and the civic and commercial welfare of the community.
Five members of the CBU chapter of Delta Sigma Pi attended their regional LEAD (Leadership and Excellence Academies for Deltasigs) School in Atlanta on October 29. They networked with other Deltasigs from around their region as well attended sessions to better their fraternal and business skills. Pictured above are Lauren Wright (Accounting '12), Daniela Gomez (Business Administration '12), Kenny Hooks (Business Administration), Faith Ferrell (Business Administration '12), and Patrick Ghant (Business Administration '14).
The Delta Sigma Pi office is located in Buckman Hall 332. For more information on Delta Sigma Pi, or to join the fraternity, please visit the official site for details or contact us directly at dsp@cbu.edu.
We have received a lot of information on the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants and they are excited to have CBU students interested and involved with the organization. The Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants is the state professional organization for certified public accountants that are principally employed or reside in Tennessee. The society’s membership is comprised of more than 8,000 members in industry, government, business, education and public accounting.
According to the TSCPA, "our student members receive discounts
on Becker CPA Exam review courses and ExamMatrix review software for
the CPA exam. We also offer TSCPA scholarships for accounting majors.
Since 1991, we've awarded more than $1 million to deserving students
across the state." All serious CBU Accounting students should consider
become student members of the TSCPA. This alone is worth five points
out of the 100 points used in the scholarship selection criteria. Learn
more by visiting the TSCPA’s
official Web site.
Web site: We are in the process of updating our official Web site and social media at the School of Business and would love to receive submissions, photographs, hear comments, suggestions, and ideas from our students, alumni and friends. You can contact us at business@cbu.edu.
Facebook: Thanks to everyone who liked our page on
Facebook! Thanks to you, we have now reached and exceeded our goal of
25 likes and were able to set a username, so you can find us on Facebook
at www.facebook.com/cbusob.We
often post paid internship opportunities, current news, and lots of
photographs to this group. Group members are welcome and encouraged
to post as well!
Another area of interest on the group page is our new “Featured
Business Student” photo albums with questions and answers about
current student’s experiences at CBU. We would really like to
feature our successful alumni as well, so please let us know if you
are interested in participating by sending an email to business@cbu.edu.
LinkedIn: This is a professional networking group for
future students, current students, alums and friends of the School of
Business at CBU. Join the LinkedIn group to catch up with your professional
contacts, favorite professors, check out job openings or post your own,
and more.
Financial Planning: Christian Brothers University's Certificate in Financial Planning (CFP) Program has been designed for professionals in the brokerage, insurance, accounting, banking and related industries. Whether you are new to the financial services industry or a seasoned financial service professional, this program is designed to be equally beneficial.
The Certificate in Financial Planning is a sequential six-course certificate
program that meets once a week, beginning at 5:30 p.m., and lasts until
9:05 p.m. Classes meet every Tuesday night (if you start in September)
or every Thursday night (if you start in January). Students can expect
to complete the program in 12 months. Once the program is successfully
completed students are eligible to sit for the exam with the CFP Board.
The 20th Financial Planning class starts January 26, 2012. For additional information on the Financial Planning program, call the School of Business at CBU at (901) 321-3315.
Project Management: The Graduate Certificate in Project
Management (GCPM) is designed for both newcomers who want to gain knowledge
and understanding of project management or for project management professionals
(PMPs) who want to enhance their skills in this area. Students will
find the Graduate Certificate in Project Management useful to enter
or reenter the job market, to change careers, or for advancement in
their chosen organization.
The full program can be completed in about 26 weeks (three eight- week courses, with one week breaks in between), or 17 weeks for individuals already holding the PMP certification. Each of the three courses is three academic credit hours. For individuals with the PMP certification, each course also delivers 45 PDUs.
Project Management Certification is administered through the MBA Program at CBU. Please contact the MBA Program at (901) 321-3562 for details.
Do you have a flair for the international? Study abroad!
Students can spend a semester in Barcelona, Spain, at BES LaSalle for a cost comparable to that of a regular semester at CBU; students' CBU scholarships, grants, state and federal aid can be used to finance this semester! All business courses are taught in English, and students stay in BES LaSalle-recommended housing close to campus. All application materials and VISA application must be submitted by November 30, 2011, for the upcoming Spring 2012 semester. Spring classes are February to June. Admission is open to all CBU students regardless of major.
Other semesters abroad, including similar Exchange Programs for Austria
and Ireland are available as well!
If you're not ready to commit to a whole semester yet, but still want
to indulge your international interests, join a short trip to either
Rome, Italy (Spring Break 2012), Paris, France (May 2012), or England
(June 2012).
All information, including itinerary, cost, application form, and scholarship
information can be found on the Study Abroad website www.cbu.edu/studyabroad/overview.html.
Hurry, as deposits have been extended for Rome and Paris, but are due
soon! Anyone seriously interested but unable to make the deadline should
contact studyabroad@cbu.edu.
Deltasigs Photographed by Carolina Mejia (Business Administration '14)