Lipscomb College of Business Dean's Report 2022

PRACTICE

Faculty-directed applied research, teaching excellence, and academic and co-curricular programs that equip students for success

PURPOSE

Understanding the potential of business to be a positive voice in today’s world through the integration of faith and solid business practices

PARTNERS

Engagement spurring students to reach new levels of excellence through collaboration with businesses, the community and the world around us

OUR MISSION

To develop business leaders who embrace the values and virtues of Jesus.

Bold CreativeCredible Serving

David shepherded them with integrity of the heart; with skillful hands he led them.”

THE THREE PILLARS OF LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

Lipscomb’s Ladder to AACSB* Accreditation

In March 2022, the Lipscomb University College of Business was awarded accreditation by AACSB International. The dream to achieve this more elite level of excellence was sparked more than three decades ago and has been accomplished through the work of countless Lipscomb Bisons throughout the years.

INNOVATE: New Master of Health Administration established.

See how this master’s program serves as a vital building block to achieving AACSB accreditation.

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Financial Markets Lab featuring access to the Bloomberg Terminal created.

Initiated ASPIRE program and Directed Work Experience opportunities.

The college earned its first No. 1 in Tennessee ranking from Poets & Quants for Undergrads.

ENGAGE: The first of five professional-led advisory boards established.

See how the advisory boards have served as a significant tool for engagement, an important building block to achieving AACSB accreditation.

IMPACT: Launched the Center for Business as Mission.

See how this center served as a building block to achieving AACSB accreditation, making an impact on populations both near and far.

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Business faculty vote in favor of pursuing AACSB accreditation.

Dr. Axel Swang, chair of the business department, sent a letter to AACSB requesting the accreditation requirements.

Hosted annual Christian Business Faculty Association Conference.

INNOVATE: Center for Transformative Sales & Supply Chain Leadership established.

See how the supply chain center served as a crucial innovative building block to achieving AACSB accreditation.

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Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation is created.

INNOVATE: Center for Analytics & Informatics established (now elevated to the School of Data Analytics & Technology).

See how the data analytics programming has served as a key innovative building block to achieving AACSB accreditation.

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First of seven professionally successful executive-in-residence faculty joined Lipscomb.

Career Connection center created.

Dean Ray Eldridge received an AACSB letter accepting Lipscomb’s eligibility application.

One of first four in the nation awarded inaugural ACBSP** accounting specialized accreditation.

As a step toward the ultimate goal, Lipscomb achieved initial ACBSP accreditation.

*AACSB International, previously known as Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business ** Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)

AACSB accreditation reinforces Lipscomb’s mission and validates world-class status

Based on our signature verse Psalm 78:72, we at Lipscomb aspire to be a college of business that embodies “skill of the hand” through quality education and experiences while also exhibiting “integrity of the heart” through our intentional integration of faith and business.

Many of today’s Christian college students, however, are entering their college career wondering if they can be both a successful businessperson and a Christian light in the world.

I had this phenomenon in mind when I attended an AACSB dean’s conference, where a group of us got together and began counting the number of business schools in the nation that have an intentional Christian mission. Thinking it through, we came up with 14 Christian business schools, a very small number, that had met the rigorous requirements to become AACSB accredited.

AACSB represents the top 6% of all business schools in the world, and we decided if we were going to embody “skill of the hand” we needed to have this external validation of being a world-class business school. Lipscomb’s journey shows that business educators can be intentional in our mission and intentional about quality at the same time. They are not mutually exclusive. You can do both.

And that is what we at Lipscomb set out to do, to prove that Lipscomb graduates can both make a profit and make a positive difference, an idea also embedded in the AACSB accreditation standards. In March it was announced that we accomplished our goal.

Accreditation by AACSB, the largest business education network connecting learners, educators and businesses worldwide, is synonymous with the highest standards of quality in business education. It places the Lipscomb College of Business within an elite group: only 926 institutions across 60 countries have met the qualifications.

But most importantly, AACSB accreditation opens many doors for Lipscomb graduates. Undergraduates have the opportunity to obtain preferred entry status to prestigious graduate schools and the ability to draw the attention of recruiters for national and international corporations. Today, all 6,000+ alumni of the College of Business can boast their alma mater’s new accreditation status on their resumes.

In its most recent endeavor to achieve AACSB accreditation, the college stepped on the first rung of the ladder in 2016, but the aspirations were first voiced in 1988, when Lipscomb legend Dr. Axel Swang requested the AACSB requirements, putting the hopes and dreams of the Lipscomb COB community into the official record.

Throughout the past seven years, various milestones in innovation, impact and engagement have each served as a new rung on the ladder leading to the new status. Each degree offered by the college had to meet the highest level of faculty and curriculum quality. Faculty had to reach new standards of, and a balance of, academic and professional qualification.

As such, contributions from many supporters in the past few years have been used to assist current faculty with strong professional backgrounds to achieve their terminal academic degrees. In addition, since 2016, 18 faculty have been hired in new or existing positions.

Various advisory boards have been established to engage hundreds of local professionals in ensuring the quality and impact of our degrees, and highly successful executives-in-residence have been recruited to bring real-world insight to students in classrooms.

To bring new innovation to the college, leaders focused on enhancing supply chain management, data analytics and health care as relevant distinctives as well as the traditional core of accounting, finance, marketing and management. Academic programs in business as mission and entrepreneurship as well as student services in advising and career development have also been enhanced.

And throughout the entire journey, Lipscomb College of Business stayed true to its Christian mission, to develop business leaders who can be a light in the world through servant leadership, demonstrating the values and virtues of Jesus throughout the work week, not just on Sundays.

Ray Eldridge Dean, College of Business

THANK YOU TO COB FACULTY

Because of the hard work, commitment and selfless service of these full-time faculty in 2021-22, the COB was able to achieve this new distinction that both enhances the value of every Lipscomb alum’s degree and recognizes that Lipscomb Bisons are equipped to make a difference as well as a profit.

Leadership

Ray Eldridge, Dean; Professor of Management

Allison Duke, Senior Associate Dean; Professor of Management

Andy Borchers, Associate Dean, Accreditation and Assessment; Professor of Management

Core Faculty

Jacob Arthur, Director, Center for Data Analytics; Assistant Professor of Information Security and Analytics

Joseph Bamber, Associate Professor of Marketing

Marcy Binkley, Assistant Professor of Accounting

Donita Brown, Instructor of Health Care Management

Rebecca Burcham, Assistant Professor of Health Care Management

Han-Sheng Chen, Associate Professor of Finance

Jeff Cohu, Executive Director, Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation; Associate Professor of Management

Bart Liddle, Associate Dean, School of Data Analytics & Technology; Associate Professor of Management

Suzanne Sager, Associate Dean, Professional Development & Engagement

Rick Holaway, Chair, Management, Entrepreneurship & Marketing; Assistant Professor of Marketing

Jeff Jewell, Chair, Accounting, Finance and Economics; Professor of Finance

Tim Creel, Assistant Professor of Accounting

Lindsay Dillingham, Assistant Professor of Marketing

Joe Ivey, Professor of Management

Mark Jobe, Hilton and Sallie Dean Chair of Accountancy; Associate Professor of Accounting

Natasha Johnson, Assistant Professor of Management

Perry Moore, Interim Director, MAcc program; Charles E. Frasier Professor of Accountancy

Nina Morel, Executive Director, Coaching & Leadership Development; Professor of Leadership Development

Lauren Pinkston, Assistant Professor of Business as Mission

Julio Rivas, Director of MBA program, Associate Professor of Finance

Leanne Smith, Associate Professor of Management

Hannah Stolze, Director, Center for Transformative Sales & Supply Chain Management; Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management

Lesley Tomaszewski, Director of Health Care Programs; Associate Professor of Health Care Management

Rob Touchstone, Director, Center for Business as Mission

Practice builds the foundation

“...we seek to identify, encourage and promote both curricular and co-curricular activities and best practices through which business schools can have positive societal impact. This occurs through teaching, engagement, experiential and service learning, and activities inside and outside the classroom.”

From the AACSB International accreditation standards for innovation

Lipscomb students best others from top-ranked programs across the country

Lipscomb’s future business leaders annually participate in academic competitions that support and develop entrepreneurship, sales, marketing, financial and innovation skills.

From sales students playing golf with Jim Perdue, the president of Perdue® Chicken, in Salisbury, Maryland, to future businesspeople taking in the sun and insight from top entrepreneurs at the national Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization Conference in Tampa, Florida, students engaged this past year in a variety of competitions that not only validated their skills and business acumen, but also granted opportunities to take their personal ventures to the next level.

Aidan Miller, junior, who currently runs Kwizera Coffee, and Matt Stuart, then-senior, who served as a business advisor, pitched growth plans for Kwizera at the Texas Christian University Values and Ventures Competition, held by the Neeley Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Out of 235 teams worldwide who applied to participate, only 42 were selected, producing an impressive list of competitors including students from Brown, Cornell and Northwestern universities who took the top three spots. In Lipscomb’s first appearance at the competition, Miller and Stuart earned one of only five

honorable mentions awarded and the respect of their competitors.

“This is one of the top two or three most prestigious undergraduate pitch and business plan competitions in the world,” said Jeff Cohu, entrepreneurship mentor. “Aidan and Matt did an outstanding job and there was a lot of buzz created around their performance.”

Another first-time competitive team of undergraduate students represented Lipscomb in the HR Case Competition & Conference at Purdue University. The team consisted of finance and

entrepreneurship major Natalie Blickensderfer, management major Heleena Kabtimer, public relations major Jordan Forbes, and management and finance major John Bachhal

While Cornell University and Brigham-Young University took home the top two awards presented at the competition, Lipscomb’s team received high scores and applaudable commentary, ranking them third over four other schools, said Natasha Johnson, team co-coach.

More than 1,000 students participated in the American Marketing Association’s International Collegiate Conference in Chicago. Representing Lipscomb were Bachhal, Blickensderfer, Forbes, Sadie Kohler, Kiley Sayre and Jason Southall

Over the course of three days, they participated in a variety of competitions and successfully reached the competition finals of each. Blickensderfer and Forbes placed third in the marketing strategy competition, earning a $500 cash prize. Blickensderfer also placed third in the sales competition, earning another $100.

Kohler was so impressive with her on-the-spot pitch in one breakout session, that she earned praise and a $100 bill from the facilitator.

Lipscomb’s own annual Kittrell Pitch Competition allows students to deliver a business or product pitch to compete for funding and support that help bring their ideas to reality. This year, Lila Mae and Anna Belle Skidmore won the $8,000 first-place prize for Granola’D, a glutenfree granola snack company. (See more Kitrell winners on page 14.)

