Department News

Articles about activities within the academic departments

Travelers EDGE Scholars Identify Growth Opportunities for Local Organization

Posted on by Claire Hall

Travelers EDGE Scholars Begum Abadin ’15, Kurtis Adei ’14, Janice Tate ’14 and Andrea Llivichuzhca ’14 recently presented a marketing strategy to the New England Air Museum (NEAM) as part of the Travelers EDGE Venture project for 2013. Travelers EDGE (Empowering Dreams for Graduation and Employment) works to help underrepresented students attain college degrees, as well as a competitive edge when entering the job market.

EDGE Venture, a semester-long marketing consulting course at the UConn School of Business, gave these students an invaluable opportunity to work with NEAM on a real world challenge. The students’ task was to complete a marketing strategy for NEAM, with an overall goal to collect useful data that the organization would be able to use to help grow their business.

The students conducted surveys, created focus groups, and developed innovative marketing strategies to best position NEAM for the future. They had to work together as a team to figure out how they could market NEAM to the public as a great place to take family or friends, which in return would increase the amount of business NEAM would gain. Professor Christopher Levesque, Director of the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CCEI) taught the course and was the entrepreneurial expert that worked with the students. Travelers executives and a NEAM representative provided additional insight and project guidance.

The students presented their strategy at Travelers’ Corporate Office in Hartford, Connecticut to an audience of Travelers representatives, NEAM representatives, special guests, and Travelers representatives from Minnesota via satellite.

MIS Students Develop Tracking System for Connecticut Department of Banking

Posted on by Claire Hall

This semester, a team of Management Information Systems (MIS) students, as part of their capstone course taught by Professor Sulin Ba, developed a Microsoft SQL Server based Enforcement and Examination Tracking System for the Consumer Credit Division of the Connecticut Department of Banking. Despite the complexity of the project, the students were able to provide a system solution that the Consumer Credit Division staff can incorporate and use.

The course, Systems Analysis and Design, was designed to cover system development methodologies for business information systems and explore project management concepts, hardware and software technology, and organizational considerations.

“This real-world system development experience is immensely beneficial to our MIS students,” says Ba, a professor in the School of Business Operations and Information Management (OPIM) department. “It is also in line with the Next Generation Connecticut initiative and its focus on STEM. I hope we’ll be able to bring more such opportunities to the School of Business in the future!”

Professor Ba received a personalized letter of thanks from Connecticut Banking Commissioner Howard F. Pitkin for her role in advising the students with the project.

Accounting Graduate Accepted to Yale School of Management Global Pre-MBA Leadership Program

Posted on by Claire Hall

Kimberly Foster ’13, a recent graduate of the UConn School of Business accounting program has been accepted to the prestigious Yale School of Management Global Pre-MBA Leadership Program—a highly selective, two-week summer program aimed at college sophomores, juniors, seniors, and recent college graduates from populations typically underrepresented in management education.

This emphasis on leadership flows from the mission of the School of Management: to educate leaders for business and society. When students know how to inspire people, as well as manage capital, materials and ideas, they can become a more potent agent of change. The program will consist of learning business management skills, leadership knowledge, developing career inspiration, job search training and business school application guidance.

Whether or not attendees decide to pursue an MBA – at Yale or elsewhere – the Yale School of Management Pre-MBA Leadership Program will not only develop their practical knowledge of business and management, but also inspire attendees to develop and draw upon their leadership abilities in order to make a positive impact – in their personal and professional endeavors, and in the life of their community.

Kim is the former president of the UConn chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) and was recently honored as “Outstanding Student Member” by the NABA Greater Hartford Professional Chapter. Beginning this summer, Kim will be working full-time for Ernst and Young.

Congratulations Kim!

Marketing Students Develop Advertising and Promotional Campaign for 2013 Honda Civic

Posted on by Claire Hall

In an Integrated Marketing Communications (MKTG 3265) course this semester, a team of students—named the “Blueprint Integrated Marketing Team”—engaged with EdVentures, Inc. to develop an advertising and promotional campaign for the 2013 Honda Civic sedan.

