Author: Claire Hall

Accounting Department Summer 2013 Newsletter Now Available

Posted on by Claire Hall

The Summer 2013 Accounting Department Newsletter is now available. There are many accomplishments by our students, faculty and alumni reported on the pages of this issue of the Newsletter. To highlight a few of these accomplishments, Emily Finn ’13 coordinated the VITA Program, which prepared 573 non-citizen tax returns. Emily and Kristina Allen ’09, ’13 MSA were selected as 2013 Hall of Fame Student Fellows. Annie Jensen ’13 was selected by the University Women’s Center as the School of Business recipient of the 2013 Outstanding Woman Academic Achievement Award. Congratulations to Ph.D. students Danielle Higgins and Li Qu for finishing their studies and best wishes for their faculty careers, Danielle at Baruch College and Li at Florida Atlantic University.

Congratulations to faculty members Sarah Rice and Dave Weber on their promotion to associate professors with tenure. Welcome to our new colleagues, Paul Glotzer and Arthur Schmeiser. Paul and Art bring a wealth of experience after distinguished service in the profession, Paul with the FASB and Shein, Cohen, Palmer & Company, LLC and Art as senior partner with Deloitte. In addition, we hope to add several tenure track faculty over the next two years.

» Access the Summer 2013 Accounting Department Newsletter (PDF)

In this issue:

  • Accountant of the Year
  • Annual Honors Banquet
  • New Advisory Council Members
  • Experiential Learning
  • Student Spotlight: Annie Jensen
  • Ph.D. Spotlight
  • 2013 Hall of Fame
  • Alumni Spotlights: Kimberly Foster, Pat Notti, and Scott Cowen
  • Alumni News & Notes
  • Faculty Accomplishments

Read the full newsletter here.

UConn Real Estate to Present at International Conference on Residential Housing Policy in China

Posted on by Claire Hall

The UConn Center for Real Estate and Urban Economic Studies is playing a key role in the International Conference on Residential Housing Policy in China, taking place at the end of July in Shenzhen. The conference will focus on housing policies and systems in China after twenty years of reform in their housing market system. The UConn Real Estate Center co-sponsored the conference together with the Shenzhen Real Estate Research Center and the Real Estate Research Institute at Tsinghua University.

Two UConn professors are among five guests from the United States invited to make presentations to an audience of Chinese scholars and government administrators. Professor and Center Director John Glascock will be discussing housing markets development and Professor Katherine Pancak will be discussing real estate law issues. The additional U.S. speakers asked to share their expertise in housing policy are Professor Robert Edelstein from the University of California-Berkeley, Dr. Alex Schwartz, author of “Housing Policy in the United States,” and Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac.

UConn EMBA in China 2013

Posted on by Claire Hall

Eighteen Executive MBA (EMBA) students from the UConn School of Business recently visited China as part of their Global Business Issues class.

Led by Professor Robin Coulter, EMBA academic director and Ackerman scholar, the group spent ten days in Beijing, the second largest city in China. They engaged with in-country business executives across multiple industries, becoming better versed in global business challenges and gaining first-hand experience in the dynamics of international business management.

Experiential learning is an important part of the UConn EMBA, which strives to develop truly global managers and thought leaders. For more than twenty years, the international study trip has enabled participants to experience firsthand how concepts and theories learned in the classroom are applied in the global arena.

Beijing is a modern metropolis full of vitality, together with a history of over 3,000 years. In addition to corporate visits, students were able to experience several historical wonders including the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall of China.

Trip Highlights

U.S. Embassy – EMBA students had the opportunity to meet with Andrew Billard, a Commercial Officer working for the U.S. Commercial Service in China. Billard talked with students about doing business in China and how the Commercial Service helps bring American goods and services to China. (Pictured: UConn EMBAs visiting the U.S. Embassy in China)

Great Wall – EMBA students had the chance to visit one of the greatest wonders of the world. The Great Wall winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus. With a history of more than 2000 years, it is still one of the most appealing attractions all around the world owing to its architectural grandeur and historical significance. »See photo

To view more photos from the trip, please visit us on Facebook.

