I am excited to celebrate this great academic year for the College of Business & Technology at our May 4th commencement! March paved the way with wonderful strides in our faculty research, student accomplishments, and leadership within the profession, and I hope our newsletter showcases some highlights to you.

• We held several meaningful outreach events this past month, including a collaborative meeting with local, minority-owned businesses in the Milledgeville-Baldwin region. We discussed ways to partner and support our community - a main tenet of our Societal Impact Plan. If you know of local, minority-owned businesses we should reach out to, please email collegeofbusiness@gcsu.edu.
• As part of our strategic plan, we held a successful Scholarship of Teaching and Learning workshop featuring Dr. Jim Berger, the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning. We discussed various important topics for scholarly work on culture and mental health. The next SoTL workshop will be on Best Teaching Practices: April 12, 2024, from 12:15-1:30 in Atkinson 107. During the upcoming workshop, we will discuss best teaching practices in the context of advancing equality and social mobility and creating an environment of inclusiveness in the classroom.
• At the end of March, Robins Air Force Base visited Atkinson Hall. Several recruiters, educational partnership leaders, technical managers, and a colonel all joined us to speak to students in their classes about job opportunities and internships. We are excited about the developments in our partnerships to support our students and our local military.
• A highlight of the spring semester is our Research Day. This year, students from the College of Business and Technology presented their findings on economics, marketing, and more in a record-setting participation year.
• We have established our new executive board for the Dean's Student Advisory Board and are pleased to welcome Ms. Mikey Schmeelk as our new President. Ms. Schmeelk is an economics and finance double major and is interning at Bank of America this summer as an Enterprise Credit Summer Analyst. In her new role as President, she'll also serve on the CoBT Leadership Board.
• The accomplishments of our female faculty and staff were celebrated this month in the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Six exceptionally talented academic leaders were featured in the People On the Move section of this important publication (Brooke Conaway, Jehan Eljourbagy, Tanya Goette, Jeannie Pridmore, Joanna Schwartz, Ania Rynarzewska).

Please join me in celebrating the outstanding accolades and achievements of our faculty, staff, alumni, supporters, and students.

Starting August 1, 2024

Dr. Ward Risvold is the director of the AI Lab and teaches business writing and prompt engineering. His research focuses on communicating trust and authenticity in the age of automated writing. Along with a proven record of excellent teaching, Dr. Risvold serves our students as the faculty adviser to the new AI Club and has spent three years as the advisor to our students' GCSU Bizcast. He also provides regular open workshops on AI-driven communication strategies to local business leaders as well as leaders throughout the state. Risvold received his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia and regularly publishes and presents nationally on AI. He has served as a lecturer with us since 2021 and will begin his new tenure track role in August.

Kruthikk Namasivayam Mohanasundaram holds a Master's degree in Information Technology with a specialization in Data Analytics from Arizona State University, complemented by a Bachelor's degree in Information Science and Engineering. Recognized for academic excellence, Kruthikk was honored with the Fulton School Masters Fellowship and the ASU Leadership Scholarship for outstanding community engagement. Eager to contribute to GSCU, Kruthikk is committed to employing innovative teaching methods to support student learning and success.

Throughout the month of March, we recruited hundreds of students across the state and attended the Middle Georgia Career Fair and the Dalton State Schmoozapalooza. Study International featured an article about our graduate programs, and we continue to promote our programs in various news outlets and ad campaigns.

The final week of March was the Graduate & Professional Student Week, where we celebrated the all-industry college and career fair and attended the Graduate Appreciation Evening. Our summer enrollment updates are exciting, as our programs have either doubled or tripled in both applicants and enrollments! We look forward to all the graduate-level learning happening at Georgia College & State University!

Planning for the 2024 Minority Youth and Business Program is underway, with possibilities for grants and alums showing interest in engaging with the business plan competition. Several students were recruited to work the camp and we are partnering with the GCSU Office of Admissions to build a robust program. Other partnerships on campus include working with the Rural Studies Institute and instituting a green jobs component. Applications are filling up fast!

