Michigan Tech College of Business Newsblog

Business Insider Gives Tech High Marks for Graduate Earning Potential

Published June 25, 2013

In the News

Potential earnings are part of the value of a university education.

More than ever, students choosing where to go to school review the future earning potential of a university’s graduates. But the well-known US News & World Report ranking of colleges and universities doesn’t give that factor much weight. They should, says Business Insider, a business website that analyzes financial, media, technology and other industries. So Business Insider combined the US News & World Report rankings of best universities and the Payscale.com college salary report to develop rankings that reflect both reputation and the salaries earned by graduates.

Analyzing several hundred universities and colleges, Business Insider developed two lists of colleges and universities: “underrated” and “overrated.” The website termed schools with a lower US News college ranking and higher Payscale.com salary ranking “underrated.” These are schools whose graduates rank high on salaries earned but aren’t given due credit in the US News ranking.

Michigan Tech made Business Insider’s list of the top 25 “underrated” schools, coming in at 22.

Business Insider termed schools with a high US News ranking and low salary ranking as “overrated.” These are schools that show up very well in the Best Colleges ranking, but their graduates earn lower salaries than might be expected from their US News ranking.

“We found that most of the underrated schools were engineering and technology schools with relatively low US News rankings but outstanding salary performance,” Business Insider notes on its web site.

For the full story, see Business Insider. This story was written by Jenn Donovan, Public Relations Director, for Michigan Tech’s University Marketing and Communications faculty and staff newletter, Tech Today.

Roger Woods inducted into Puget Sound Hall of Fame

Published June 17, 2013

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Faculty and Staff

Roger Woods inducted into Logger Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013.

Five new members will be inducted into the University of Puget Sound Athletics Hall of Fame this fall, the Athletics Department proudly announced on Thursday. Craig Caskey (baseball), Dave Davis (cross country/track & field), Laura Grinstead (soccer), Erin Peterson (softball), and Roger Woods (swimming) will be enshrined as the Puget Sound Hall of Fame Class of 2013. Roger Woods is a Senior Lecturer in Operations Management in the School of Business and Economics at Michigan Tech.

The five new members will be inducted and celebrated the weekend of Sep. 13-14, 2013. An induction ceremony and dinner will take place on Sep. 13 and the class will be celebrated again during the Logger football game on Sep. 14. The Loggers are hosting Chapman University at 1 p.m. in their season-opener.

The Hall of Fame Class of 2013 is comprised entirely of former student-athletes. Caskey (’72) went on to pitch in the major leagues and still holds school records on the mound over 40 years after he threw his last pitch as a Logger. Peterson (’00) was an All-American catcher and still owns the home run record at Puget Sound. Grinstead (’01) was an All-American defender on the soccer pitch and led the Loggers to their first Northwest Conference title.

Davis (’00) and Woods (’94) both earned individual national titles for the Loggers in their respective sports. Woods was a three-time NAIA national champion in the pool while Davis won the NCAA Division III cross country title in 1999 and was a three-time All-American.

The five newest selections to the Hall of Fame span five different sports and represent all three eras of affiliation in Puget Sound Athletics history.

The University of Puget Sound Athletic Hall of Fame was founded in 1966 to honor extraordinary individuals in the rich history of Logger Athletics. From 1966-76, 25 members were inducted into the prestigious Hall of Fame.

From 1977-87, the Hall of Fame was dormant until then-Athletics Director Dr. Richard Ulrich revived the tradition. Since 1988, the Hall of Fame has inducted 76 new members for a total 101 student-athletes, coaches, administrators and contributors.

More information about the Hall of Fame celebration will be available later this summer atwww.loggerathletics.com.

Roger Woods Named Teacher of the Year

Published May 17, 2013

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Roger Woods accepted the 2013 Teacher of the Year Award from Dean Klippel.

Each year the student body within the School of Business and Economics elects one faculty member as Teacher of the Year. Roger Woods has been selected as the 2013 recipient of the coveted award. When asked what this award means, the Lecturer in Operations Management said, “I am honored to be selected given the great faculty that we have in the School of Business and Economics. It has helped that I have had some great mentors and support of other faculty to improve my teaching.”