Finally, two Lipscomb students competed in the regional Global Student Entrepreneur Awards hosted by the Nashville chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, where they bested two Ph.D. teams from Vanderbilt, among other tough competitors. Skidmore earned first place, a $3,500 cash prize and other benefits worth more than $20,000 for her snack company Granola’D. Ceira Grieve (’21) earned second place and a $1,500 cash prize for Local Vocal, her business that promotes the local entertainment scene.

Matt Stuart (01) , then-senior, makes his pitch for an expansion of Kwizera Coffee’s scope at the TCU Values & Ventures competition. Aiden Miller , junior (foreground), and Stuart (background) (05) got high praise for their honorablemention performance. The students’ mentor, Jeff Cohu (09) , said the TCU event is one of the most prestigious undergraduate competitions.

Lila Mae and Anna Belle Skidmore (02) won the $8,000 first-place prize at the Kittrell Pitch Competition for Granola’D, a gluten-free granola snack company.

Dorie Harrison (’22), (10) snagged second place at the Kittrell competition, and LilliAnn Sutherlin (’22), (04) tied for third place along with Courtney Grable (08) in the annual contest, coordinated by the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.

Students in the Lipscomb student chapter of the American Marketing Association (03) (06) (07) traveled to the AMA’s national conference in the Windy City, where they not only saw the sights, but also reached the finals in various competitions.

Professor honored for effective learning strategy

Perry Moore (’81), Charles E. Frasier Professor of Accountancy, was awarded the Mark Chain/FSA Innovation in Graduate Teaching Award by the Association for International Certified Professional Accountants. Moore was awarded for a classroom strategy he developed called “Using Monopoly® as a Practice Set in an Advanced Auditing Course.”

In addition to receiving a monetary prize, Moore demonstrated the strategy at a special session at the American Accounting Association Conference on Teaching and Learning in Accounting in July in San Diego.

Moore’s simulation, which he has used in his classes for eight years, uses the Hasbro game Monopoly® to provide a more real-world learning experience in auditing for accounting students. Groups of students play the game and ‘record’ their rolls as if they were actual

business events. Moore developed a customized Excel file to record the rolls and thus produce the students’ set of financial statements. Paper receipts are given when cash changes hands.

When time is called, students get their records in order. They are then audited by another student, who has to interview them, go through their records, determine whether the financial statements accurately reflect what transpired and issue an audit opinion on the financial statements.

“They learn how to examine the records of another business, propose adjustments where warranted and communicate the results of their work to others,” said Moore.

In addition, Moore has often invited alumni to come to the simulation to act as the ‘banker’ for the auditing students (see page 30).

CPA exam pass rate continues to exceed national average

Lipscomb’s Master of Accountancy (MAcc) students continue their streak of high Certified Public Accountant exam pass rates, regularly besting the national average of the first-time candidate pass rate of 50 percent across the four sections of the exam.

Lipscomb’s MAcc Class of 2020 experienced historic success with an overall CPA exam pass rate of 78%. Last year’s MAcc students had a 77% pass rate and ten students passed each of the four sections on their first attempt, a tremendous achievement.

Interim Director of the MAcc Program Perry Moore attributes the success of MAcc students on the CPA exam to several factors. First, the accounting faculty modified the sequence of the MAcc courses to correspond with the CPA exam schedule. Students now take each section of the exam shortly after completing the relevant academic courses.

In addition, each MAcc student is provided with clear goals for the number of hours spent preparing for class and the CPA exam. “They also receive a weekly report showing where they stand in terms of effort compared to their peers, which is highly motivating,” Moore said.

“An important third factor is a panel discussion of recent MAcc graduates held early in the fall semester,” Moore added. “The panel addresses preparation required for the exam and encourages students to complete the exam before they graduate and start a full-time job. Panel participants who were unable to reach that goal tell a compelling story of their difficulties in finding time to study while getting adjusted to a full-time workload.”

Looking Ahead...

The accounting faculty has begun preparing to pursue accreditation from AACSB, a natural next step as it was one of the first four schools to achieve the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs’ specialized accounting accreditation in 2011.

Perry Moore, Charles E. Frasier Professor of Accountancy

In addition, the accounting department is preparing to make 2023-24 curriculum changes to reflect changes and updates to the Uniform CPA Exam to be effective in January 2024.

“This simulation provides a concrete example of what certain aspects of auditing look like in practice and makes it easier to conceptualize carrying out various auditing tasks.”

When Lackey won the Outstanding Student Presenter award at Lipscomb’s annual Student Scholars Symposium this spring for her research titled “Repatriation Effectiveness of the Transition Tax within the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017,” that was just the beginning of her achievement in business scholarship. She went on to present at the national conference for the Society of Business, Industry and Economics, a group that includes Mark Jobe on its board.

As part of the International Tax course taught by Marcy Binkley, Lackey did a literature review exploring if the TCJA actually resulted in U.S. corporations bringing their profits back into the country. Building on that, she and Binkley designed and performed a linear regression model on data regarding companies’ off-shore and domestic profits to determine if the TCJA was actually working as proposed. The answer: not really.

As an undergraduate student, Lackey served as president and secretary of the business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi and as vice president of the Student Center for the Public Trust. Lackey started her accounting career in July as a staff tax accountant on the financial institutions team at Crowe LLP’s office in Franklin, Tennessee, where she completed three internships while a student at Lipscomb.

School of Data Analytics & Technology established

As the technology sector continues to fuel strong demand for tech talent in Nashville and the surrounding area, the College of Business responded in April by expanding its Center for Data Analytics & Informatics to become the School of Data Analytics & Technology.

To help meet this crucial market demand, the new school structure will bring more focus to the tech and data area at Lipscomb. It will offer opportunities for growth in the college’s existing programs, development of new degrees and certificate programs, integration of other academic disciplines and new partnerships in the tech industry and with employers as well as applied technology opportunities.

Bart Liddle (’94), associate professor of management, leads the school as associate dean, along with Jacob Arthur (’08, MAcc ’08), assistant professor of information security and analytics and director of the Center for Data Analytics, which is housed within the school.

A focus group of more than 15 industry leaders and professionals has been formed to determine the programs and curriculum needed by the marketplace and will be a guiding force for the hiring of new faculty for the school.

The School of Data Analytics & Technology “allows us to ensure all COB students have exposure to and experience in data analytics,” said Liddle.

“Analytics is a huge opportunity,” he said. “Businesses and organizations big and small must take advantage of the data in their space to survive and thrive. Our students will empower organizations to take full advantage of the opportunities presented in understanding the data that drives their businesses.”

Looking Ahead...

The new school is expected to have new and revised undergraduate degree offerings ready for enrollment for fall 2023.

Innovative Building Block to AACSB Accreditation

SCHOOL OF DATA ANALYTICS & TECHNOLOGY

In business today, data is power.

Lipscomb’s College of Business wants every business graduate to hold that power to build successful companies and thus a better world for all. That was the motivation behind establishing the Center for Analytics & Informatics in 2018 and elevating the center to become the School for Data Analytics & Technology in 2022.

Lipscomb’s data analytics faculty leverage real data collected in the areas of accounting, human resources and marketing to provide students with scenarios equivalent to those encountered in the business world. They have developed in-house tools to produce simulated

data that meets defined criteria, allowing students to practice identifying important trends.

All in an effort to boost students’ technology capabilities and ability to adapt to new and emerging trends. Both are building blocks to the College of Business successfully earning AACSB accreditation in March 2022.

Become a part of building a better future for all businesses by arming the next generation of businesspeople with data analytics skills. lipscomb.edu/giveCOB2022

UP AND COMING bison in business MaKayleigh Lackey (’20, MAcc ’22): earns national research award even before starting her career

New center brings students and industry leaders together to address supply chain challenges

Established spring 2021, the Center for Transformative Sales & Supply Chain Leadership, directed by Associate Professor Hannah Stolze, spent its first full school year creating a minor in supply chain management and offering various first-time academic opportunities for students interested in supply chain management.

At the first Sales & Supply Chain Industry Dinner in the fall, 15 companies joined 15 students for a conversation about current trends in sales and supply chain management. Bridgestone, Tractor Supply,

Schneider Electric, V. Alexander and Hunt Brothers Pizza sent representatives to participate with students in guided conversations that highlighted the diversity of job options and the wealth of opportunities for employment in the supply chain field.

Local industry leaders were also involved with students through Stolze’s Project Management course, where students worked directly with Schneider Electric, StockD Supply and BC Mason to implement analysis projects in transportation routes, demand planning, global supplier cycle time and made-in-America suppliers.

Students gained real world experience in scoping a project, managing a team and delivering value to a client, and companies gained valuable insights and an opportunity to work alongside students as they coached student teams weekly for 10 weeks, said Stolze. Students gained both training and project hours that moved them toward a project management certification.

One selected team presented a poster of their work at both the Student Scholars Symposium and the spring Supply Chain Showcase Dinner, where industry partners shared with students about their challenges at the ports, with sustainability initiatives and labor shortages.

Finally, the college established the inaugural Lipscomb chapter of Sigma Chi Mu Tau, the honor society for supply chain management, with 15 inductees. The society exists to recognize academic merit and to encourage leadership, ethical behaviors and commitment to high standards in the pursuit of supply chain management excellence.

Looking Ahead...

The supply chain program is continuing to work on establishing an undergraduate major and is actively recruiting local business leaders to establish an advisory council. The program is also building a partnership with Tractor Supply to launch a sustainability sales and supply chain case competition for spring 2023.

A group of 15 supply chain and International business students went to Indonesia for a Maymester learning experience. (See page 17 for more details).

UP AND COMING bison in business

Lucas Landis (’22): Military veteran snags Music City Grand Prix internship

Landis, a U.S. Army veteran and recent graduate with a supply chain management degree, couldn’t have imagined his current role as full-time production manager more than a decade ago when he found himself losing his athletic scholarship due to injury and found his grades dropping due to his need to work a full-time job.

Landis, hailing from a farm town in western Michigan with a population of 285, found a career in the Army in 2014. By 2019, now supporting a family of his own, he expected to transition from the Army to become a truck driver.

His wife, however, suggested he aim higher and go back to finish his college degree. After earning a degree from Lipscomb, a university that boasts a good business school and is welcoming to military veterans, today he finds himself not as a rung in the supply chain but as a manager of the supply chain.

“Supply chain is the most secure degree you can have when you consider that every product in this world requires a supply chain to get from raw materials to a finished product,” he says.

As part of his studies in the College of Business, Landis secured an internship with the Music City Grand Prix last summer. In 2021, IndyCar and the NTT IndyCar Series came to Nashville with the inaugural Music City Grand Prix.

For three days in August, the streets of downtown were turned into a temporary street circuit that took racers by Nissan Stadium and

over the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge into downtown Nashville, the first motorsports course of its kind in the world to cross a major body of water.