As one of twenty university teams around the country, the Blueprint Integrated Marketing Team branded their campaign, Honda Push-Play. On April 9, the team featured three 2013 Civics on Fairfield Way with opportunities for students to experience the car and participate in games and giveaways. UConn students’ awareness of the Honda Civic and interest in purchasing the car increased significantly as a consequence of the team’s social media campaign and on-campus promotion. As the team made their final presentation on April 30 to representatives from Honda’s local advertising firm, EdVentures, and Manchester Honda, they were excited at having had the opportunity to work on a real project for a top automotive brand.

2013 Honda Push-Play Related Links:

YouTube
The Hartford Courant
Mansfield Patch

UConn NABA Inaugural Awards and Recognition Reception

Posted on by Claire Hall

On Tuesday, April 23, the UConn chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) held their inaugural awards and recognition reception at the School of Business to recognize the organization’s achievements this year, welcome the 2013-2014 Executive Board, acknowledge the summer internships and full-time positions of the members, and most importantly to thank the corporate sponsors for their wonderful support this academic year.

The event was well attended by students, faculty, staff, as well as the Vice Provost for Diversity, Dr. Jeffrey Ogbar. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of awards to the following corporations: Travelers, IBM, Ernst & Young, PwC, Deloitte, CohnReznick, General Electric, KPMG, and McGladrey. The chapter also thanked INROADS and the NABA Professional Chapter for their continuous support of the members.

Three special awards were given for the following categories:

  • Faculty Advisor of the Year – Dr. Mohamed Hussein
  • President’s Award for Outstanding Alumni Support of the Chapter – Troy Woolery ’12
  • Top Recruiter – Ernst & Young

The chapter was also very proud to announce 100% job placement of the graduating seniors.

Lastly, the 2013-2014 Executive Board for the UConn NABA chapter was welcomed:

Co-presidents

Daniella Loma ’14
O’Rayne Clarke ’14

Vice President

Christina Headley ’14

Chief Financial Officer

Danielle Wellington ’15

Secretary

Frankie Richardson ’14

Membership Outreach Chair

Rachel Gavin ’14

Social Media Co-Chairs

Shanice Rountree ’16
Shantaye Taylor ’16

Digital Media Symposium: Innovative Collaborations

Posted on by Claire Hall

Representatives from business, creative, digital humanities/social sciences and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines gathered in the Rome Ballroom on Thursday, April 4th for a day full of exciting updates from the new Department of Digital Media and Design. UConn President Susan Herbst welcomed over 100 attendees, introducing digital media as an “umbrella discipline” with the areas it affects being limitless. Tim Hunter, Director & Department Head for the recently established Digital Media Center, further emphasized the symposium’s goal to raise awareness of current digital media projects and to stimulate new collaboration between disciplines. He also touched upon theory versus practice, citing digital media’s relevance to multiple industries and functions including business and entertainment, marketing, advertising, branding, entrepreneurship and social media.

Specialized presentation sessions were held for each of the four topic areas: business, creative, digital humanities/social sciences, and STEM.

Specialized Session for Business

The business session featured William Congdon ’75, Popular Mechanics magazine; Maureen Croteau, The Day newspaper in New London, Connecticut; and ING Global Professor in marketing Nicholas Lurie. A lively roundtable discussion moderated by Christopher Levesque ’87, Director of the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CCEI) included Richard Guha, President of Synerscope Inc. (North America) and Mark B. Hatch, CEO of mBlast, Inc.

Digital media has paved the way for an enhanced user experience, according to Congdon and Croteau who presented the challenges and many changes their companies faced with the advent of digital media in the print magazine and newspaper industries. They also shared how digital media has changed the reader experience with the launch of news and magazine websites, iPad apps, video, interactive media, social media and contests.

The business roundtable discussion focused on “digital media and entrepreneurial trends,” including Facebook and Twitter, the increasing need for technology and software to analyze and visualize “big data,” and how consumers are influenced to choose some brands over others.

Marketing Professor Nick Lurie closed the business session by presenting findings of research on the perceived value of consumer-generated content, the differences in perception of negative versus positive reviews, and the role of temporal contiguity as it influences value perception.

Future Digital Media Collaborations

Provost Mun Choi joined the enthusiastic crowd for an open networking hour during which attendees discussed ideas and opportunities for future digital media collaborations.

