December 29, 2014
Providence Journal – “It was amazing,” says Steven D’Amico, referring to UConn’s Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV).
“You’re there for nine days, 18 hours a day, on your business. At the end of the time, you have to do a pitch.” D’Amico was one of 25 disabled veterans who attended the UConn EBV program (one of 8 nationwide) last October. He plans to use his business to help other injured veterans.
Hartford Courant – Officials have an opportunity “to make the tax system simple, more progressive, vastly less expensive – and you force everybody to be transparent at the same time,” said economist Fred V. Carstensen, who heads the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis at the University of Connecticut.
December 18, 2014
UConn was ranked #1 in the ranking of the Top 25 Online Masters in Accounting Degree Programs by Accounting Degree Review, an independent and objective resource for current and prospective accounting and finance students. See the full article and top 25 listing here.
This is a guest post by Arthur (Art) Schwartz ’54 (CLAS). Art is a retired UConn alumnus, class of ’54, who built a small, successful business producing trade shows, consumer events, as well as managing trade associations and publishing a regional trade magazine.
“As the owner of a small business, do you sometimes feel alone and isolated? I certainly did. With another small business owner and friend, we did something about it. ‘Second Thursday’ became the name of a group we formed to act as each other’s consultants and our board of directors.
We each agreed to recruit two or three other Small Business Entrepreneurs (SBE’s) and meet once a month for two hours over bagels and coffee. The initial purpose we proposed would be to discuss the common and unique problems each member encountered. Continue Reading
PwC’s Explore program is an opportunity for students interested in considering a business or accounting-related major to learn about careers in business and accounting at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Rachelle Joseph ’17 and William Moore ’18, have been selected to attend this one-day program comprised of interactive activities and training sessions aimed at developing teamwork, strategic thinking, creativity, problem-solving, and leadership skills. Students’ participation in the program will not only help cultivate these important characteristics, but also provide a great networking forum with other students and individuals from PwC.
The Explore program is an outstanding opportunity for talented freshmen and sophomores to learn more about the accounting profession and to discover their career goals and aspirations, all while having a lot of fun.
The program will be held on Saturday, January 24, 2015 at the PwC Boston offices. To learn more, please visit http://www.pwc.com/us/en/careers/campus/programs-events/explore.jhtml.
The SHRM Case Competition and Career Summit (formally the SHRM Regional Student Conference) has been revolutionized for 2015! This year’s event will bring students, student chapter advisors, faculty members and HR professionals together in a meaningful way. Whether you want the opportunity to hear from in-the-know keynote speakers, sit down with a local HR practitioner to get your individual workforce/professional questions answered, or compete in the coveted SHRM case competition, this event is sure to change your perspective on what it means to be a member of the HR community.
This conference will take place March 20-21, 2015 in Baltimore, MD.
Interested students should contact William Burk, President of UConn SHRM Chapter at uconnshrm@gmail.com
John Mathieu, a professor of management who is described as funny, kind, academically demanding and willing to ‘go the extra mile’ for his students, has earned the Edward C. Marth Mentorship Award for leadership and dedication.
The award, given to a UConn faculty member who teaches at the graduate level, is designed to encourage and reward outstanding mentoring of graduate students. Mathieu has been at the University since 1999 and is the Friar Chair in Leadership and Teams.
“It’s flattering to receive this award,” said Mathieu, who has chaired 19 dissertations and participated in 29 dissertation committees during his career. “It’s a privilege and an honor to get to work with Ph.D. students who are growing into scholars and then embarking on their careers.”
Sulin Ba, associate dean at the School of Business, said Mathieu is very deserving of the award. “His graduate students have been extremely successful. Both current and former students, and his faculty colleagues, testify to his commitment to his students and their careers,” she said. “His work is an inspiration to us all.”
Mathieu earned his bachelor’s in psychology from UConn, and both his masters in psychology and doctorate in industrial/organizational psychology from Old Dominion University. He taught at The Pennsylvania State University until 1999, when he joined the faculty at UConn.
“My experience is that the harder I work with graduate students, the harder they in turn work. It’s exhausting but exhilarating,” Mathieu said. “I find out where they are—and then I keep raising the bar. And they respond and do great things.”
Lauren D’Innocenzo, ’14 Ph.D., an assistant professor in management at Drexel University, described Mathieu as the epitome of an outstanding mentor.
“It is no coincidence that John Mathieu’s students present more papers at academic conferences, win more awards, and publish more papers in top-tier journal outlets,” she said. “John demands the best from his students, not only in publishing quality but in terms of professional demeanor and ethical responsibilities.”