Landis says he learned about the inner workings of the corporate office side of an event-based company and was responsible for managing the production yard for the walls of the track and getting the track build coordinated. Once the race started Landis’s job was to assist the workers with their areas and “putting out fires” on the operations side of the race.

“Lipscomb University hasn’t just given me a degree, but it has provided a safe place for me to fully transition from the military to civilian life in a healthy way,” said Landis. “It has provided me with experiences and support that has transformed my life beyond anything a kid from a small farming village of less than 300 people could have ever imagined.”

Innovative Building Block to AACSB Accreditation

CENTER FOR TRANSFORMATIVE SALES & SUPPLY CHAIN LEADERSHIP

Lipscomb’s College of Business is not just interested in training effective supply chain leaders for the future. It’s interested in making a meaningful difference for humanity, meeting local and global needs with equity.

That’s a tall order. So when Lipscomb established its Center for Transformative Sales & Supply Chain Leadership in 2020, it picked a top-notch scholar with on-the-ground experience to pursue profitability to the honor and glory of God.

Hannah Stolze launched and directed the Wheaton Center for Faith & Innovation, is a Fulbright Scholar and U.S. Army veteran, and has served as a marketing and supply chain consultant for clients such as the U.S. Department of Defense and Frito-Lay.

In the first year of the center’s existence, Stolze has created opportunities for experiential learning, grabbed opportunities for academic research and opened doors for student impact and corporate engagement. All are important building blocks to the College of Business successfully earning AACSB accreditation in March 2022.

Become a part of building a better future for the next generation of supply chain leaders.

MHA program benefits from new director and curriculum tied to competencies

Lipscomb’s new Associate Professor and Director of Health Care Management Programs Lesley Tomaszewski brings degrees and experience from Texas A&M University as well as from The Netherlands.

Since graduating with her Ph.D. from Texas A&M University, Tomaszewski has taught in American and Dutch universities and worked on several National Science Foundation research grants. Tomaszewski’s research interests include leadership development and employee engagement within health care settings.

She is an experienced qualitative researcher with over 20 years of experience in the U.S. and abroad. Prior to coming to Lipscomb in August 2021, Tomaszewski was an associate professor and the MHA deputy director at Texas A&M University where she spearheaded the MHA program’s Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) accreditation efforts from 2016-2021.

MHA students take on ‘wicked problems’

New director Tomaszewski has brought a new dimension to the MHA program’s signature learning opportunity: the integrated weekends. They are held once a semester when students, who take their courses mostly online, gather together for a face-to-face, on-site experience with health care organizations.

MHA students during an integrated weekend in 2021-2022.

In the 2021-2022 school year, the integrated weekends included visits to Mercy Community Clinic, Compassus, Pediatric Therapies and the Nashville Health Care Council. During these on-site experiences, students get to see different facets of health care and speak to health care leaders about the problems that keep them up at night – their “wicked problems” – a term coined by the planning and policy realms for societal problems so devilish that traditional strategy processes cannot solve them.

After meeting with these leaders, students take a stab at solving the organizations’ wicked problems by applying knowledge from their coursework and their personal work experiences. They present their recommendations to a panel of health care leaders, including the organizations they visited on the integrated weekend.

“Now the integrated course is closely tied to the competencies in the courses,” she said. “Students have to do a root cause analysis to dig into the wicked problem, then develop recommendations that are feasible given the organization’s structure. They are serving to a certain degree like consultants.”

In addition, the MHA program now includes a business trip (this year to Philadelphia and New York) and monthly MHA Lunch & Learns. During the business trip, students visit different health care organizations and meet with health care leaders, while learning more about the cities visited. During the monthly Lunch & Learns, local industry leaders speak in-person on specific competency-related topics.

“These events are designed to help students make the connections between the course and what is happening in health care,” said Tomaszewski.

Looking Ahead...

In 2022-2023, the MHA program will begin its self-study year on its journey toward obtaining CAHME accreditation, which will demonstrate that the MHA program is a competency-based program with courses that meet the health care industry’s current and future needs. Currently, there is only one CAHME-accredited MHA program offered in Tennessee and none in Middle Tennessee. The college aspires for CAHME accreditation by spring 2024.

Selected Scholarly Publications, Presentations and Pursuits

Publications

Borchers, A. S. (2021). “Review of WisdomBased Business: Applying Biblical Principles and Evidence-Based Research for a Purposeful and Profitable Business.” Journal of Biblical Integration in Business

Cohu, J. (2022). Can an Old Theory Help Solve a Contemporary Labor Crisis? Applying JCM to the Current Labor Shortage. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership.

Cohu, J. (2021). Chasing the Entrepreneurial Dream: The Case of the Poke-A-Dot Organizer. Journal of Business Cases and Applications, 33, 1-14.

Cohu, J. (2021). The Grand Ole Opry: The Show Must Go On? Journal of Critical Incidents

Cohu, J. (2021). Hantz Woodlands: Rebuilding Detroit One Tree At A Time. Journal of Case Studies

Cohu, J. (2022). Incentivizing Sustainable Behaviors at Hytch Rewards. Journal of Case Research and Inquiry

Cohu, J. (2022). Pursuing Entrepreneurial Passion and Purpose at the Tennessee Peanut Company. Southeast Case Research Journal

Cohu, J. (2022). QALO: When is it Time to Exit? Global Journal of Business Pedagogy

Cohu, J. (2022). The Night Dr. Lupo ‘Blew Up’ the Tennessee Peanut Company. Entrepreneurship Education & Pedagogy 5(4). 632-636.

Cohu, J. & Dillingham, L.L. (2022). Shake Shack: When PPP Equals PR Crisis. Journal of Case Studies.

Parker, K. A., Ivanov, B., Matig, J., Dillingham, L. L., & Peritore, N. (2022). Inoculation booster messages: Frequency, content and timing. The Journal of Communication and Media Studies, 7(1), 1-19

Ivanov, B., Rains, S. A., Dillingham, L. L., Parker, K. A., Geegan, S. A., & Barbati, J. L. (2022) Role of threat and counterarguing in therapeutic inoculation. Southern Communication Journal

(Continued on page 12)

Lipscomb COB Looking Ahead…

Having achieved accreditation from AACSB International, the Lipscomb College of Business is working to establish a new chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma , The International Business Honor Society, which has recognized and honored top performing students from around the world in business schools accredited by AACSB since 1913.

The society’s educational benefits include: internships and volunteer opportunities in Washington, D.C., Europe, Asia, Africa and more; scholarships to partner graduate schools and special pricing with BGS’s test prep partners for the CPA, GRE, GMAT and other credentialing exams.

Beta Gamma Sigma has more than 600 collegiate chapters and lifetime members from more than 190 countries. Membership represents the top 10% of undergraduate students, top 20% of graduate students and doctoral candidates at AACSBaccredited business schools.

Innovative Building Block to AACSB Accreditation

HEALTH CARE PROGRAMS

In the health care industry, it’s not enough to know how to thrive today. Effective health care leaders must lead their organizations to thrive in the future. Especially in Nashville, where more than 900 health care companies are influencing the course of the industry worldwide.

Industry executives with their fingers on the pulse of the ever-changing industry played a primary role in shaping the College of Business’ health care offerings. Today the Master of Health Administration for mid-career professionals equips leaders, not just with knowledge, but with the adept skills they need to deal with today’s issues and adapt for tomorrow’s opportunities.

Experiential learning on-site at local health care companies helps students apply their new knowledge in the real world, and rigorous assessment directly tied to CAHME competencies (endorsed by AACSB) ensures that course content meets current—and future—needs of the health care industry. Both served as building blocks to the College of Business successfully earning AACSB accreditation in March 2022.

Become a part of building a better future for the next generation of health care leaders. lipscomb.edu/giveCOB2022

(Continued from page 11)

Jobe, M. & Moore, P. G. (2021). Recruiting, Onboarding, and Working During COVID-19: Employers Speak Out. Tennessee CPA Journal, 66 (2), 16-20.

Mankin, J. A., Jewell, J. J., & Rivas, J. A. (2022). Should Apple Repatriate its International Earnings? Global Journal of Business Pedagogy.

Moore, P. G. & Jobe, M. (2021). Working During COVID-19: Staff Observations. Tennessee CPA Journal, (3), 10-12.

Moore, P. G., & Waugh, S. (2022). Lessons Learned? Really? Tennessee CPA Journal, 67 (4), 8-11.

Zarestky, J., Tomaszewski, L., & Ruyle, L. (2021). I Didn’t Make Much of a Difference, but There Was a Difference in Me: Using Participatory Community Education to Mitigate Human-Elephant Conflict in Botswana. Environment, Development and Sustainability Conference Presentations

MBAA International (Midwest Business Administration Association) Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois, Society for Case Research and North American Management Society tracks

• Andy Borchers, Case Writer’s Workshop and Rating Teaching Cases in Business

• Natasha Johnson, Lauren Pinkston and Julio Rivas, The Final Straw: A Female Faculty of Color

• Jeff Jewell, Jeff Mankin and Julio Rivas, Microsoft Buys Activision: Convergence in the Video Game Industry

• Nina Morel and Donita Brown, Developing Self-Care Habits through a Hybrid Asynchronous and Synchronous Coaching Framework: A Pilot

• Marcy Binkley, ESG-Tax Tension Panelist, Christian Scholars’ Conference, Lipscomb University, Nashville, Tennessee

• Marcy Binkley and Emma Best, Wake Forest University, ESG Tax Tension

• Susan Galbreath, Post COVID Pandemic Teaching Take-a-ways

• Nina Morel, Donita Brown and Allison Duke, Mindfulness and Meditation Practices to Support Learning in Christian Colleges

• Tim Creel, Mark Jobe, Joseph Bamber and Andy Borchers, Business Lessons from Nehemiah, AAA (American Accounting Association) Conference on Teaching and Learning Accounting

• Tim Creel, Marcy Binkley and Jeff Mankin, Teaching Soft Skills in Accounting Classes

Leadership roles

• Andy Borchers: Executive Director, Editor of Journal of Critical Incidents, Society for Case Research; Editor in Chief, Journal of Cases on Information Technology; Director of Publications, Christian Business Faculty Association

• Ray Eldridge: Chair, ACBSP Accreditation Governance Board; member, Board of Directors, and commissioner, Baccalaureate/Graduate Board

• Jeff Mankin: Immediate Past President, Society for Case Research; President, Institute for Global Business Research

• Julio Rivas: President, Society for Case Research; Treasurer, Institute for Global Business Research

MaKayleigh Lackey (’20, MAcc ’22), mentored by Marcy Binkley , won the Outstanding Student Presenter award at Lipscomb’s annual Student Scholars Symposium this spring. (More details on page 5.)

