Week of May 27 – 31: Keeping you connected to COBA & CIT!

1. Coming soon to the Market District in Statesboro!!

One of the business outreach initiatives of COBA is our sponsorship of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), which is partially funded from a federal grant at the University of Georgia.

Our local SBDC office is operated by Director Lori Durden whose job it is to counsel small business owners and those who are planning to open new businesses. In addition she helps link entrepreneurs and bankers for potential financing (she doesn’t do it – the banks do it), and she creates, delivers, and sponsors workshops and seminars.

Lori has been working out of an office on the second floor of the COBA building. However, her office location has sometimes been a liability because of the traffic on campus, limited parking during the day, and the difficulty clients have locating her office within the building.

As a result, we finally received approval to re-locate our SBDC operations to the new Market District behind the hospital.

For local readers you will shortly see us setting up shop right next to Serenity and right down from McAllister’s. We anticipate a mid-June opening.

I’d like to thank Leonard Blount and Lori for making this happen. We are really excited about the visibility and potential this new location will afford us. Yeah!!

In Michael Reksulak’s most recent biweekly column in the Savannah Morning News titled “Economist-like analysis can give new perspective to social issues,” he introduces us to the concept of “economic imperialism.”

According to Michael, economic imperialism can apply to only economists, since it is they who “… use the tools of their trade” to analyze subjects beyond their traditional territory (i.e., the economy).

As an example, he cites a study by an economist who found a link between the reduction in violent crime and the phase-out of lead from gasoline.

Read Michael’s column and learn the full story of “economic imperialism” at the following link:

http://savannahnow.com/node/503370

This bit of news slipped by me last week when it was timely (relative to Memorial Day), but it is news worth sharing, so we will add it in this week.

For Memorial Day, Georgia Southern University did a very nice feature called “Profiles in Patriotism” about faculty who previously served (or are still serving) in the military.

Four COBA faculty were featured with short bios and pictures. Congratulations to Tom Noland, Dena Hale, Bill Anderson, and Jack White. These are not the only COBA faculty with military experience, but these four were included in the “Profiles.” Click on the following link to read their stories:

http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/strategic/profiles.php

4. Research roundup

Congratulations to Kera Z. Bell-Watkins! Her article titled “Developing computing identity as a model for prioritizing dynamic K-12 computing curricular standards” has been accepted for presentation at the Eastern Conference of the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges.

5. Eagle Executive Society

Each week we’ll randomly select and highlight 10 (or so) members of the new Eagle Executive Society in Dean’s Update. Will your name appear? DON’T BE LEFT OUT!! Join today. Go to the end of this Update and click on the indicated link to sign up online.

This week’s members are:

James Alderman

Lovett Bennett, Jr.

Tom Coe

John Dismuke

Kerry Cotter III

Everett Kennedy III

Sam McDuffie

Dr. Jake Simons

Ward Trulock

Richard Williams

It is the nature of administrative jobs, but we deans and department chairs are frequently on the receiving end of complaints, problems, and criticisms. That is why it’s nice to get some positive feedback once in a while!

Without naming names, I will share some excerpts from a letter that one of our department chairs received recently:

“Our daughter … attended Georgia Southern University and recently graduated in the May 10, 2008 ceremony. It has been a quick four years.

… (she) received the physical and emotional support she needed through her sorority sisters, friends, community, and campus health center. As for academic support, our son’s were “on their own” at UGA. Thank goodness Georgia Southern is vastly different! …

My husband and I will always be eternally grateful for the time and effort you and the business teachers spent with (her). You have not only made an impact on her life, but through her, an impact on our lives. We are so appreciative of the many positive experiences Georgia Southern has afforded her, of her education from Georgia Southern University, and the dedication of the many teachers who helped her during this time.”

Whooo-boy! If that doesn’t make you make feel good, nothing will. Congratulations to all COBA faculty and staff who helped make this student’s experience a positive one! (And, thank you “mom and dad” for writing to let us know.)

Many readers, especially those who earned MBA degrees, have had the good fortune to interact with Dr. Mike McDonald either in one of his classes or in his role as director of the graduate studies office. Mike has decided to step down as director and return to faculty full-time.