John Swinton and Rui Kang met with Andrea Christoff’s Middle Grades pre-service teachers and presented lesson plans that address Georgia Economic Understanding Standards for the 6-8 grades. We highlighted the “Specialization and the Cookie Trade” (authored by John Swinton) and “Georgia’s Land Policies: A Lesson in Allocating Scarce Resources” (authored by Cris Cannon) lesson plans. Nine pre-service teachers were in attendance.

• Undergraduate students Trey McCallum, Grant Jones, Joe Dubsky, and Grayson Stoudenmire are on a team mentored by Nicholas Creel that came in first place in the Americas regional round of the University of New Mexico Anderson School of Management’s Global Scaling Competition. This “Gold Medal” award comes with a $1,500 cash prize and an invitation to the competition’s finals round, taking place in late April where they’ll compete for up to $15,000 in additional prize money.
• The second annual Bobcat Business Builder Bootcamp was held on March 7th. 17 students attended the event, led by Lecturer of Business Communications Ward Risvold and assisted by Lecturer of Business Communications Meg Geddy, to learn the basics of how to put together a business plan. Associate Professor of Physics Hasitha Mahabaduge then gave the students a crash course in making prototypes with the 3D printers on campus.
  
• The Center hosted its second annual Venture Capital Challenge on March 27th. Students had 5 minutes to make a business pitch aimed to solicit investment in their business idea, followed by a 5 minute Q&A from a panel of judges. Congratulations to Gavin Incrocci for his first-place win! We'd like to thank this year's judges:
• Dennis Walton, Director of Innovation at Coca-Cola
• Pete Morison, retired owner and Executive Vice-President of Gerber Metal Supply
• Doug Pendergast, former CEO of Quiznos and Krystal Burger
• Richard King, entrepreneur and co-founder of Good Measure
• We are partnering with The Market Basket to develop their website and update their business plans. Caroline Collier and graduate assistants, Michael Head and Joey DeSilva, are helping with the website, and finance majors, Grayson Stoudenmire, Mickey Schmeelk, and Jeffrey DiBenedetto, are updating their business plan. The business plan specifically focuses on the financial projections under the supervision of Xiaomeng Lu.
• We negotiated a new contract with the Georgia Rural Health Association (GHRA) to redesign their website.
  

• We attended an NSF conference on expanding the university’s innovative capacity. The conference was by invitation only and aims to help attendees secure a $400,000 three-year grant to enhance industry partnerships in key technological industries.

• Nicholas Creel is taking an undergraduate team to compete in the NASBITE International Student Case Competition in Las Vegas this month.

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program concluded, and we are proud to say that six of our students helped to complete more than 32 tax returns. All students passed three certification exams, while also engaging in this great learning experience and contributing to the community.

Publications

• Sandria Stephenson published “Leases Now and Then! A Post Implementation Analysis of Accounting Standard Codification 842: Lessons from the Retail Industry,” in Cost Management.

• Jehan El-Jourbagy was a guest on GCSU's OIE Podcast focused on Environmental Justice (Feb. 2024).

Conferences & Workshops

• Sandria Stephenson attended the 2024 Georgia Association of Accounting Educators Conference.
• Jehan El-Jourbagy was invited to and attended the National Security Seminar at the Army War College in Carlisle, PN (June 2023). She was also a featured presenter during the third annual She Speaks event hosted by the Georgia College & State University Women's Center (March 2024).
  
  

Awards

• Sandria Stephenson was nominated a second time for the AAA/J, Michael and Mary Anne Cook/Deloitte Foundation Prize, which is the foremost recognition of an individual who consistently demonstrates the attributes of a superior teacher in the discipline of accounting.

• The Honors College brought Kevin Morris (2017, Economics & History) to campus to discuss his work for the Carter Center in the Congo.
  