Business faculty nurture case research among faculty of color through The PhD Project

As part of a nationwide effort to develop a more racially diverse generation of business school faculty nationwide, a Lipscomb College of Business professor has spearheaded training and development sessions on writing case studies for underserved doctoral graduates.

Andy Borchers, professor and associate dean of accreditation and assessment, and an active leader of the Society for Case Research (SCR), was tapped by the national nonprofit, The PhD Project, to assist in its efforts to enable research opportunities for recent Ph.D. graduates.

The PhD Project was founded by the KPMG Foundation, Citi, AACSB International and Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) in 1994 to work to increase diversity in the business world. For the past year and a half, it has turned to SCR to prepare more people of color to write case studies, one of the principal ways of engaging business students nationwide, said Borchers, who also serves as editor of SCR’s Journal of Critical Incidents

The PhD project works to bring more people of color into doctoral business programs and faculty positions where they then serve as role models for students of color on their journey to join the business world.

For relatively new faculty members, getting published is a primary concern, Borchers noted. The Lipscomb trainings, including an online version in summer 2021 that trained more than 100 people and an in-person version this summer in Rhode Island, prepared them to successfully submit case studies to be published in academic journals.

SCR, which works to improve case research, writing and teaching, has held three of its own conferences at the Lipscomb campus, the latest in July 2021. The SCR conference included participation by PhD Project network members and leaders. The case study educational approach is a legacy of Harvard University’s business school, which has a case-focused curriculum, said Borchers. SCR has a 40-year history of serving as a source of the case study teaching method nationwide, he added.

“Case studies are a high-impact educational method that puts students in a decision-making position in a real-world situation. It requires them to apply theory and practice,” said Borchers. “It’s a place for students to make decisions without the impact of destroying a business.”

SCR editors and longtime officers Dr. Ann Hackert of Idaho State University and Dr. George Whaley of San Jose State University facilitated the partnership between Lipscomb’s Borchers and The PhD Project, and Dr. Sylvia Maxfield, dean of business at Providence College, organized the training effort.

In addition to Borchers, Jeff Mankin, former assistant professor, and Julio Rivas were officers in the SCR throughout the partnership.

Hannah Stolze serves as guest editor for supply chain journal special issue

Hannah Stolze is working with two professors from the University of Canterbury in Christ Church in New Zealand, as well as another professor from The Ohio State University, as a guest editor for a special edition of the Journal of Business Logistics focused on transformative supply chain research, to be published in 2023.

“The transformative space examines the impact of business on human flourishing,” explains Stolze, who is also a Fulbright Scholar. “This is a more holistic approach that also takes a look at impact, not only on the customer but also on employees.”

Stolze and her fellow guest editors first published a paper in the Journal of Service Management on food deserts that became exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. That piece was the first article on transformative supply chain research published in that journal, said Stolze.

As an outgrowth of that, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, of which Stolze and her guest editors are all members, were invited to become guest editors of an edition of the association’s journal focused specifically on the topic.

“The forthcoming edition promises to have a tangible positive impact on corporate decision-making,” said Stolze. “All of the articles included in this edition will outline empirical research studies, with data collected from real-world companies and the results being reported or used by those companies.”

New headquarters for Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation debuted

Throughout the 2021-22 school year, the college prepared for the Aug. 26 debut of its new Entrepreneurship & Innovation House at 3711 Mayfair Avenue.

As the new home of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, the house adjacent to campus serves as a creative collaboration space to welcome students, faculty and staff from all schools and disciplines across campus. The new space is designed to encourage and stimulate creative aptitudes and supply a variety of resources for students from all Lipscomb’s colleges to connect to research and industry and turn ideas into impact.

“The house serves as an incubator for students interested in entrepreneurship and innovation but that is not the only focus of the space,” said Jeff Cohu, executive director of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. “It serves as a primary point of connection for students from all disciplines who want to work with like-minded people to turn their ideas into businesses or solutions for real-world social, environmental and technological problems.”

Much like a local coffee shop, the environment is warm and inviting but equipped with resources that make it more conducive to productive work, he said. There are spaces where individuals can sit and work privately and areas for students to meet and work on projects together.

Mentors have a collaborative space to coach student entrepreneurs and there is an event space for hosting workshops, guest speakers and co-curricular programming on innovation. The upper floor houses a small makerspace, which will continue to expand, and the rest of the house offers users a large social meeting room, a conference room, an area for student interns and a small kitchen for coffee and snacks.

Resources include terminals with creative software packages ranging from graphic arts and 3-D prototype design to nocode programming.

Alexandria Arnette (’ 17), assistant director and operations manager for the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, also has an office in the space, and staff are available to mentor and support students.

Lipscomb’s Kittrell Pitch Competition awards home-grown student entrepreneurs

First Place: $8,000

Lila Mae and Anna Belle Skidmore, senior, education major, Granola’D, a gluten-free granola snack company

Second Place: $4,000

Dorie Harrison (’22), marketing major, Dolled by Dorie, a beauty service and product company

Third Place: $1,500 each Courtney Grable, sophomore, management major, Red Dress Writing, a social media marketing creation company

LilliAnn Sutherlin (’22), management and human resource major, Travel Bug Girls, a travel service for women

Innovation House will feature resources, creative stimulation and warm atmosphere for students

$20,000 in capital awarded to fall and spring winners

The best business ideas generally come from providing solutions to customers’ problems and that has been the story with Granola’D from its inception.

The Skidmore sisters, Anna Belle, an education major, and Lila Mae, a high school senior at Central Magnet School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, launched their gluten-free granola business in June 2021, and it has been an exciting first year of operations.

Due to allergies, Anna Belle Skidmore is required to eat a gluten-free diet while also being an avid long-distance runner. This led to the problem Granola’D is designed to address: “I was needing something to eat that was glutenfree, would work with my active running lifestyle, but would also taste good, so we started experimenting with different ways to flavor granola. Every time we took our favorite flavors and turned them into new granola recipes, we said, “We Granola’d it!” So that became our tagline!”

Anna Belle says the two sisters enjoy working together and make excellent business partners. “We are sisters, builtin best friends and business partners. Together, we enjoy starting our day off by running, taking long walks to talk about our dreams, and, of course, baking and recipe testing

has become one of our new hobbies because we get to channel our inner food scientist... and be the taste-testers!”

During Granola’D’s first year, they have not only continued to grow the business, but also achieved tremendous success in competitive pitch competitions, including winning the Nashville regional Entrepreneur’s Organization pitch competition and Lipscomb’s own Kittrell Pitch competition.

Throughout their launch the Skidmore sisters have worked closely with Jeff Cohu, and the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation in continually advancing the startup business to new levels.

“Anna Belle and Lila Mae have done a tremendous job of creating a much needed and fun product line while successfully navigating through multiple iterations of their business model,” said Cohu. “They have also excelled at laying the groundwork for an exciting brand image. These young women are both a blessing to work with and we look forward to helping them grow and scale their business over the coming years.”

LIPSCOMB ATHLETICS ENTREPRENEUR NIGHT: Each fall, the College of Business partners with Lipscomb Athletics to give students taking the Introduction to Business and Social Entrepreneurship courses a chance to sell their wares to spectators in booths set up along the Allen Arena concourse. The curriculum requires students to team up, create a business plan and launch a micro-business throughout the semester. Over the course of the Fall 2021 semester, students earned more than $4,500 in profits that were awarded as start-up capital to underestimated entrepreneurs who participated in the Center for Business as Mission’s business accelerator course. Since its launch, students in this course have started more than 200 microbusinesses that have profited and given away more than $70,000 for underestimated entrepreneurs both locally and around the globe.

Anna Belle Skidmore: Lipscomb senior and her sibling bank on gluten-free granolaUP AND COMING bisons in business

Faculty in the News

Abby Besson (MBA ’21): Grad joins the big leagues on the Cincinnati Reds events team BOLD BISON making a mark in business

ANDY BORCHERS was featured in:

• WMOT-NPR ’s broadcast about Tennessee’s jobless rate nearing pre-pandemic levels, yet so many are still out of work.

• WSMV-NBC ’s broadcasts about menu prices soaring as food costs hit Nashville restaurants; on home heating costs increasing in the winter; rents rising in Nashville; and the Federal Reserve raising interest rates to slow the economy.

• WTVF-CBS ’s broadcasts on Nashville’s Country Delite Farms dairy facility closing; Tennessee’s lowest unemployment rate since before COVID shutdowns; Tennessee businesses feeling the effects of the latest COVID lockdown in China; and expert insight on whether the nation is heading toward a recession.

• WZTV-FOX ’s broadcasts with comments on a study indicating that learning loss among today’s children could mean trillions in future earning losses; and expert insight on how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could impact more than just oil prices.

JEFF COHU was featured on:

• The NewsChannel 5+ show, SCORE Connect, discussing entrepreneurship and innovation.

JULIO RIVAS was featured on:

• The NewsChannel 5+ show, Open Line, discussing cryptocurrency and NFT s (non-fungible tokens); and the impact of inflation on the economy.

• WZTV-FOX ’s broadcast discussing whether to invest or not as the stock market drops.

• WTVF-CBS ’s broadcast discussing how an interest rate hike can help ‘cool off’ the economy.

• The NewsChannel 5+ show, MorningLine, discussing inflation and a potential recession.

SUZANNE SAGER was featured on

• WTVF-CBS ’s broadcast about how small businesses are still struggling to fill job openings.

HANNAH STOLZE was featured on:

• Two WKRN-ABC ’s broadcasts on the impact of inflation jumping to a 40-year high amid the pandemic and supply chain challenges.

• The NewsChannel 5+ show, Open Line, discussing inflation and how it affects the average consumer.

Starting as a sports fan and a baseball statistician in high school and progressing to become a master’s graduate in sports administration, Besson joined the Lipscomb events department in 2018 with great credentials to serve the Bisons well as an event coordinator.

It was her work at Lipscomb and her MBA from the College of Business, which she earned while working at Lipscomb, that propelled her into the “big leagues” where she now works as an event service coordinator for the Cincinnati Reds.

Today Besson coordinates non-game day events from onfield weddings to corporate meetings to visits by mascots.

As a central Kentucky native, Bessan attended Reds games while growing up, and during her college studies, she had two internships with the major league team in their Hall of Fame and Museum and in promotional events.

Once coming to work at Lipscomb, “I knew I wanted to use my time working at Lipscomb in the best way possible and gain as much experience as I could,” Besson said. “I knew my weak link was the business side. I had taken a few sports marketing classes, but I wanted to be more wellrounded. As a female in sports, you really can’t know too much. You have to swing at every opportunity that comes across the plate.”

