Michigan Tech College of Business Newsblog

Category: Faculty Spotlight

Research Presentation on Inter-Sourcing

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Dr. Mari Buche speaks during panel discussion.

Associate Professor of Management Information Systems Mari W. Buche and graduate student Gareth Johnson (ME/MBA) traveled to Green Bay, Wis., to attend the Midwest Association for Information Systems (MAIS) annual conference May 18-19. They presented “Inter-sourcing: Partnerships Between Businesses, Universities and Student Interns.” Buche, treasurer of MWAIS, also participated in a panel discussion on the future of the Midwest AIS organization and chaired a session on organizational issues relating to information systems.

Associate Professor of Management Information Systems Mari Buche and Gareth Johnson
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Woods Receives Distinguished Teaching Award

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MTU School of Business and Economics Roger Woods
Roger Woods Receives Distinguished Teaching Award

“Office hours” are an elastic concept for Michigan Tech’s 2012 Distinguished Teaching Award winners.

Roger Woods, a lecturer in the School of Business and Economics, received the award in the assistant professor/professor of practice/lecturer category. He also synchronizes his schedule to his students.’

“I’m on IM from 8 to 10 p.m.,” he said. “That’s when they are doing homework. When they get stuck, I help them get unstuck.”

Woods came to Michigan Tech in spring 2003. The former IBM manager and engineer teaches Quantitative Problem Solving and is an instructor in the Business Development Experience, the School’s equivalent of Senior Design. He also has taught a variety of other courses, including project management, operations management and entrepreneurship.

Students polled in his Quantitative Problem Solving class wrote, “He never lets a student fall behind if the student is putting their 100 percent effort into the course”; “He makes a difficult class enjoyable and gives us plenty of opportunities to get help”; and “He is the BEST teacher that I have ever had, period. Of all the schools I have ever been to, he is the most helpful teacher and the most excited about his job. He creates energy so that this class will never be boring and keeps us busy.”

How does he inspire such enthusiasm? “I think it’s access,” Woods said. “I don’t expect them to learn everything from a book or from a lecture. It’s going to take some exploring; when they explore, they sometimes need help, and that doesn’t happen on my schedule.” He also makes a special effort to tailor the material for his students. “It’s important to think of your audience.”

One of the best things about teaching, he said, is watching a student experience the “aha!” moment that may serve them later in their careers. “I want them to walk away with confidence that they can learn, not just regurgitate information,” he said. “Someday they will be in the workplace, without a professor, and I want them to apply these lessons so that ultimately they will do their job better.”

“I challenge them, I make them think,” Woods added. “If they are willing to respond by thinking, then they get it, and that’s rewarding to them. And I enjoy interacting with those students who have that desire to learn.”

Just reading a textbook won’t cut it. “Word gets out: don’t miss class,” he said.

Occasionally, students let him know his efforts have paid off after they leave the University for the corporate world. “I get emails back saying, ‘I did what you told me, and I was a star.'”

“It’s no surprise” that Woods has been honored for his teaching, said Tom Merz, associate dean of the School. “Roger has a great rapport with younger people,” he said. “It’s a cliche, but it’s still true: he deeply cares about younger people, and he gets a lot of gratification watching them work hard and succeed. Plus, he has a sense of his audience, who he is communicating with, so he can reach them.”

His students agree. Wrote one, “When I tell people that I’m in BUS2300, people say ‘Is Woods still teaching that? I loved that guy.'”

Originally published in Tech Today by Marcia Goodrich, magazine editor.

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Klippel Named Dean of School of Business and Economics

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The School of Business and Economics welcomes back Dr. Gene Klippel as the new Dean.

Gene Klippel has been named dean of Michigan Tech’s School of Business and Economics. He will take over the position on July 1. Klippel replaces Darrell Radson, who left the University in May.

Klippel knows the campus and community, having served as dean of the School from 1994 to 2003. While at Michigan Tech, he led the School to accreditation by AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business-International).

“He was consistently the top-ranked candidate in the pool, given his extensive experience at the dean level at a number of universities, his familiarity with AACSB accreditation, and his professionalism,” said Sonia Goltz, professor and chair of the search committee. “We look forward to Dr. Klippel leading the School of Business and Economics as we further advance our programs and scholarship.”

“Dr. Klippel’s strong leadership and communication skills will be vital in achieving the School’s mission,” said Dean Johnson, James and Delores Trethewey Professor in the School. “We look forward to him building relationships with the Michigan Tech community and alumni.”