During his time at Michigan Tech, Woods has proven to be a great asset to the School of Business and Economics. He first won the Teacher of the Year Award in 2011 and that same year was inducted into the Academy of Teaching Excellence as a finalist for the campus-wide teaching award. He was nominated again the following year, was selected as a finalist, and became the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award.

Roger Woods has been instrumental in the execution of the Business Development Experience over the past 3 years. His duties included: developing the program structure, finding team projects, and teaching the second semester of the senior capstone experience. Woods notes that “it has been rewarding to see how the students have matured and are able to apply the various School of Business and Economics classes to their projects.”

The task Woods is assigned to is not an easy one. The student teams are all working on different projects which may pull them in different directions. The Business Development Experience is intended to be a practical application of the skills they learn throughout their time at Michigan Tech. We hope that the students can draw on these experiences during an interview for a job, but also that they look back on it as a rewarding hands-on experience.

Now that the Spring 2013 graduates have completed their time at Michigan Tech, Woods is looking forward to seeing a new class of students coming to campus this fall and hearing the success stories of all the recent graduates.

DECA Chapter Has Banner Year

Published May 16, 2013

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Haley Florinki smiles on with Dean Klippel and DECA Advisor Becky Lafrancois after her 1st place finish at Internationals.

Michigan Tech’s DECA Chapter attended the Wisconsin State Career Development Conference this year with all members traveling to Madison, Wisconsin to compete during the spring semester. Members attending the event included: Brittany Barry, Angela Barr, Kaylee Betzinger, Haley Florinki, Frank Kampe, Gabe Kallungi, Sarah Ochs and Tom Simonsen.

Michigan Tech DECA students were very successful at the conference with all participating members taking home medals. Awards Received by each member are listed below:

Haley Florinki took home the gold in the Banking and Financial Services category. She received a plaque and three medals.
Sarah Ochs received the gold in a Business Research prepared event steaming from research conducted in her Marketing Research class with Dr. Jun Min. She received a plaque and three medals.
Tom Simonsen took an overall of second place receiving three medals in the category of Corporate Finance.
Brittany Barry received a medal in the Accounting Category with second place on her role play as well as placing in the top eight for her exam and being top eight overall. She took home three medals.
Frank Kampe participated in Restaurant and Food Management placing third place for his exam.
Angela Barr and Kaylee Betzinger worked as a team in their Business to Business event receiving a medal for being top eight in their event. Angela Barr also received a medal for being top eight in her exam for her category.
Gabe Kallungi participated in Restaurant and Food Service Management receiving three medals by placing third for his role play.

DECA Vice President Haley Florinki was the only Michigan Tech student to go on to the international conference. She traveled to Anaheim, California where she also took first place in the National Management Institute category. We are proud of DECA Chapter and look forward to their continued success and growth.

Tech in top 10 for ROI among Midwest schools

Published May 10, 2013

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In the News

MTU graduates Rosanna Chopp and Willow Carmody at this year's commencement ceremony.

What’s a university education worth? That’s a question often asked by students, parents and legislators.

According to 2013 rankings recently released by PayScale, Michigan Tech graduates rank 18th in the nation among 437 public universities in the return on investment (ROI) from their degrees. PayScale is a website that compares the cost of a college education to the salaries earned by graduates.

PayScale ranked Michigan Tech in the top 10 for ROI among Midwest schools. ROI is defined as the cost of attending college compared to the gain in income over thirty years of a college graduate over a high school graduate.

This year Tech ranked 77th among all 1,511 public and private colleges and universities evaluated by the website. Michigan Tech’s ranking in PayScale’s annual report rose from 102 among all universities and 44 among public universities last year.

“This is impressive,” said President Glenn Mroz. “It validates what we believe here at Michigan Tech, that we are truly preparing our students to take their place as well-educated citizens, to get jobs, earn good salaries and create the future.”

The report listed the typical starting salary of a Michigan Tech graduate at $56,000 and the thirty-year net ROI at $999,300.

In an interview on “The Daily Ticker” on the Yahoo Finance website this week, former Secretary of Education William Bennett said that the ROI is positive only for about 150 of the nation’s 3,500 institutions of higher learning. Michigan Tech is one of those 150. Bennett analyzed the ROI of colleges and universities for his book, Is College Worth It?

This article was written by UMC public relations director, Jennifer Donovan, for Tech Today.