Finance Department Professor Awarded GARP Grant

Posted on by Claire Hall

Assistant Professor Chanatip Kitwiwattanachai, Finance Department, UConn School of Business, has received funding from the 2013 GARP (Global Association of Risk Professionals) Risk Management Research Program for the project, “Learning Network Structure of Financial Institutions from CDS Data.” Grants are given under the condition that the paper contains new and original work. The project is one of six selected out of 56 proposals for an award of $15,000.

Projects were selected for funding in 2013 by a research committee of risk management practitioners, academicians, and researchers chaired by Professor René Stulz of The Ohio State University. According to GARP, the research committee seeks to provide funding for:

  • projects offering unique approaches and insights into problems of significance to risk management professionals;
  • projects of particular relevance to current global financial risk management issues and needs; and
  • projects with significant potential for bridging the gap between theory and practice.

Kitwiwattanachai’s project attempts to use techniques from artificial intelligence to extract network structure from credit derivatives such as CDS (credit default swaps). The project will shed light on how banks are connected in the system which will have implications on policy making such as the “too-interconnected-to-fail” problem.

MBA Students Engage with News Corp. in Market Research Project for Mobile App

Posted on by Claire Hall

This past spring semester, a team of four MBAs and one Financial Risk Management student at the School of Business’ Stamford Learning Accelerator (SLA) completed a marketing research project for Connecticut-based News America Marketing, a division of News Corporation. The project was designed to assess the customer experience for a new mobile app developed by the company for grocery store consumers across the United States. What made the project particularly unique was that a member of the client team was current UConn School of Business Part-time MBA student Taylor Witt ’05, ’14 MBA, who is Director, Mobile Systems at the company.

The UConn team created three surveys deployed by News Corp. to unique target markets. The surveys’ response rate averaged over 7%, when the industry norm is much lower. In addition, the team ran two hour-long consumer focus groups held at the SLA over a two week period. The team not only recruited the focus group participants according to specific demographics, but one of the team members served as a moderator while other members acted as observers, answered participant questions and took notes.

Brian Brady, Director of the Stamford Learning Accelerator, was the faculty mentor on the project with assistance from Joseph Sweet ’10 JD/MBA, who previously worked at the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CCEI). Student team members included: Archit Patel ’13 MBA, Tiffany Betz ’14 MBA, Siddhartha Sharan ’13 MBA, Danilo Komljenovic ’13 MBA, and Youzhuo (Aaron) Liang ’13 MSFRM.

Pictured from left to right: Pat McDonnell, Mobile Technical Specialist, News America Marketing; Jeff Caron, Digital Analyst, News America Marketing; Ray Moran, Vice President, Technology, News America Marketing; Dawn McCaffrey, Vice President, Applications, News America Marketing; Taylor Witt ’05, ’14 MBA, Director, Mobile Systems, News America Marketing; Andy Grussi, Project Manager, News America Marketing; Brian Brady, Director of the Stamford Learning Accelerator and Faculty Mentor, UConn School of Business; Tiffany Betz ’14 MBA, Team Member, UConn School of Business; Siddhartha Sharan ’13 MBA, Team Member, UConn School of Business; Archit Patel ’13 MBA, Team Member, UConn School of Business; Danilo Komljenovic ’13 MBA, Team Member, UConn School of Business; Joseph Sweet ’10 JD/MBA, Project Associate, UConn School of Business; Youzhuo (Aaron) Liang ’13 MSFRM, Team Member, UConn School of Business; Bill Christie, Executive Vice President, CIO, News America Marketing.

Marketing Department Professors Awarded MSI Research Grants

Posted on by Claire Hall

Professors Hongju Liu, Nicholas Lurie and Joseph Pancras, Marketing Department, UConn School of Business, have received research awards from the Marketing Science Institute (MSI) competition, “Mobile Platforms, Location-Based Services, and their Impact on Customers.” MSI received 35 proposals and funded only six, including two featuring UConn faculty. Please join us in congratulating the following scholars who have earned this honor:

  • Nicholas H. Lurie, Sam Ransbotham, and Hongju Liu: “Going Mobile: The Characteristics and Influence of Mobile Word of Mouth” received an $11,800 award.
  • Joseph Pancras, Rajukumar Venkatesan, and Bin Li: “Returns from Customizing Mobile Loyalty Programs: Spatial and Temporal Aspects” received a $13,000 award.

