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Dividend The official online magazine of the Carson College of Business

Dual International Field Study Trips Changed Denise Thrush’s Perspective

Denise Thrush (‘23 MBA) enjoyed her international field study in Prague so much that she decided to participate again the next year, this time traveling to Singapore. Since graduating from Carson College’s online MBA program, she says the part she misses the most is the time she spent studying abroad with her classmates and professors.

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PhD Corner – Director’s Message – March 2024

Dear friends:

This issue of the eDividend is highlighting some of the great outreach that the Carson College of Business engages in globally. However, that cultural and intellectual exchange is a two-way street. When international students and scholars come to Pullman, they bring a wealth of knowledge and international contacts with them. More than 70 percent of our current PhD students are international. And that percentage is unlikely to dip anytime soon, as more than 78 percent of PhD applications for next year are coming from overseas.

While studying abroad can be a great experience for our undergraduate students, they also get exposed right here in Pullman to teaching assistants and instructors from many different countries and cultures. It’s important for students who grew up in this state to hear different accents and to get exposed to people and ideas that may be missing in their respective hometowns. The business world is global, and college graduates should be prepared to fully engage. From my experience, Carson Cougs enjoy hearing about the different ways that business is practiced in other countries.

I’m pleased we are highlighting Cathy Jun, one of our PhD candidates who brings a wealth of multicultural insight to her teaching and research efforts. Though born in New York, she spent a significant part of her early life in South Korea, which helped developed her global perspective.

Our international PhD student connections have opened numerous doors over the years for our Carson faculty. Several students have facilitated access to foreign companies, consumers, and data to use in research studies. (For example, at least three of my own publications have incorporated overseas data obtained via current or former PhD students.) Some of our international PhD graduates who have returned home to work as university professors have hosted our faculty as speakers, visiting professors, and even as external deans. They also recruit future international students for us to send back to Pullman. And among those who join universities in the US, several have very strong connections with scholars from their countries, which has led to numerous coauthoring opportunities for them and for other WSU students and faculty. Communications are so seamless today that nobody thinks twice about having lengthy Zoom meetings with scholars from halfway around the world. Combining virtual meetings with instantaneous emails and unlimited cloud storage for file transfer allows research teams to be as productive as if their offices were right next door.

Our international PhD students and scholars fill a vital shortage of qualified US instructors at WSU and almost every other university in the country. And along the way, they provide diversity, experiences, perspectives, and international connections that enrich us all.

Chuck Munson,
PhD Program Director

March 2024 – New Hires

Emma Bailey-Greene is an accounting relations coordinator for the Department of Accounting. She graduated from Portland State University in 2014 with bachelor of science degrees in anthropology and social science. For the past decade, she has worked on the East Coast in museum and preschool education and spent several years at home with her children. She moved to Pullman in 2022 when her husband was hired as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for WSU Women’s Rowing. In her free time, she enjoys baking treats, hiking with her family, and reading.
Holly Connley is a career consultant serving MBA and EMBA students. Her first internship was working in the  University of Idaho Career Center, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in 2005. She has been helping college students with career and professional development strategies ever since. Although she prides herself as an Idaho girl, she also spent seven years in New Mexico serving students at a community college near the Navajo Nation. She resides in Boise with her husband and three boys and enjoys cooking, camping, and traveling.
Paul Currier (’12 History) is a system administrator for the Office of Technology, a DoDDS/military brat, born and raised in Germany and Japan until 2007, when he moved to Pullman to study at WSU. After he earned his degree, he spent seven years teaching sixth, seventh, and eighth grade social studies and technology, followed by two years as the system administrator for the WSU Office of Academic Outreach and Innovation. His hobbies include building and working on computers and technology, playing music and games, and occasionally dabbling in photography. Currier is a lifelong Coug who loves watching football, baseball, and hockey.
Jordan Leseberg is the MBA admissions manager for Graduate and Online Programs. He earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and business management and an MBA from Whitworth University. He has spent the last six years working in higher education, including recruitment and enrollment operations. He lives in Spokane with his wife and daughter where he enjoys being active and spending time outdoors.
Sarah Miller is the administrative assistant for the Carson Center for Student Success. Originally from Utah, she received her associate’s degree from Snow College, Ephraim. She moved to Pullman in 2015 and began working at WSU the same year. She started in the College of Veterinary Medicine where she was a patient services representative in the business office of the WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital. In her free time she enjoys photography and spoiling her two cats.