May 2007
Volume 2, Issue 4
Don Robinson (MQM) is retiring after 35 years of dedicated service to the College of Business. Don's
teaching responsibilities have included statistics, management science, and quantitative methods. During his career Robinson's research interests focused on mathematical programming, distribution planning, scheduling, forecasting, and statistical analysis. He has published articles on statistical analysis and the use of management science models for decision-making problems in national and international academic journals, including Management Science, Communications in Statistics: Simulation and Computation, International Journal of Mathematics and Mathematical Sciences, and International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology.
Don has served as a consultant for major companies in the areas of distributions planning, conference scheduling, production scheduling, and statistical analysis. He also reviews manuscripts submitted to Decision Sciences. Robinson earned his B.B.A. and M.B.A from the University of Texas at Austin, and his
D.B.A. from Louisiana State University.
Carson Varner (FIL) was appointed as a trustee of the COUNTRY Mutual Funds Trust. The funds have been in existence over 30 years and are part of COUNTRY and the Illinois Agricultural Association. He presented "Developments in the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993” at the annual meeting of the Midwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business in Chicago.
A paper co-authored by Masoud Hemmasi (MQM) and M.B.A. student Carol Csanda has been accepted for presentation at the 5th International Conference in Management in July, in Athens, Greece. “The Effectiveness of Communities of Practice: An Empirical Study”, is based on a project Csanda completed for MQM 497. Carol works in the Strategic Resources area at State Farm.
Glenn Bailey (BTE) recently attended the Organization Systems Research Association/Federation of Business Disciplines Conference in San Diego. He presented research findings on strategies for preparing for high stakes examinations which are required in teacher education. His findings included study suggestions and resources recommended by students who successfully completed the exams and study resources provided by faculty of introductory business courses in the ISU College of Business.
Linda Miles (FIL) received the Beta Gamma Sigma “Professor of the Year Award” at Illinois State University.
Mike Williams (MKT) has been named this year's Caterpillar Faculty Scholar.
Katrin Varner (FIL) been accepted for a faculty internship at United Family Hospital in Beijing, the only foreign full-service hospital in China. she will work with their VP and Director of Human Resources focusing primarily on employment and insurance issues as they relate to the expatriate community in China.
Glenn Bailey (BTE) and Margaret Erthal (BTE) recently published an article in the Delta Pi Epsilon Journal. The article entitled "Keyboarding and Speech Recognition: Current Status and Future Direction," discusses the amount of voice input instruction which was reported in the K--University educational institutions in Illinois compared with the amount of keyboarding instruction in those same institutions. The pair also attended the National Business Education Association Conference in New York City and presented findings from their research study on professional development practices of business educators. The research focused on involvement in professional organizations and graduate courses as well as other activities reported for professional development by business education teachers in K--12 schools in Illinois.
Nancy Baldoni, academic advisor for Finance, Insurance and Business Teacher’s Education majors was a co-recipient of this year’s Illinois State University Team Excellence Award. The recognition stemmed from her contributions in developing and hosting a state-wide conference in the spring of 2006 for advisors and career specialists, “It’s Not Just a Major, It’s a Mission”.
Diane Skidmore, academic advisor for Accounting and Business Information Systems majors was nominated by the Accounting Department for the 2007 “Herb Sanders Award for Outstanding Academic Advisement”. The award recognizes Illinois State University advisors who demonstrate a caring attitude for students, who are assertive in their contacts with students and who support campus wide academic advisement.
Mark Baker (MQM) was recently elected Vice President of Publications for the Chicago Chapter of the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals (SOCAP). He is tasked interested in any research or thoughts colleagues might have regarding the Call Center Industry.
Keith Jones (ACC) presented “Blended-Learning in a Graduate Accounting Course: Student Satisfaction and Course Design Issues” at the American Accounting Association’s Midwest Region Meeting in St. Louis. A separate, but related paper, was recently published in The Journal of Educators Online (January 2007, Volume 4). That paper was entitled “Blended Learning versus Traditional Classroom Settings: Assessing Effectiveness and Student Perceptions in an MBA Accounting Course”.
Jerri Beggs (MKT) won the Best Paper Award for “Using Seamless Integration to Teach Ethics” at the Marketing Management Association Annual Conference in Chicago. Beggs co-authored “Legislated Ethics or Ethics Education: Faculty Views in the Post-Enron Era” with Kathy Lund Dean. The paper was published in the Journal of Business Ethics 71(1):15-37.
Richard MacMinn (FIL) is involved in the planning and organizing of the Third International Longevity Risk and Capital Market Solutions Symposium to be held in Taipei on July 20th and 21st. He recently made a presentation on “Managing Catastrophic Risk” at the Katie Symposium.
The MBA Association selected Joe Trefzger (FIL) as this year's Outstanding MBA Professor.
Edgar Norton (FIL), a CFA charterholder, will spend two weeks in Charlottesville VA this summer serving CFA Institute as a senior grader on the essay portion of the CFA Level III exam.
Doug Micklich (MQM) presented a paper entitled “The Thinking Steps Model in Game Theory: A Qualitative Approach to Following the Rules” at the annual meeting of the Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning in San Antonio.
