The Newsletter of the College of Business
Volume I, Issue 3
Summer 2008 |
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Click on a title to jump to a story.
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St. Ambrose Appoints New Dean of the College of Business
It
is a privilege to serve St. Ambrose as the Dean of the College of Business. My
interim status was removed following a national search that concluded in the spring, so the transition has been smooth. I have enjoyed the challenges and
opportunities of the past 12 months in this position and continue to be
optimistic about the opportunities before us. Several important goals we have
and will continue to work on are:
– Pursue AACSB accreditation (Association to
Advance Collegiate Schools of Business)
– Increase the presence of the COB in the business
community
– Empower students
– Build an internal climate which stimulates
intellectual discovery and collaboration
 The accomplishments over the last year in the College of Business cannot
adequately be described in a newsletter, however, we have made meaningful
progress in each of the aforementioned areas. We are further defining the
resources and commitments necessary to successfully attain AACSB accreditation
and look forward to a thorough discussion with the Board of Directors at the
October meeting.
The Business Advisory Council continues to be a valuable resource for the COB.
Members have actively contributed to initiatives we have undertaken and serve as
conduits to help our students network in the business community. The
Organizational Best Practices conference provided visibility and valuable
information to the business community. Our students are proactively organizing
events that are shaping the St. Ambrose experience for other students (i.e.
Finding Financial Freedom Seminar, Chicago Finance Trip, ambassadors for COB
alumni visitors, Chamber of Commerce employer tours).
The faculty continue to publish and present their academic work at conferences.
Several professors have shared their research with other SAU faculty at "lunch
and learn" sessions. We continue to explore ways to promote international
educational exchanges with students and faculty and have developed some
important relationships with universities in Eastern Europe. I look forward to
the challenges that lie ahead and believe that St. Ambrose is equipped to excel
in the future.
–John Byrne
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Dean's Corner
I hope you are having a great summer! A number of positive events and
changes have occurred since you received your last COB Connection in the spring.
The first change you will notice is the electronic format in which you are receiving this
newsletter. At St. Ambrose we are interested in being an environmentally
conscious organization, taking advantage of the efficiencies of electronic
technology, and acting responsibly with our financial resources. We also have in
place an Editorial Board to oversee the content and production of the
newsletter.
June 4, 2008 marked a special day in the history of the COB when we collaborated
with others throughout St. Ambrose to host our first ‘Organizational Best
Practices’ conference at the Rogalski Center. This year’s theme, ‘Achieving
Results Through Teams’, provided valuable education to approximately 150 area
business professionals. Executives from numerous Fortune 500 companies and
academic experts offered presentations on how teams have helped their
organizations succeed in today’s competitive world. The overwhelming success we
experienced prompted us to set the date of June 3, 2009 for our 2nd annual
‘Organizational Best Practices’ conference.
Eight COB students (Ryan Berning, Nick Carava, Alicia Foley, Brunson Grothus,
Jared Hamilton, Nick Heiar, Kevin Linn, Nick Moore), Finance Professor Xiaowei
Liu, and myself traveled to Chicago on April 24th and 25th for an educational and
enjoyable field trip. We were able to see a great baseball game (White Sox vs.
Yankees) and connect with recent alumni James Moberg (’05) and Joe Arnold
(’06). We received insights into trading on the CBOT from the brother of SAU
student Nick Carava. In addition, Nick’s father arranged a rare treat for us to
step onto the trading floor at the Mercantile Exchange. Our wonderful visit to
the windy city concluded with visiting Phil Doherty (’78), CFO of the Tribune
Company. Phil took us through the Chicago Tribune newsroom and shared
interesting historical information on the company during our exclusive tour of the
executive quarters.
The COB Student Advisory Council and the Finance Club were the driving forces
behind organizing ‘Finding Financial Freedom’, a half-day seminar held on March
28th in the Rogalski Center. The purpose of the seminar was to educate students,
staff, and faculty on important personal finance fundamentals and practices.
