Business Spotlight of the Week - Christmas Break Edition!

Fall Semester Grades Posted!

You should be able to see your fall semester grades in your student portal.  Please e-mail me at DanaB@evangel.edu if you do not see a grade for a course you have completed and do not know the reason why.

Internship at Compassion International - Important Announcement

January 2 is the last day to apply for a paid summer internship with Compassion International based in Colorado Springs, CO.  Business students intending to graduate in May 2012-2014 range with a 3.2 GPA or higher who have a strong interest in a career with non-profit, humanitarian organizations should explore this opportunity.  The internship is from May 21 to August 3.  There were about 40 internships available when these were posted a year ago.  In the past, Compassion International has helped to arrange housing.

Thanks for Completing Course Evaluations!

The data is now available for EU faculty to review the course evaluations.  Your sincere ratings and comments are valuable to us as we explore our opportunities to improve our courses.  I took a quick scan and do see some improvements in areas that we targeted.  I will have to wait to receive an analysis on the percentage participation, but business faculty members have been reporting very high participation rates.  Hopefully, we will hit the 80% or higher target we had for this semester.

Vote EU Grad into Miss America Top 15

You can help Sydney Friar, 2011 EU grad in Advertising/Public Relations and current Miss Missouri, get in the top 15 at the Miss America pageant by watching the video and casting your vote at http://missamerica.org/videocontest/.  

Have a great Christmas and New Year Holiday!

The business department faculty members extend to each of you our prayers for a safe and meaningful holiday season.  We pray that you will be spiritually, physically, and mentally refreshed during this break and that you will return to classes on January 11 eager pursue new opportunities to learn.  We will miss you...but we are delighted to have a break, too!!!

What does music do for you?

Need a way to relieve stress?  Increase productivity?  Remember more?
Check it out!

http://lifehacker.com/5865032/how-music-affects-the-brain-and-how-you-can-use-it-to-your-advantage

Business Spotlight of the Week!

 Course Evaluation Reminder!

Help the Business Department improve and to once again to have the highest level of participation among EU departments.  Our goal is 80% or higher participation rate for each business course.  Your ratings and comments are anonymous! Be honest in your assessment.  Make specific comments on how to improve for lower ratings.  Share a compliment with higher ratings – teachers need encouragement, too!  Some professors are offering bonus points.  Business faculty review these course evaluation ratings carefully and each instructor shares an improvement plan with me when responses indicate that improvement is needed.

Business Faculty Honored for Years of Service

The recent faculty/staff Christmas banquet brought special recognition to the following business faculty and staff or their years of service at Evangel:

·         Marilyn Campbell – 35 years
·         Jerry Owens – 30 years

·         Elizabeth Fletcher – 25 years

·         Dale Manke – 20 years

·         Dennis Wubbena – 20 years

·         Bernie Dana – 10 years

We are blessed to have faculty with a long standing commitment to prepare business students for their calling.  Many of the success stories you hear about our alumni are connected to the faculty who are now teaching you.

Looking Ahead -- Future Business Study Tours being planned!

At our recent meeting, the faculty approved exploration of two regional and one international business study tour.  The first trip being explored would be during spring break 2012 and would take us to Amish country in Pennsylvania to explore their culture and successful entrepreneurial business developments.  The second trip would be at fall break 2012 to have an in-depth look a Chick-fil-A in Atlanta and the Christian values and practices that make this company successful.  The third trip would take us to explore the culture and various established and start-up businesses in China in late December/early January 2013.   We will be conducting an interest poll when we get more details on the number of students and costs related to these trips.  The department will use some of its LifeWorks funds to help offset the cost.

Expert on Social Media Shares with Students

Mille Alderman, Public Relations and Social Media Coordinator at Sam's Club corporate headquarters in Rogers ARK, was a guest in our two Principles of Marketing classes last Friday.  I Consumer Behavior and all marketing majors were encouraged to attend these classes as well.  Mille Alderman has to come up as I had more and more students express interest in social network marketing.  She also met with the Business Department’s PR team and had lunch with five marketing students specifically interested in learning more about social media marketing.

Business Spotlight of the Week

Dr. Maynard update
Dr. Maynard had surgery today to have a pacemaker inplanted.  He was exhausted this evening when I visited with him, but in good spirits.  There was no blockage and this seems to be the key step to his recovery.  He will need to wear a sling and not drive a car for two weeks, which breaks his heart!  I expect that he will be in the hospital for a couple more days for observation.  The other faculty in the department will be managing his classes for him for the remainder of the semester so he can fully recover.




