International Technological University
Volume 1, Issue 3, Summer/Fall 2011
Presented by the Business Administration Department
“I want to put a ding in the universe” ~ Steve Jobs
WASC Candidacy for ITU Announced With great pleasure we would like to report on the news of our university (ITU)’s candidacy for accreditation status from the Western Association for Schools and Colleges (WASC) Accrediting Commission. In a letter to ITU President Yau-Gene Chan, dated July 5, 2011, the Commission granted ITU “the status of candidacy for accreditation.” Based on its assessment, the commission cited the accomplishment by ITU of “significant progress,” and outlined some improvement focus points to be addressed prior to the Commission’s special visit, to take place in the fall of 2012. WASC is one of six associations that provide accrediting standardization for elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education. The process of accreditation starts with the institution’s review of its own operation. Through peer review and a continual self-examination, the candidate is empowered to identify its strengths as well as its insufficient procedures. The institution then implements the required improvements. The staff and faculty of ITU are indeed excited about the WASC candidacy news. At the same time, they are committed to the lofty goal of providing effective graduate-level education in accordance with WASC standards. As the news was received around the campus, professors, students, and administrative staff, reflected on the candidacy news and its implications. Approximately 70% of ITU students polled expressed increased pride, confidence and trust in their university Continued on page 2
ITU’s Good Neighbor Program Launches!
Suman Bhargava with Sonny, owner of “The Brit”
DUAL-MOTIVE THEORY See Page 3
Thus far, 2011 has been an eventful year for ITU. With our WASC candidacy status granted, and our new campus located in exciting downtown San Jose, ITU found it high time to befriend our new neighbors. Conceived by Dr. Greg O’Brien, Dean of Advanced Graduate Studies & Research, as a way to build relationships with local businesses, the Good Neighbor Program has blossomed into a wonderful partnership between ITU and the San Jose/Silicon Valley community. Continued on page 6 INNOVATION & CREATIVITY
See Page 4
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ENGINEERING STUDENTS FOR SUCCESS See Page 5
International Technological University
Continuing the Chan Legacy
TEAM Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Amal Mougharbel Manager/Design: Hubert Chang Editorial Board: Dr. Ahmad Reza Chekeni Barbara Arnoldussen Patricia Wiggin Coordinator: Charitha Valluri
Volume 1, Issue 3, Summer/Fall 2011
Yau-Gene Chan is the President/CEO of ITU. As the son of Dr. Shu-Park Chan—founder of ITU—he represents the third generation of a family legacy dedicated to education. In partnership with Dr. Gerald A. Cory Jr., Mr. Chan has successfully restored financial stability to the institution. As President and CEO, he frequently travels throughout Asia to develop growth opportunities for the university. Mr. Chan graduated with honors from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology. He earned his Masters of Fine Arts in acting at UCLA, where he received the Jack Nicholson Prize and the Edna Yau-Gene Chan, President & CEO Yu Han Fellowship. Mr. Chan’s first conference paper on Dual Motive Theory and its application to Chinese rule in the Warlord era was presented at the Western Economic Association International’s Pacific Rim Economic Conference in Beijing, China. In addition to teaching technical writing and public speaking courses at ITU, Mr. Chan has taught Acuflo (a movement and alignment technique) and acting classes for Fine Arts Masters programs at USC and UCLA. Mr. Chan was a member of the founding team of USC’s Integrated Media Systems Center, which received an $88 million National Science Foundation grant to become one of five national Engineering Research Centers. He has acted in films such as Absolute Power, The Pest, and Replacement Killers, and in television shows such as Baywatch, NYPD Blue and X-Files.
Contributors: Ahmad Shaar Bapu Rao Srigadde
Mr. Chan’s current most important role is his inspiring work as President and CEO, guiding the future of ITU. Mr. Chan reflected on the WASC candidacy news: “In our interactions with WASC and the panels – sometimes feedback is uncomfortable but always accurate. Their detailed output to us makes ITU better, as an institution, to stand the test of time. This candidacy speaks to the vision and intention of my father, Shu-Park Chan.”
Contact: newsletter@itu.edu
WASC Candidacy Announced
International Technological University
Continued from page 1 as a result of hearing the WASC candidacy news. Others voiced positive feelings about the news and the potential effect it will have on their graduate diploma and career. One student commented in this way: “It (candidacy) adds credibility to the university; WASC is a third party and its opinions aren’t biased or influenced by someone else”.
http://itu.edu 355 W San Fernando St San Jose, CA 95113
Education & Experience
The views expressed in articles are those of the writers only and not of ITU or the ITU Journal. ITU Journal is not responsible for accuracy of information cited in the news and events. The Editorial Board reserves the right to edit submissions, with contributions capped at 400 words. Plagiarized submissions will be discarded.