M. Travis Maynard, ’07 Ph.D., an associate professor at Colorado State University and one of Mathieu’s former students, agreed. “I am constantly impressed with John’s passion for what he does as an academician. One of John’s greatest strengths is his predisposition to expect quite a bit from his students. The fact that John has such high expectations for us, makes us raise our performance, because we don’t want to let John down.”
David Souder, a management professor and Ph.D. coordinator, said Mathieu also sets the ‘gold standard’ for his faculty peers.
“Everyone knows that John’s seminars are demanding, and yet I often hear laughter coming from the seminar room,” Souder said. “This is because John has a gift for expressing high-level academic concepts in a down-to-earth way.
“John remains a popular choice as a dissertation-committee member because of his clear thinking, methodological expertise and developmental approach,” Souder said. He noted that all of the students advised by Mathieu in recent years have completed high-level publications during their time at UConn and have accepted positions at prominent research universities.
Meanwhile, Professor Gary Powell, former academic director of the School of Business Ph.D. Program, said that Mathieu has tried hard to reduce gender inequalities in the academic profession. He makes sure his students are aware of starting salaries in their fields and encourages them to demand a fair wage.
“I have the utmost admiration for how Professor Mathieu mentors doctoral students,” Powell said. “I cannot imagine anyone doing it better.”
Many of his former students paint a picture of a professor who is genuinely interested in their well-being.
“John genuinely cares about the success and happiness of his students,” added D’Innocenzo. “He is always looking out for opportunities, whether it is to learn a new skill, meet potential collaborators, or aide in finding an academic position.” He goes the extra mile to foster relationships with others in the field, she said.
Margaret Luciano, a 2015 Ph.D. candidate who has accepted a job at the Arizona State University, describes Mathieu as a tireless advocate for his students. “John mentors graduate students to be able to conduct their own research, not merely to help conduct his research,” she said.
Mathieu said one of his first goals when meeting a new student is to find an area of research that is most meaningful to him or her. He said he then looks for opportunities to pair people up on projects, adding that a network can be incredibly valuable in developing skills and career options.
“I must admit that one of the things that I am proudest of, is the fact that there is now a cadre of UConn graduates who help one another. They look out for one another, they collaborate with one another, and they share their networks and their insights,” he said, fondly referring to them as the “Husky Pack.” “I get great pleasure when colleagues from other institutions tell me how nice, professional and skilled my graduates are.”
Mathieu said he enjoys watching them transition to their own program and that it is like a parent watching their children go off into the world.
Maynard said he still contacts Mathieu for valuable advice.
“While it has been seven years since I graduated from UConn, John and I continue to work together and he still is a mentor for me in several ways,” Maynard said. “John is always quick to respond to any question that I may have—be it research-focused of simply career development advice.”
Mathieu said doctoral students have different needs than, for instance, undergrads. Many are juggling their doctoral work with marriage, children and mortgages. “They’ve got bigger life stresses than they did as undergraduates,” he said. “They have real lives and a lot of people depending on them. I feel it is important not only to support the student, but to help the entire person.”
In fact, instead of accepting the $4,000 stipend that comes with the award, Mathieu has requested it be put in a special fund to help doctoral students with expenses related to their studies.
“These adults are going through many of life’s challenges and critical periods—and they are stressed,’ Mathieu said. “And they, in turn, are going to soon be in positions where they influence many other lives. My goal is to also help them to become compassionate and good human beings, not just researchers and classroom teachers.”
D’Innocenzo said she has adopted some of her former professor’s style.
“As a new faculty member, I only hope that I am able to provide the same mentorship for my students as he has done for me,” she said.
December 17, 2014
The distinct chill in the air tells us it’s that time of year again. As classes come to an end, study areas crowd with students preparing for this week’s finals.
As the year closes, it’s a pleasure to look back at the many accomplishments of our students, academically and beyond. These accomplishments would not be possible without the daily efforts of faculty, staff and students who create and maintain a great environment for learning and growth. Thank you.
Take a moment to watch “Decking the Halls,” featuring President Herbst, Provost Mun Choi, some of our coaches, Jonathan the Husky, and many more, as we celebrate this festive season.
Wishing you and yours happy holidays.
John A. Elliott
Dean
Not only did UConn senior Rebecca Frutos win two awards at the 11th Annual UConn CIBER Case Challenge, but she ended the competition with a network of new friends across the globe.