So she enrolled in Lipscomb’s MBA program, and upon earning the degree, was soon offered her dream job.

“Great American Ball Park is a large, very unique venue that anyone can rent,” she said. “We are always looking for new revenue streams and the fact that I have a finance background is valuable. With that and my experience on Lipscomb’s event management team, I know how to generate the most revenue from our resources and how to serve our customers to the best of our ability.”

Nashvillians had plenty of opportunities in the past year to benefit from the expertise of the Lipscomb College of Business faculty

Business leaders in Indonesia open their doors to supply chain and international business students

Hannah Stolze, Rebecca Burcham and Phil Pfeffer (DB) led a group of 15 students to Indonesia for a Maymester learning experience focused on supply chain management and international business. The group spent time in Jakarta, Bali and Yogyakarta visiting a wide variety of business and cultural sites.

The business visits provided opportunities for students to meet with company leaders to learn about operations, strategies and the different cultural considerations of the region.

The COO at Hypermart, one of the largest superstore chains in Indonesia, highlighted their unique grocery partnership with Disney and how they had to pivot and adjust their business model in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students toured M Bloc Space, a community creative space and event venue, and learned

how its founders are transforming neighborhoods across Jakarta and using the business to provide brighter futures for underserved local children.

The CEO of Barita Satu, a leading news and mass media organization, discussed content creation, moderation and distribution as well as their strategies for providing ethical, balanced news coverage. Operations managers with the Pelindo Marine Service gave a presentation on international supply chain and logistics, how the importing and exporting processes work and concluded the visit with a tour of a large international port.

During the trip, students completed coursework in supply chain management, international business and Indonesian language, politics and economics. As a part of their coursework, students worked on a proposal exploring the demand needs and supply chain strategies of the region and presented their findings to Hacktiv8, an international educational service that offers in-person and online coding bootcamps on web development skills.

For a majority of the trip, students stayed on campus at Universitas Pelita Harapan, a Christian university located near Jakarta.

STRATEGY, FILM AND GRAFFITI IN AUSTIN: In April, over 40 Lipscomb MBA students traveled to Austin, Texas for a week of business visits. Students met with senior leaders from companies in finance, entrepreneurship, technology and international business. Students heard comments from Angelos Angelou, founder of the International Accelerator; Rodger Baker, senior vice president of strategic analysis at Stratfor; Hanna Huang, executive director of the Austin Asian American Film Festival; and Chris Moyseos, portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley. Students also learned about the unique history and culture of Austin by visiting the Texas State Capitol, the Circuit of the Americas and touring the city’s wealth of graffiti and public murals, a trend that has become its own marketing opportunity. Students got to try their hand at creating their own mural under the direction of well-known Austin artist Luis Anguloa, who goes by uloang professionally.

Purpose is the Power

“Business and business schools are a force for good, contributing to the world’s economy and to society, and AACSB plays a significant role in making that benefit better known to all stakeholders by serving business schools, learners, business and society.”

— From the AACSB International accreditation standards for impact

College, community partner to make a positive difference in the lives of Nashville boys

Whether it was changing a tire or putting on a tie, learning about SMART goals or being smart about personal health, 35 boys from the Tennessee Children’s Home Spring Hill campus were introduced to plenty of valuable personal and professional skills at the Lipscomb College of Business Skills Development Day in March.

College of Business students, faculty and staff joined with alumni and professionals from local businesses such as Fortified Health Security, MiTech Partners, Thrivent, Jackson Street Church of Christ and Pivot Tech School to present an array of career and life skills for the boys, age 13-18, of the Tennessee Children’s Home.

Natasha Johnson spearheaded the day, a new Lipscombsponsored version of an event that her company, The Beignet Bar, held at the Tennessee Children’s Home campus in 2019.

The college took on sponsorship of the event this year and the business students and faculty turned out in force to man interactive learning stations where the boys learned about time management, interviewing for jobs, money management, cyber security and graphic design.

Student Alexa Clancy showed the boys how she is learning to turn her interests into a future career in graphic design, showing off logos she had created in Illustrator. Student Sutton McGehee demonstrated his foolproof method for removing a flat tire and gave all the boys a try.

Each boy also received a complimentary collection of business attire including a basic dress shirt, flannel dress shirt, sweater vest, dress shoes, dress socks, undershirts, an everyday tie, a silk tie, cufflinks and tie bar, which were donated by the JFAM Foundation, The Kindred Exchange and The Beignet Bar.

Alumnus Waymon Winfree (’17, MBA ’19) of Symmetry Financial Group, and Mark Jobe helped each boy try on some of their new clothes, showed them how to tie the necktie and make it the appropriate length, and introduced them to the purpose of cufflinks.

Johnson said she was intentional about inviting businesspeople who would serve as strong male role models for the boys attending the event, including men like Julian Flournoy, a vice president at Fifth Third Bank, and Garrett Dickerson (’08, M.Ed ’10), market director at Thrivent, who both provided money management tips to the boys such as the importance of establishing credit, saving as early as possible and how to use a bank’s digital tools.

Chris Doughtie (’04), the director of development and community education at the Tennessee Children’s Home, said the Skills Development Day opened the eyes of the boys to the possibilities for their futures.

“Just getting off-campus and having a college experience is really valuable,” said Doughtie. “A lot of these kids think they can’t do college, so it is encouraging. These kids are really enjoying learning about these different skills and interacting with these successful business owners.”

The JFAM Foundation, founded by Cyntoia Brown-Long (’15, MPS ’19);

Fortified Health Systems; Johnson’s The Beignet Bar; and Kindred Exchange, founded by Lauren Pinkston and Abby Littlefield (’20); were sponsors of the event.

Faculty and alumni collaborated to provide strong leadership role models for the boys from the Tennessee Children’s Home.

Jeremy Townsend (07) discussed his expertise—nutritional supplements, and Professor Joe Ivey and Nathan Burton of Pinnacle Financial Partners shared their business acumen (06). Alumnus Garrett Dickerson, of Thrivent (08) and Commander Rickey Bearden of Metro Nashville Police Department (03) shared insights on adult life with the boys.

Students were also recruited to demonstrate career opportunities and skills to the boys, including graphic design students (02), and Sutton McGehee (10) who demonstrated how to change a tire.

In addition to receiving a complimentary collection of business attire (01) (04), participating boys were shown how to tie a necktie by alumnus Waymon Winfree of Symmetry Financial Group (05) and student Spencer Barnabee (09)

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College serves as host and thought leader for national gathering of Christian faculty

In continual efforts to share its insight on conducting business built on the values and virtues of Jesus with the greater community, the College of Business hosted the national conference for the Christian Business Faculty Association (CBFA) in fall 2021.

CBFA empowers Christian business faculty to transform the world for the glory of God. Members are full-time, part-time, adjunct, current or retired faculty who agree with specific Biblical principles.

Two conferences are held each year providing opportunities for networking as well as presenting to and learning from peers and keynote speakers. Faculty from 72 business schools from across the nation attended the Lipscomb conference held in October.

In addition to hosting, COB faculty presented papers and posters at the conference on:

“Faith in Business Organizations,” Best Paper Award, an examination of how faith is integrated in business organizations through the eyes of internal stakeholders using a grounded theory approach; co-authored by Hannah Stolze

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• “Christian Business Leaders and Earth Care,” advancing five reasons why Christian business leaders should care about the planet, co-authored by Tim Creel , Mark Jobe and Andy Borchers .

“Acme Southeast Strategies for the Continuation of a Faith-based Culture in Corporate Expansion,” presenting a pedagogical case to facilitate questions around faith integration and corporate change, co-presented by Hannah Stolze

“Wisdom-Based Business Strategy: Drawing from Wisdom Traditions to Inform Strategic Business Ethics,” exploring ancient literary texts to discover opportunities for application in modern day business practice, authored by Hannah Stolze

• “Getting Published in a CBFA Journal: Opportunities and Requirements,” presented by co-panelist Andy Borchers

“Mitigating Human Trafficking through Faith-Based Employment,” engagement with the Freedom Businesses Movement and pathways to intersect faith-based business with anti-human trafficking employment initiatives, co-authored by Lauren Pinkston.

STUDENTS ON A QUEST FOR A VOCATION: In 2021, Lipscomb Academy launched the Quest program for fifth-graders to explore possible future career paths and have leadership opportunities. Students enjoyed half-day experiences on Lipscomb’s university campus highlighting seven different career areas including business. Rob Touchstone introduced the students to the concept of a social enterprise at The Well Coffeehouse. Career Connection staff led the students through the creation of a “career roadmap,” Han-Sheng Chen provided a “Wall Street” experience in the Financial Markets Lab. Students toured the Swang Center for business, learned key business lingo and got a special talk from Dean Ray Eldridge

Professor helps Freedom Business Alliance develop national code of ethics

Lauren Pinkston , assistant professor in business as mission, not only guides students carrying out these valuable services, but now she is helping to guide a national organization devoted to nurturing social enterprises that employ victims of human trafficking or other trauma.

The Freedom Business Alliance is a national industry association nurturing companies that strive to provide a safe working environment to victims of trauma while also operating a sustainable business.

Pinkston is bringing her experience fighting trafficking in Southeast Asia with the United Nations for a short time, as well as with several other grassroots organizations, to a qualitative research project to collect and analyze data on such social enterprises worldwide. The assessment will be used to establish a code of best practices for social enterprises, one that is based on empirical data, Pinkston said.

BEING A LIGHT IN THE MARKETPLACE: As part of the March 2022 inauguration festivities for Lipscomb University’s 18th president, Candice McQueen (’96), the College of Business hosted a symposium on the theme: “Not Business as Usual: Being a Light in the Marketplace.” The college was challenged to create a symposium focused on “How to Be A Light in Today’s World” and featuring insight to equip Lipscomb and community leaders to elevate their faith in diverse areas of service and work. The College of Business’ event featured Patrick Leddin, Wall Street Journal best-selling author, speaker and podcast host; Winston Justice (DB); and Mignon Francois (DB). The panelists demonstrated what “being a light” in the marketplace can look like in corporate, financial and entrepreneurial spheres of business.

“Having worked in that sector myself, I know there are so many people with great intentions who don’t have the support or the guidance to hold themselves accountable,” said Pinkston, who also presented at this year’s U.N. Commission on the Rights of Women . “A lot of these types of business ventures are created as a means to an end–to rehabilitate survivors or people from group homes because they need a job to avoid moving back into exploitation. So there are a lot of people running these businesses who are not trained businesspeople.”

A common code of ethics for practices such as ethical employment policies, connecting employees with their home community and strategies for connecting with the Western market will not only help such organizations avoid legal pitfalls, but will also help them establish sustainable sales and income, said Pinkston.

