2013 Mid Autumn Festival
Ambassador Paul W. Speltz ’69 ’72 MBA Engages Students During Visit to His Alma Mater
Ambassador Paul W. Speltz ’69 ’72 MBA, chairman and CEO of Global Strategic Associates, LLC, visited with UConn Business Connections Learning Community (BCLC) and Delta Sigma Pi (DSP) students on Tuesday, October 1 to discuss the importance of leveraging international experience in their undergraduate studies.
Speltz founded the Theta Iota Chapter of Delta Sigma Pi, a coed professional fraternity organized to foster the study of business in universities, at UConn in 1970.
Speltz, former U.S. Executive Director and Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, also made a formal address during his time on campus. His talk, “The Status of U.S. – China Geopolitical and Financial Relations: Global Impacts and Greater Asia Ramifications,” served as the basis for an engaged and lively discussion about U.S. – China relations at an event sponsored by the Office of Global Affairs, the Department of Political Science, and the Asian American Studies Institute.
Ambassador Speltz has served on the Board of Advisors for the UConn School of Business since 1998 and also serves as a member of the Dean’s Leadership Cabinet. He is a member of the Board of Directors of The Pacific Pension Institute (PPI) and concurrently also serves on their Membership Committee. Speltz is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Asia Foundation, The Asia Society, The Bretton Woods Committee, and the National Committee on United States – China Relations.
Pictured: Speltz with Delta Sigma Pi brothers and sisters.
EBV Program Welcomes Veterans for 2013 Bootcamp
Kicking off the annual week-long Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV), the UConn School of Business welcomed this year’s incoming class of veterans at a dinner reception on Friday evening, October 4.
Following a welcome from Michael Zacchea ’12 MBA, EBV program manager, keynote speaker Dawn Halfaker inspired the crowd by sharing her story. A decorated war hero and entrepreneur, Halfaker is a former Military Police Officer in the United States Army who commanded a military police platoon in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She was subsequently wounded during a combat patrol near Baghdad in 2004, earning a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for her service. Halfaker is now president and chief executive officer of Halfaker & Associates, LLC, an award winning professional services and technology solutions firm founded in 2006, and employs more than 100 people including a workforce of almost 50 veterans.
Entertainment for the evening was provided by UConn a-cappella group, Conn-Men.
About the EBV
In 2010, UConn’s School of Business was honored to become one of eight members of the EBV Consortium of business schools and universities. The EBV program offers cutting edge, experiential training in entrepreneurship and small business management to post-9/11 veterans with disabilities resulting from their service to our country.
The School of Business is proud to participate in this very special program that helps give back to individuals who have sacrificed for our country. EBV demonstrates the power of entrepreneurship in our communities by fostering an essential route for job creation and economic vitality.
To date, the UConn EBV has helped 42 veterans open 45 businesses, and to place another eight veterans in full-time jobs.
Pictured: Dawn Halfaker, Michael Zacchea, Justin Nash ’14 MBA, a 2012 EBV graduate and founder of Veteran Construction Services, and School of Business Dean John A. Elliott. (Photo courtesy of Lynn Luczkowski, L2 Communications)
Hundreds Join UConn for Women’s Entrepreneurship Event; Governor Declares “Women’s Entrepreneur Day”
On Friday, September 20, over 300 women entrepreneurs from around Connecticut gathered to attend the sold-out “Connecticut Celebrates Women Entrepreneurs” conference. Hosted by the UConn School of Business at UConn Stamford, the day featured networking opportunities, a business exhibit showcase, and a variety of educational and business-building workshops. Continue Reading
New Undergraduate Financial Management Major Introduced to Stamford Campus
The new undergraduate financial management major was introduced to the School of Business’ Stamford campus on Thursday, August 29. The first class includes 17 business students. The financial management major offered only at the UConn Stamford campus is specifically designed to prepare students for careers in corporate money management and investment. The curriculum is closely tied to professional financial services practice. It was developed in partnership with the Stamford Chartered Financial Analysts Society (SCFAS), and prepares students to take the first level of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exams which leads to the CFA designation. The unique program will include support from the society with mentoring and introductions to the various financial institutions in the tri-state area.
The first class will graduate in May 2014.
Pictured: The financial management students along with Professor Katherine Pancak, Professor John Knopf, Program Manager Marlys Rizzi, Executive Director for the School of Business at UConn Stamford Jud Saviskas, and Finance Department Head Chinmoy Ghosh.
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.
Business Law Faculty Takes Center Stage at Annual Conference
The Business Law Faculty in the School of Business participated in the 88th annual Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) conference, held in Boston, Massachusetts on August 6-10, 2013. The conference featured presentations, workshops, and panels, and hundreds of legal scholars from around the world gathered to discuss a variety of legal and pedagogical topics. Continue Reading