Members of the financial community from Wells Fargo, American Bank & Trust,
Riverbend Financial/Mass Mutual, Dain Rauscher/Royal Bank of Canada, and Smith
Barney generously shared their expertise in the areas of managing one’s credit,
credit cards, mortgages, investing, insurance, and saving for retirement. It was
heartwarming to see our students proactively create this event to improve the
lives of their fellow students and the employees at St. Ambrose.
The aforementioned events are just a few examples of how your College of
Business is attempting to enrich the lives of students and benefit our wonderful
business community. As always, thank you for your support of the COB.
–John Byrne |
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Reflections on the Teams Conference
 Dr. David O’Connell, Professor,
Managerial Studies
June 4th was an exciting day for St. Ambrose University as 150
registrants, a dozen speakers, and many volunteers set the Rogalski Center
buzzing with ideas about ways to achieve workplace results through teams. It
was a joy for St. Ambrose to serve as a place where regional leaders could
come and learn from each other. There is such a wealth of information to be
shared!
First, we thank the many, many people and sponsoring organizations who gave
their time and resources to make the conference possible. We felt blessed
that many people appreciated the “look and feel” of the conference. While
the appearance of a conference is not the ultimate measure of effectiveness,
we dearly wanted those attending to feel honored and appreciated, enjoying a
day that was welcoming and paid attention to detail.
Second, our thanks go out to the high-quality presenters, and to the
organizations they represent, for the hours of dedication and careful
preparation that went into the informative sessions they crafted for the
conference. It was wonderful to have a very positive response about the
content and delivery of sessions, from Marty Carver’s keynote to the many
break-out sessions.
Third, we were both pleased and concerned by one of the most frequently
suggested areas for improvement – the fact that conference participants
couldn’t attend more of the sessions. It was impossible to see and hear it
all. This is an area to study for future efforts. Yet, the dilemma speaks
well for the interesting topics developed by the talented conference
presenters.
St. Ambrose is about enriching lives – of individuals and of the communities
we serve. While it is a journey, we hope this step along the way has helped
many in their efforts to continue building successful vibrant organizations
that make a difference in our region.
 Janet Sichterman, Steering Committee Member, COB Advisory Council Member,
and Alumni
The idea for hosting a Teams Conference originated with Dick Kleine, a
DBA student at St. Ambrose and member of the College of Business Advisory
Council. Dick had the idea to provide professional development opportunities
for managers and leaders in our regional area. St. Ambrose College of
Business has made a name in quality education for degreed programs, but had
not yet reached out to provide alternative learning opportunities for our
community.
A small group met last fall to talk about the symposium idea and determine
if we were up for the challenge to turn the idea into a reality. The topic
of teams in the workplace was Dick’s idea and was a topic the steering team
knew would be something of interest to business people. Many companies
currently use teams to accomplish work, but we knew they would be looking
for fresh ideas on how to take their teams to a higher level of performance.
We also knew some companies were just beginning to leverage the use of teams
in the workplace and could benefit from the ideas of other colleagues and
companies.
It is no coincidence that it took a team of dedicated individuals to use
their combined talents to take this vision and actually deliver a quality
symposium. With all the challenges business people face, we believed they
would appreciate having a local event for professional development rather
than spending time and dollars to travel to conferences outside our area. We
were convinced that St. Ambrose could fill the gap and provide quality
learning opportunities right here on our campus.
How did a small steering team of less than eight people turn the idea into a
reality? I believe the key to our success was tapping into the individual
talents of each steering team member and leveraging sub teams of experts to
do the detailed work. The steering team was clear on the vision and
deliverables. Once the work was identified, sub teams used their talents and
expertise to accomplish the work in the best way possible. In addition to
staying focused on the team objectives, the steering team also stayed
positive no matter what challenge was faced. Any time the steering committee
hit roadblocks that might have derailed the project; one or more committee
members identified alternatives to move the work forward. Each team member
was committed to accomplishing the objectives of the team and delivering a
quality conference for participants. We knew both the overall vision was
important but we also knew doing the “little things” right would make the
conference not just a good experience but a great experience for those
attending.