“We want to show these organizations how to move forward with assurance that their businesses will remain profitable,” she said.

2021-2022 was a year of growth for the Center for Business as Mission

The Center for Business as Mission had a year of growth with both its staff and its opportunities for students expanding throughout the year.

The number of students involved in the BAM Fellows program, designed to offer focused academic training, experiential learning, mentoring, service opportunities and global learning experience for those students interested in leveraging the marketplace to create sustainable solutions for the common good, almost doubled its enrollment, with 21 students in the program.

The staff of the BAM center expanded with the hiring of Cyntoia Brown-Long (’15, MPS ’19), founder and president of The Foundation for Justice, Freedom and Mercy (JFAM), a nonprofit organization that partners with businesses, organizations and other interested parties to provide training services related to sex trafficking and criminal justice involvement. She is also an awardwinning author, is on the Tennessee Bar Association faculty and an entrepreneur.

“Hiring Cyntoia was a significant advancement for the center because of the tremendous skillset, awareness and connectivity she brought,” said Rob Touchstone (’97, M.Div. ’12), director of the center in the 2021-22 school year.

“She helped us grow our BAM Fellows initiative in both number and depth. She also helped grow our business accelerator program to include formerly incarcerated individuals.”

Long led a group of BAM students to build upon the center’s previous effort with the Hispanic Family Foundation to collaboratively create a new Business Accelerator Program for Underestimated Entrepreneurs.

In both the fall and spring semesters, over eight weeks’ time, students led the program that equipped underestimated entrepreneurs in Nashville to launch their own companies. The program provided its own pitch competition opportunity at the end of the training with $10,000 in startup capital up for grabs among the various participants.

“These entrepreneurs are individuals who have lacked traditional access to business education, training or capital, but all except one have now gotten their businesses started,” Touchstone said.

Looking Ahead...

In 2022, the Center for Business as Mission began a pivot back to global impact, with a scouting mission by faculty for opportunities in Uganda. In 2023, additional BAM mission and consulting trips are planned for Ghana in 2023. Students will work with Heritage Christian College and local entrepreneurs.

“These entrepreneurs are individuals who have lacked traditional access to business education, training or capital, but all except one have now gotten their businesses started.”

Rob Touchstone

Boosting estimation of success both locally and globally

The Center for Business as Mission has made an impact around the globe, but since the COVID-19 pandemic, it has boosted its training and funding efforts in the local Nashville area. See below for some of the local businesses and organizations BAM has been nurturing and partnering with during the 2021-2022 school year.

Impactful Building Block to AACSB Accreditation

CENTER FOR BUSINESS AS MISSION

AACSB international is not just interested in business schools making new businesspeople; they are interested in business schools making a difference. In our world, in our economy and in our futures.

The Center for Business as Mission is pioneering ways to teach future business leaders not just how to make a profit in the marketplace, but how to break poverty cycles in society at the same time.

Through real-world partnerships, collaborative hands-on projects, and consulting globally for microentrepreneurs facing tough challenges, the center shows students innovative and strategic ways to make an impact.

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“Great thoughts lead to great actions. Great actions lead to great results. So many companies focus on the action, and never change the underlying thought.”

“We’re all leaders. Leadership isn’t a position, it is a choice. We choose to step up and lead. We choose to lead ourselves, and then we lead others.”

“We should be the most realistic people out there. We should expect problems. We should be the people who can look at brokenness and understand it, because the Bible tells us it is there.”

Jon Acuff, Inc. Magazine top 110 leadership speaker and author of Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking

Patrick Leddin, founder of The Leddin Group, author of The Five-Week Leadership Challenge

Katherine Leary Alsdorf, founder of the Global Faith & Work Initiative

Seen & Heard at the 2021 BAM323 Conference

The third annual BAM323 conference in fall 2021 featured seven keynote industry experts and more than 200 attendees

Featured speakers included keynote speaker Jon Acuff, best-selling author of seven books on leadership (04); Patrick Leddin, founder of The Leddin Group (03); Katherine Leary Alsdorf, founder of the Global Faith & Work Initiative (05); Miles Adcox, speaker, podcast host, business leader and coach who owns Onsite, an internationally known emotional wellness lifestyle brand; LaDonna Boyd, president and CEO of R.H. Boyd; Jay Jakub, chief advocacy officer of the Economics of Mutuality movement for the EoM Foundation; and a panel discussion including Winston Justice (DB), former Philadelphia Eagle in the NFL (01 left), Derrick Morgan, former linebacker for the Tennessee Titans (01 middle) and John H. Eldridge III, real estate entrepreneur (01 right)

New features of the conference included the Corner to Corner Nashville Pitch Competition,

held in partnership with the Corner to Corner Academy, a 10-week program that equips community members with the skills they need to plan, start and grow their own small business. Acuff hosted the pitch competition that involved six local entrepreneur participants and offered cash prizes for winners.

Also new was a performance of the Tokens Show, a live variety show that explores the intersection of faith and cultural issues through music, comedy and conversations. Tokens is hosted and produced by Lipscomb Professor Lee Camp

The Business as Mission Leadership Award, the highest honor awarded by the COB, was presented to Joe Slawek, founder and retired chairman and CEO of FONA, and Mary Slawek, co-founder and board member of FONA (06). FONA, a Chicago-based company that creates and produces flavors for many of the largest food, beverage and nutritional companies in the world, is known for its healthy work environment and generous owners.

William Cabaniss (02) was awarded the Business as Mission Stewardship Award for creating Vanilla Feeds Tomorrow, a nonprofit that makes, bottles and sells homemade vanilla to benefit Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee. The 15-year-old honors student started the company out of compassion for those suffering from food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Vanilla Feeds Tomorrow has donated $100,000 to the food bank.

Partners are the multipliers

Leaders in Nashville’s top companies fuel on-site learning beyond the classroom

At Lipscomb, we like to say, “The world is our campus and Nashville is our classroom.” Perhaps nowhere is that more true than in the College of Business, where both graduate and undergraduate students have a variety of opportunities to learn on-site at companies in a world-class, forward-thinking city, including through custom-designed “Learn Days” held since 2014.

In 2021-22, business as mission, health care and Fast Track MBA students all received the opportunity to move beyond classroom walls and into real-world stadiums, skyscrapers and office headquarters of some of Nashville’s most successful business operations. The 11 Learn Days this past year focused on the sports and entertainment industries, health care, retail and real estate.

Students had the chance to absorb the experience and insight of proven leaders in a variety of business sectors, such as Mike Jacobs, general manager of the Nashville Soccer Club; Kent Cleaver (’79) (DB), executive vice president of Pinnacle Financial Partners; Jazmyn Daigle, assistant property manager at Fifth + Broadway; and Gleason Rogers (’10) (DB), director of diversity, equity and inclusion at Tractor Supply Company.

“Learn Days provide an opportunity to see all types of work environments and learn from people working in a myriad of roles from various industries,” said Suzanne Sager, associate dean of professional development and engagement. “Students can compare and contrast their Directed Work Experience organization with those they visit and observe firsthand how the

business concepts they are learning in class are applied in different types of companies and nonprofit organizations.”

The visits allow participants to build their professional networks and form relationships with their cohort members. They also learn how to prepare for a company visit by researching the presenters and their companies and developing relevant questions, said Sager.

The six Learn Days held for the 33 Fast Track MBA students exposed them to a wide range of highly successful companies such as Martin’s BBQ, Nissan Stadium and the Tennessee Titans, HCA and the Nashville Sounds

Hayne Hamilton, senior development manager for Panattoni Development Company, gave students a tour of 1030 Music Row, the

“Quality business education cannot be achieved when either academic or professional engagement is absent, or when they do not intersect in meaningful ways.”

— From the AACSB International accreditation standards for engagement

company’s new office building on 16th Avenue South that is one of only two timber-framed office buildings in Nashville.

According to Panattoni, a timber-framed building is more sustainable and carbon-friendly, and provides enhanced acoustical performance, fire safety, structural integrity and construction efficiency.

Lipscomb alumnus Garner Goode (’08, EXNS ’11), senior manager of corporate development at the Nashville Predators, showed the students around Bridgestone Arena and described the team’s delving into new sources of revenue since Tennessee’s law changed to allow sports betting.

Patrick Martin (’96), founder and chairman of Martin’s BBQ, Hugh Baby’s BBQ & Burger Shop and Martin Investment Group, shared gems of wisdom about the entrepreneurial spirit that students could take to the bank.

The first Learn Day held for undergraduates in the Business as Mission program, introduced students to OUTsideIN, a social enterprise in Troy, Tennessee, that produces travel gear.

OUTsideIN founder, LeEllen Smith (BB), described how the company empowers marginalized women through the creation of whimsical products and meaningful employment.

Two of Lipscomb’s Business as Mission Fellows worked with OUTsideIN for their required consultation project, which involves at least 30 hours spent learning about the business through observation, service and access to the inner workings of the organization to uncover problems and potential solutions.

The four MHA Integrated Weekends at Mercy Community Clinic, Compassus, Pediatric Therapies and the Nashville Health Care Council introduced students to different facets of health care and the different challenges each facet faces.

Throughout the semester, students apply the knowledge from their coursework to the challenges of these specific companies and then present their recommendations to a panel of health care leaders (see page 10).

Business students in three different programs went out and about this past year to see how business is done on-site at Panattoni Development Company’s latest Music Row project (01); Bridgestone Arena, the home of the NHL’s Nashville Predators (02) (03); health care giant HCA (04); Tractor Supply Company (05); Nissan Stadium, home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans (06) (08); OUTsideIN, a social enterprise that sells travel gear (07); the Fifth + Broadway residential tower (09); and the Nashville Sounds’ new baseball stadium (10)

Dean’s Board

Since 2018, the Lipscomb College of Business Dean’s Board members have not only provided college leaders guidance and input on the college’s mission, goals and strategic plan, but they have also provided the students with an ever-present example of successful “business leaders who embrace the values and virtues of Jesus” in both their lives and livelihood.

This is your chance to learn more about these two Dean’s Board members—David Fisher and David Dingler—and to see how their personal mission, Lipscomb’s mission and our mission as Christians intertwine.

DAVID FISHER

Managing DirectorInvestments, Financial Consultant | Benjamin F. Edwards & Co. | Wheaton, Illinois

Fisher has spent the last 25 years of his career helping others protect their wealth and plan for important life events. He holds degrees in economics and finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and engineering degrees from Iowa State University and the University of Texas at Austin. He has been a member of the Dean’s Board for two years.

How did you become familiar with Lipscomb and decide to join the COB Dean’s Board?

I became acquainted with Lipscomb University when our youngest daughter began her college studies at Lipscomb. As we attended various Lipscomb events, I was impressed with the faculty and staff at Lipscomb, and the “personal touch” that made us feel valued and part of the Lipscomb community.

