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NEWS BRIEFS –SEPTEMBER 2007 |
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VCU
APPLICATIONS INCREASE BY 14%
TOTAL ENROLLMENT WILL INCREASE BY
ABOUT A THOUSAND STUDENTS
VCU President Eugene P. Trani announced August 9 at a Board of Visitors meeting that the University received a record number of applications for the
2007-2008 academic year, and that student enrollment is projected to be the largest in the university’s history, with more than 31,000 students.
The University is enrolling more freshmen from Fairfax County than from any other county or city in Virginia. Enrollment consists of 60 percent females and 40 percent nonwhite students.
Read more
http://www.news.vcu.edu/news.aspx?v=detail&nid=2166 |
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Dr. Gary Previts |
GARY PREVITS NAMED
THALHIMER SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE
PUBLIC ADDRESS SCHEDULED FOR SEPTEMBER
20
Dr. Gary John Previts, one of the "Top 100 Most Influential
People in Accounting" and co-author of A
History of Accountancy in the United States, has been
named the 2007 Thalhimer Scholar-in-Residence at Virginia
Commonwealth University. During his two-day
visit to VCU, Professor Previts will present lectures and
meet in small group sessions around the primary theme of “21st
Century Accounting Research, Teaching, Practice and Policy.”
Alumni and the general public are invited to
attend a presentation by Mr. Previts on Thursday, September 20 at 9:30 a.m. in the
VCU Student Commons, Commonwealth
Ballroom.
Professor Previts received a faculty appointment at Case Western
Reserve University in 1979. He completed his undergraduate degree
at John Carroll University; his Master of Accountancy at the Ohio
State University; and his PhD at the University of Florida and is a
CPA. Between his Masters and PhD work he served as an officer in the
U.S. Army, including a tour in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam
War. His work at Case has been distinguished and nationally
recognized. His research focus has included the development of
accounting thought and institutions including corporate origins and
ongoing events that have shaped contemporary accounting practices.
A second area is regulation of accounting disclosures including
evaluation of the contributions of principal policy setters at the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission since its inception.
Professor Previts is recognized as a leading historian of
accountancy and co-authored A History of Accountancy in the
United States. He has been consistently selected one of the
"Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting" by Accounting
Today Magazine. His profile in the magazine reports the
following: "Through his involvement in various organizations and
his teaching, research and writing on topics such as corporate
disclosure, and the regulation and development of accountancy,
well-known academic Previts continues to impact the profession."
He is involved with many professional organizations and has
recently assumed the position of President of the American
Accounting Association. Also he serves as a member of the
Accountability Advisory Council for the Comptroller General of the
United States, the Honorable David Walker.
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FAST TRACK STATISTICS FOR CLASS OF 2009
The Fast Track Executive MBA Class of 2009 began
coursework on August 10.
Bill Miller, Executive Director, thanks
everyone who referred students to the program.
Some data on the Class of 2009:
Current class size: 48 students
Average years of experience: 14 years
Advanced degrees: 15 total (including: PhD = 3, JD = 1, MD = 1)
Engineers = 13
Average GPA = 3.1
Average GMAT (fully accepted) = 560
Females = 27%
Minority = 33%,
International = 13% |
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NO VACATION FOR MARKETING STUDENTS
Working with real business people to solve real marketing challenges is what students liked best about Integrated Marketing 371. During five weeks of summer school, students helped Vital Health INVA, nListHelp.com and ASK (Association for the Support of Children with Cancer) develop an integrated marketing plan that can be applied to their business plans. Read more
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ROSENTHAL NAMED RECTOR AT VCU
Thomas G. Rosenthal, a Richmond business executive and strong supporter of the
VCU School of Business, has been elected rector of the Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors by his fellow trustees, succeeding Dr. Edward H.
Bersoff. He is chief executive officer of MedOutcomes, Inc., a company that provides continuing education for pharmacists. He founded the company with his wife, Wendy, a former assistant professor at the VCU School of Pharmacy. Prior to founding MedOutcomes,
he was President and COO of Standard Drug Company, which had been
the family business for 73 years. It was sold in 1993.
“It is an honor to assume this leadership role on the Board of Visitors when VCU is executing a most-ambitious strategic plan toward becoming an internationally recognized research university,” he said. “I’m looking forward to shepherding this university through the biggest expansion of its time, particularly with the pending opening of the Monroe Park Campus addition.”
Read more
http://www.vcu.edu/profiles/profiles/0706rosenthal.html
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DR. DEBORAH COWLES: AN ONLINE VETERAN TEACHER
Dr. Deborah L. Cowles, associate professor of Marketing, began teaching management courses online seven years ago, and she was one of the early users of Blackboard’s predecessor – something called “Web Course in a Box.” Dr. Cowles credits her interest in online teaching and interactive communications technologies to her 22 years of military service, her journalism background, and long-time interest in the marriage of communications and computing technologies.