Our vision to provide an opportunity for business leaders in our regional
area to learn from the best practices used in other organizations led us to
select a variety of speakers and topics on how to use teams in the
workplace. Feedback from symposium participants confirmed they found
richness and value in the variety of materials presented. It was a day to
pick up ideas to implement, to challenge past assumptions or to stretch the
participants thinking on new possibilities. We heard many conversations
between conference participants discussing what they learned and how to
apply the concepts. This gave us great satisfaction that we in fact had
created a great forum for transferring ideas and a valuable day for
learning.
Andrew Carnegie said it well when he described how working together can
produce amazing results. “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a
common vision. It is the ability to direct individual accomplishments toward
organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to
attain uncommon results.” The symposium is one example of the uncommon
results possible by St. Ambrose University for delivering quality
professional development for our greater regional area. You can expect more
learning opportunities from St. Ambrose and you can be assured it will be
delivered by a team committed to providing extraordinary value to our
business community.
Dr. John Byrne, COB Dean
As I reflect on the success of the Organizational Best Practices –
Achieving Results Through Teams conference, I can’t help but think that I
have never been more proud of St. Ambrose. I can confidently state that the
level of professionalism and quality SAU delivered is equal to or better
than any regional or national conference I have ever attended. St. Ambrose
served the Quad City business community very well by providing a venue where
accomplished executives and business professionals could learn and discuss
the important subject of teams in organizations.
The hospitality extended to our guests and attention
to detail was incredible and proved that SAU is capable of hosting world
class conferences. We appreciate being able to collaborate with the
wonderful organizations involved in this event (i.e. Bandag, Boeing,
Caterpillar, Competitive Solutions, Cylient, Deere, HON, Linguisystems,
Monsanto, Muscatine Foods, Northern Trust, Pella, Rock Island Arsenal Joint
Manufactruing and Training Center, Rockwell Collins, University of New
Hampshire). It is exciting to imagine that high caliber conferences will
soon become a regular occurrence at St. Ambrose University. |
A Message
from MBA Interim Director, Joseph Kehoe
H. L. McLaughlin MBA Program – Mission
The mission of the HLM MBA program is to provide broad theoretical and practical graduate level business education and skills, with an emphasis on social responsibility. Faculty focus is on student learning, preparing graduates to be able to understand the complexities of business and solve diverse problems.
As I considered joining the MBA program as interim director, I thought very hard about the program’s mission.
I asked myself a series of questions:
Do I believe in it?
Is there a real University commitment to deliver it?
Are the resources adequate to deliver it?
Can I help deliver it?
I answered “yes” to all the questions, and here I am. More importantly, I would like to share some of the reasons I answered “yes” across the board.
I believe in the mission and all its words, but several have particular resonance with me: “practical,” “social responsibility,” and “student learning.” “Practical” revolves about students being able to immediately apply the principles and skills the faculty teach. “Student learning” revolves about focus on the “student customer” from both a services/student experience perspective and an expectation that the students will demonstrate significant evolution across a broad front: knowledge, skills, self-awareness, and confidence. Students must feel that the measure of SAU’s success is their success– both short-term and long-term. They must be able to add value to their current and future employers. “Social responsibility” suggests that there is a “right way” to do things – that there are basic life principles that cannot be compromised. In an era of constant revelations about corporate malfeasance and the reality of ever rapid social change, students must be able to understand the broader implications of the policies they advocate and the decisions they make.
How about University commitment? The most telling indication of University commitment to me is the University-wide research project by a respected third party (the ZEHNO project) which seeks to determine what we are doing right and what might be done better. Self-analysis, to me, is a convincing indicator of a commitment to be the best we can be. The MBA program now has a wealth of information that can be used to guide our future.
What about the resources? They appear to be ample – not so ample that we do not have to be disciplined and collaborative to ensure success. The most important resources are human. They are more than ample. The MBA program has a passionate dean and a faculty that are both talented and committed. We also have an assistant director (Diane Reid) who personifies commitment to quality and student service. We have departmental colleagues in Communications and Marketing and Graduate Student Recruiting who have the zeal and skills to provide terrific support. We are blessed with many “friends” in the community (Alumni, the Advisory Council, and the many businesses in the markets we serve). Of course, we can always use more money to create added value, but the key is having the organization in place to effectively invest it. I know we do.