The College of Business seeks to connect with each student in a meaningful way that impacts their life for Christ. I have a passion for mentoring students as they begin their professional careers. I enjoy connecting business leaders with students and creating relationships that can help the students in their careers.

How do you think your professional experience brings value to the college through the Dean’s Board? How does that value pass on to Lipscomb’s business students?

My business experience is built on a commitment to always do what is best for the client, placing their interests ahead of stockholders and employees. When I have strategy discussions with other Dean’s Board members, and when I contemplate the challenges faced by the COB, my focus is on the client: the students. The Dean’s Board is comprised of amazing business professionals who embrace this perspective and care deeply about the students.

How do you think you live out the values and virtues of the COB in the field of finance?

On a practical level, it means in our business relationships and business activities that we should treat each other with honesty and respect. And, it goes deeper than that. I believe in putting the best interests of others first, reflecting a sincere care for others based on the love of Christ. I believe this is consistent with the values and virtues of Jesus.

Why is it important to you to be involved with Lipscomb University?

Lipscomb University is unique among Christian colleges, in my view, for its core commitment to reflect the love of Jesus, to treat each student as unique and important, and to pursue high academic standards. By supporting Lipscomb, I believe I am making a positive impact for Christ on the next generation.

The commercial marketplace offers the greatest opportunity for Christians to develop relationships with a wide diversity of people and to be a witness for Christ.

DAVID DINGLER

Retired Executive | Ingram & Associates and Medical Reimbursements of America LLC | Franklin, Tennessee

Dingler has worked in sales and business development for the last forty years. He began serving the health care industry in 1971 with Baxter International Inc. In 1984, David worked with Ingram & Associates, serving in several management capacities to grow the company from $1.2 million to a $21 million organization. In 1999, he founded Medical Reimbursements of America LLC.

He received his B.S. in business administration from Western Carolina University and his MBA from Pepperdine University.

How do you think your professional experience brings value to the college through the Dean’s Board?

Hopefully, I bring value as far as networking and connecting. In the spirit of Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, I’ve been called by many a ‘health care connector.’ You know, everything is a people business, and I think that is what I’ve enjoyed most about Lipscomb: the people are so genuine. What you see is what you get.

How do you see the values and virtues of Jesus played out among the Dean’s Board members and the students?

On the Dean’s Board I see a lot of humble servants. In general, I think the Lipscomb board leads by example. You know, Coach Lou Holtz says, ‘People don’t care how much you know, they want to know how much you care.’ So pay it forward! College students are at a point where they need help to network, and they need people to support them, love them, kick them in the butt.

Why is it important to you to be involved with the students of Lipscomb University?

You know, I struggled financially and academically to get into Western Carolina University for my bachelor’s. For my MBA at Pepperdine, I basically talked my way into the program after failing the entrance exam. I walked across that stage in Malibu because I never gave up. When my father died when I was 20 and I had to support myself, I mowed grass, I picked up pop bottles, I sold newspapers. You just do it. So I’ve learned about persistence and perseverance, and I feel blessed to have had those experiences. I want to show students that you just get up every day, you suit up and you show up.

Alumni Advisory Board

“You cannot diminish the power of a network,” says Alumni Advisory Board member Sydney Ball, and that is certainly the case with this 22-member board that continually provides strong Christian examples of business leaders to today’s students and truly multiplies the benefits of a Lipscomb degree with caring mentorship and valuable connections to the job marketplace.

Keep reading to learn more about two of the members of this crucial group of people—Ball and Josue Chavez—and how they view their mission on the alumni board.

SYDNEY BALL (’12, MBA ’14)

Vice President of Business Development | NFP Executive Benefits | Nashville, Tennessee | Bachelor’s in corporate management with an entrepreneurship minor and an MBA graduate Ball has been a member of the Alumni Advisory Board for five years. With a focus on relationship management in the health care, nonprofit and banking sectors, she equips organizations with the required tools to help attract top talent, optimize protection-based retention strategies and formulate reward plans for key executives.

Ball serves as co-chair for the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Ambassadors, as a board member for The Heritage Foundation of Williamson County and as board chair for the organization’s Next Gen Advisory Board. She is a graduate of Leadership Brentwood, Leadership Franklin, the Leadership YP Program and the Young Leaders Council. She was named a 2021 Nashville Business Journal 40 Under 40 Winner.

“You know, everything is a people business, and I think that is what I’ve enjoyed most about Lipscomb: the people are so genuine. What you see is what you get.”

David Dingler, Retired Executive at Ingram & Associates

How did you become interested in serving on the COB Alumni Board?

I am a proud Bison! My time at Lipscomb was an investment (fi nancially and academically), but it has paid dividends over and over. Serving on the COB Alumni Board has allowed me the opportunity to share my experience with students and, hopefully, off er them advice as they prepare to leave the “Bison bubble.” Now, as a professional within the Middle Tennessee community, I have adopted the motto that “Lipscomb helps Lipscomb.” It is a valuable community to be a part of and I did not want to lose my connection post-graduation.

How do you think your professional experience brings value to the Alumni Board and passes on to become value for the Lipscomb students?

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to take a mentorship class with Leanne Smith as a student. That course taught me the importance of a mentor/sponsor and I have sought those relationships in my professional career. Due to God’s blessing, my network and hard work, my career has accelerated post MBA graduation. I seek to be involved philanthropically and civically in my local community. I want to make a difference, personally and professionally, within my sphere of influence. Through engaging with students, I hope that they see that age is not a barrier to one’s success. In the wise words of Audrey Hepburn, “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m Possible!’”

Why is it important to you to be involved with Lipscomb University?

I believe in the Biblical wisdom that “to whom much is given much is expected.” I was blessed to receive an education with faculty who believed in me and had my best interest at heart. I want others to have this same experience and to get the same value out of their time at Lipscomb that I was able to experience.

To this day, if I need a resume updated for new board positions, letters of recommendations for leadership programs, etc., Lipscomb University’s COB is the place that I call first. Suzanne Sager and Monica Wentworth (Lipscomb University’s Career Center director) are still directly impacting my career….10 years later! Lipscomb is a community, rather a family, that is a place you don’t want to leave. It is exciting to see it grow, prosper and change as it continues to be a pillar of academic excellence in the heart of Nashville.

What were some of your experiences in college that you believe help you in your career today?

One of my favorite things about Lipscomb is that they care about the students in the classroom and beyond. I found this to be exceptionally true during my college career. I was afforded the opportunity to work an internship each semester that I was in school. This helped to formulate my understanding of what I wanted to do post-graduation and allowed me to establish my network during my academic tenure. You cannot diminish the power of a network and Lipscomb has truly helped me to build mine.

“As a professional within the Middle Tennessee community, I have adopted the motto that ‘Lipscomb helps Lipscomb.’ It is a valuable community to be a part of and I did not want to lose my connection post-graduation.”

Sydney Ball, Vice President of Business Development, NFP Executive Benefits

Are you able to bring a semblance of those experiences to Lipscomb students today through the Alumni Board?

I hope that I am able to encourage students to maximize their time in the College of Business! I try to speak on panels and participate in class discussions when alumni are called on to share their stories with students. I also meet one-on-one with students who are considering the finance field for their career. Another element of connection that is critical through the Alumni Board is the cultivation of contacts within the community. Lipscomb’s network is strong because of its reputation and the students that it produces. Due to the recent AACSB accreditation, Lipscomb COB degrees are continuing to be more widely recognized and value continues to be added. It is imperative that students and alumni connect businesses in the community to Lipscomb so that future students can have strong opportunities for networking, job placement, etc.

JOSUE CHAVEZ (’16, MBA ’17)

Sales Representative, Stryker Sage | Nashville, TN | Bachelor of Science and an MBA graduate

Chavez has served on the Alumni Advisory Board for four years. He is an experienced salesperson in the medical device industry who graduated from Lipscomb with skills in coaching, team building and conflict management. Recently he obtained a sales milestone at Stryker Sage as a 2 for 2 President’s Circle Quota Achiever.

How do you think your professional experience brings value to the Alumni Board and passes on that value for the Lipscomb students?

In my current career of medical device sales, I am gaining experience in a very competitive field that many students are interested in, so I am working to be a good connection for students that are interested in pursuing a similar career. I have connected with multiple students to just help answer questions, point them in the right direction and in some cases even present interview opportunities.

How do you strive to live out the COB’s values and virtues of Jesus in your career?

I have an awesome opportunity within health care to exercise the values and virtues of Jesus by supporting patients and clinicians with products that help heal and achieve clinical outcomes. I strive to put people/patients fi rst in everything I do on a daily basis.

What do you gain from being on the Alumni Board, personally or professionally?

The opportunity to network and connect with other board members who are having success in their respective fields and an opportunity to give back to the students of Lipscomb.

The opportunity to serve a university that gave so much to me is the most valuable. Lipscomb opened up so many doors for me after graduation, so I think it’s important to give back and be involved. I want to help continue to move Lipscomb forward in the right direction.

What were some of your experiences in college that you believe help you in your career today?

Being a student-athlete (on the Lipscomb soccer team) taught me so many good habits and practices that have helped in my career today, such as time management, work ethic, commitment, conflict management and so much more.

Are you able to bring a semblance of those experiences to Lipscomb students today through the Alumni Board?

Yes. Whenever connecting with current students, I am able to relate to their current lives as students, then give them advice based on my experience when I was in their place and help guide them towards success.

“Lipscomb opened up so many doors for me after graduation, so I think it’s important to give back and be involved. I want to help continue to move Lipscomb forward in the right direction.”

Josue Chavez, Sales Representative, Stryker Sage

Engagement Building Block to

AACSB Accreditation

ALUMNI AND ADVISORY BOARDS

The business world is changing so fast; it’s hard to keep up.

Fortunately, Lipscomb’s College of Business has a deep bench of business veterans who commit their time and energy to transferring credible, relevant and timely knowledge into the next generation entering the rapid-fire world of business today.

Throughout the 2021-22 school year, members of the Dean’s Board, Alumni Advisory Board and Lipscomb community poured into Lipscomb’s business students in a variety of ways.

Marty Kittrell (’77), business leader and generous donor, hosted small groups of students and faculty for a steak dinner with a side helping of entrepreneurial wisdom (03). The Bison alumni network continues to be a valuable asset, volunteering their time to support students, such as Justin Cook (’18, MAcc ’19), manager, internal audit at HCA Healthcare (05), who volunteered to help out as the “banker” in Perry Moore’s awardwinning Monopoly® simulation game for his auditing students (see page 6)

“Typically, I have to turn some volunteers away since more sign up than I have space for,” said Moore. “Even Kevin Monroe (DB), our Partner-inResidence, served as a banker one year.”