Now, the rest of VCU is beginning to catch up with her, as interest has increased in the University making more online classes available. Beginning this semester, Dr. Cowles will take part in one of VCU’s newest Faculty Learning Communities,
the members of which will focus on “Developing Engaged Online Learners.”
According to Britt Watwood who is heading up VCU’s push to offer more classes online, about 100 teachers are now actively offering or preparing to begin teaching online. Numerous medical classes
offered online have proven popular over
the past few years, particularly in nursing.
Dr. Cowles’ research interests are in the areas of service quality, customer service and satisfaction, relationship marketing and consumer behavior for private, public and non-profit sectors. During this past summer, she completed a research project funded through the Dean’s Summer Research Grant Program, which looked at students’ use of online library research services. She also team-teaches the introductory e-business course with Dr. Ibrahim Kurtulus, Department of Management. |
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DEAN’S SUMMER RESEARCH GRANTS
KEPT 16 FACULTY MEMBERS BUSY
Sixteen School of Business faculty received
Dean's Summer Research Grants in 2007. Faculty members will present their topics in seminars throughout the school year, starting in September. To learn more about the recipients and their topics:
Read more
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WELCOME NEW FACULTY
Three new professors have joined the faculty:
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Dr. Nanda Rangan |
Dr. Nanda Rangan, has been named chair of the Finance, Insurance and Real Estate Department (FIRE). He previously was the Charles E. O’Bleness Chair of Banking and Finance at Ohio University, Athens. He also was Executive Director of International Operations for the College of Business. Dr. Rangan received his Ph.D. in Finance and M.S. from from Texas A&M University, and an MBA from Sam Houston State University. He has a BE from the University of Madras, India, majoring in Mechanical Engineering.
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Dr. Asen Ivanov |
Dr. Asen Ivanov is joining
the School of Business Economics Department. He has his Ph.D. in Economics from The Ohio State University. He also has a Masters in Economics from there. He has a BA in Economics with a minor in German Language and Literature from Sofia University, Bulgaria. His area of specialization is in Behavioral and Experimental Economics.
Dr. Sven Kepes has joined the Management Department. He is a Ph.D. candidate from the University of Arkansas, Sam M. Walton College of Business. His MBA is from Drury University, Breech School of Business, Springfield, MO and his BA from University of Applied Science, Lueneburg, Germany with emphasis in Industrial Engineering. Dr. Kepes has been teaching management classes since 2003 at the Sam M. Walton College of Business. He has also presented a number of conference papers and has several research papers in progress in strategic human resource management, compensation system characteristics and work motivation. |
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VCU School of Business alumnus David Yu discusses banking in the United States and China with visiting students from Fudan University and Beijing Foreign Studies University. The students attended lectures about American, business, history, politics and the arts as part of their four-week stay in the United States.
Photo by Mike Porter/VCU Office of University News Services.
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BUSINESS SCHOOL FACULTY AND ALUMNUS
TEACH FUDAN UNIVERSITY VISITORS ABOUT AMERICAN CULTURE
During July VCU's Office of International Education hosted 69 visiting students and four faculty members from Fudan University and Beijing Foreign Studies University for an American Studies Program.
The program introduced the Chinese visitors to American culture through interaction with students, local families and tours of leading historical sites in the region. They also attended lectures about American business, history, politics and the arts.
VCU School of Business alumnus David Yu (BS'74),
Executive Vice President & Regional Director of United Commercial
Bank, came back to campus from Atlanta to meet the students and give
a presentation on banking in the United States and China.
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Two faculty from the VCU School of Business, Dr. Van R. Wood, Philip Morris Chair in International Business, and Dr. Weiyong Zhang, assistant professor of Management also participated in the program.
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Dr. Weiyong Zhang |
Dr. Zhang obtained his BA and MIS degrees from Fudan University.
He spoke about “Business Process Management: the Key to World
Class Excellence.” Dr. Zhang found
that the students spoke English very well and asked challenging questions during his lecture. “They were better prepared than I was when I was their age and came here on a similar visit. They have had better training and have an open mentality. This is a good time to be exposed to the culture, it helps create mutual understanding.”
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Dr. Van R. Wood |
Dr. Wood made this observation: "The students from Fudan were eager to learn, motivated to interact, and questioning of dogma. They bode well for the future of China, and they portend much for the competition that America will face in the future."
Read more at
http://www.news.vcu.edu/vcu_view/pages.aspx?nid=2173
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FAST FACTS
A new class “Introduction to Engineering for Non-Engineers” is being offered this semester for the first time. The purpose of this course is to introduce undergraduate business students to the engineering profession.
Dr. David Downs, Alfred L.
Blake Chair in Real Estate,
had the last word in the Washington Post article “Mortgage Mess Hurts Main Street.”
Said Downs, “The consumer should be held accountable first and foremost for failed loans. If somebody takes on financial risk, it’s incumbent on the consumer to understand that.”
His comments were picked up by Associated Press and reprinted by over 300 newspapers, including the International Herald Tribune.
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If you have News or Event information,
Comments or Questions about this Area,
Please email Katherine Oliver lkoliver@vcu.edu |
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