Help us get better - course evalutions
Please go to your student portal and complete the course evaluations for all of your courses this semester.  The Business Department faculty are committed to using these evaluations to improve our courses.  We review the results carefully, benchmark the very best results, and each faculty member provides me with a course improvement plan.   In the spring semester, the Business Department had the highest average percentage of student participation in the course evaluations. Please help us hit a target of at least 80% this fall!  Some instructors are giving bonus points as a reward.




Finish Strong!
We are in the last week of classes for the semester.  It is always tough getting back into the groove after Thanksgiving...but it is important.  Plan ahead and allocate plenty of time to finish projects and reports and to prepare for your final exams.


Keep smiling!
B. Dana

Business Spotlight of the Week

·     Welcome to new Business majors and minors! Want a way to get involved in the department?

We strongly encourage you to join the Students in Free Enterprise/Phi Beta Lambda (SIFE/PBL) student organization. SIFE/PBL provides a great opportunity to get involved with other business students in activities that allow you to practice what you learn and to complete with other universities.  Ten students just returned from a SIFE leadership conference and business study tour in Little Rock, AR this weekend.  See Mrs. Campbell, the department secretary, or Mrs. Fletcher to get more information on how to get involved.

·     Spring registration in final stages - Course and instructor changes

 If you have not yet completed a spring schedule, contact your advisor for an advising time ASAP and enter the schedule during the advising session.  Getting your schedule approved as soon as possible is the best way to have a choice on which classes you take. 

·     Business Students' Advisory Council created

The newly formed Business Students' Advisory Council will meet for the first time on November 21.  The Council consists of Seniors Samantha Garza, Michael Johnson, and Cassie McDaniel; Juniors Ashley Gingerich, Daniel Noah, and Natalie Nordstrom; Sophomores Danielle Brozovich, Alexander Cuilty, and Yesenia Gallegos; and Freshmen Daylea Duvall, Joshua Whitaker, and Brodie Wingert.  These are your representatives, so please share with them issues that you would like to see addressed. 

Creating this Council is one of the strategies in our 2011-2014 year Performance Improvement Plan.  The purpose of the Council is to provide a student voice in developing or revising the department's mission, vision, and values for proposed improvements in curriculum, programs and activities of the department.   Each business faculty member nominated four students from each class for the chair to make the final selection which was ratified by the faculty in the November meeting.  The members serve for one school year term.

·     Your assistance needed for "Let's Can Hunger!"

SIFE/PBL partners with the EU music department each year to provide canned food and donations to the local Salvation Army to assist individuals and families in need during this season.  We need business majors and minors and their friends to volunteer as greeters and ushers for the Annual Christmas Concert provided for the Springfield community on December 2nd in the EU Chapel.  Volunteer practices is on December 1st from 8:00-8:30 in the chapel. For the event on December 2nd, male volunteers need to wear black suit, white shirt, and red tie.  Female volunteers should wear a black skirt of pants, jacket, white or red shirt, and dress shoes.  Evangel's SIFE team has ranked very high nationally in the Campbell Soup's Let's Can Hunger" campaign for the amount of food gathered at this event. Contact Dr. Mark Maynard, Mrs. Elizabeth Fletcher, or Jose Socorro (Socorro7592@evangel.edu) for more information.

·     Special Human Resource Management opportunity

The Business Department has allocated LifeWorks grant funds to pay for student memberships in the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) for students who have an interest in HR careers.  The national membership in SHRM enables you to receive their monthly magazine and other materials that will enable you to better understand the career opportunities in this specialized area.  We have had several graduates who now have successful careers in HR management.  Please let your advisor and Mr. Dana know if you have an interest in this area.

·     Job hunting time - Got your resume ready?

It is time to get your resume in shape if you are a senior beginning your job search or an underclassman looking for a summer job or internship.  Mrs. Campbell, Business Department Secretary, is eager to look over the resume you have prepared and identify opportunities for improvement.  Don't wait until the last minute to take advantage of this opportunity.  TIP:  It is a "no, no" to use templates for professional resumes. 

·     Business Education major growing

We are proud of the seven students who have elected to major in Business Education.  These students have a desire to teach business in middle and high schools, an area of teaching in very high demand.  We collaborate with the Education Department to provide this degree.  If you would like to know more about this major, please contact Dr. Linda Wellborn (WellbornL@evangel.edu) who serves as the primary advisor for this program.

