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College of Business Roundup
Academic Roundup
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
Dyer earns prestigious honor from the NAIA
Craig Dyer Craig Dyer, associate professor of sport management and Indiana Tech’s faculty athletics representative (FAR), was awarded the 2020-21 NAIA Faculty Athletics Representative of the Year in September. Named in honor of past vice president of NAIA Legislative Services and NAIA Hall of Famer, Wally Schwartz, this award recognizes a faculty athletics representative who exemplifies the loyalty, enthusiasm and honesty that Mr. Schwartz showed on behalf of the NAIA.
Professor Dyer has been at Indiana Tech since 2004 and has served as the university’s FAR since 2007, working with student-athletes, coaches, staff members and administrators on rules education, eligibility appeals and eligibility certification.
After guiding Indiana Tech’s Ph.D. in Global Leadership for nearly three years, Dr. Angie Fincannon has been chosen as dean of the College of Business, filling the void left when Dr. Kathleen Hanold Watland became the university’s Vice President for Academic Affairs in July.
While with the Ph.D. program, Dr. Fincannon led many successful initiatives, including revitalizing the curriculum and launching the Ph.D. Pathways program and writing workshops for Ph.D. students. She has more than 25 years of experience in higher education, having previously served in faculty, academic and administrative leadership roles at Taylor University and Purdue Fort Wayne.
To reinforce learning and networking experiences outside of his classroom, Dr. Jeff Walls, professor of business, has taken a group of Indiana Tech students to the Society for Human Resource Management national conference each year since 1993. This year’s conference was in Las Vegas from Sept. 8 through 12. This year’s group included (left to right): Brittany McMichael, Drennan Sorrell, DeAnna Kimbrell, LaToya Price, Tammy Carey, Jill Lewis, Cassandra Crickard, Dr. Walls, Emrah Catic, Anel Rizvic, Kim Siercks, Emma Tuominen, Hadley Hopkins, Sam Reagin, Dillon McArthur and Anthony McMichael.
Tech students integral to the debut of the Fort Wayne Football Club
Dr. Angie Fincannon
When professional soccer made its return to Fort Wayne this past spring, Indiana Tech played a significant role—both on and off the pitch.
Five Warriors—Max Amoako, Pep Casas, Noe Garcia, Will Harris and Luke Jones—made the Fort Wayne Football Club (FWFC) roster for its first USL League Two season and accounted for eight of the club’s 14 goals during its 14-game season. Garcia, an exercise science major from Puerto de la Cruz, Canary Islands, scored the first goal in franchise history in a 2-1 May 23 home loss to Toledo Villa FC, and led the team with five tallies on the year.
Equally as important was the work done by Indiana Tech students off the field. Eight additional Warriors—Hope Baker, Danielle Blagojevic, Dan Dill, Jack Koshko, Rene Sanchez,
Chloe Smithley, Israel Vaides and Stephanie Vargovich—provided invaluable service to the first-year club while gaining precious careerrelated experience in internship roles.
“I believe the Indiana Tech student partnership with Fort Wayne FC was the most beneficial relationship to the organization. It helped us be more connected to the community, and being able to provide meaningful experiences for these sport management students was mutually amazing,” said Anna Magner, who was FWFC’s director of marketing during the team’s first year.
Indiana Tech’s relationship with FWFC started after Dr. Shane Fudge, Indiana Tech assistant professor of sport management, reached out to the team early in 2021 to inquire about partnership opportunities. From there, internship roles began evolving for our students.
“Game day operations were crucial tasks students performed, but they did much more than that to help our club thrive,” Magner said. “Those additional experiences included researching other clubs in the league, and performing team operations such as ticketing, community outreach, social media marketing, customer service and merchandising and inventory.”
For Dill, of Springfield, Tennessee, this internship was a valuable experience.
“In my position, overall game day operations management, I was tasked with a different objective for each game so I could get experience working all pieces of the game day puzzle. Throughout the season I set up tents, sold and scanned tickets, operated opening-ceremony machinery, set up field equipment, and I was included in team marketing and promotional meetings,” Dill said. “I know that my work was appreciated because I was often tasked with more work on top of just being there for game day.”
Baker, of Fort Wayne, agreed.
“I was a part of the beginning of a sports organization, an experience most people don’t get to be a part of,” she said. “I dedicated my time and energy into everything I did, and everyone’s hard work and effort is what helped make the first season so successful.” primarily for social media. Having that kind of stage to showcase his work taught him so much about the creative process and the interpersonal work that goes into the finished product.
“I had to focus on all different aspects of marketing when I created for them—What do the fans want to see? Will this be enjoyable? Is this good for FWFC’s image? Am I conveying my message clearly? I had to keep asking myself all these different questions to make sure I was releasing the best work possible to the organization,” Vaides said.
“Without the students, I don’t know how we would’ve gotten through game day operations. They made the season more enjoyable and possible,” Magner said. “They were on time, confident and always willing to learn more. They asked the right questions and weren’t afraid to try something new. I think they walked away from the experience with a lot of new knowledge.”
After the end of the season, FWFC underwent some organizational changes that will affect the club’s day-to-day operations for its second season. Professor Fudge is working with the club to continue this successful relationship.
“These are the types of real-world learning experiences we are looking to provide for our students every year. These are the types of experiences that tie all of the classroom learning together and make it click,” Fudge said. “It’s a win-win for our students and for our partner organizations.”
