CTCPA Mourns Loss of Past President, UConn Instructor Michael R. Redemske

October 15, 2014

CTCPA Past President Michael R. Redemske of Avon passed away Saturday, July 26 at his home. Born in Chicago, IL, he was raised in Chicago and received his B.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his M.S.T. from DePaul University. Michael served in the 107th Finance Battalion of the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. After the war he became a CPA and joined Price Waterhouse where he worked for more than 25 years, eventually becoming a managing tax partner. He then joined the faculty at the University of Connecticut (UConn) School of Business, teaching tax accounting.

Michael served the CTCPA as president, president-elect, treasurer, and secretary, and as a member of the Board of Governors.  He served as chair of the committees on Bylaws, Annual Service Award, Executive Education Review, Membership, Nominating, Uniform Accountancy Act, and Governmental Affairs.

“Mike’s leadership at the Society was critical in helping the organization negotiate challenging times,” said CTCPA Executive Director Art Renner. “Mike was both an agent for change and a pragmatist at the same time. Simply stated, he was an accomplished professional. I enjoyed knowing him as well as working with him.  I will always think of Mike as an ally and a friend.”

As an instructor-in-residence at UConn, Michael oversaw student work on the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.

“Mike always volunteered for tasks beyond the requirements of his job,” said UConn School of Business Professor of Accounting and Department Head Dr. Mohamed Hussein. “He developed a one-credit tax course to be the foundation of our VITA program, which he advised. The quality of [the UConn VITA] work is so high that the IRS sent an executive to observe how the work is done so as to share those practices with other schools.”

Michael also took over the leadership of a project funded by the Department of Higher Education to develop a distance learning course on financial literacy. “Mike worked with a unit of CPTV and faculty from several departments to develop a course accessible to young people,” Hussein explained. “His wise counsel and calm demeanor helped us improve our undergraduate and M.S. in accounting programs. More importantly, he is a great friend who lightened any setting with his warm smile and funny anecdotes.”

“Mike made UConn his passion after retirement from Price Waterhouse,” said CTCPA Past President Dr. Lawrence Gramling, associate dean for undergraduate programs at the UConn School of Business.  “He supervised a number of honors theses for students who were interested in tax as a topic and inspired many young students to become tax academics.”

“During my six-year tenure at Deloitte, every single tax student who we brought on from UConn had attributed choosing tax based on how much they enjoyed Professor Redemske’s class,” explained former student Frank Murphy, who is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Arizona.  “If it were not for him, I might have not been exposed to tax research and taken the path I’m currently on.”

In his free time, Michael enjoyed playing golf, reading, cheering on his grandchildren in their sporting activities, and taking long road trips with his wife Mary Jo. Contributions in his memory may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675.

Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Sustainability in Business

The UConn Chapter of Net Impact and the Honors in Business Association are co-sponsoring an informational program titled, “Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Sustainability in Business,” at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Dodd Center’s Konover Auditorium.

The panel discussion will be of great interest to students who envision merging their careers with their passion for social improvement. Continue Reading

School of Business Perspectives

October 9, 2014

Student, Alumni, Faculty Life at UConn Business

Life at UConn’s School of Business is about more than learning; more than teaching; more than gaining knowledge and a degree. It’s about Experience. Community. Lifelong Relationships. It’s about life in the real world and actually experiencing business challenges in order to learn. It’s about making an impact.

Which is why we’re introducing this blog: to take you behind the scenes, to show you life in the day of a student, what our faculty do in their spare time, why we’re proud to be Huskies, and how we give back to our communities, our students, our alumni, and the world. Continue Reading

Bloomberg Online Training Program

bloomberg-terminal-training

For those who came out to the Bloomberg Training Session, below is additional information about completing the Bloomberg Certification.

The Bloomberg Certification (BESS) is a training portal that helps students like yourself learn core Bloomberg functionality and key market fundamentals. The training process includes three phases: training videos, exams and acknowledgments.

To get started:

1. Login to the Bloomberg Terminal using your own login name and password (If you do not have a login yet, see “Creating a Bloomberg Login”).

2. Type the Bloomberg mnemonic “BESS” followed by <GO> into the command line located in the upper right corner.

3. You should now be at the Bloomberg screen titled “Training Videos.” Follow the Bloomberg steps provided above or on your terminal screen in order to complete the training program.

For a more detailed description of how to login please click the following link: Bloomberg Creating Your Own Login

 

School of Business Awarded $1.1M CIBER Grant To Focus on Manufacturing & Global Opportunities

October 7, 2014

The University of Connecticut School of Business has been awarded a four-year U.S. Department of Education CIBER grant in excess of $1.1 million, to produce a series of programs and partnerships that center around manufacturing.

CIBER

The CIBER—Center for International Business Education and Research—award comes following an extremely competitive application process in which only half of applicants had their awards renewed.Continue Reading

7th Annual Undergraduate Networking Skills Forum


Undergraduate Skills ForumThe 7th Annual School of Business Undergraduate Networking Skills Forum on Sept. 24 gave freshmen from the University’s Business Connections Learning Community (BCLC) the opportunity to meet and mingle with Connecticut business leaders, many of them UConn alumni.

Some 40 business people spent time encouraging the 87 freshmen, and sharing career advice, insight and suggestions about how to make a good first impression.

“Our alumni said they were very impressed,” said Fran Graham, manager of alumni relations for the School of Business. “They also commented that the students didn’t appear to be nervous, and that they were surprised that incoming freshmen could be so poised.”

“This is my second year attending this event and it is one of my favorites,” said Kirstin Ferreira ’12, a business analyst at Cigna. “I am heavily involved in the UConn Recruiting team for Cigna’s Technology Early Career Development Program (TECDP). I think it is incredibly important to teach these kinds of skills as early as possible, as I know the impact of a first impression.

“I got to where I am with the support of UConn’s Career Services department, and I want to do what I can to continue to help students find opportunities,” said Ferreira. “I was so impressed with the students, from their sharp attire to their career aspirations.”

Alyssa Kafka ’11, a business and technology senior analyst at Accenture, agreed.

“I come to the undergraduate networking forum because I know how intimidating it is to speak with professionals,” she said. “At any stage of your career, there’s always going to be someone more senior than you. And the more practice you have, the more comfortable and prepared you will be to speak to them. It’s my job as an alumna to help UConn business students find success and best represent our school. After all, I’m proud to call myself a Husky and I want them to be too!”

Among the pointers that the mentors offered included: encouraging students to make eye contact, present a firm handshake, wear comfortable shoes and, in some cases, be a bit less formal, Graham said.

—photos by Aileen Tobin