Can I help deliver the mission? I feel well-prepared given my own value system: education, life experiences, and history of collaborating effectively. More importantly, I believe in what we are doing, what we can do, and why we are doing it. I am on a great team and we have lots of tools. Ultimately, time will tell, but I am betting on us.
In the meantime, it’s great to be here and I look forward to meeting and interacting with all of you.
–Joseph Kehoe |
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Faculty
Spotlight: 25 Years of Teaching at SAU - Jim Van Speybroeck
 On May 12, 2008, I completed 25 years of teaching at St. Ambrose. I started in
1983. A few years after I began, Ed Rogalski became president and the progress
of St. Ambrose became almost meteoric. Although the changes have been
substantial, the basic values of St. Ambrose have remained the same.
The College of Business has the same collegiality and spirit of cooperation now
as it did when I experienced it in August of 1983. When I started, the department was housed
in most of what is now the financial aid office. Other than Joe McCaffrey, no
one who was in the department when I started is still here, but I remember them
all fondly. The chair, Jim Mullins, had a part-time work-study student as a
secretary and the IBM Selectric was state-of-the-art.
Jim was a great person and an effective chair. As long as you were not off the
wall, he would support you in your teaching methods and your innovations. At
that time, the MBA had its own administrator, Jim Jensen. Jim Jensen was also
very supportive of teaching innovations. I really don’t recall any one in
administration for the last twenty five years who was not supportive of
innovation in both course development and pedagogy. Not long after I started,
Jim Jensen asked if I would develop an MBA concentration in Computer Information
Systems. I taught courses in that concentration for many years. The MBA was
then, as now, a program on and off campus. My teaching load was equally divided
between the campus and the remote sites.
Although I was originally hired to build a major in business computer
programming, after three years, I became head of the Mathematics department when
computer science was still part of the Mathematics department.
After three years in the math department, I came back to the College of Business
and started a program in networking and computer information systems. However,
after three years, I returned to my real love which is teaching statistics and
MBA quantitative courses.
As far as the students are concerned, again, there have been some changes and
some things that have remained as they were twenty five years ago. Academically,
the students are better prepared now than they were when I started. This is to
be expected with the advancements in elementary and secondary teaching methods.
However, the students still have the same ethical standards that they had 25
years ago and they are what makes teaching at SAU a joy. It would be impossible
to list all the students who have been a positive influence in my life.
However, a particular moment of pleasure and pride was being at the graduation
of my sons Mike and John from SAU as well as their respective wives, Nora and
Jenn.
The longer I am in higher education, the more I am convinced that attitude is by
far the most significant attribute for success in school and the workplace. I
think that just about any academic subject can be taught if the student has a
positive attitude.
As far as other duties at SAU, I have served on several standing committees as
well as a number of ad hoc committees. One of my favorites was the chapel renovation
committee and serving on the transition team for Sr. Joan. Probably my least
favorite duty was serving on the grievance committee, but it is part of the job
so it has to be done. A particular honor was being in charge of United Way and
the faculty fund drive for St. Ambrose Library as well as being a part of
several other capital campaigns at SAU.
I see a wonderful future for SAU and the College of Business. Sr. Joan and Dr.
John Byrne have joined the roster of progressive and insightful administrators.
I know they will enhance a reputation that has already been well established.
I doubt very much that I will be spending another 25 years at SAU, but I know
that when the time comes, it will be very hard to leave St. Ambrose. The people
have made it a joy to be here. As I said, two of my sons and their wives
graduated from St. Ambrose. I hope to see my grandchildren become a part of the
university, but they will have to be satisfied with another Statistics teacher!
–Jim Van Speybroeck
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Outside the Classroom: Fly Fishing the Backbone
The early spring at Backbone has its own sparse
beauty, nibs of green above, slashes of green below along the Richmond
Stream. The narrow blacktop contorts along and across the always cold water.