The rapidly growing Department of Digital Media and Design recently welcomed digital media specialists Perry Harovas and Samantha Olschan to the UConn faculty. In addition, two new undergraduate majors jointly sponsored by the schools of business, fine arts, and engineering will be offered starting this fall at the Storrs and Stamford campuses.

Those who missed the symposium can catch up on Twitter using #UConnDMD

Katherine Pancak named among Inman News’ Top 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders

Posted on by Claire Hall

Inman News, a national real estate news service, has named Katherine Pancak, professor in residence of finance and real estate at the University of Connecticut in Stamford, among its 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders for 2013. The ‘Top 100’ list “recognizes those who embody leadership, ingenuity, strength, conviction, power, persistence, perseverance and progress—their voices and actions can move the industry toward change.”

Professor Pancak conducts research on real estate brokerage, real estate agency, and consumer protection and public policy. Her research on real estate law topics has been published in the Journal of Real Estate Research, the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, the Real Estate Law Journal, and the Boston College Environmental Law Review. Pancak has also developed pre-licensing and continuing education course materials for real estate licensees.

Other influential real estate leaders named among the Inman 100 include the Vice President and Chief Economist of Fannie Mae, the Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the National Association of REALTORS®, the Chief Economist of Zillow and the newly appointed Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

» Read more about Dr. Katherine Pancak

» Read the full Inman 100 report, “100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders”

» Learn about the University of Connecticut School of Business Center for Real Estate and Urban Economic Studies

4th Annual Cornell Real Estate Competition

Posted on by Claire Hall

On November 15, 2012, a team of undergraduates from the University of Connecticut School of Business placed among the top three universities in the Fourth Annual Cornell Real Estate Case Study Competition in New York City.

Fifteen of the best international undergraduate real estate programs were represented as they vied for the top spot. Teams were judged on their approach, analysis and presentation skills in solving a real estate investment case based on a real-world transaction. The UConn team, which consisted of Michael Hovey ’13, Brian Kaukas ’13, Mallika Winsor ’13, TJ Mills ’12, Frances Gibbons ’14 and Austin Smyth ’15, received the case on Saturday, November 10th and worked endlessly to come up with the best solution. The team made their presentation on November 15th to a panel of prominent industry judges. The UConn team won their group and advanced to the final round where they presented to all participating schools and judges. Among the other final round teams (University of Pennsylvania and Indiana University), UConn was the only team to recommend the actual course of action taken in the real-life transaction down a few percentage points.

Other schools to participate in the case study included first place winner, University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School of Business, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Cornell University, Indiana University, Maastricht University, New York University, Pennsylvania State University, Renmin University of China, University of Cambridge, University of Guelph, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, University of Wisconsin at Madison and Villanova University.

Finance Society Visits Morgan Stanley, Gets Inside View of Wall Street

Posted on by Claire Hall

In the early hours of Friday morning, October 26, 2012, eighteen members of the School of Business Finance Society embarked upon a trip into Manhattan to meet with Dan Toscano ’87, Managing Director and Co-Head of Global Leveraged and Acquisition Finance at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Toscano and his team hosted a Teach-In on Global Capital Markets for the business students. While learning about the inner workings of one of the leading global financial service firms in the world, the students followed up a question/answer session with a trip to the trading floor of Morgan Stanley’s world headquarters in New York.

During the afternoon hours, following a brief visit to the 9/11 Memorial Site, the students traveled to Wall Street to participate in the Wall Street Financial Crisis Tour which offered an insider’s view of the most significant financial event since the Great Depression. Also in attendance at the day’s events were Jim Lowe, Executive Director of the School of Business Career Center (SBCC) and Kathy Hendrickson, Program Manager of the SBCC.

Center for Real Estate and Urban Economic Studies Releases Real Estate Markets Update

Posted on by Claire Hall

The Center for Real Estate and Urban Economic Studies at the University of Connecticut School of Business has released its latest update on Connecticut Real Estate Markets.

Connecticut housing markets showed significant signs of improvement according to preliminary numbers for the third quarter of 2012. In a typical town and metropolitan area, prices in the third quarter were virtually unchanged from a year ago. Moreover the number of transactions was up by more than 20%, confirming a pattern of increases.

For more information, access the report here: “CT House Prices 2012 3rd Quarter”