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BY AHMAD REZA CHEKENI, PHD
International Technological University
ITU Joins WASC Assessment Leadership Academy
Volume 1, Issue 3, Summer/Fall 2011
BY AMAL MOUGHARBEL, PHD
Amal Mougharbel, PhD, Chair of the ITU Business Administration Department, was admitted to the WASC Assessment Leadership Academy program. The program provides professional development in higher education training with an emphasis on effective communication and feedback during the assessment process. The academy prepares university professionals to offer seminars, discussion, and supervision. It focuses on assessment as a means to support student learning and encourages understanding of the assessment’s principles, of the student learning theories, of institutional development and faculty teaching strategies.
Attendees of the WASC Assessment Leadership Academy Program
Behavioral Economics and the Impact of Dual Motive Theory BY AMAL MOUGHARBEL, PHD
The following article is written based on the abstracts distributed at the corresponding Conferences. Gerald A. Cory, Jr. PhD., Liz Li, PhD., Amal Mougharbel, PhD., YauGene Chan, and Mikel Duffy attended the Western Economic Association international (WEAI)conference in San Diego, and the International Association for Research in Economic Psychology (IAREP) conference in Exeter, England, in June and July 2011. The team presented papers on Dual Motive Theory (DMT) from different perspectives.
Dr. Li and Yau-Gene Chan’s paper explored the impact of DMT on the economics of social networking. The global reach of social networking in the most recent decades is the most dramatic extension of the IT revolution. The impulse to social networking is a direct expression of the recently emergent psychological concept of the social brain, which, in its turn has been defined in terms of the dual motives of Ego and Empathy or self- and other-interest that emerge from our mammalian neural architecture as the foundation of human social exchange. The global economic implications of this socioeconomic phenomenon will be explored and assessed.
Dr. Cory’s paper discussed the emergence of DMT in behavioral economics. Since its introducDr. Mougharbel and Mikel Duffy’s tion in 1999 with the publication paper was on the Core Values of of The Reciprocal Modular Brain Accounting, Finance and Ecoin Economics and Politics (Plenomics in the Light of the Dual num), DMT, linking economics Motive Theory. The paper fowith evolutionary neuroscience, WEAI held at San Diego Marriott Marquis, and IAREP held at Exeter University, England. cused on the important role of defines social exchange (to include economics) as an emergent the DMT in Behavioral Economics, accounting and finance. The expression of our mammalian neural architecture driven by two concept of behavioral economics explains the acts that one can primary motives, Ego and Empathy or self- and other-interest. take in an economy, and the human behavior as a result of the In the recent decade, DMT has emerged as an alternative to the double motive characterized by one’s self- and other-interest. existing single motive theory of classical Western economics in Similar motives are emphasized by the DMT, which in turn exbehavioral economics. Numerous scholars have contributed to plain the Ego and the Empathy of the human behavior. The core its development. It has attracted interest in emergent econo- values of accounting – Integrity, Reliability, and Accountability, mies such as China, and the Middle East, and offers to provide which find a critical place in Behavioral Economics, demonstrate linkage between Eastern and Western economic thinking. DMT the relation of the DMT and the evolution of the human brain to has been the topic of numerous recent publications, to include evaluate ethical behavior. The hypothesis of Integrity, Reliabiltwo chapters in the Handbook of Contemporary Behavioral ity, and Accountability was developed and continued because Economics (MESharpe 2006) and a section dedicated to it in the of the significant relationship of the core values with the brain Journal of Socio-Economics (August 2006). that has evolved to evaluate ethical or fraudulent cases.
