Points of Pride
US News and World Report 2024 rankings for Carson College programs include No. 17 Best Online Bachelor’s Programs for Business, No. 20 Best Online MBA Programs for Veterans, No. 22 Best Online MBA Programs and No. 24 Best Undergraduate International Business Programs. “In the WSU Carson College of Business, we have the opportunity to not only respond to change, but to prepare tomorrow’s leaders to be the drivers of change themselves,” says Debbie Compeau, interim dean. “Our top-ranked online graduate programs provide working professionals with the knowledge, skills, and ability to create value for themselves and business communities around the globe.”
WSU News recently announced its list of Top research coverage of 2023. The Carson College of Business had five research stories make the list (out of 79 research stories from across the WSU system). Below are the college’s research story rankings with links to the articles and original papers.
- No. 12 – Fake News on Facebook Increased 2020 Election Doubts – Rob Crossler (MISE); Julia Stachofsky (PhD student)
- No. 15 – New Way to Rearrange Store Products Could Boost Impulse Buying – Chuck Munson (Finance and Mgmt. Sci.)
- No. 40 – Font Size Can ‘Nudge’ Customers Toward Healthier Food Choices – Ruiying (Raine) Cai (HBM)
- No. 71 – Nurse Aide Turnover Linked to Scheduling Decisions – Kevin Mayo (Finance and Mgmt. Sci.)
- No. 77 – Fear Can Inspire Remote Workers to Protect IT Resources – Rob Crossler (MISE)
Students Bobbi Darcy and Logan Harris were awarded internships with Boeing following their participation in WSU’s Boeing Mentorship program.
PhD students Cathy Jun and Adam Bross, and faculty members Seung Kyo (SK) Ahn, and Ryan Sommerfeldt from the accounting department represented the Carson College at a recent American Accounting Association conference, the Management Accounting Section midyear meeting, held at the University of Central Florida. Out of 138 papers accepted to the conference, Bross and Sommerfeldt received the Outstanding Paper Award for their submission. Jun, Ahn, and Sommerfeldt also all received Outstanding Reviewer awards for the conference. Bross presented his paper on the review process coauthored with Sommerfeldt, and Jun presented her paper on recognition quality, also coauthored with Sommerfeldt and with Paul Black of Auburn University.
Finance students Harrison Lyons, Carter Colbert, Ben Silvernale, James Harrison, Alex Mayer, and Adam Belbachir cofounded the Washington State University Finance Career Accelerator in September 2023. The organization introduces students to different fields within finance. Through the accelerator, students learn financial modeling, interpersonal skills, and advanced accounting. The organization plans to host panel discussions with professionals from commercial banking, asset management, wealth management, corporate finance, investment banking, private equity, and venture capital firms.
A team of students from WSU Vancouver earned third place at Oregon State University’s annual Pacific Northwest Sales Competition. The team included students Enrique Garcia, Rene Alvarez, Sara Baldwin, and Owen Day and were coached by Assistant Professor and Director for WSU’s Center for Professional Sales Julie Nelsen. In addition to the team competition, each student participated in an individual sales role-play competition. Day earned a fourth-place finish, and Baldwin a top-16 finish. All four students, three marketing majors and a communications major, are seniors graduating in May 2024 with a professional sales certificate.
Sally (DeChenne) Bryant (’89 English, Busi.) is CEO of Bryant Group, an executive search firm and one of the top 2,000 fastest-growing private companies in the US. She started a fund-raising consulting firm, DeChenne Company/Philanthropy Consulting, in 2001, where she served university clients for six years.
Brian Gillespie (’13 PhD, ’07 MBA), associate professor and associate dean of the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship at Montana State University, has been selected as the new dean of the college. He began his new position on Jan. 1, 2024.
Ken Haynes, (’23 EMBA) joined the Board of Advisors for Boots to Cyber, a cybersecurity organization that provides no cost training opportunities for veterans, transitioning service members, and military families.
Nevan Leckman (’19 Hosp. Busi. Mgmt.) began a new position as an event sales coordinator at Hyatt Hotels Corporation in Oceanside, California.
Vicky Luo (’19 PhD) won the Instructional Innovation Award at the 2023 annual conference of the Decision Sciences Institute. The award recognizes outstanding learning innovations in the classroom. Luo is an assistant professor of supply chain management at the University of Hartford.
Brianne Newell (’19 Mgmt. Info. Sys.) started a new position as a transmission engineer at ENGIE North America Inc. Previously Newell was a consultant at PA Consulting, a business and consulting services firm in the energy sector, where she helped grow a transmissions team.
Robert Schiffner (’81 Const. Mgmt., ’87 MBA) is the recipient of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers 2023 Champion of Justice Award, which recognizes individuals who defend constitutional rights and endeavor to ensure justice and due process for those accused of crime.
John Skadorwa (’08 Busi., ’09 Soc. Sci., ’11 MBA) is chief operating officer at Kwik Lok Corp., a Yakima-based company. Previously, Skadorwa served as a program management director on Blue Origin’s BE-4 Rocket Engine Program in Kent, Washington. He has more than 25 years of experience in industries including the military, construction, energy, aerospace, and manufacturing.
Spencer Walker (’22 Finance) is a donor experience officer for athletics in Boise State University’s Division of University Advancement. Previously, he served as a development assistant for WSU Athletics and as a special events and operations intern at the University of California Irvine Athletics Department.
Hospitality Professor Dogan Gursoy was promoted to the rank of Regents Professor in the School of Hospitality Business Management. The rank of Regents Professor can be held by no more than 30 WSU faculty members at any one time. Promotion to Regents Professor requires the attainment of the highest level of professional achievement. Other recognition includes Gursoy being invited to speak at the Dean’s Distinguished Speaker Series at Saunders College of Business. He provided an overview of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in service industries and discussed the drivers of artificially intelligent robots/devices use in service experience creation and delivery process.
Dipra Jha, associate professor of hospitality business management and the associate dean for equity and inclusion and inclusive pedagogy, was awarded an honorary doctorate by Sumy State University, one of the top public universities in Ukraine, for his contributions to teaching and learning at the institution. Jha has been collaborating with universities in Ukraine for many years, and students from those institutions join his classes at WSU via Zoom each semester to colearn with CCB students. The recognition was especially significant because this award is part of their 75th anniversary celebrations. Jha was also recognized by the International Hospitality Institute as one of the 100 most influential people in US hospitality and travel for 2023, and he received a Fulbright Specialist appointment to study at Hue University in Vietnam this spring. He was a contributor to MoneyGeek.com in a featured article “Expert Advice on Travel Hacking.”
Carson College assistant professors Chun-Chu (Bamboo) Chen (HBM), Kathleen Harris (Accounting), Amrita Lahiri (MISE), Kahlil Philander (HBM), and Rohny Saylors (MISE) have been granted tenure and promoted to associate professor. Robert Crossler (MISE) was promoted to professor.