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Week
of May 11 – 16 Keeping you
connected to COBA &
CIT! |
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1.
COBA Golf Tournament We held the 16th Annual COBA Golf Tournament on Friday at Forest Heights Country Club and managed to get both the morning and afternoon rounds in despite a rain delay of about an hour and steady rain mid-afternoon. By the end of the tournament we were wet and tired, but there were almost no complaints from the participants. Approximately 180 golfers teed it up and competed for almost $1,000 in prize money and about three dozen raffle items. The winning teams were: Low net: Austin Martin, Herb Brown, Casey Pinkard, Tracy Tripp Low gross: Jim Higgins, Michael Wright, Gina Gibson, Jeff Richardson Longest drive, men: Bubba Renfrow Longest drive, women: Cheryl Aasheim Closest to the pin on #3: Russ Lanier Closest to the pin on #6: Steve Moss Closest to the pin on #15: Mike Gary Straightest drive on #1: Billy Harris The real winner, though, was the College of Business Administration. I think we consistently put on one of the best golf tournaments in Statesboro, and we can always count on local businesses and golfers to support us. In these tough financial times, I really appreciate the response from loyal alums and generous friends who play in the tournament year-after-year … from Statesboro, Metter, Millen, Vidalia, and Savannah, just to name a few. There have been several local golf tournaments recently that struggled to attract a field, but not the COBA tournament – about 180 golfers – thank you, each and every one of you!! The tournament would not happen without the dedicated efforts of our many volunteers, headed by golf committee chairwoman, Jan Grimes. “General” Grimes gets us organized and choreographs the entire day, with details as minute as the exact time to pick up the ice on Friday morning. Lisa Williams is right beside Jan, step-for-step, making signs, securing gifts, picking up gifts, logging pre-event registrations, and on and on it goes. Think about how much preparation goes into our tournament as you scan the list of volunteers below who pitched in somehow someway to make it happen. (If I omitted anyone, I apologize in advance and will make amends next week.) Linda Mullen
Michael Thomas
Jerry Wilson Carolyn Price
Nicki Eddie Metrejean
Chuck Harter
Rob Tillman Susan Williams
Jamie Lane
Jared Anderson Ed Sibbald
Kevin Elder
Mary Ramirez Linda Wilke
Vicki King
Debra Sinclair Bill Anderson
Jake Simons
Jeanette Hadden Austin Steed
Nevin Robertson
Zandra Brasington Dena Hale
Brianna Boutelle
Meghan Maynard Vic Sasser
Brooks Kennedy
Stephanie Williams Erica Sellers
Barbara Price
Paige Rutner Susan Roach
Nick DeBonis
Lisa Williams
Jan Grimes
David Murkison Thank you ALL! You were spectacular!! |
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2.
Michael Reksulak’s latest gem in the Savannah Morning News is titled “Stress test results relieve some anxiety.” He writes: “With the results from the ‘Supervisory Capital
Assessment Program’ - the ‘stress tests’ - the government has at last
acknowledged that some banks are better prepared than others to weather
any additional economic
calamities.” The short term effect seems to be a positive reaction by investors as the stock market trends higher. However, Michael summarizes the longer term issue: “How to force ‘too big to fail’ institutions to not
ignore such spillover effects in the future, without taking away their
ability to provide credit and earn profits in the process, will be one of
the great policy challenges.” Read Michael’s full column at the link below: http://savannahnow.com/node/719804 |
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3. Upcoming events
Third Annual Fraud and Forensic Accounting Education
Conference Porter Keadle
Moore, LLP (PKM), a full service accounting and consulting firm, and
Georgia Southern University’s Center for Forensic Studies in Accounting
and Business are co-sponsoring the 3rd Annual Fraud and
Forensic Accounting Conference at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Participants can earn up to 20 CPE hours from presentations by nationally-known speakers. More information about the conference can be found at either of the web site links below: http://www.pkm.com/fraudconference/information.php http://coba.georgiasouthern.edu/forensic/ +++++++++++++++++ |
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4. Summer classes begin on Monday The summer school bell rings on Monday morning as classes begin again. Enrollment appears to be headed for an all-time record. We will not know the final count for awhile, but early registration figures are running well-ahead of the same point-in-time a year ago. Stay tuned…. +++++++++++++++++++++ |
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5. StAR Award winner for April Congratulations to Jamie Lane who was named the Staff Appreciation and Recognition (StAR) Award winner for April! Her nominator expressed these thoughts about Jamie: “Her involvement in and coordination of many
special events, such as MBA in the City, the inaugural Freeman Memorial
Lecture, and many others help to showcase the efforts of our faculty and
staff. Her leadership in the
marketing of our programs is
superb.” Well done, Jamie! +++++++++++++++ The StAR Award program is meant to recognize extraordinary efforts by COBA staff who often work behind-the-scenes on events or projects that contribute to the success of the college. The award winner receives a check for $100, a certificate of achievement, and a trophy for their desk (until the next award winner is selected).