·     Students learn more about MBA at MSU

Eight of our business majors met last Wednesday to learn more about the opportunity to begin pursuing a Master's of Business Administration (MBA) at Missouri State University (MSU) while still a senior at Evangel.  Students can earn up to nine credits in the MBA program and also count those credits towards their undergraduate major at EU.  This opportunity is also available with the Master's of Accountancy and Master's of Health Administration programs. Christopher Lynn represents MSU's MBA program and is eager to help our students who have a 3.00 GPA or higher to pursue this opportunity.  See Mr. Dana for additional information or contact Mr. Lynn at ChristopherLynn@MissouriState.edu.  We also have information available about Drury University's MBA program.

·     New partner for potential job opportunities

Capstone Financial is a rapidly growing investment management firm based in Houston, Texas.  They help design and manage the investment options offered in retirement plans by corporations and financial institutions.  One of their clients is AG Financial Solutions which markets retirement plans for employees of AG churches and schools. Capstone Financial's business development director used to work with AG Financial Solutions.  He recently contacted the business department regarding a couple of positions that are becoming available in their firm.  The director has been impressed with the quality of the many graduates we have placed over the years with AG Financial Solutions and wanted the opportunity to have some of the same.

·     Mr. Papit on the mend!

After his recent heart problems, Mr. Papit is feeling much better and has returned to teaching his Organizational Design and Management course.  He still appreciates your prayers since his heart is still out of rhythm and he is tired from the medications he has to take.  We've told him the rhythm problem is because he grew up AG and wasn't allowed to dance when he was young!

·     Ostrem sets EU record at National meet

Congratulations to Kristen Ostrem, senior management/marketing major, who finished 64th out of 323 runners in the 5-K run at the NAIA National Cross Country Championship in Vancouver, Washington on Saturday.  This is best finish in the history of EU's cross country program.  Kristen has qualified for nationals in all four years at EU.

Business Spotlight of the Week

 Dr. Maynard to Explore New Adventures

•  Dr. Maynard has decided to retire from teaching full time at the end of this semester.  As many of you know, he has a passion in life to teach free enterprise around the world and loves to travel.  He is planning to develop his CEO Radio Broadcast into new markets and develop a new curriculum in free enterprise. 
• He will continue to work with our SIFE/PBL team as a member of the Advisory Board.  

Registration Update!

• We are starting to run into classes already being full, particularly in the Bible and theology areas.  Getting your schedule approved as soon as possible is the best way to have control of your schedule. 

New Library Resources

• The Evangel Library has recently added study resources for our Finance Majors who wish to prepare for the Series 65 certification exam.  Study for the exam can be done as a 3 credit hour directed study finance course.
• The EU Library has also added a link for temporary access to the Westlaw Campus Research program: https://www.evangel.edu/lLibrary/databases.asp#Law   This new link provides business majors with access to research financial data for companies as well as legal research.  It will be useful in finance courses, the Student Investment Group, and the Strategic Management course.   This is on a trial basis at the current time, but an exciting opportunity to expand the ability of business majors to analyze financial results.

Internship Opportunities

• North Point Church has unpaid business internship opportunities for three students.  Adam Swenka, Resource Directory  who worked in the banking industry for 8 years, will lead the interns through a 6-8 month internship program.  Jon Butts and Zach Coffman are currently in the program.  You can access the description/application at: http://www.northpointchurch.tv/index.php?opton=com/content&view=article&id=348&Itemid=233

Business Highlight -- Maria Martinez [ Tennis Player ]

Senior graphic design major/ marketing minor Maria Martinez has been rocking the tennis courts for the past 3 years she has been at Evangel. Her passion for the sport is something that has made Maria stand out time and time again. This year Maria, along with her partner Amy, made it to the National Tennis Conference. This was Maria’s second time to Nationals. When asked what contributed to her success this year, Maria said “I feel that my doubles partner Amy and I have game styles that complement each other. We improved and gained confidence after playing in two warm up tournaments before regionals."

One of the biggest differences between this year at Nationals for Maria compared to last year was that she had to adjust to her new partner, "which did not take that long because we communicate and understand each other very well" said Maria. 

When she is not busy with tennis practices Maria loves hanging out with friends. "Any activity that includes fun, chocolate, and friends will make me happy J". 
You might be wondering what motivates Maria on and off the tennis court. According to Martinez it is her dedication and love for God, her family, and her friends!