2007-2008 Bone Scholars
Being designated a Bone Scholar is the highest honor an Illinois State undergraduate student can receive. The scholarships were established to honor former Illinois State University President Robert G. Bone. Bone Scholars receive commemorative medallions, substantial cash awards and have their names engraved on a metal plaque displayed permanently in the Bone Student Center. Honorees have achieved academic excellence and demonstrate on-going campus and community engagement. This year the College of Business is proud to claim four such students:
Amanda Hansen (MKT/COM)
Steven Harms (ACC)
Elizabeth Heeren (FIL)
Audrey Karrick (ACC)
Caterpillar Student Scholars
Six outstanding College of Business students were awarded $1000 scholarships through the Caterpillar Excellence Fund. The honorees were selected from a field of 41 applicants who met the academic requirements and submitted an essay on how their performance inside and outside the classroom exemplified the characteristics of "excellence" and"leadership". Congratulations to:
Ashley Brewer (ACC/MPA)
Ryan Cullen (ACC)
Elizabeth Heeren (FIL)
Audrey Karrick (ACC/MPA)
Laura Meade (FIL)
Matt Weber (FIL)
Beta Gamma Sigma
The first $1000 Beta Gamma Sigma scholarship was awarded this year. The recipient is Elizabeth Heeren, a junior majoring in Finance and Insurance. She was also selected as a 2007/2008 Bone Scholar. Beta Gamma Sigma supports a matching scholarship program for chapters that achieve Premier and Exemplary levels each year. Chapters that have a membership acceptance rate of 85% qualify as a Premier chapter and those with a 70% acceptance rate qualify as an exemplary chapter.
In 2006 the Illinois State chapter qualified for the first time as an exemplary chapter. Norris Porter is proud to announce that we achieved a 71% acceptance rate for 2007 and will for the second straight year qualify as an exemplary chapter and participate in the matching scholarship program. Eighty-one out of 114 students accepted membership. A Beta Gamma Sigma Key Monument added to the COB Courtyard provides a visible presence of our commitment to academic excellence. A complete listing of inductees and COB faculty who are members of Beta Gamma Sigma will be posted on the College of Business website this summer.
Sandra Reese '80, who graduated summa cum laude in accounting from ISU, was the special guest speaker for the initiation ceremony. As the founding partner of Reese Partners, she combines practical global perspectives with more than 20 years of experience in executing business improvement and financial strategy. Under her direction and leadership, Reese Partners plays a pivotal role in developing and implementing cross-border business strategies between North American-based enterprises and companies based in India and China. Ms. Reese's extensive work-related travel, research, and experience throughout Asia has resulted in an integrated network of business, financial, and government relationships that provide and facilitate market opportunities for Reese Partners clients.
Jack North Leadership Award
The Jack North Student Leadership Award was created last year to honor Jack North, Senior Executive Vice President at State Farm Insurance. Mr. North served on the College of Business Advisory Council and as chairperson for the first Illinois State University Capital Campaign that raised $96 million for the University. He is a dedicated servant leader and supports this award to honor an outstanding student who shows potential as a future business and civic leader. The amount of the award is $1000. The recipient will also represent the graduating class by providing opening remarks at the May Commencement Ceremony. The 2007 recepient is Taren Windish.
Connie Krug Student Service Award
This award is named for Connie Krug, who devoted herself to the personal and professional development of business students and served as the first advisor to the College of Business Executive Council until her retirement in 2000. It is given to a student who exhibits outstanding qualities in his/her activities within the College of Business. This year's recipient is Thomas Turner from the College of Business Toastmasters. He received a $300 financial award, a certificate, and his name will displayed on a permanent plaque in the College of Business.
COB Departmental and Program Scholarships
This spring 232 scholarships were awarded in the College of Business, totaling $162,850. Students have enjoyed recognition for their achievements at departmental and program awards banquets. Information on the 2006-2007 honorees will be posted on the College of Business Website this summer.
AMA Wins Recognition
Faculty advisor Jim Cox (MKT) announced that the Illinois State University Student Chapter of the American Marketing Association has been named the Gerald Koetting Collegiate Chapter of the Year for 2007. This regional award is sponsored by the American Marketing Association of St. Louis. The ISU chapter has received the Koetting award three previous times in 2001, 2003, and in 2005. Brent Kane was also recognized as ISU-AMA's outstanding marketing student. Later in the spring ISU-AMA received an outstanding chapter award at the international leadership conference recently held in New Orleans.
SHRM Earns Chapter Merit Award
SHRM’s review of all 2006 - 2007 Student Chapter Merit Award entries has been completed. The Illinois State University SHRM Student Chapter has earned the Superior Merit Award, with a total of 2295 points. Chapters earning 3,000 points or more will also be recognized as the 2006 - 2007 Top Ten Student Chapters at the SHRM Annual Student Conference on June 23 in Las Vegas, Nevada. We received 118 entries this year from our more than 400 student chapters. Your entire chapter should be very proud of this accomplishment. Jim Jawahar(MQM) serves as the group's faculty advisor.