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6.
Ed Sibbald provided a nice summary of the banking
turmoil titled “Community Banks in Coastal Georgia: 2008 in Review.”
Don’t expect Ed to spread doom-and-gloom. No sireee! Ed
writes: “Lost in the tsunami of bad news, reckless risk
taking, fraud and executive compensation excesses, local and regional
community banks continue to perform—lending money to small businesses,
providing risk free investment alternatives in the form of
FDIC‐insured deposits. More focused geographically,
community and regional banks in coastal Hooray for
the little guys!! Ed
highlights three areas of analysis: performance in 2008, comparisons to
regional groups elsewhere in the state of Ed’s conclusions? Click on the link below to find out: http://coba.georgiasouthern.edu/pdf
files/ed_sibbald_banks.pdf +++++++++++++++++ Tim Cairney reviewed the book titled “Asking the
Right Questions” by M. Neil Browne and Stuart M. Keeley. He summarizes it as
follows: “Asking
the Right Questions is subtitled
‘A Guide to Critical Thinking’ and provides a well written
step-by-step explanation of how to critically evaluate
arguments and conclusions.” This is the 8th edition of the book so
it clearly has some staying power.
Tim indicates the book is divided into two sections – the first
part defines an “argument,” while the second part describes different ways
to evaluate arguments. Tim says the authors provide many examples and have
a web site for more practice in dissecting the fallacies and assumptions
of an argument. For more, click on the following
link: http://coba.georgiasouthern.edu/pdf
files/tim_cairney_asking.pdf |
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7.
Research roundup Congratulations “times two” to Kera Bell Watkins! She learned that her paper titled “Towards minimizing pair incompatibility to help retain under-represented groups in beginning programming courses” has been accepted for publication in the ACM Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges … and that another of her papers – “A spirit of inquiry” – will appear in the International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning as an invited article. Good work, Kera! |
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8.
Making news Marketing professor David Shepherd probably made some of his colleagues green with envy, especially those living in Bulldog Country. Dave was quoted in a story titled “Money’s tight so treat me right,” which just happened to run in the Athens Banner-Herald. According to the article: “In the tougher times we are seeing now, customer
service is a way to help your company stand out,” said David Shepherd, a
professor of marketing at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. “What
people don't understand is, it's a profit strategy. If you deliver on
customer service, you don't have to compete on
price.” To read the entire article and more advice from our resident expert, Dr. Dave, click on the link below: http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/051009/opi_438123800.shtml |
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9.
Welcome new subscribers § Heather Howard (’07 BBA in finance), who is employed at Georgia Southern. § Jeena Green (’08 MAcc), who is a systems auditor for Porter Keadle Moore in Atlanta. Correction from last week: Lindsey Cummings is a regional
manager for Advanced Medical Specialists in |
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10. Good news – sad news Out of town readers may not have had access to some significant news that took place in Statesboro/Savannah this week. Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Linda Bleicken was named president of Armstrong Atlantic State University (AASU), effective July 1, 2009. Dr. Bleicken started her academic career at Georgia Southern University in 1990 after earning a Ph.D. degree in management from Georgia State University. Prior to that she had a distinguished career in business, working in the banking industry for five years, as a residential property manager, and as a marketing research consultant for BellSouth Corporation. At Georgia Southern, Linda established her credentials as a faculty member and steadily ascended to positions of increased administrative responsibility – department chair, associate dean, associate provost, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management, and provost/vice president for academic affairs. A presidential appointment was the logical next step. Dr. Bleicken has been my boss for the past six years and I can honestly say that these have been the best working years in my academic career. She has been an advocate for COBA and CIT, supporting our initiatives and facilitating our progress. She has been a mentor, a counselor, a sounding board, a colleague, but most of all, a friend to me. Congratulations, Linda, and all the best to you at AASU! Georgia Southern, COBA/CIT, and I will miss you and your leadership. |
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Eagle
Executive Society Please consider joining – or renewing your membership in – COBA’s Eagle Executive Society. For only $50 a year your contribution will support our annual funding needs that are not being covered by state dollars. Corporate memberships are $250 per year. Click on the following link now and sign up online! Thank you. http://coba.georgiasouthern.edu/eagleexecutive/eexsmembership.htm |