  

• Summer Ligon (2023, Economics) accepted an offer from Emory University to attend their PhD program. The funding is more than $36,000 a year plus tuition. The total compensation package exceeds $500,000.

• Kendyl Lewis (2021, Psychology & Economics) received multiple funded graduate school offers, one of which also exceeds $500,000.

• Economics majors, Sam Herrin and Hunter Patenaude each received multiple funded graduate school offers.

Conferences & Presentations

• Navid Safari presented, "Media Sentiments and REIT Returns,” at the American Real Estate Society Conference, March 20-23.

Publications

• “Cultural tightness-looseness and inter-regional M&As: Evidence from China" by Leng Ling was accepted by Accounting and Finance.

• Cullen Wallace, Brent Evans and Chris Clark published “Marijuana Legalization and Drug Abuse as a Cause for Entry into Foster Care” in the Review of Economics of the Household. Forthcoming (2024).

• Research by Chris Clark, Professor of Economics, was featured in an Economist article, "New numbers show falling standards in American high schools."
• A co-authored paper by Dr. Xiaomen Lu, Assistant Professor of Finance, was accepted for publication by Management Science. This paper is entitled, "Compounding Money and Nominal-Price Illusions." This is an A-rated journal in the ABDC Journal list and in the UTD 24 and Financial Times lists of prestigious journals.

• Ward Risvold Faculty sponsor for the newly founded- AI Club, which had 40 members in its first two weeks. This demonstrates the growing interest and engagement in AI among our learners.
• The AI Lab will feature a guest speaker on campus, Denis Mandich, The CTO of QRYPT.

• Ward Risvold and Meg Geddy presented a workshop: "Enhancing Your Classroom Instruction with AI."

• John Huang received notification that a coauthored article, entitled “A majority-based learning system for detecting misinformation” was accepted for publication in Behaviour & Information Technology (A ranking on the ABDC list).

• Brad Fowler was selected for the Governor's Teaching Fellows Program. This program, offered through the Louise McBee Insitute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia, is a selective program designed for developing important teaching skills and innovative pedagogies.

• On April 19th, we are holding the Halle Foundation Estate Kick-off. This event is a tribute to the profound influence of global learning experiences, which have the power to transform lives, thanks to the generous backing of the Halle Foundation. Students will present on their groundbreaking research projects with Southwire and Celonis.

• Delta Sigma Pi had their initiation ceremony, and Aric Wilhau took on the role of advisor.

• Management Lecturer Sanford Dennis successfully defended his Dissertation on March 14th and will be hooded on May 9th.

• The GC Entrepreneurs Club hosted former Shark Tank guest and the founders of Slumberpod, Lou Childs, with her daughter. More than 40 students attended who heard about their journey of grit and determination from two working moms who set out to solve a problem and shared it with the world. They had multiple Sharks making offers during their pitch competition, and the club members thoroughly enjoyed quizzing Ms. Childs on her “pitch” strategy.
  

Presentations

• Dr. Allison Miller presented “How Business Statistics, Business Analytics, Management Science, and Management Information Systems Courses Can Support DEI Curriculum: An LGBTQ+ Example” at the Women's and Gender Studies Symposium.
• Dr. Joanna Schwarts presented “The Intersectional Impact of Minority Identities on University Student Experience” at the Women's and Gender Studies Symposium.

Publications

• Assistant Professor of Marketing, Ania Rynarzewska's co-authored article, "Netnography , a research method to study supply chain members’ interactions in online communities" was accepted for publication in the International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management. This is an "A" Journal on the ABDC list, H-index 128.
• Dr. Rynarzewska also received acceptance for publication in the Journal of Interactive Marketing, also an A Journal on the ABDC list: “Schadenfreude and sympathy: Observer reactions to malicious joy during social media service recovery” By Todd J. Bacile, A. Banu Elmadag, Mehmet Okan, Ph.D., Denitsa Dineva, Ph.D., Ania Izabela Rynarzewska, Ph.D.

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