Previously, Klippel was the founding dean of the College of Management at the University of Wisconsin, Stout and dean of the College of Business at the University of Southern Indiana.

Before joining Michigan Tech in 1994, he was a member of the faculty in the College of Business Administration at West Virginia University, where he was designated a distinguished professor and holder of the Kmart Chair in Marketing.

He also has held faculty appointments at the University of Florida, the University of South Florida and the Harvard Graduate School of Business.

Klippel has conducted extensive research and scholarship in the field of marketing. Further, he has served as a member of the editorial review board of the Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Marketing Management.

In addition to his academic background, Klippel’s experience includes corporate marketing staff assignments with Ford Motor Company and Cummins Engine Company, as well as president of Market Research of Florida and vice president, consumer research, Management Horizons Inc., formerly a division of Pricewaterhouse/Coopers.

Klippel has also served as an independent consultant to numerous Fortune 500 companies, including Drexel Heritage Furniture, Westinghouse and Caterpillar and Caterpillar-Australia.

He received his PhD in Business Administration from Pennsylvania State University and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in marketing from the University of Cincinnati.

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Celebrating a Special Teacher, His Students, and Alumni

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Dean Johnson with Dee and Jim Trethewey.

A packed MUB Ballroom was a testament to Dean Johnson, the James ’67 and Delores Trethewey APMP Professor in the School of Business and Economics, his students, and the couple who have endowed his professorship.

At the reception, it was a family affair, too, as Johnson’s home life was acknowledged, first by President Glenn Mroz. Johnson’s family was present, and they were given credit for helping Johnson establish the program twelve years ago. The endowed professorship was a great reflection on all of Michigan Tech, Mroz added.

Dean Darrell Radson agreed, stating that as great as the Applied Portfolio Management Program was in terms of marketing and public knowledge of the School and University, it was the impact on the students that truly mattered.

“Great business schools are always part of great universities,” Radson said. “And endowing the professorship is an important step toward greatness.”

James Trethewey said, as he thought about the day, he thought about honoring our heroes like Johnson, and authenticity.

“I looked up ‘authentic,’” he said. “And it talked about being original, trustworthy, and sincere, and that is certainly Dean. This greatness at Tech comes from everyone, too. Great leadership like Glenn, great staff, great people, including everyone in this room.”

Thus, we salute our hero, Trethewey said.

Johnson spoke on the history of the APMP: from three volunteers to more than 300 students overall; from an excursion of a golf outing to NASDAQ and Chicago Mercantile visits; from a “scholarship” of a pizza dinner to all the APMP students operating on real scholarships; from a little room in the basement to a sparkling new LSGI Trading Room with a $25,000 per year Bloomberg terminal.

“It’s really about coming full circle,” Johnson said. “Sam Tidwell changed Jim’s life, and now he and Delores are changing the lives of students.”

The ceremony continued with a plethora of student testimonials, read by Ted Simonsen ’07, who works for Ameriprise Financial locally and was representing his APMP brothers and sisters and all the students touched by Johnson.

“As much as I appreciate his teachings about investments,” Simonsen said, in his own testimonial, “it was his way of connecting with students on a personal level that meant even more. He takes the time to get to know all of his students, and I use that great example every day.”

Graduating APMP students Ann Dancy and Todd Storm, fittingly, were the last to speak. They reinforced impact that this teacher, alumnus, and program have had them, as the ceremony ended and the family of Tech celebrated heroes past, present, and future.

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Dr. Mari Buche Receives Advisor Award

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Associate Professor of Management Information Systems was presented with the Student Organization Advisor of the Year award.

The 18th Annual Student Leadership Awards ceremony was held Friday, April 13, in the Memorial Union Ballroom. Thirteen awards were presented with nearly 175 students, faculty, staff and campus leaders attending the event.

Associate Professor of Management Information Systems Mari Buche received the Student Organization Advisor of the Year.

Jess Banda, Director of Public Relations for the  Rotaract on campus said, “More than an adviser, Mari is a motivator, constantly encouraging the organization to pursue national and international projects, to collaborate with the local community, and to stretch ourselves and reap the benefits of accomplishment.

Never more than a quick call or e-mail away, Mari makes herself consistently available to support Rotaract activities. Mari is a truly excellent advisor. She’s given much of herself, and she deserves to be recognized for her commitment to students.”

Congratulations Dr. Buche!

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