CB News : Archived News

CB Hires New Administrative Assistant (7/23/07)

We are pleased to announce the new Administrative Assistant in the College of Business Dean's office: RHONDA SCHMIDT. Rhonda emerged to the top candidate from a qualified pool of more than 40 applicants. She brings more than 20 years of managerial, financial, clerical and secretarial experience in private, public and educational settings. She comes to us from the College of Arts & Humanities as a Senior Secretary in the Dean's office. Previously, Rhonda worked at CWU in Student Financial Services and the Office of International Studies & Programs, as well as 10 years as the front office manager at Family Health Care in Ellensburg. Her career is marked by a strong work ethic, noteworthy experience and reputation for integrity and dedication.

Rhonda, a graduate of Ellensburg High School, lives in Ellensburg with her husband and family. She will start her new assignment in the College of Business on August 1. We extend our welcome and look forward to working with her.

CWU VITA Program Help Appreciated (5/21/07)

The College of Business Department of Accounting is pleased and proud to announce that the CWU Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program helped taxpayers in the local community file 340 income tax returns for 2006. Once again, Professor Fred McDonald, directed the heroic efforts of CWU accounting students: Chelsie Lou Taylor, Danielle Kay Lewis, Lindsey Anne Beddeson, Ian James Miller, Briana Lee Herrington, Ryan Hughes, Shan Lin Otto, Douglas D Quenzer, Anhthu T Nguyen, Xiaojun Li, Kendall Kristine Lund, Joshua James Breiling, Stacey J Rupert, Mai Van Thi Nguyen, and Micah McDaniels. Fred and these students deserve a hearty congratulations and heart-felt thanks for their efforts to assist taxpayers and enhance CWU's image in the local community.

CWU Marketing Club Nets National Recognition (4/18/07)

For the second year in a row, the CWU Marketing Club earned recognition from the American Marketing Association (AMA) as an "Outstanding Collegiate Chapter," a designation that distinguishes the club as one of the top 16 collegiate chapters in the nation. The club competes with over 200 active AMA collegiate chapters from all sizes of colleges and universities from across the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. AMA Judges rate chapters based on their annual plans and reports (which cover actual activities) in a number of areas including: professional development, community service, membership, fundraising, communications, and operations. Seven chapter members and their club advisor attended the 29th annual AMA International Collegiate Conference in New Orleans, March 29-31, where they received their recognition at the awards banquet, which closes the conference. Approximately 1,200 students from over 100 colleges and universities attended this year's conference where they heard a number of speakers and participated in professional development activities. Keynote speakers for this year's conference centered on social marketing and were from organizations such as the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, Whirlpool, and SYSCO. CWU conference attendees included: Geoffrey Hiltz, Club President; Amber Boehm, Club Executive Vice President; Caleb Ledford, Club Vice President for Community Service; Kendra Cheatley, Club Vice President for Membership; Andrea Loehndorf, Club Vice President for Promotion; Sean Hiltz, Club Member; Jennifer Kerkvliet, Club Member, and Dr. Rex Moody, faculty advisor.

Milner Accepts Associate Dean Position (4/16/07)

I am pleased to announce that DR. LAURA MILNER has accepted the offer as the College of Business Associate Dean. She received her BA in Psychology from the University of Georgia, an MS and PhD in Social Psychology from Kansas State University, and continued with Pre- and Post-doctoral coursework in the Department of Marketing at KSU. Laura went through rank (tenure and promotion) as an assistant, associate and full professor (1986-present) in marketing in the School of Management at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and served as Director or the MBA program at UAF (2003-present). We look forward to Laura joining us during the summer, an exact date to be determined. For additional background please link to her VITA.

Hodges Named as External Relations Officer (1/25/07)

Barbara Hodges, currently assistant to the provost at CWU, was selected for the CB External Relations Officer position, effective February 16.

The primary goal of this position is to build a sustainable development program for the long term. The process of building this program involves external relations (including alumni relations), event planning and execution, development activities, prospect management and major gift fundraising.