Fly fishing at Backbone is tough. Tight quarters, small stream. Not
therapeutic at all, it can be a source of anger and frustration with line
constantly hung up behind you. Mostly roll casts, flicked sideways. Not an
easy skill to master and it lacks beauty and elegance of fly fishing in more
open areas. That’s why Lance Sadlek, Director of Galvin Fine Arts, prefers
the Ultralight. There are a few spots where you can show off your prowess to
the odd passer-by, but darn few. Later, in the afternoon, we will wade the
Maquoketa off the country dirt roads of Delhi and there I can get my full
measure of rhythm casting therapy. Here and now . . . well is here and now
and I have to adjust. With or without the Ultralight, Lance is a better
trout fisherman than I. He is more patient, quieter and stealthy. I am
better suited to bass or panfish. But I am learning, slowly.
Because the Richmond is clear and narrow, the trout are always skitterish.
You have to sneak up on them and present your fly without them noticing you.
To show yourself means the show is over. So you sometimes are fishing off
your knees as if pray-pleading for the Trout God to pour down his grace on
your fly. The Trout God, I might add, is an Old Testament God – He rewards
only the most exacting obedience to the Laws of Trout Fishing. All Justice
and Deserving, nary an ounce of compassion. The Bass and Panfish God is more
New Testament - less rules, more compassion.
–Randy Richards |
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SAU Voluntary Income Tax Assistance
 On three Saturdays in February 2008, St. Ambrose accounting majors and two
recent college graduates volunteered their time and expertise to prepare tax
returns for low-income individuals. In 2008 the SAU Accounting Club finished
their fifth year of preparing income tax returns free of charge. Many of the
taxpayers have been coming to SAU for all five years.
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance is a program started and administered by the
IRS. All SAU preparers were required to pass a test, and prepared the returns
using tax software purchased for the VITA program by the IRS. All preparers were
supervised by members of the SAU Accounting Department, and all returns were
reviewed by Professor Lew Marx. Taxpayers were given the option of E-filing or
mailing a paper return. Taxpayers also had the option of having their refunds
electronically deposited into a savings or checking account.
Other students volunteered to be greeters or phone operators. Greeters welcomed
the taxpayers and supervised their completing a tax questionnaire that was given
to the tax preparer.
Statistics on the 2008 SAU VITA Program are as follows:
Total Volunteers...................................................... 30
(students and faculty)
Total Returns Prepared.............................................118 returns
Returns E-Filed ...................................................... 97
returns
Paper Returns Filed................................................. 21 returns
Earned Income Tax Credit Paid to Taxpayers.............$68,625
Total Federal Refunds Paid to Taxpayers...................$136,773
–Lew Marx |
KALA & TV11 Awards
Students and staff at St. Ambrose University’s radio and television
stations, KALA-FM and TV-11, as well as a number of St. Ambrose alumni, were awarded several prestigious state and regional broadcast awards this
spring.
In April, KALA-FM received a first place Eric Sevareid Award for Sports
Play-By-Play (Student Market Radio) from the Northwest Broadcast News
Association. KALA-FM competed against colleges and universities in the
six-state region of Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota
and Wisconsin. From the same association, 2007 graduate Chris Hassel won an
award for WOC Radio in the Best Newscast (Medium Market Radio) category. In
addition, Hassel, who has been employed as a sports reporter/anchor with
WHO-TV, Des Moines, since June 2007, was part of the team that received an
award of merit for sports coverage and first place for Best
Sportscast/Program (Medium Market TV).
In May, both KALA-FM and TV-11 won several awards from the Iowa Broadcast
News Association. KALA took first place honors for Overall Excellence
(Student Market Radio). Hassel took first place awards for Best Sportscast (SAU),
Best Sports Play-By-Play (SAU), and Best Radio Sportscast (WOC Radio).
Student Cate Koester took first place in Best Newscast. Nick Bitting, a 2007
graduate, and students Steve Campbell and Chris Steele won for Best Sports
Coverage. Campbell also received an honorable mention in Sports
Play-By-Play.