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International Technological University
Seeing Creativity and Innovation at Work BY PATRICIA WIGGIN
Recently, I attended a two-day conference on creating global business opportunities, with an emphasis on high tech, hard work, and innovation. Industries highlighted during the weekend included pharmaceutical companies, federal defense, aeronautics, travel, filmmaking, and more. Throughout the conference I reflected, almost without premeditation, on two of the courses I took at ITU during the last year: DBA 915, Creativity: A Process Oriented Approach, and DBA 916, Creativity and Innovation: Culture of Group Dynamics, both taught by Dr. Chekeni. In these classes we discussed a host of issues involved in creativity: aspects involved in the creating such as insight, recognition, and incubation of an idea. Activities and class discussions in the first course ranged from the person’s conscious effort (usually underestimated in anecdotal explanations of creativity), to the biological basis that could be compared to the neural circuits. Thus, creative individuals are unusually hypersensitive to their environment. Stimuli from our environment are bombarding all of us all the time, but the highly creative persons may recoil from overstimulation—their senses are already on “Level Orange”, high alert. The conference provided an opportunity for me to be a witness to the creative people’s demeanor. A filmmaker in particular, spoke of working in settings where people had flashy ideas but were lacking unique approaches. He did not give long answers to questions, but provided concise, thoughtful responses. Another frequent message was team collaboration on the best ideas. Based on one of the themes of the second course, strengths and differences within a group allow the team to perform, innovate and thrive. One conference speaker spoke about a troubling trend in middle-manager behavior: the lack of honest feedback to upperlevel management. He described how innovation is stymied when there is no disagreement, and this becomes is a stumbling block to flushing out best business practices that are essential in a global environment. Over and again, conference speakers equated success with innovation. One pharmaceutical executive described entrepreneurship as “an irrational act, where innovation is key”. The filmmaker described the pressure to produce films about money and glamour but shared his successful formula: an original story. A venture capitalist said innovation is the “intersection of invention and insight, leading to social and economic value”. Remarkably, reflecting on creativity and business innovation at this conference provided a wonderful opportunity for me to see classroom ideas at work. Many thanks to ITU Professor Dr. Subba Yantra who, as a part of the Spring Consumer Behavior class (MKTN 957), sponsored students to attend the Telegu Association of North America Business Conference, Santa Clara CA, July 2-3, 2011.
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Volume 1, Issue 3, Summer/Fall 2011
Did You Know?
SAP Alliance
SAP University Alliances has approved six of ITU’s SAP courses: • Accounting Information Systems • Introduction to ERP Systems using SAP • ABAP - Advanced Business Application Programming • Enterprise Portal technology using NetWeaver • Enterprise procurement processes • Sales order management with ERP Upon completing a minimum of three approved SAP courses, with a “B” or higher grade, students receive an SAP Student Recognition Award (previously known as the SAP Certificate), signed by the SAP University Alliances program manager and the Chair of the ITU Business Administration Department. The purpose of this recognition award is to distinguish students for their excellent performance.
WASC Assessment
As a member of the WASC Assessment Leadership Academy Program, ITU will focus on the students learning that contributes to creative work, ultimate learning and community participation. The students learning goals are developed for individual courses or for programs. The learning goals are in response to two questions: What do we want the students to learn when they finish a course or a program? And, how do we want the students to apply what they learn? The first question is an outcome based on the intersection between the course/program content and required workplace skills. The second question is about the necessary competencies learned in the course/program and how to apply them effectively in the workplace.
Business Administration Website Launches
September marks the launch month of ITU’s Business Administration Department’s website. The website features extended details about the department’s faculty, study plans, assessment, and more. The website’s design was created by ITU’s Web & Graphics Designer, Barbara Gini and the website development team. The site’s layout and colors are to convey a modern and professional feel, while the newly designed logo represents the department’s mission to build and coach successful students for industry-related careers. Have a look at the site at http://business.itu.edu.
About Student Learning
Every Fall ITU offers Corporate Finance, which is core requirement course that all Business students must complete. The financial skills and knowledge students learn during the term are highlighted in the following Corporate Finance Learning Outcomes (CLOs): 1. Know the basic ability to apply financial concepts, models and analytical techniques to both the academic and practiced environments. 2. Identify relationships between the Business Plan, Finance Plan and business growth. 3. Describe Management and Leadership roles associated with Finance, specifically, how financial leadership differs from financial management. Understand how finance leadership can build the equity-value of a company.
International Technological University
Volume 1, Issue 3, Summer/Fall 2011
Engineering Students for Success May Huang, PhD., is a professor and Chair of the Electrical Engineering department at ITU. Dr. Huang is also a professor at China’s Peking University (PKU) School of Software and Microelectronics. She leads a joint research team with members from ITU and PKU. Dr. Huang brings more than 20 years of Silicon Valley Integrated Circuit (IC) design and software design experience to her work. She is a former Principal Design Engineer and Project Manager for Virtual Silicon Technology, Hitachi Semiconductor America and VLSI Technology. Dr. Huang holds a bachelor’s degree from South China University of Technology, a master’s from Santa Clara University and a doctorate from ITU, all in electrical engineering. She achieved her master and PhD degrees under the supervision of ITU founder, Dr. Shu-Park Chan. After transferring her PhD study from Santa Clara University to ITU for support, Dr. Huang became the first PhD graduate at ITU. She is a member of Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers working group and was on the balloting committees of VITAL, Verilog and VHDL Analog Extension. She also taught about chip design in Tsinghua University, China. Her research expertise is in IC design methodology and artificial intelligence.