Barbara brings a deep understanding of university processes and a comprehensive knowledge of the College of Business. Barbara has a BA, cum laude, from Washington State University with a major in history and minor in economics. She later completed 17 credit hours in the MBA program at WSU. She also completed 20 credit hours of accounting courses at CWU, in addition to two years of Spanish.

Barbara has extensive experience dealing with stakeholders in higher education and has worked with a variety of external constituents. This includes working with executive, mid-level and technical auditing/accounting levels personnel as well as committees/tasks forces that include CWU alumni and Trustees. She has dealt with local, state, regional, national and international organizations.

Barbara possesses a strong skill set for the External Relations Officer position. She has significant writing and editing experience at the executive level involving a wide-range of reports, grants, and policy or planning documents. Her experience with external relations activities and events is extensive while she brings basic principles of fundraising and experience with fundraising activities. She has held officer positions on the Board of United Way of Kittitas County and has chaired or co-chaired five campaigns of the Washington State Employees Fund Drive at CWU. She has excellent organizational, communication and interpersonal skills developed in nearly 20 years of managing a variety of offices at CWU, including seven years at the executive level.

Dr. Hugh Spall Retires (1/16/07)

Dr. Spall earned his BA in economics from the University of Montana and PhD in economics from Michigan State University. He was hired as an assistant professor of economics in September 1975 and then promoted to associate professor in 1979. He left CWU to pursue a law degree and then returned in the mid-1980's as an adjunct instructor and practiced law. Hugh earned his Juris Doctorate from Maimi University Law School. He is a member of the Washington State Bar and of the Federal Bar Association while his other memberships include the American Law and Economics Association, and the Pacific Northwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business.

Hugh was rehired in 1991 as an associate professor of business administration, earned tenure in 1993 and then promoted to professor in 1994. Hugh taught primarily two courses: BUS 241 (Legal Environment of Business); and, BUS 341 (Advanced Business Law). More recently, he developed a teaching and research interest in MGT 384 (International Business). At various times in the past ten years, he served as program director and as department chair for business administration.

As a teacher-scholar, Hugh developed a consistently strong record of teaching and scholarly activity. He scored well on Student Evaluation of Instruction (SEOI). Students noted his: enthusiasm, use of examples and illustrations, efficient use of class time, and clear statement of student responsibilities and requirements.

Hugh was academically-qualified for our AACSB accreditation effort by virtue of his strong record of intellectual contributions that included 7 Category A publications and 2 Category B professional development activities. The versatility of his research is reflected in such publications as "Comparing Business Start-up Rules in Different Counties (with L. Szerb in Global Jurist Advances) and "A Comparison of the Incentives for Efficient Breach under United States and Hungarian Contract Law" (The Journal of Global Business Perspective). Hugh also completed a legal brief and appeared (on October 25, 2001) before the Washington Supreme Court in the case of State v. Cardenas where he discussed legal issues under the privacy clause of the Washington Constitution and Washington State Statutes. The brief, which is in the public record, was reviewed by the 7 judges of the Washington Supreme Court.

Hugh's honors include selection to teach at the University of Pecs in Hungary on a Fulbright Fellowship during the 2001-02 academic year. He has taught previously at the University of Pecs on the faculty exchange program through the CWU Office of International Studies & Programs. In 2003, Hugh received the highest award in Hungary, the Honoris Cause Award, for outstanding contributions by a professor.

Hugh's scholarly pursuits and teaching internationally have brought him attention and recognition while raising the visibility and image of CWU.

There are many ways that Hugh will be missed, particularly in the classroom. Students even like his jokes! Student comments on SEOI's are especially reviewing and speak for themselves: "He knows his stuff. He likes law." "Prof. Spall's lectures [were ] so enjoyable, animated that it was well worth getting early in the morning. I have never had a professor who can make lecture as fun as he did." "Awesome professor, he knows his stuff. Great sense of humor, I like the jokes."

