Michigan Tech College of Business Newsblog

Category: News

SBE Awards Sponsored by Peter Negro of Rukkila Negro and Associates, CPAs

Published
By

Peter Negro has agreed to sponsor the School of Business and Economics Outstanding Man and Woman in Business awards.  This award is given to students who bring honor and pride to the School of Business and Economics through high scholastic achievement and involvement.  Students eligible for this honor go through an intense interview process that includes an essay and interview with faculty for the school.

Peter is the owner of Rukkila Negro and Associates, Certified Public Accountants here in Houghton, Michigan. He has over 25 years of public and private accounting experience, as well as industry experience in manufacturing, retail, and finance.

This sponsorship is continuing to foster the relationship that Rukkila Negro and Associates has with the School of Business and Economics. The firm has hired one of the SBE’s Applied Portfolio Management (APMP) students, as well as several interns.  Rukkila Negro is looking forward to future opportunities to hire School of Business and Economics students for internships.

 

Continue Reading →

AACSB Accreditation Extension Approved Until 2021

Published
By

Michigan Technological University’s School of Business and Economics has been approved for an accreditation extension to 2021 by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools Business.  

The AACSB is the longest-serving global association dedicated to advancing management education worldwide. Michigan Tech’s SBE is among 746 business schools across 51 countries and territories accredited by the organization. The accreditation was approved by the Continuous Improvement Review Committee of the AACSB.

Dean Johnson, interim dean of the School of Business and Economics, says the accreditation renewal is an affirmation of the job the SBE is doing.

“This extension is the culmination of five years of diligent effort by the SBE faculty and staff, combined with the essential support from the University administration,” Johnson says.  “Since our initial accreditation in 2001, the SBE faculty has delivered high quality experiential programs and assured our students are achieving critical learning goals.  I thank each of them for their service.”

The School of Business and Economics offers undergraduate majors in Accounting, Economics, Engineering Management, Finance, Management, Management of Information Systems and Marketing.  Graduate degrees include an MBA, a Master of Science in Accounting and a Master of Science in Applied Natural Resource Economics.

Johnson explained why AACSB accreditation is important. “As the premier accrediting body of business programs, AACSB has strict standards of excellence for curriculum development and faculty qualifications, research and teaching.   The output of this excellence is seen in our students.  For example, students from AACSB programs score 9 percent higher on the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exams.  It also documents that our educational programs are innovatively responding to the ever-changing demand of the business world and employers.”

AACSB provides internationally recognized, specialized accreditation for business and accounting programs at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels.  The accreditation standards challenge educators to pursue excellence and continuous improvement through their business programs.  

Continue Reading →

Portage Health, Michigan Tech Join Hands to Solve Problems

Published
By
Dr. Dana Johnson's Six Sigma and Quality Engineering courses worked with Portage Health last semester to applied what they learned in the class room to real-world situations.
Dr. Dana Johnson’s Six Sigma and Quality Engineering courses worked with Portage Health last semester to apply what they learned in the class room to real-world situations.

When Portage Health turns some of its problems over to Michigan Tech students, it’s a win-win situation. The hospital gets innovative solutions, and the students gain real-world experience.

Business and engineering students from Professor Dana Johnson’s Six Sigma and Quality Engineering courses worked with Portage Health on a series of projects last semester, enabling them to apply what they learn in the classroom to real-life situations.

Six Sigma Fundamentals is a course on Six Sigma methodology, a data-driven approach for eliminating mistakes. Quality Engineering covers concepts and methods for quality and productivity improvement.

Johnson worked with Portage Health to find projects that challenged the students to put their classwork into practice.

“My role is to be the customer,” explains Mark Randell, director of rehabilitation and sports medicine at Portage Health. “The students meet with us, and we present the project ideas to them, saying ‘here is an issue we are having difficulties with.’ They act as consultants, investigating it and coming up with more questions, identifying the causes of the problem, and then they put together a plan for making changes.”

In one of the projects, the pediatric physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy department was facing an issue with the scheduling of appointments. They had noticed that they had a high cancellation or no-show rate, which was ultimately affecting their bottom line. The goal of the project was to see if the students could find a trend or common problem that explained these cancellations, and then to find a way to change how scheduling is done to address that issue.

Was the problem a particular date or time? What were the reasons for the cancellations? Did the rate go up when appointments were scheduled too far in advance? The students examined all of these questions. The information they gathered was used to implement some changes, and time will tell if the changes show an actual impact on the problem.

Another project took a look at employee transfers. Its goal was to help Portage Health find ways to automate the process of completing employee transfers. Destin’e Clark, a Michigan Tech alumna who majored in Operations and Systems Management and Marketing, applied Six Sigma tools to determine the root cause of inefficiencies and improvement opportunities for the employee transfer process. She is now working with the team to develop and recommend alternatives.

Portage Health and the students found the projects mutually beneficial.

“I have done projects with other departments and the experience working with the students has been fantastic,” said Randell. “They are very professional as consultants. It’s a win-win for Portage Health and Michigan Tech because the students get real-life experience solving real business problems. The students get to be a part of something useful, and we benefit from getting an outside view.”

The projects with Portage gave the students a look at what working in real business situations is like and how to handle themselves, both on the business side and the problem-solving side. “Experiential learning is critical to student experiences,” says Johnson. “It does come from more than Enterprises and Senior Design.”

