The second annual Connecticut Risk Management Conference will be hosted by the UConn School of Business at the Stamford Marriott in Stamford, Connecticut on November 14, 2013. This year’s conference, Aligning Risk Management with Strategy, has been designed to bring together professionals engaged in risk management, senior management, and regulators, as well as faculty members and students in UConn’s MS in Financial Risk Management (MSFRM)* program. Continue Reading
Graduate Programs
Student/Alumni Networking Event Marks the Start of a New Academic Year
The start of a new semester is an excellent time to strengthen connections and welcome in new students. That is just what happened at The Society Room on August 22 in downtown Hartford, as the UConn School of Business community welcomed in new students entering into the MBA, Master of Science in Financial Risk Management (MSFRM), and Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBAPM). Continue Reading
Doctoral Student Awarded as Promising Young Educator
Management doctoral student Nicole Jones received the Promising Young Educator Award at the Ph.D. Project Management Doctoral Students Association Conference, held August 7-9, 2013.
A peer and self-nominated award, the Promising Young Educator Award is given annually to the Ph.D. Project Management Doctoral Student Association (MDSA) member who has demonstrated teaching excellence during the current academic year. Jones, a third-year doctoral student, received an exceptional teaching rating. Students’ evaluation of teaching gave her a 5.0 of 5.0 in both the MBA course, Gender & Diversity, and undergraduate course, Organizational Behavior. Teaching evaluations are considered in the nomination process among other criteria including a statement of teaching philosophy, teaching role and scope of responsibilities, number of courses, number of students, student population, teaching awards received, and class syllabus.
Jones also recently passed the General Exam, a major milestone in the School of Business doctoral program. She is active in Ph.D. minority recruitment and in other Ph.D. initiatives such as the Planning Committee for the U21 Doctoral Research Conference in Business (DRCB), which was hosted by the UConn School of Business April 10-13, 2012.
The Ph.D. Project’s expansive network helps African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and Native Americans attain their business Ph.D., become business professors, and mentor the next generation. School of Business Dean John A. Elliott, then at the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College, was one of the inaugural inductees into the Ph.D. Project Hall of Fame in 2011.
Sulin Ba Named Associate Dean of Academic and Research Support
The UConn School of Business is pleased to announce that Professor Sulin Ba has accepted the new position of associate dean of academic and research support in the Dean’s Office of the School of Business, effective September 6, 2013. Ba joined the UConn faculty in 2002 as an associate professor in the Department of Operations and Information Management (OPIM) after beginning her career at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (USC). She was promoted to full professor in 2011.
Professor Ba holds a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. She has a distinguished research record and works on health IT, various issues around online behavior, and on internal market mechanisms. Several of her papers have been recognized by best paper awards including Best IS Publication of the Year (2010) and MIS Quarterly Best Paper of the Year (2000). She was recently awarded the School of Business Research Excellence Award for her nationally and internationally recognized scholarship and long term impact on UConn research. She is the co-principal investigator (co-PI) on two National Natural Science Foundation of China research grants.
Ba has extensive international experience including associations with Fudan University, Universitat Mannheim, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and City University of Hong Kong. She has been active with the Connecticut Information Technology Institute (CITI) and Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) at the School of Business and has been involved in experiential learning for the last eight years. Recently, Ba led a team of Management Information Systems (MIS) students in developing a Microsoft SQL Server based Enforcement and Examination Tracking System for the Consumer Credit Division of the Connecticut Department of Banking. Her corporate engagements have included many Connecticut companies, nonprofits, and government organizations.
UConn EMBA in China 2013
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
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MBA Students Engage with News Corp. in Market Research Project for Mobile App
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.
Dean’s 2013 Pre-doctoral Fellowship
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
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
Students “Make Data Tell a Story” in MSBAPM Capstone Course
Analyze…Manage…Communicate… Analyze an industrial size dataset, manage the project risk and time commitment, present and “sell” your results to all the stakeholders. This was the theme of the capstone course in the MS in Business Analytics and Project Management (MSBAPM) program, taught by Sudip Bhattacharjee, Mark Tschiegg, and Michael Vandusen from January – April 2013. The final student presentations were held on Monday, April 22 at the Graduate Business Learning Center (GBLC) in downtown Hartford.Continue Reading
Business Briefs and Accolades (Spring 2013)
This article first appeared in the UConn Business magazine, Volume 3, Issue 2 (Spring 2013)
Innovation for Business Growth in Fairfield County
Over 110 UConn Alumni and business leaders from the greater Stamford, Connecticut area gathered at the “Innovation for Business Growth in Fairfield County” event at the Stamford Learning Accelerator. The event, hosted by the UConn School of Business and The Business Council of Fairfield, Connecticut, featured a panel discussion on topics such as new business growth in Connecticut and why companies are relocating to Fairfield County. Continue Reading