“It was such a good experience,” she said. “All of us came at this project with completely different perspectives. We played off everyone’s strengths and knowledge, and that made our presentation even better.”Continue Reading
When Steve Graf, and dozens of fellow volunteers, traveled to Ghana to help the sick, they brought 35 suitcases of medications and provision—and an endless supply of good intentions.
After a week of triaging patients, and distributing medications, Graf and his colleagues made a startling discovery. Many of the patients weren’t recovering, and some were consuming medications too quickly.
Some adults were doubling up on blood-pressure medications. Children were guzzling liquid acetaminophen from the bottle. And, compounding the problem, many of the patients were illiterate. Sometimes parents would leave the clinic with as many as 20 different prescriptions for their four children, leading to endless confusion.
Everyone on the medical mission was frustrated with the situation, but Graf just couldn’t let it go.
“I thought, ‘This is a terrible thing. I don’t understand how this could be,'” he said. Graf, now a UConn senior majoring in healthcare management, thought about the problem often after he returned from the trip in May of 2013.
How do you give clear and memorable instructions to someone who can’t read? The clinic had tried using illustrations, showing a sun or a moon, but that didn’t seem to work.
“We approach problems given our education and training,” Graf said. “Because we learned to read at age 6, we absorb information visually. Illiterate folks do not. Their traditional learning is verbal.”
Graf thought if the prescribing physician could give medical instructions using an inexpensive recording device, like the one found in a musical greeting card, patients would be able to more easily follow dosing instructions.
He mentioned that concept one day in front of friend Charles Fayal, now a UConn senior majoring in molecular cellular biology and biomedical engineering.
“The moment I heard the idea, I got pretty excited because I instantly knew how beneficial the prescription device could be—and how simple the idea is,” said Fayal, a Stonington native. “It’s funny how somebody else’s excitement spreads, because when I got excited about his idea, Steve got more excited. After that moment we knew we had to pursue this journey.”
After a great deal of research, experimentation and cost analysis, Graf and Fayal have found an inexpensive recording module, manufactured by a Chinese company, that they will be using as their first prototype. The “Parrot Device,” as they’ve nicknamed it, will allow a medical expert to record up to 60 seconds of medical instructions. The casing could be color-coded to match the medications, and both would be placed together in a travel bag.
Neither Graf not Fayal is looking for profit—or even much recognition. A successful solution, they both said, would be rewarding enough.
“We’re hoping this will save lives. That means everything to Charles and me,” said Graf, of Westport, who is the president of the UConn chapter of Global Brigades, a student-led organization that provides medical, public health, clean water and environmental relief trips to countries such as Ghana, Panama, Nicaragua and Honduras.
Graf and Fayal presented their idea at the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) annual meeting in San Antonio recently. It was well-received there, as it has been by physicians who are familiar with the challenges of working in third-world nations.
The biggest challenge for the two entrepreneurs has been keeping the price reasonable. Right now it is about $2 per device, and with a large order can probably be dropped to $1. Graf said he would like to try to get the price even lower. The cost of AIDS or blood-pressure medications can be several dollars per day, Graf said. The cost to resolve damage done by consuming prescriptions too quickly—or slowly—can be several times that, he said. The cost-versus-benefit of the Parrot Device is the focus that Graf and Fayal need to persuade organizations interested in their project.
Graf got his start-up funds for the project by winning a Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation pitch competition last year, which gave him $1,000 in seed money for the sound modules and plastic mold for the casing. He and Fayal are now seeking funding for a January trip to Haiti to test the device with patients.
“Haiti is somewhat of a make-or-break trip for us,” said Graf. “We hope to test our prototypes. Our main questions are, ‘Will the patients use the device as intended? Will the community adopt it? Will the patients benefit from it?'”
Beyond the initial concept, Graf and Fayal envision additional uses, such as education in infectious disease areas, such as Ebola-plagued villages. Prevention might become an even greater tool than treatment, they said.
Next semester Graf will take an entrepreneurship class and plans to write a business plan focused on the device. Graf and Fayal are hoping a large charitable organization will adopt the cause and fund the project.
“It has been a journey bringing this device to fruition,” Fayal said. “Some days we’ll realize that we have a mound of work in front of us, or a major obstacle to tackle regarding manufacturing or approval.
“On these days we get bummed out, but we know we have to power through because when we get to talk to somebody who has been to a place where this device is useful, it makes it all worthwhile. These people, whether they grew up in an impoverished area or worked in one, will get excited about the idea,” he said. “Just like when Steven first told me about the idea, we get excited about it all over again.”