$75,000 CONTRIBUTED BY CONTROLLERS EXECUTIVE ROUNDTABLE

The Controllers Executive RoundTable recently contributed $75,000 to the School of Business to establish a Scholarship Endowment for Accounting students and name a room in the new School of Business building.  The gift will be paid over the next three years.

The Controllers Executive RoundTable was formed eight years ago in collaboration with the Department of Accounting at the VCU School of Business.  Membership in the RoundTable is limited to major companies that have annual revenues of at least of $500 million.  The RoundTable, in cooperation with the Department of Accounting, provides its members quarterly forums for sharing their ideas, concerns, successes and experiences with their peers, and to learn from each other.  The RoundTable has annually provided two $2,500 scholarships to Accounting students.  Currently, the RoundTable has 23 members, including several VCU alumni on its steering committee. Accounting Department faculty who work with the RoundTable are Dr. Edward Coffman, chairman of the Accounting Department; Dr. Carolyn Strand Norman, associate professor of Accounting and Dr. Rasoul Tondkar, professor of Accounting.

ALUMNI PHONE-A-THON GENERATES MORE THAN $100,000 IN CAMPAIGN PLEDGES

The Office of Development and Alumni Affairs and the School of Business Foundation have been working with Ruffalo Cody, a direct marketing firm in phone outreach, to contact over 10,000 School of Business alumni. The calls began to alumni who have at some time made a gift to the School. A second phase followed with calls to non-donors. 

“The results were very encouraging,” says Douglas Knapp, director of Development and Alumni Affairs. "Since July 1 we have added more than 500 first-time donors to the roster of Campaign supporters and generated over $100,000 in pledges. We hope this outreach gets our alumni more engaged in the exciting future of the School of Business and that their support will continue on an annual basis.”

The VCU School of Business won the Federal Reserve's Fifth District College Fed Challenge Competition, then went on to claim 4th in the Nation.

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS FED CHALLENGE TEAM RANKS FOURTH IN NATION

On November 28 the VCU School of Business College Fed Challenge team competed in a national championship and came away ranking fourth in the nation.  Seventy-five universities competed in the annual College Fed Challenge competition sponsored by the Federal Reserve, which was won by Northwestern University with Boston College, second, and Rutgers University, third.  VCU's winning team members are from left, Michael Cieslinski, Timothy McDonald, Joseph Mercado, coach Associate Professor Dr. Carol Lehr, Tyler Nichols, Michael Mulas and Ailen Lacey.

VCU advanced to the national competition by winning the competition’s district title during preliminary rounds on Nov. 13-17. The championship was held at the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. The team competed against teams from Boston College, Rutgers University, Newark and Northwestern University, the winner.

"This has been a great experience for us,” said Dr. Lehr. The Federal Reserve sponsors the College Fed Challenge to encourage better understanding of the nation’s central bank, the forces influencing economic conditions in the United States and abroad, and the ways the economy affects people’s lives. Participating teams give 20-minute presentations on monetary policy and are judged on content, teamwork, responses to questions, presentation and style.

Photo by First Class Petty Officer E-6 Lisa Keding, U.S. Navy

MARKETING CLASS FORMS AGENCY AND GOES RECRUITING FOR NAVY

The student-run marketing agency, Riverside Marketing Concepts, received high praise from the United States Navy after pulling off a unique event designed to increase awareness and the consideration of career opportunities within the Navy. The “25,000 Miles of Experience” event was a huge success, drawing more than 200 people to J. Sergeant Reynolds Community College. The event was the culmination of a semester-long effort by the marketing class as a part of a Navy Marketing and Recruiting Internship. (More...)

BUZNET BEGINS ‘MEET & GREET’ SERIES

BuzNet, the student-run networking organization for graduate students in the School of Business, kicked off its first Meet & Greet series in November and December.  Companies that came on campus to meet with graduate students included Barber Martin Advertising; Hilb, Rogal & Hobbs; Philip Morris USA; and Circuit City.  Similar series will be continued in the future, according to Dave Pace, an MBA student and BuzNet president.  For further information email Pace at pacedm@vcu.edu.

Jane Berry, left, an associate media director, Barber Martin Agency, describes some of the opportunities available in public relations and marketing to MBA students, Melvin Strane, and Mary O'Rouke, BuzNet vice president.

Dr. Maged Botros

VISITING PROFESSOR WILL TEACH GLOBAL RELATIONS

Dr. Maged Botros, a visiting Fulbright Scholar from Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt, affiliated with the School of Business, will be teaching classes in International Relations and Politics of the Middle East in VCU's L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs and globalizationthe in Global Studies during the next nine months. His primary research is in the area of U.S. and Egyptian policies and economics and their impact on Egypt. He recently presented this topic at the University of California, and will present a similar topic at a future forum at the Wilder School.

Dr. Botros was introduced to the U.S. two years ago as part of an Egyptian delegation to Congress and visited Virginia, Florida and California. He enjoyed the region so much, he decided to find a way to return. In addition to the Fulbright award, he has received a six month Egyptian government grant. “Virginians are unique in their approach to life. They are extremely kind and helpful, and have a rhythm of life meaning a nice pace of life,” says Dr. Botros. The weather is also close to that of Egypt, except for the rainy times. He will return to his home and family in Cairo in late June 2007.

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