Adjunct Faculty Member Passes (1/10/07)

Dean Roy Savoian sent the following, "I have sad news to report to the College of Business and the University community. JAY LAW, a Lecturer of Accounting at CWU-Lynnwood, passed away a short time ago. Jay was 49 years old and held a BS in business from SUNY-Albany and an MBA from the University of Alaska-Anchorage. Jay was hired by CWU in December 2002 to teach at CWU-Lynnwood. He taught several courses for us, including ACCT 305 (Cost Accounting) and ACCT 350 (Intermediate Accounting). Jay owned a consulting practice in Seattle where he provided management and technical assistance to small businesses, individuals and Alaskan fishermen. In his career, he served as a controller (mostly recently, at Larry's Market), city manager in Nikolai, Alaska and president of a wholesale and retail business operation (primarily sporting goods product). He also served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Alaska- Anchorage where he was nominated for the UAA Adjunct Faculty of the Year award in 1992 and in 1993. Among his publications, Jay authored the Instructor's Manual to accompany the 12th edition of COST ACCOUNTING (2006) by Horngren, Datar and Foster. Jay was student-centered and seemed to develop a good rapport with students, particularly the adult learner. He was noted for his accessibility and willingness to help students. I recall in my conversations with him a strong desire to reach-out to students and find ways of making accounting more understandable. He brought a practical approach from his business career that seemed to enhance the learning experience of students in the program. His advocacy for students was much appreciated and respected. We know that Jay will be missed by his students and colleagues."

Vautier Announces his Retirement (11/20/06)

Allen Vautier will retire at the end of the Fall 2006 quarter after 31 years on staff at CWU. Allen has been a long-time faculty member at CWU-Lynnwood. He is the senior-most CB faculty member in terms of service on the westside and the original accounting faculty member at the Center.

Allen earned a BA in accounting from UW and a JD from the UW law school. He also earned his CPA licensure in Washington state. His professional memberships include the Washington Society of CPAs and the Washington Bar Association. Allen taught courses in Income Tax Accounting, Advanced Business Law and Advanced Accounting as well as Intermediate Accounting and Accounting for Non-Profit Organizations.

Allen is noted for his teaching effectiveness and continuous effort in working with students. He has been instrumental in mentoring many students through their degree program, providing career couseling as students prepare for the workplace and advising graduates during their respective career development.

Dr. Savoian, Dean of the College of Business, adds, "As dean, I have encountered many alumni who have expressed there appreciation for having had Professor Vautier as a teacher, advisor, mentor and, in some cases, a friend. They speak fondly of their experience with him and recognize the benefit they received by pursuing their accounting degree at CWU-Lynnwood. Allen was one of the 'difference-makers!'" "I want to thank Allen for the excellence he brought to the classroom and to working with students. Over the years, Allen has made a significant difference to our students--and, for that, he will be missed."

Effective July 1, 2006, the Dept. of Business Administration will be separating into 2 separate and distinct departments, the Dept. of Management and the Dept. of Finance & OSC. Please continue to use the Business Administration Mail Stop 7485 until further notice. This will involve updates across campus with many offices/systems and we appreciate your patience through this essential transition in the College of Business. To see the allocation of faculty, please link to the CB Directory. At this time the Business Administration major with specializations will remain the same.

Business Beacon TV Program Debuts (5/31/06)

Dr. Roy Savoian has created a new TV program for the College of Business. The goal for the "Business Beacon" is two-fold: first, to examine economic development in the Kittitas County by focusing attention on the regional economy, the climate for business and government decisions, and the impact of regional businesses; and secondly, to shine a light on developments within the College of Business, including achievements of our students and faculty, and efforts to reach out to the greater community in Kittitas County.

The first program will air Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (June 2-4) at 7:30 p.m. on cable channel 15. It will feature the SHRM program (with Dr. Jim Nimnicht and CWU HR Student-of-the-Year, Kristine Foreman) and the regional labor market (with Don Meseck, Regional Economist, Labor Market and Economic Analysis (LMEA) Branch, Washington State Employment Security Department).

SHRM Teams Place at Regionals (5/24/06)

Teams from CWU placed third and sixth at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Pacific-West Regional HR Games, which were held in April at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu. The Pacific-West Region competition includes teams from schools in the region, which encompasses Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada and Wyoming.

