Life at CB : Current News

Long-Time CB Supporter and Alumnus Dies (6/2/08)

"MILT KUOLT, a College of Business Distinguished Alumnus (2002), passed away after a month-long illness. He was one of a kind! Milt earned the nickname "The Grinder" and was known as a person of intense passion, integrity, loyalty and generosity. I saw him a week ago and it was clear that he had not lost his sense of humor. He expressed a continued interest in developments with the College of Business and CWU. He will be missed." (Roy Savoian, Dean, College of Business)

Milton G. Kuolt II, was born in 1927 – the son of Lutheran missionary parents. He went to work for The Boeing Company after graduation from CWU with a B.A. in Economics (1951). He started by sweeping floors and progressed to his final position as business planning manager for the 737 aircraft program. He then became one of the Pacific Northwest’s most well-know entrepreneurs when he founded Thousand Trails (a private membership campground chain) and O.M.T. (More More Time), Incorporated, a destination resort company. With the inaugural flight on September 1, 1981, he founded regional air carrier Horizon Airlines and served as President/CEO until Horizon Airlines was sold to Alaska Air Group in 1987. Mr. Kuolt was awarded the CWU distinguished alumnus award in 1984. In 1988, he made one of the largest donations to his alma mater when he established an endowed faculty professorship that bears his name in the College of Business.

Milt was the recipient of the College of Business 2002 Distinguished Alumnus award. In November 2002, he was honored at the 21st Annual Pathfinders Award Ceremony at the Museum of Flight. The Pathfinders Award honors contributions of Northwest pioneers in aviation and aerospace. Milt, the founder of Horizon Air, was recognized along with Apollo astronaut Dick Gordon.

Nimnicht--SHRM Advisor of the Year (5/30/08)

James Nimnicht, human resource management, was named the 2008 SHRM Foundation Faculty Advisor of the Year. As winner of the prestigious national award, based upon student nominations, he will receive a $1,000 educational stipend. Nimnicht will be honored June 21 in Chicago during the Society for Human Resource Management's 60th Annual Conference and Exposition. Advisors from all university chapters of SHRM, which number about 450 around the world, are eligible for the competition. Nimnicht is now a two-time winner of the award, which he also received in 2002. More than 20,000 human resources professionals are expected to participate in this year's conference. In addition to Nimnicht, the two CWU students who nominated him for the award, Mike MITCHUSSON and Bjorn BONHOLZER , will be among those in attendance.

Central HR Team Earns Trip To Nationals (4/21/08) by Teri Olin, CWU

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Three student teams from Central Washington University took home top honors at this year's 26th Annual Northwest Human Resource Management Association (NHRMA) Student Conference and HR Games in Portland, Ore. Central students competed against 14 teams from five other universities in a Jeopardy-style competition that tested their knowledge of human resources. Teams from Central, made up of members of the CWU chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), placed first, second and fourth in the competition. Members of the first place team earned an all expense paid trip to Chicago in June to compete at the national HR Games finals.

"I am thrilled to say that our 2008 HR students have continued the winning tradition that CWU has enjoyed from the inception of HR Games' competition," says Dr. James Nimnicht, CWU professor of management and faculty advisor for Central's SHRM. "If anything, they have elevated the bar for others in the northwest and have established themselves as soon-to-be HR professionals with demonstrated knowledge of the profession."

Central sent a total of four teams to the regional conference. The team consisting of students Michael Mitchusson (Poulsbo, Wash.), Bjorn Bonholzer (Poulsbo, Wash.) and Byron Strang (Ellensburg, Wash.) took first place. Second place went to the team made up of Allison Zertuche (Seattle, Wash.), Cynthia Campbell (Tacoma, Wash.) and Kirsten Hillis (East Wenatchee, Wash.). Leon Wrobleweski (Kent, Wash.), MaryPat Casey (Richland, Wash.) and Mallorie Stubbs (Tacoma, Wash.) took the fourth place spot.

Founded in 1948, SHRM is the world's largest association dedicated to human resource management. It has more than 225,000 individual members worldwide, and 575 affiliated professional and student chapters within the U.S.

CB Student Assistant Named CWU Student Employee of the Year (4/10/08)

College of Business employee, Ravae Rossmaier, was selected as CWU, Student Employee of the Year. Ravae will graduate with honors this spring with a BS Business Administration and BA in Psychology. She works in the Office of the Dean and serves not only students and faculty in Ellensburg, but many of our Center students helping to process all Applications to Major and responding to advising inquiries from students and faculty. The nomination has been forwarded to the Washington State Association of Student Employment Administrators Student Employee of the Year Liaison for submission into the WSASEA 2008 Student Employee of the Year Competition.

Some of the comments regarding Ravae’s outstanding qualities include :

• “Ravae is a very reliable student with a strong work ethic. She has proven to a valuable resource to the CB Pre-Major Advising Center.”
• “She exercises great discernment and has an approachable attitude. Her intuitive nature, impeccable communication skills, and ability to problem-solve allows her to provide the right advice, to the right student at the right time. This makes her a respected and highly sought peer advisor.”
• “Ravae was instrumental to develop and implement our first group orientation and advising sessions. These forty minute sessions have now been adopted by our college and are a critical and essential tool used to transition students into our program and onward to successful graduation.”
• “As I reflect on the experience with the annual Economic Outlook Conference, I relied on [Ravae] to single-handedly run a conference by herself. This speaks volumes about my confidence in Ravae and her reliability, initiative, quality of work, disposition/attitude, adaptability, and uniqueness of contribution, not to mention her time management skills and willingness to rise to the occasion.”
• “Ravae has been extraordinarily competent in all tasks assigned. I have the highest regard for Ravae.”
  