The competition was sponsored by MSI to stimulate research that contributes new insights to marketing practice. According to MSI, “There is widespread expectation that while mobile devices currently absorb a small part of marketing spending, they have game-changing implications for marketing in the future. This research competition [was] intended to provoke exploration of these implications.”

Pictured left to right: Hongju Liu, Nicholas Lurie and Joseph Pancras

22nd Annual Connecticut Commercial Real Estate Conference

Posted on by Claire Hall

On May 9, 2013, the UConn School of Business Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics hosted its 22nd Annual Connecticut Commercial Real Estate Conference at the Hartford Marriott Farmington. The conference this year was sponsored by The Center for Real Estate, CT Chapter of the Appraisal Institute, Connecticut Association of REALTORS, Inc., The Connecticut Attorney’s Title Insurance Company, and The Simon Konover Company.

The notable speakers this year included Steven Lanza, executive editor of The Connecticut Economy, who spoke about the economic forecast in the commercial real estate industry. A panel discussion ensued where UConn Center for Real Estate Director John Glascock and Peter M. Gioia of The Connecticut Business and Industry Association discussed the state of the economy and Connecticut Economic Development. Speaker Brad Hutensky, chairman of the International Council of Shopping Centers, gave a presentation on the global realty market and how it is currently expanding, and speaker Dags Chen of Cornerstone Research presented his findings on the Hartford and Stamford office markets.

For more information on the annual Connecticut Commercial Real Estate Conference, click here.

Dean’s 2013 Pre-doctoral Fellowship

Posted on by Claire Hall

We are pleased to announce the recipients of the Dean’s 2013 Pre-doctoral Fellowship. This is the first time such an award has been made at the UConn School of Business.

Dean’s 2013 Pre-doctoral Fellowship Awards:

Accounting – Erin Henry, Elizabeth Kohl
Finance – Tingyu Zhou
Management – Margaret Luciano, Lauren D’Innocenzo
Marketing – Jeffrey Carlson
OPIM – Mark Schneider, Gang Wang

Please join us in congratulating these students, who have demonstrated extraordinary achievement in research and/or teaching.

Ph.D. Student Scholar Awards 2013

Posted on by Claire Hall

We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2013 Departmental Outstanding Ph.D. Student Scholar Awards. The following doctoral students have demonstrated outstanding scholarly performance, regardless of stage in the UConn School of Business doctoral program:Continue Reading

Rajendra S. Shirolé Appointed New Director for the UConn Full-time MBA Program

Posted on by Claire Hall

After a global search we are pleased to announce that Rajendra Shirolé will be joining UConn on July 1, 2013 as the Director of the Full-time MBA Program. Rajendra has most recently been Director of the Kent MBA Program at the Kent Business School in Canterbury, UK.

In his Kent MBA Director role, which he has held since 2008, Rajendra has instituted innovative opportunities in cross-cultural research, teaching and learning, including ‘live’ case studies and engagement in corporate consulting for MBA students. He designed a policy and practice focused study program supported by EU based policy makers and global corporations including HSBC, Delphi, Cummins and Schlumberger. He passionately believes that MBA program content should facilitate learning in a creative environment focused on a global perspective, grounded in practical application, embedded with an approach to management decision making which incorporates issues such as managing resource scarcity and sustainability.

Rajendra’s career has spanned academia and industry in multiple disciplines, including management, software development, infrastructure design and international service delivery. His research interests are in IT outsourcing and he is currently working on a research project entitled, “The emerging role of hinterland networks in IT outsourcing service delivery – a vendor perspective.” Recently he has completed a highly commended project for the Kent County Council exploring the effective use of mobile technologies in remote working. As a consultant he has worked with global organizations in facilitating partner relationships and post-merger integration support. He has also directed substantial infrastructure projects in Eastern Europe, financed by the European Union. He has also been a visiting professor in corporate strategy at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

Rajendra is looking forward to leading the UConn MBA Program and working with colleagues to engage students to be dynamic, creative problem solvers and supporting them to find efficient ways of turning complex challenges into robust opportunities for sustainable competitive advantage. His experience and perspective will be a substantial asset to us as we evaluate and move forward on changes to our MBA Program.