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Washington State University Vancouver Carson College of Business

Faculty Bio: Doug Steck

 

“The thrill of teaching is when the light turns on!”

Douglas Steck taught high school math, coached football and basketball, migrating into the corporate world where he held numerous executive positions.  He now brings that experience to teaching a wide variety of courses in the Carson College of Business at WSU Vancouver. Doug adds value to the curricula with 25 years experience in corporate strategy, sales, operations, finance and information technology, sharing clues and insights that make companies truly successful. Students blend this experience with information, content, theory, and practice from other courses with emphasis on becoming a professional in the business world.

Doug’s sports metaphor sees himself as a “utility player” teaching marketing, ethics, finance, strategy, negotiation, and a capstone course that highlights both his career and personal satisfaction of watching students’ faces when the light turns on!  In the capstone course, student teams of 3-4 consult with a client to provide concrete recommendations often involving growth, efficiencies, new products, or other goals stated by the client. Projects are validated with quantitative data while local business representatives mentor student groups. This course is a synthesis of what’s important in successful businesses; people, adding value from multiple resources, and focus on what truly makes a difference.

Doug sees his teaching evolving. He’d like to expand experiential learning by asking students to play the role of manager in business enterprises as they grapple with fundamental concepts. He stays relevant by coaching executives and enjoys consulting with start-up companies.

Courses Taught: Marketing; Negotiations; Small Business, Policy, & Strategy; Strategy Formation

Management Faculty: Rick Howell

“If you can’t use it tomorrow, we’re not talking about it tonight.”

Students enrolling in Rick Howell’s courses learn business theories with the promise that the learning can be used immediately. Rick designs learning activities that business managers confront daily.  These practical exercises prepare students for work situations they will encounter and illustrate how the book material translates from class to the work environment.  For example, reviewing a job offer in a distant city requires students to consider the relevant variables, gather data, and analyze the findings. Another exercise involves drastically changing a fictitious company’s culture.  And yet another creates a recipe to recruit, hire, and train the staff required to rapidly expand the organization.  Asking ‘how is that done?’ promotes self-discovery and life-long learning habits.

Rick owns Howell Management Consulting, a business venture that enhances his personal learning by keeping him current and ahead of textbooks. His experiences are translated into continuous examples, scenarios, and situations helping students develop expertise and insight into applications that make big differences in the work place.  He highlights the implementation of an idea; a task that text books have difficulty describing, yet students practice in Rick’s classes. Students rate Howell as one of the best teachers at WSU Vancouver receiving consistently high student reviews.

Courses Taught: Management & Organization; Managing Human Resources; Recruiting & Hiring Human Capital; Evaluating & Rewarding Employees; Operations Management. 

 

Special thanks to Ray William for authoring this post!

Associate dean of undergraduate programs: Tom Tripp

Tom-Photo_web“Conflict is more a function of the organization”

Imagine a university class that blends case studies, horror stories, and games to practice leadership, negotiation, and smart decision-making skills in the Carson College of Business!! That is how Tom Tripp, Professor of Management, organizes his classes. He loves horror stories; he thrives when students develop adequate leadership and negotiation skills; and he enjoys the FUN of learning together.

As students buy a car, lead a club activity, or promote someone in a professional setting, they examine and improve personal performance and group dynamics. Students first identify the skills or tools needed to improve the situation. Next, they build confidence by practicing leadership and negotiation skills while considering the horrors of poor management and dreadful group dynamics. Dr. Tripp reports that students discover their ability to manage or negotiate tough situations, both in their personal and professional lives.

Tom’s research explores organizational justice, managerial power, and workplace conflict. When slighted, employees may retaliate, forgive, or avoid those who offend them, yet evidence suggests that such conflict is caused more by the organization than by individual personalities. Questions such as what triggers conflict, including factors that escalate or dampen responses, are integral to the research. Student descriptions of “revenge in the workplace” contribute to working theory as a basis for research. Tripp also explores decisions based on “win-win” or “Pareto” analysis whereby additional factors such as total welfare, compensation, or social justice are considered. With 25% of managers’ time invested in conflicts, Tripp’s research is both intellectually interesting and useful in developing productive workplace environments.

Graduates nominated Dr. Tripp for the “Student Award for Excellence of Teaching” in 1999-2000 and in 2014. Support letters described money saved in their personal lives using negotiation skills learned in class – 20 years after enrolling! In 2010, Dr. Tripp was honored by receiving the Excellence in Faculty Teaching Award for the entire WSU system. Tripp received the Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence at WSU Vancouver and the Most Influential Paper in the Conflict Management Division of the Academy of Management for his research involving revenge and forgiveness.

Dr. Tripp is a committed learner himself, now leading teaching redesign efforts at the WSU Vancouver and beyond. Mention teaching and Dr. Tripp expresses delight, imagination, and a keen sense to improve student and faculty performance.

Courses Taught: Leading People & Organizations; Negotiations; Managerial Leadership

 

Accounting Faculty Bio: Claire Latham

Latham_Claire 2013Mastering the Magic of Accounting ; “Giving voice to ethical values is my greatest passion” 

Claire Kamm Latham describes accounting as preparation, proficiency and reasoning — all required to make critical and ethical decisions within today’s dynamic, fast-paced business world. She describes her teaching style as a partnership with a personal trainer or coach. Each accounting course is designed for students to take a journey, taking care to understand the impact of critical steps on the business environment. Latham says she loves teaching and seeing the interest and excitement in students’ eyes as they discover the magic of accounting and its crucial role in viable businesses, non-profits and organizations in Southwest Washington.

Today’s accounting is much more than credits, debits and a spreadsheet with a bottom line. Latham’s students learn skills, interpret conditions and recommend options that make or break businesses. Her classes incorporate working with real business clients, borrow situations from the everyday world to gain insights, proficiency and reasoning skills while giving a voice to values and integrity. Students discover that accounting is a joint venture involving preparation and face-to-face time to explain their choices — both essential activities for class and for business decisions. Theory becomes practice with students identifying issues independently; then explaining their step-by-step reasoning to student peers similar to what they will do in a firm.

Latham and colleagues study instructions and interventions impacting ethical decision-making by students and professional accountants. Her greatest passion in research and teaching is the  ‘Giving Voice to Values’ (GVV) framework, created by Mary Gentile. GVV represents an action approach to assist individuals in addressing ethical challenges. As co-advisor for Beta Alpha Psi, honor society students conduct GVV workshops in the 200 level pre-business classes, also winning the 2014 Ethics Award sponsored by Grant Thornton. Claire’s experience as a professional auditor, currently mentoring and teaching continuing professional education for CPA’s in Oregon, complement both her teaching and research.

In 2012, Latham and colleagues organized a “boot camp” to help students build learning skills and confidence with the goal to improve performance on their first university exams. The buzz is that test scores improved while students reported less anxiety. Perhaps new students learned something about the discipline of learning that permeates the discipline of accounting while creating success and demand for graduates.

Courses Taught: Intermediate Accounting I/II; Auditing; Accounting Systems and Auditing

Connect – Engage – Learn

Welcome to the official blog for the Washington State University Vancouver Carson College of Business!  We are excited to be able to engage with all of you through this medium and share stories from our faculty, our community, and most importantly, our students.

Reading this blog means you will:

  • learn more about our faculty and their research interests
  • hear about our students through our “Connect with Carson VanCougs” series
  • read about learning strategies and tips for student success, both in and outside of the classroom
  • celebrate with us as we hear positive news from our community
  • engage with us in a new and exciting way

If you have any ideas for blog posts, please do not hesitate to contact us at van.ccbconnect@wsu.edu.

 

Go VanCougs!

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