TV-11 received third place in Overall Excellence, and Hassel took the top
spot for Best Sports TV Play-By-Play. Phil Roberts, a 1971 graduate, won
third place for Radio General Reporting and was part of the WOC Radio news
team that took second place in both Spot News Coverage and Sports Coverage,
and third place in the Radio Public Affairs category. WQPT’s Brad Mosier, a
1985 graduate, was the photojournalist for the piece that won third place in
Television Farm and Agribusiness. And lastly, Aaron Hamilton, a 2006
graduate, was part of the KWQC-TV 6 news team that won third place for Spot
News Coverage.
–Matt Carroll
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COBtv
The College of Business is always looking for new and exciting ways to
connect with alumni, and some of the college’s own programs offer unique
ways to enhance this connection. Utilizing staff and equipment at the campus
television station, TV-11, the College of Business has begun work on a
series of videos called “COBtv” (College of Business Television). Much like
“COB Connection,” the videos aim to increase awareness of current COB
programs for alumni and community members connected to the college.
A number of videos are already in production, with topics covering a range
of programs the College of Business offers. One takes a look at St. Ambrose
accounting students involved in the college’s annual Voluntary Income Tax
Assistance program. Another covers how the College of Business is helping
students prepare with life after college by putting on a personal finance
seminar. Future videos hope to offer insight into unique and exciting things
happening within the College of Business, as well as for its many successful
alumni. The videos currently air during local programming times on TV-11,
and a future venture includes offering the videos for streaming from the St.
Ambrose University website.
If you have an idea for a future “COBtv” segment, contact Matt
Carroll, production specialist at the SAU Communication
Center, at (563) 333-6443.
–Matt Carroll
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Industrial Engineering Partners with Genesis Health Systems
 Our first contact occurred through the College of Professional Studies and Kathy Gordon from the
Genesis EducationDepartment over ten years ago. Interestingly, we worked on a
project with her this past spring. The Genesis Quality
Department serves as the sponsor and coordinating point for the projects and
reporting.
Our partnership works as follows. A department at Genesis has a significant
‘longer term’ problem in that they do not have the resources to devote to it. SAU
Industrial Engineering students are required to solve an ‘open ended’ problem
for their senior design course. The students work with Genesis employees and
together they form a team to solve the problem. The students get to apply their
problem identification education while bringing their objective perspective to
the situation. Genesis receives an unbiased and thorough analysis of the problem
and synthesis about possible answers their problem along with specific
recommendations. This is the classic win–win relationship.
Over the years more than 30 projects have been completed. The semester-long
projects are usually of an operational nature and have involved: X-ray, OR, ER,
CAT Lab, pharmacy, meal assembly, mail room and inter-building transportation,
hazardous material disposal, equipment management, safety, and dirty linens to
name a few. More than a dozen of these projects have been written up by the
students and either published in a journal or presented at technical
conferences.
Additional measures of successful outcomes take many different forms. As with
any successful complex organization operational behaviors evolve and sometimes
subtle system problems occur. Whenever quality and cost are companion vital
necessities, process behaviors involving multiple entities can be complicated.
For example, duplicate data may be taken by two different members of a process.
Since quality must dominate, these duplications may not be noticed by the
process participants. The duplications have a cost. How much? The true savings
is very difficult to quantify. When possible the students make a lower bound
estimate of the savings. These values are usually in the $1,000 to $10,000 range
per instance in the project. A project can have many findings. On the other end
of the success measurement spectrum we have been key in changes to one system
improvement that resulted in a $25,000 up front expenditure and project results
of savings $160,000 the first year.
These experiences are invaluable (priceless) to the students and Genesis
receives high quality engineering consulting in exchange. A very beneficial
relationship.
This past spring the projects involved improving the information management that
supports the continuing education offerings Genesis makes for medical
professionals, improving inventory management at the VNA, and modeling of the
activities involved at the Sleep Center.
–Tom Hill
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Welcome New Faculty and Staff!
Mark Maltarich - Management
Mark Maltarich is joining the College of Business’ Managerial Studies Department as an
Assistant Professor. He is a PhD candidate from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where he
studied management and organizational behavior. He also has previous degrees in
Psychology and Entrepreneurship. Mark’s primary academic interests are in
motivation and entrepreneurship. He will be living in Davenport with his wife,
Kathleen, daughter ZuZu (4), and son Luke (3 months).