I would like to thank Mike for his many years of dedicated service in the graduate studies office. Mike has been the face of our MBA program in Savannah, the driving force behind the success of the WebMBA program, and the steady administrator who watched over all our graduate programs and ensured their conformity with AACSB standards. Great job, Mike!!For those who wish to send him a congratulatory note, here is his email address: mmcdonal@georgiasouthern.edu

Glen Riecken has also decided to step down as chair of the department of management, marketing, and logistics (MML). Thank you, Glen, for your dedicated years of service to COBA and to the MML department. Glen’s email is griecken@georgiasouthern.edu

Jerry Wilson has agreed to step up as interim chair of the MML department, effective June 1. Thank you, Jerry!

And, Trey Denton has been appointed as director of the Center for Global Studies, replacing Mark Hanna. Thank you, Mark and Trey!

Here is a great title from our latest Business Information Zone column: “How Fast is Your Web Site? Usability in Action.” This month Kevin Elder offers insight for business owners about the usability of their web sites. Do you get impatient with difficult-to-use web sites?

Kevin writes:

“One of my favorite statistics on the Internet is that 90 percent of the Internet traffic flows through less than 10 percent of the pages. How can less than 10 percent of the pages garner more than 90 percent of the traffic? One would figure the great majority of the revenue would fall to this 10 percent as well. My theory is usability. Quite simply, those few Web pages are much easier to use and therefore keep the customers coming back.”

Kevin provides simple design considerations that would make every web site user-friendly and easy-to-navigate. For more, click on the following link:

http://coba.georgiasouthern.edu/insights.htm

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This week’s book review is contributed by Chris Paul on a book titled “The "Detective and the Investor" by Robert Hagstrom. Chris explains:

“… Hagstrom identifies and discusses the investigative techniques and individual characteristics of the three greatest fictional detectives: Poe's Auguste Dupin; Doyle's Sherlock Holmes; and Chesterton's Father Brown. The author's method is to review a particular mystery, discuss the techniques used by the detective in solving it, and then apply the technique to investment analysis.”

What a neat way to combine mystery and finance! Chris carefully advises readers that it takes hard work – and rational, not emotional, thinking – to be successful at investing.

“This book is a very enjoyable read simply for being a highly entertaining review of the mysteries in which these detectives appear. This is good, because most investors will find following the advice to be skills they do not possess and hard work most investors will not want to perform. Indeed, those seeking a get-rich-quick scheme will want to eschew the serious investment literature.”

Read Chris’ complete review click on the following link:

http://coba.georgiasouthern.edu/insights.htm

Phyllis Isley and her BBRED staff recently did a study on the economic impact of the statewide bicycle race called the Tour de Georgia. (BBRED is Bureau of Business Research and Economic Development.)

The press release was picked up by many newspapers, including the Atlanta Business Chronicle and by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (links are listed below). Way to go, Phyllis!!

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2008/05/26/daily50.html

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/sports/stories/2008/05/29/tour_0529.html

§ Matt Lane (’96 BBA in accounting), who is vice president for Gen Cap America in Nashville, TN.

§ David Bailey (’79 BBA in finance), who is vice president of wealth management for Smith Barney in Atlanta.

§ Michael Lamberth (’94 BBA in accounting), who is an attorney with Capital One in Richmond, VA.

§ Gwen (Thomas) Harvey (’93 BBA in marketing) and Horace Darrin Harvey (’93 BS in broadcasting). Gwen is a teacher at Langston Chapel Middle School in Statesboro.

§ Will King (’03 BBA in management and in information systems), who is weight research inspector for AAA Cooper Transportation in Atlanta.

§ Heather Happoldt (’06 BBA in accounting and ’06 MAcc), who is internal auditor with Citi Trends, Inc. in Savannah.

§ Meghann Powell (’06 BBA in finance and in management), who is campus missionary aide for Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship in Statesboro.

Eagle Executive Society

If you haven’t done so already, please consider joining the Eagle Executive Society (EExS) as a charter member for $50 a year. Your contribution will support annual funding needs that are not being covered by state dollars.

Click on the following link and to sign up online! Thank you.

http://coba.georgiasouthern.edu/eagleexecutive/eexsmembership.htm