The students are also very grateful for the opportunity to have this experience before stepping into their post-graduate careers. “Six Sigma and Lean practices are vital to a company’s success,” said Clark. “Being able to gain this knowledge and experience while still in school is exceptional and something employers will admire. The information and experience I obtained in this course is very applicable to my career. I currently work in transportation where Six Sigma techniques are used daily in improving our processes.”

This story was originally written by Erika Vichcales, student writing intern for Tech Today.

Continue Reading →

Tech Grads Get Huge ROI

Published
By

All business students know the value of a high Return on Investment.  But did you know that Tech graduates may earn a larger Return on Investment (ROI) for their education than their peers hailing from other alma maters?

PayScale’s recent findings show that out of all of the public institutions in the United States, graduates from Michigan Tech receive the 13th highest ROI in the nation, and the #1 highest in the state of Michigan.  For comparison, Michigan State University was ranked 66th on ROI, Western Michigan University fell in at #177, and Northern Michigan University ranked at #372.

This news doesn’t just bode well for alumni wallets; these statistics should directly correlate to an increased demand for Tech graduates.  And those graduates are making big impressions on employers nationwide.  215 companies registered to recruit and interview Michigan Tech students at the spring Career Fair last month!

Congratulations, fiscally responsible Huskies!

Continue Reading →

A website of their very own

Published
By
MIS students hard at work on the 31 Backpacks website during their web design class.

The non-profit organization 31 Backpacks has been operating for a little more than one year, and is now taking a technical step forward with a website created by Michigan Technological University students.

Begun in October 2012 by Laurel and Melissa Maki, and friend Amy Zadawa, the 31 Backpacks program involves identifying children who may be going hungry over a weekend because there isn’t enough food in the house or apartment, getting parents’ permission to send food home with them, then filling the backpacks with enough food items for the weekend. None of the people involved with the organization know the identity of the students getting the food.

The website for 31 Backpacks is being created by students in a web design class of Russell Louks, Tech professor of practice in the School of Business.

“Laurel and Melissa came to my office one day and said they needed a website,” he said.

He assigned the construction of the website to seven students in two groups, Louks said. The best site from the two groups will be chosen to go online.

There were requirements for the website, including number of pages, Louks said.

“It has to have at least six,” he said. “Most of them will have eight or 10.”

One of the teams working on the website consists of Kaylee Betzinger, Seth Stever and Stacie Studer.

Betzinger said the groups had a choice of two websites to work on.

“This appealed to us more,” she said. “It’s for a charity.”

Studer said their group used the website of Love, INC as the model for their creation.

“Laurel and Melissa said they really liked Love, INC’s website,” she said.

Friday, Betzinger said they had completed six pages for the website. At one point they had seven pages, but they eliminated one.

“It’s not adding anymore value to the website to have more pages,” she said.

Betzinger said the website the group created links to 31 Backpacks Facebook page, and it will have a link to PayPal for donations.

Melissa Maki said the three creators of 31 Backpacks wanted a website right from the beginning, but they weren’t able to set one up.

“We don’t have the know-it-all to do it,” she said.

One of the requirements for the website will be that they can do maintenance and updates themselves, Melissa said. They also would like people to be able to volunteer for 31 Backpacks on the site.

Louks said the other group working on the 31 backpacks website consists of Tony Campbell, Paula Castilho, Emily Christ and Quentin Franke. The two groups began working on their versions of a website at the start of the semester in September, and it should take the entire semester.

“We’ll finish it up before Christmas break,” he said.

The site is expected to go live by the end of December, Louks said.

In other 31 Backpacks news, Laurel Maki said Chassell Township Schools are the most recent addition for the organization. They are now serving 106 students in the Public Schools of Calumet, Laurium & Keweenaw, including the district’s Horizon Alternative High School; Chassell Township Schools; Lake Linden-Hubbell Public Schools; Dollar Bay-Tamarack City Area Schools; Hancock Gordon G. Barkell Elementary School and Hancock Middle School; and Houghton Elementary School. Talks are continuing with Adams Township School District and Stanton Township Public Schools.

Laurel Maki said currently 31 Backpacks is getting food from Tadych’s Econo Foods, Pat’s Foods, the Community Action Agency, Walmart and Gordon Food Service in Marquette.

Monetary donations are important for 31 Backpacks, and Laurel maki said a current fundraising effort is taking place at the AmericInn Lodge and Suites in Calumet.

Dianne Peterson, manager of the AmericInn, said the company has a program called AmericInn Cares, and in the Calumet location they are taking donations for 31 Backpacks and the United States Marine Corps’s Toys For Tots.

Donors can pay $2 and get their name displayed in the lobby, or they can make a larger donation and get a free service.

“If you bring in a $5 donation for 31 Backpacks or Toys For Tots, you can swim for free,” she said.

Peterson said she chose 31 Backpacks as one of the charities the business should support after hearing about what they do from some of her staff members.

“I was a little appalled we had that many kids going hungry,” she said.

Peterson said about 40 people have donated to 31 backpacks at the AmericInn since they started just before Halloween. “It’s going good,” she said.

To volunteer or donate to the program contact Melissa Maki,melissamaki19@gmail.com or 231-0694, or Laurel Maki,laurelmaki@charter.net or 231-1472. Make checks payable to 31 Backpacks, Inc.

This article was originally published by Kurt Hauglie fro the Daily Mining Gazette on November 9, 2013.

Continue Reading →