Seniors Kristine Forman and Morgan Pang, and junior Becky Gubser were on CWU-Red, which placed third. The sixth-place CWU-Black team was comprised of seniors Liz Westermark, Sarah Dunkinson and Stephen Johnson.

The competition involved a series of game-show style matches between teams, of up to three undergraduate students, which answer questions in categories similar to what is found on the Professional in Human Resources certification exam, include management practices, selection and recruitment, training and development, compensation and benefits, employee/labor relations and health, safety and security.

The CWU squads qualified to compete at the regional level after finishing first and third at the state HR Games in March in Seattle. The society advisors are Dr. Jim Nimnicht and Dr. Ruth Lapsley.

VITA Program Prepared Record Number of Returns (5/10/06)

Professor Fred McDonald, VITA program advisor, reports that "this year the CWU VITA team completed 350 tax returns. This is a whopping increase from the 250 completed in 2005! The students who did all the returns handled the work load, the software, the odd hours and the stress with poise, efficiency, good humor, and dedication to accuracy and taxpayer service. It has been a pleasure in every way to have been associated with them. Central Washington University and its College of Business could not have asked for better ambassadors to the Campus and Ellensburg communities... Let's see, 350 tax returns, times the minimum H&R Block tax preparation fee of $60 (and plenty of the returns we completed were much more complicated than just a simple 1040-EZ) equals at least $21,000 that we saved the community in tax preparation fees alone. Special recognition to Kenton Barry, who did all of the e-filing for us this year." "Fred has served as the faculty supervisor for the past few years. He does a great job and I commend him for his continued effort. The VITA program provides an important service and raises our visibility and image in the community," states Dr. Roy Savoian, dean of the College of Business.

CWU Tax Team Places Third (2/17/06)

Once again Fred McDonald has taken CWU student teams to the UW Undergraduate Tax Competition in Seattle. During the first day of the two-day competition, teams were given a tax scenario and four hours to prepare a return based on it. A team of judges reviewed the returns and scored them, in part, on how well the teams document their thought process. The top four scoring teams continued to second-day competition, where they were given a second case study. However, for day two, they had to prepare a PowerPoint presentation and make a 35-minute presentation to mock clients.

The team consisting of Chelsea Taylor, Blair Miller, Virginia Cronin, and Renae Knibbe placed third (the UW team placed first this year). CWU had a total of three teams competing, with Kenton Barry, Katie Ballantyne, Nathan Scott, Paul Field, Jennifer Wyle, Joan Tan, Dalena Nguyen, and Eugene Kolesnikov split between the other two teams. (Notably, Dalena is the first and hopefully not the last, student from the Lynnwood campus, under the guidance of Professor Allen Vautier.)

APICS Educational and Research Foundation Announces Fogarty Student Paper Competition Recipients (1/30/06)

Enterprise resources planning projects, artificial intelligence, and radio frequency identification were the winning topics in the annual APICS Educational and Research (E&R) Foundation 2005 Donald W. Fogarty International Student Paper Competition. The recipients, graduate and undergraduate students, are honored for their research in the field of operations management. "The competition requires students, either individually or in teams, to research a topic in depth to learn more about the issues facing operations management professionals. Through these efforts, the E&R Foundation works to expand the thinking of the next generation of business professionals," said Rhonda Lummus, Ph.D., CFPIM, CIRM, president of the E&R Foundation Board of Directors. "It is important for the foundation to foster students' awareness of the practical application of operations management principles and encourage them to explore and develop knowledge of the field."

The 2005 winners are: Undergraduate First Place, Lucas Soltman and John S.L. Bennett, Central Washington University, Hospitals: Increased Efficiencies Using RFID, APICS Region 10. Undergraduate Second Place, John Blevins, Drew Bechstein, Adam Snyder, James Sunderhaus, and Amanda Szabo, Bowling Green State University, Buyer-Supplier Relationships, APICS Region 3. Soltman and Bennett wrote the paper as an assignment in Professor Bill Turnquist's OSC 435, Advanced Operations Management, class and then, with his assistance, submitted it to the APICS contest, along with several other students.