Please join us in congratulating Ravae Rossmaier on her selection as CWU Student Employee of the Year!

Dr. Holtfreter invited to Write Fraud Column (3/31/08)

Robert HOLTFRETER, accounting, has been invited to write a column for Fraud, the journal of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), which has 44,000 members worldwide. The column will focus on fraud issues related to identity theft. Holtfreter, who serves on the editorial boards of Fraud and the Journal of Forensic Accounting, has published numerous articles on identity theft and debit/credit fraud. He was the keynote speaker for a recent internal auditor fraud conference and was one of fifteen individuals worldwide invited to speak at the annual White Collar Crime Summit, sponsored by the FBI and Department of Justice. He was selected for the ACFE "Outstanding Achievement in Accounting" award in 2005 and "Instructor of the Year" award in 2006.

Tax Students Compete at UW (1/31/08) On January 17, 2008, four Central Washington University students participated in the 9th University of Washington Undergraduate tax Competition in Seattle. Pictured are Orion Mark, Brian Hayes, Lindsay Wood, and Zack Howe. The students were supervised by Professor Fred McDonald.

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Wolfgang W. Franz Scholarship Established (1/23/08)

Dr. Wolfgang Franz, Professor Emeritus of Economics, and his wife, Joyce, through a generous lead gift established the Wolfgang W. Franz Scholarship. This scholarship is intended to support an economics major who is among the three students with the highest grade point average, and who has demonstrated excellent character. It is the first scholarship in the College of Business specifically for economics majors. With this gift, Dr. Franz extends his life-long belief in providing opportunity to students far into the future. For information please contact Barbara Hodges, CB External Relations Officer, hodgesb@cwu.edu.

CWU Alum, Mark Pearson, Named to State Board of Accountancy (1/4/08)

On December 19, 2007 Governor Christine Gregoire appointed Mark W. Pearson to the Washington State Board of Accountancy. Mark graduated from Central Washington University in 1973 with a Bachelor's Degree in accounting. Mark has been employed by Ernst & Young in various capacities since 1973 with a two-year break from 1983-1985 when he served as a Practice Fellow at the Financial Accounting Standards Board in Connecticut. Mark is currently a member of the AICPA and Washington Society of CPAs. He is also the current Chair of the Central Washington University Foundation Board of Directors. Mark holds a valid Washington State CPA license to practice public accounting.

College of Business Office Queens for the Day! Halloween brought out the tiaras for the ladies who keep the Department Offices in the College of Business running efficiently. From left to right: Sharon Damm, Accounting Jamie Thomas, Management Becky Severin, Finance and OSC Shirley Hood, Economics Thanks for your dedication and hard work throughout the year!

 

Doug Wood has been chosen for the 2007 College of Business Distinguished Alumni award. Wood is the Chief Operating Officer for Tommy Bahama, where he is responsible for operations, finance, human resources and information technology for the popular Seattle-based company that specializes in clothing, accessories and home furnishings. Wood is an Ellensburg native. 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 26, at 5:30 p.m. 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.

Chad Wassell, Assistant Professor of Economics, was chosen as the 2007 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. For information on the award activities please link to the CWU Homecoming webpage.

Dr. Peter Saunders--CWU Distinguished Research Professor for 2007 "I have two passions in my professional work: teaching and research," explains Dr. Peter Saunders, CWU College of Business Economics Department. "Research helps me to be a better teacher as it keeps me current in my areas of expertise." Since he began his career at Central in 1988, Saunders has researched numerous topics of national and international significance. He focuses on the empirical investigation of policy-related issues in economics and linkages between our country's agricultural sector and the economy as a whole using time-series methodologies. He has also published numerous research articles and abstracts in highly regarded mediums. "Dr. Saunders has produced an impressive record of research that is consistent and compelling in its quality and its scope," explains Roy Savoian, Dean, CWU College of Business, who supported Saunders' nomination. "He is an important role model for both junior and senior faculty regarding what it means to pursue an extended research agenda over an extended period of time." Saunders is known for spending quality one-on-one time with his students, which is critical to their success. As a way to help students truly understand the methods and assure that they will be able to apply those methods to projects, Saunders explains his methodologies and shares his research findings with them. "My research helps my students see the importance of the economics they are learning in the classroom," Saunders says. "Results of empirical research, such as mine, may influence national economic decisions and policies." Some of Saunders' research includes analyzing the effects of productivity on inflation, the implications of federal budget deficits for economic growth, the relation between international trade and wage differentials, and the impact of monetary and fiscal policies on economies. Some of the highly regarded outlets his work has been published in include the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Finance Review, The Atlantic Economic Journal, and Contemporary Economic Policy. It's not uncommon to find Saunders' research findings cited in top scholarly journals. To add to his credibility as a researcher, Dr. Saunders has been invited by editors of nearly a dozen domestic and international journals to review articles for publication, including two top publications in the field, the Cambridge Journal of Economics and American Journal of Agricultural Economics. According to Savoian, Professor Saunders is especially deserving of recognition as Central's Distinguished Professor for Research. "Clearly, Dr. Saunders' research agenda stands on its own merit as high quality scholarship. But, the record is even more significant and meaningful because it is significantly tied to working with students." Saunders is honored to receive this award as he knows Central is filled with outstanding scholars. He adds, "Central has been a wonderful place for me to work. I have always found support among my colleagues and from CWU's administration for my research."

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