Skip to main content Skip to navigation
Dividend The official online magazine of the Carson College of Business

Online MBA Allows Professional Soccer Player to Study and Compete

As a member of a professional women’s soccer team, Celia Jimenez Delgado spends lots of time training, traveling, and competing. But the Orlando Pride’s right-back still makes education a priority. Delgado is earning her online MBA through Washington State University. The program was “the perfect fit for my lifestyle as a professional athlete,” she says.

» More ...

PhD Corner – Director’s Message – March 2023

Dear friends,

As we reflect on the first graduating class of The Next Carson Cougs, we are reminded that Carson PhD students play a significant role in their journey. From teaching assistant duties to serving as the sole instructor for courses, our doctoral students impact the undergraduate student learning experience greatly. To support that responsibility, all PhD students take a teaching course and have the opportunity to participate in a number of teaching development activities sponsored at both the college and university levels. And to ensure a quality learning experience, all international teaching assistants must pass an oral English teaching examination before being allowed to teach courses on their own.

An important element in the revised undergraduate curriculum has been the introduction of the Carson Career Amplifier Program designed to enhance career readiness. As a member of the curriculum revision task force at the time, I supported this major new requirement. Employers have been sending a clear message that college graduates from all over the country have been lacking critical “soft skills” that lead to long-term successful professional careers.

While not quite as formalized, our PhD program has similar soft skill requirements. People often think of PhD holders as highly technical individuals with deep knowledge about a particular subject, but that skill set is hardly enough to land a coveted professor job at a university. While technical skills may help get a research paper published, the daily life of a professor is often filled with soft skill activity, from teaching courses to contributing to meetings, writing recommendation letters, chairing committees, advising students, and communicating research results.

A big part of the PhD job market process involves the hiring faculty attempting to determine if the candidate would be a good fit for the department. Will the candidate teach effectively, become an active contributor in service activities, and get along well with students, staff, and faculty? Nobody is interested in hiring new professors who will be locked in their office all day long, no matter what level of research is being produced.

After four to five years of working informally with faculty mentors to build professorial qualities, our PhD students partake in several formal soft-skill development opportunities. First-year students take Research and Professional Development, a colloquium where they learn about preparing an academic vita, being a good college citizen, time management and working with coauthors, university service activities, and interviewing tips, along with several sessions on research and teaching. Every semester, we have each PhD student make a formal research presentation in front of a peer group and receive constructive feedback on presentation skills. The teaching course is usually taken during the second year. Finally, the Carson College has begun offering weekly “Lunch and Learn” sessions covering a wide variety of topics important for university faculty, and the WSU Graduate School offers a series of soft-skill sessions as part of its professional development initiative.

By the end of year five, we believe that most of our students have transformed into well-groomed professionals suited for faculty roles at universities around the world.

Chuck Munson,
PhD Program Director

March 2023 – New Hires

Lisa Desmarais is the business student recruitment manager in the Carson Center for Student Success. She has worked in higher education for about 10 years, including areas such as residence life, student activities, prevention and wellness training, and case management. Desmarais most recently worked for an engineering company in university relations and intern programs. She has a bachelor’s degree in art history and fine arts from Loyola University Chicago and a master’s degree in higher education and student development from North Carolina State University. Desmarais enjoys spending time with her husband and their dog, coffee shops, tending to her houseplants, and teaching pottery at a local studio.
Tamma Peery is a fiscal specialist in the Dean’s Office. She previously worked at WSU’s central payroll office. She has an associate degree from Lewis-Clark State College. In her leisure time, she enjoys the outdoors, crocheting, reading, remodeling campers, and spending time with her family and friends.
Ethan Pickering is the coordinator for the college’s International Business Institute. He previously worked at WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine, where he was an academic advisor. He and his family moved to Pullman from Washington, D.C. He has previously worked as a social worker in an international middle school, a logistics offer at the American Embassy in Angola, an ESL teacher, and a refugee resettlement case worker. Pickering served in the Peace Corps in Mozambique from 2009 to 2011. During his college years, he studied abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, majoring in cultural anthropology and Spanish.
Shyanne Schoenlein is a director of development in the Office of Development. She previously worked for WSU’s College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences in development, and she has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Whitworth University. In her leisure time, she enjoys hiking, snowboarding, and spending time with her family and pets.
Julien Stalick (‘22 Busi. Admin.) is an administrative specialist in the Carson College of Business at WSU Vancouver. A Washington native, Stalick’s favorite hobbies include tennis, soccer, fitness, hiking, music production, and video games. He has two Airedale terriers “that I love to the moon and back, despite the havoc they cause when nobody is around,” he says.
Meghan Steinbeiss is the retention manager for graduate and online programs. She has a bachelor’s degree in political science from North Central College and a master’s degree in political science from the University of Kentucky. She previously worked in academic advising for WSU’s MBA programs. She also works as an adjunct professor for undergraduate political science courses. In her free time, she enjoys listening to podcasts, trying new restaurants, and practicing aerial acrobatics.
Ashlee Toone is the administrative assistant for the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship. She previously worked in elementary education. Toone and her husband have four children and several pets. She enjoys hiking, fishing, family times, playing games, dancing and singing to music from the 80s and 90s, reading, and learning new things.