APICS The Association for Operations Management is the global leader and premier source of the body of knowledge in operations management, including production, inventory, supply chain, materials management, purchasing, and logistics. Since 1957, individuals and companies have relied on APICS for its superior training, internationally recognized certifications, comprehensive resources, and worldwide network of accomplished industry professionals. The APICS Educational and Research Foundation fosters education development in the field of operations management. By building working relationships between individual practitioners and academicians, the foundation is able to promote applied research to significant real-world industry issues. To learn more about the APICS community, visit www.apics.org

Denman Receives Alumni Association Award (10/17/05)

Ken Denman has been chosen for the 2005 College of Business Distinguished Alumni award. Mr. Denman holds a BA in Accounting and is currently President and CEO of iPass--a company that provides a broad array of enterprise connectivity technologies that meet the needs of large corporate customers with thousands of traveling and telecommuting employees, all which require secure access to their corporate networks, mission-critical applications, e-mail and the Internet.. The distinguished alumni award in each college is given by the CWU Alumni Association at its annual Alumni Banquet to be held at Homecoming on Friday, October 21, at 6:00 p.m. in Sue Dining Room. For more information about the banquet contact the CWU Alumni Association at (509) 963-2752. Information regarding past CB Distinguished Alumni is posted on our website.

Bayazit Receives Alumni Association Award (10/17/05)

Ozden Bayazit, Assistant Professor of Business Administration, was chosen as the 2005 College of Business "Excellence in Teaching" award recipient from the CWU Alumni Association. The criteria for the award includes excellence in teaching as demonstrated by student and peer evaluation, and success in advising and mentoring students. It is intended for a fulltime, tenure-track, junior faculty member with more than two and less than 6 years as a CWU faculty member. Dr. Bayazit will receive her award at the Alumni Association Reception at 12 noon, Friday, October 21 in the Grupe Center. The reception is free and open to the public.

Mack Presents Findings in England (9/1/05)

Dr. Richard MACK, Economics, presented a paper "Water Resource Allocation and Resulting Industry Mix in the Northwest of China" at the Regional Science Association International - British and Irish Section, Aug. 18, in Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, England.

CWU Featured At 'Association To Advance Colligiate Schools Of Business' Meeting (6/27/05)

Contact: Robert Lowery (509-963-1487/fax 509-963-2301/e-mail:loweryr@cwu.edu)

An advisory board of practitioners represents a potential strategic asset for an academic program. In Central Washington University's College of Business (CB), its advisory board serves as a bridge between the CB and the business world. These business professionals assist the college in many ways and link it to current developments in a variety of organizations across the regional economy."Our advisory board provides an important perspective on developments in business and provides us with useful feedback about advancing the work of the college of business," said Dr. Roy Savoian, CB dean. "Clearly, it is a key strategic asset to our students, faculty and staff."

Savoian and Dr. Linda-Clark-Santos, CB advisory board chairperson, made a presentation, titled "Building Purpose and Building Community," at a March seminar in Denver of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the International Association for Management Education. Savoian explained how to build an effective advisory board through recruitment of strong leadership and effective, diverse membership from executives in major companies and industries."The board can achieve its purpose through involvement in major initiatives such as fundraising, providing input on curricular changes and assisting with the accreditation process," Savoian noted.

Clark-Santos, the senior vice president for talent and organizational capability at Washington Mutual, pointed out the importance of a building a sense of community within the volunteer board through a variety of professional and social activities and meetings, networking opportunities and programs like a speakers' bureau.

AACSB is the primary accrediting agency for university-level business programs. The seminar was designed to assist business school administrators with creating and maintaining business advisory councils as strategic assets of the business school.

MCDONALD RECEIVES AWARD FOR SERVICE TO STUDENTS (6/1/05)

Professor Fred McDonald was presented with a service award from Department of Accounting Chair-elect, Dr. Ron Tidd, at the recent college end-of-year gathering. Professor McDonald was instrumental in the success of the Tax Team that placed 1st at the University of Washington Tax Competition, as well as serving as faculty advisor for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program which offers free tax return preparation for low-income clients.