Dr. Jie Peng - Finance, Economics and Decision Science
Dr. Jie Peng is joining the Finance, Economics and Decision Science
Department as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Peng has a PhD in Statistics and a MS in Mathematics from the
University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She also has a MS in Statistics from the
University of New Orleans. Her research interests include applied statistics and
statistical inference. She is married and has a young son.
Jim Baumann - Communication
Jim Baumann has joined the Communication Department as a tenure-track
assistant professor. He holds bachelor’s degrees in Speech Communication and
Computer Information Systems from the University of Dubuque and a master’s
degree in Communication Studies from Indiana State University. He is currently
pursuing his doctorate in Communication Studies at Bowling Green State
University with an expected completion date of December 2008. His work
experience includes graduate teaching at Bowling Green and computer programming
at A.Y. McDonald Manufacturing Company in Dubuque, Iowa. Jim looks forward to
moving back to Iowa and being closer to his hometown of Dubuque.
Joseph Kehoe
Joseph Kehoe has been appointed to the position of interim director, MBA, for the next 12 months as the College of Business intends to conduct a national search for a permanent director. Joe has been charged with developing key relationships in the business community, overseeing MBA administrative operations, and assisting a newly appointed MBA faculty committee created to lead the College of Business in evaluating the MBA curriculum. He possesses a wealth of experience in marketing and administration, having worked for world class organizations (e.g. Coca Cola, Hanes, Dow Chemical, Lee Enterprises). Joe earned his MBA in Marketing & Finance from Emory University and holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame. He was raised in the Quad Cities and has worked and lived in our community for the past 20 years.
Diane Reid
Diane Reid has been appointed to the position of Assistant Director, MBA. In this role she will work with the academic functions and systems of the MBA program (e.g. recruiting, registration, scheduling, advising, student relations) and provide direct support to the Interim Director. Diane has been with the College of Business since May 2007. Prior to joining St. Ambrose, she worked for nearly 20 years in various human resource, academic advising, business management, research coordination, admissions, and registration functions in university and private industry environments (e.g. University of Illinois, Blackhawk Community College, Volt/John Deere). Diane holds an MS in Agricultural Education and a BS in Business Administration from the University of Illinois and is currently pursuing her MBA. During this transition she will also continue working with the Dean of the College of Business and the COB administrative staff.
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News & Notes
Stephanie Erickson, '99 married Olaf Woods on February 24, 2008.
James Loveless, '80, '03 and Elizabeth Berridge, '99 were married March 30,
2008.
On March 31, 2008, Bill Phelan, '86 has become the president and CEO of the
Greater Muscatine Chamber of Commerce.
Cincinnati Bell, Inc. has appointed Mark Lundahl, '86 as general manager of the
company's Dayton operations.
Rob Hearon, '05 was promoted to lieutenant colonel and named executive officer
of the NATO Medium Extended Air Defense System Management Agency.
Marguerite White, '07 was named the 2007 Neal Smith Entrepreneur of the Year.
Charles Norton, '05 has been assigned as the resident inspector at the River
Bend Station by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Committee.
St. Ambrose University appointed Mike Poster, '88 as Vice President of Finance
this past January.
John E. Johnson, '99 passed away June 13, 2008 in Rock Island, Illinois.
The College of Business would like to extend their sincere appreciation to the
following people who retired this past academic year: Dr. Karl Hickerson,
Professor of Management; Dr. Killion Roh, Professor of Computer and Information
Sciences; and Ms. Leona Schmidt, Administrative Assistant. Visit the St. Ambrose University Website for more information about courses offered, degrees, events, and staff. And also check out the
College of Business Website for more information about the college,
or contact
Dr. John Byrne, Dean of the College of
Business, at 563/333-6406. |
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College Dean:
Dr. John Byrne - 563/333-6406
Newsletter Editors:
Deb Bennett,
Matt Carroll
and Jim Van Speybroeck
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