Dr. Huang with ITU’s Founder/President Emeritus and Chief Academics Officer/Dean of Faculty Left to Right: Dr. Shu-Park Chan, Dr. May Huang, Dr. Liz Li
Dr. Huang considers her best project as when she was involved in designing computer Central Processing Units (CPUs). She received a Chinese government national 3rd place prize in advance achievement in 1986 for an automatic information management system design. She also received a second place award in 1984 for an automatic programming system at the China national science and technology committee.
Push to Start
Dr. Huang & the Electrical Engineering department’s AI Research Lab Back Row (L-R): Chen Yang, Lei Shu, Fan Zhao, Matthew Jin Front Row (L-R): Hu Xu, Dr. May Huang, Xiaolan Bai
BY HUBERT CHANG ITU’s Electrical Engineering (EE) department has created a functional version of their highly anticipated gestural-control application. Developed by the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Lab, the application allows individuals to interact with graphical user interface (GUI) through specified movements, also referred to as “gestures”. The process begins with a Red, Green, Blue Distance (RGBD) camera capturing an user’s gesture. Next, the gesture is converted into raw data or code, and translated into computer functions. Finally, the user sees his desired result on a screen.
Member of AI Lab interacting with gestural software
The reaction of gesture manipulation can be customized. For example, the feature of printing a document can be achieved by simply moving your hand to drag an on-screen file onto a printer icon. The team achieved this real-time application through internally-developed algorithms. The first usage of this research will give ITU students & visitors an interactive and convenient access point to university-related information. This cutting-edge research will provide incalculable applications in the future. 5
International Technological University
Volume 1, Issue 3, Summer/Fall 2011
Get Your Careers!
ITU’s Good Neighbor Program
BY BAPU RAO SRIGADDE
Continued from page 1
ITU’s Career Services Center has been proactively working with students and industry experts to provide career services and opportunities. We have some recent news to share with you:
According to The Good Neighbor Program website, this partnership “is designed to provide [ITU] students with discounts or other incentives from merchants and professional service providers”. Suman Bhargava, ITU Marketing Specialist, states the purpose and ideals as “bringing businesses together… bringing benefits to ITU… and making students feel special!” However, this program is not only for our student body, but available to ITU staff and faculty alike.
CDC becomes CSC… The Academic Quality Committee (AQC) has decided on a new name for the Career Development Center: the Career Services Center (CSC). This change creates a name more in line with its mission statement as a service-oriented center.
Since the official launch date of July 7, 2011, the program has been quietly growing. As of August 31st, Suman had managed to sign agreements with over 20 establishments throughout San Jose, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale, and anticipates 40-50 total by the end of the year.
Career Fair on November 4th CSC is hosting a day long Career Fair/ Job Fair, on Friday, November 4th. This event is exclusively for ITU students. We are expecting around 50 companies to participate in this event, so come with copies of your resume. If you want professional help or you don’t know where to start, attend our CSC workshops (see below).
This new program is an invigorating movement between the school and the city encouraging our students, staff, and faculty to settle into the bustling world of downtown San Jose. It is also a display of how two entities can aid one another to grow despite the economic realities affecting the entire world. For more information go to http://itu.edu/goodneighbor.
CSC workshops begin…. The CSC will start workshops on various topics, either in combination with or conducted before Joint Seminar every Wednesday 5:15 PM - 6:30 PM. These workshops will prepare you for the Career Fair in November or will feature skills to help you compete in the current job market.
A Fascinating Island -- Taiwan! BY HSIFEN “COCO” HSU Welcome to Taiwan - located on the southwestern edge of the Pacific Ocean. In the past, she was known as “Formosa”, a Portuguese name, meaning “Beautiful Island”. Even with limited land-space, Taiwan possesses great natural landscapes, cultural treasures, and energetic, friendly people.
For more information, check our website http://csc.itu.edu or http://itu.edu/index.php/news/.
Students Visit El Camino Hospital
From Left to Right: Inside of a Taipei Metro (MRT) train, Taipei 101, and Shih Lin Nightmarket
Taiwan doesn’t have rich natural resources like other countries; but, thanks to her peoples’ creativity, she boasts many brilliant records. Taiwan is widely-known for the manufacturing of various goods from tennis rackets, shoes, textiles, bicycles to computers, household appliances, petrochemicals, semiconductors and steel. The island also has amazing mountains, unpolluted beaches, and convenient public transportation. Any Taiwanese you meet will treat you as family and make you feel right at home.
MBA Healthcare Management students in Professor Barbara Arnoldussen’s Organizational Development class took a tour of the Mountain View location of El Camino Hospital on July 9, 2011. Tour arranged by Judy Twitchell, ECH Director of Community Relations. Photographer: ITU student Mrudu Singhal.
Please remember to recycle!
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ITU, VISIT WWW.ITU.EDU.
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ISSN: 2161-8054