Dean’s Board member Winston Justice (DB), financial advisor at AllianceBernstein, provided his financial and professional insight to students at the College of Business’s “Being a Light in

the Marketplace” symposium (see page 21) (01), in an entrepreneurship class and on a panel for the newly created Declaration Dinner.

In an effort to provide every student with a milestone memory in each year of college, the College of Business’ advisory board members and faculty gathered to celebrate the latest group of junior-level students to declare their majors in business at the first annual Declaration Dinner in fall 2021.

Each table of students included a veteran businessperson focused on building a relationship with the newly-declared major, and each student received a padfolio for use in future interviews.

The Declaration Dinner is designed to introduce students to a “formal-style business meeting of professionals,” where members of the Dean’s Board, the Alumni Advisory Board and faculty were assigned specific groups of students to interact with during the event, said Beth Mangrum, alumni fund and event director.

The authentic, no-nonsense advice and insight of Sue Nokes (DB), was a big hit with students as they lined up after the event’s program to hear more of her personal stories and tips about people management and leadership (04). Patrick Chaffin (DB), EVP and COO of Ryman Hospitality Properties and Dean’s Board member, was part of the event’s panel discussion on spiritual life in the real working world (06).

06

CEO of Treemont Capital Inc. and CEO-in-Residence Phil Pfeffer (DB) presented as part of the Declaration Dinner program that gave students a sneak peek into what the next 24 months of their college career would entail (02). Pfeffer, now a Lipscomb University trustee, interacts with COB students each year by accompanying them on global learning opportunities, the latest being a trip to Indonesia for international business and supply chain students (see page 17)

It’s this kind of commitment from external stakeholders that was an important building block to the Lipscomb College of Business successfully earning AACSB accreditation in March 2022.

Become a part of the firm foundation for a new generation of business leaders.

Contact Ray Eldridge, at ray.eldridge@ lipscomb.edu to learn more about becoming involved with COB advisory boards at Lipscomb.

COB alumni make big showing at annual NELA Awards

The College of Business was well represented at the 15th annual Nashville Emerging Leaders Awards (NELAs) hosted by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and YP Nashville.

The NELAs recognize Middle Tennessee’s young professionals under the age of 40 for significant accomplishments in their chosen career field, as well as their commitment and contribution to the community.

Matt Brown (BBA ’15, MAcc ’15), audit manager at Deloitte LLP, was the winner in the financial services category.

In his role, Brown manages audit and reporting advisory engagements for public and large private clients in the greater Nashville area. Brown also served a two-year term on the Deloitte U.S. firm’s Black Action Council and leads the United Way service and fundraising efforts for the Deloitte Nashville office.

Jacky Gomez (BBA ’17), recruiting programs lead for Asurion Apprenticeships, was the winner in the human resources category.

Gomez is responsible for creating internal talent development programs to establish diverse talent pipelines. Gomez considers herself “a native Nashvillian with Mexican roots.” She currently serves as a board member for the Tennessee Latin American Chamber of Commerce, PENCIL and Metro Nashville’s Beautification Commission representing District 30. She is actively involved in Asurion’s Employee Resource Groups. Gomez was previously a graduate of MyCity Academy and Nashville Young Leaders Council. She also supported the work of the Mayor’s New American Advisory Council and the Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee.

Sydney Ball (AAB) ( ’12, MBA ’14), vice president of business development for NFP Executive Benefits was a finalist in the financial services category. This is the third time she has been a finalist for the NELA Awards. Ball has been a member of the COB Alumni Advisory Board for five years (see page 29). She was named a 2021 Nashville Business Journal 40 Under 40 Winner.

Among the other COB Lipscomb alumni who have been named finalists for NELA Awards in the past few years are: Jovonna Palmer (MHR ’11), Katie Radel (MBA ’16), Taylor Ezell (BBA/MAcc ’12), Paula Murray (MHR ’12), Bradley Bruce (MHA ’21) and Taylor Constantine (MBA ’11).

Lipscomb’s Pfeffer Graduate School of Business was the presenting sponsor for the event.

One Goal. One Day. One Herd.

Lipscomb University’s fourth Day of Giving, launched on Feb. 22, 2022, was the most exciting one yet. The university’s bold goal of $1 million contributed by 3,000 donors in a 24-hour period was obliterated with a total of 4,748 friends and fans of Lipscomb giving $2,120,938.

The friends and fans of the College of Business did their part to help the university smash its 2022 goal.

COB donors gave of COB alumnirepresenting 324

On this year’s Day of Giving, the College of Business raised $107,208, its largest campaign to date and enough funding to complete a fully-equipped Content Creation Studio.

Sue Nokes (DB), retired vice chairman at Asurion Insurance, issued a challenge to match a lead gift for the media center, a challenge that Lipscomb’s generous contributors paid back in spades!

The proposed studio, to be located on the second floor of the Swang Business Center and to open in fall 2022, will help equip students and alumni for today’s competitive marketplace, by enhancing their ability to design, develop and implement professional-quality digital media elements.

The studio will be equipped with professional lighting, sound and backdrops with the capabilities for students and alumni to record presentations, film product demonstrations, conduct virtual sales calls, develop video testimonials, produce podcasts, create video resumes and more.

Day of Giving funds equip new Content Creation Studio Bring your Best. Be a Light. Be a Fan.

There also will be a laptop available for use with the Adobe Suite for those who want to use more dynamic graphics in their presentations. Students build video creation and editing skills, which 82% of marketing employers list as their most desired skillset, through real-world projects integrated into marketing courses.

In addition, it will serve the Career Connection as a space for virtual interviews, and students and alumni will be able to schedule professional headshot sessions. Alumni will be able to access and reserve the space as well.

LIPSCOMB.EDU/GIVING

One small post, made a big difference for students’ digital content skills

Even small things can pack a mighty punch sometimes. All it took was one post by College of Business Management, Entrepreneurship and Marketing Chair Rick Holaway (’01, MBA ’09) to bring in a valuable donation for the college’s forthcoming Content Creation Studio this past February on the annual Day of Giving.

As a couple both involved in marketing in their careers, Grant (’18, MBA ’19) and Rachel (’19) Exline, immediately recognized the value of such a facility for students to enhance their skills with digital media elements. Seeing just one post from Holaway about the studio, the Exlines made a donation and let Holaway know how much they appreciated their Lipscomb education.

“The business world is quickly changing course to a virtual workspace, and it is imperative that students get the opportunity of a hands-on experience with working remotely. We vividly remember the challenges of finding a professional and quiet place to conduct interviews or video recordings and can only imagine the benefits we would have received if this was a resource at the time,” said Grant Exline.

“With my background in photography and videography, I feel strongly that business candidates should have the ability to understand the technology and tools used to help create content,” he said. “Our world is constantly moving towards a ‘content’ mindset and it’s only a matter of time until this begins to be seen within all aspects of the business world.”

“Good things come from good hearts,” said Holaway, who said he expected to merely spread the word with his LinkedIn post. “At first, I was amazed that Grant replied so quickly and generously but then realized that this is just an example of their hearts.”

The Exlines’ first-time donation is a great example of the power of Lipscomb’s fourth annual Day of Giving, said Beth Magrum (’93), director of the alumni fund. “This event is one day a year when the power of social media is leveraged to make a Lipscomb education more accessible and to provide the resources and facilities students need to gain a competitive edge in today’s job market, a successful career and a purposeful life,” she said. “This donation shows how a little bit of effort and some collaboration can bring big dividends for our students.”

Grant, now a global marketing category manager at JLL, a global commercial real estate company; and Rachel Exline, a real estate agent and marketing manager, joined the College of Business Alumni Board this August, hoping to make the same impact behind-the-scenes that they experienced as students.

To learn more about Day of Giving and the COB Alumni Board, contact Beth Mangrum at beth.mangrum@lipscomb.edu.

From gold coins to steak dinners, elevator pitches to corporate governance

Marty Kittrell, a Lipscomb accounting graduate from 1977 has spent a lot of time working for the benefit of Lipscomb as a 17-year member of the Board of Trustees. But he has also spent as much time, if not more, one-on-one with students, especially student entrepreneurs, whom he mentors and encourages in various ways.

Alumni of a certain age may remember winning a real half-ounce gold coin from Kittrell for an excellent job thinking outside of the box as he challenged them to a critical thinking skills test.

Today’s entrepreneurial students will have fond memories of an intimate, small group dinner with Kittrell at a local steakhouse, and one outstanding entrepreneurial student has enjoyed capital investment from the semi-retired business leader who enjoys investing in small, new ventures.

The Hickman County, Tennessee-native remembers retired Lipscomb accounting professor Charles Frasier as his most influential professor and mentor (he had eight classes with Frasier),

and these days he spends a lot of time paying forward the guidance and instruction that Frasier gave him back when he roamed the halls of Lipscomb as a student.

Kittrell graduated from Lipscomb into a long career in accounting and corporate finance, serving as CFO for nine companies over 25 years and moving to 10 cities before moving back to Nashville in 2011 to live in semi-retirement. During his career, he had the opportunity to orchestrate mergers and acquisitions and did a lot of capital raising, he said. Throughout those years, he provided support to Lipscomb as he could from his cities of residence.

In the 1980s, he and his wife Jane Dennison Kittrell (’76), a thirdgeneration Lipscomb Bison, set up a fund to specifically support College of Business students scholarships and support to faculty.

As conditions changed over the years, they later decided to use the funds to support the Kittrell Pitch Competition, designed to foster “Shark Tank-type creative ideas and business plans,” he said. The

Marty Kittrell brings student-focused support to the College of Business

program holds two competitions a year and provides thousands of dollars in prizes for the winning students to pursue their entrepreneurial ventures. Kittrell strives to attend every year if possible.

“I really enjoy the interaction with those students,” Kittrell said. “I enjoy the entrepreneurial spirit that Lipscomb works to impart among them. Whether it is Jeff Cohu or Rob Touchstone, or Joseph Bamber, Joe Ivey or Perry Moore, I try to make sure those people know I support them, that I see them and that I appreciate the investment they are making in students today.”

In addition to personal encouragement to students who reach out to him, Kittrell’s other formal involvement has included guest lecturing on corporate governance and strategy. He provides firsthand insight for students on corporate mergers, the job of a corporate board member, hot topics in corporate governance and current compliance requirements.

“I try to put in layman’s terms, pretty high-level financial concepts,” he said. “I would like to plant the seed that this is a fascinating area, that you might want to consider studying, and I enjoy talking about it.”

This past school year he invited about 20 students and faculty for a dinner at Char. “I gotta tell you,” he chuckled. “Students love getting a free steak dinner!

“But more than that, I was able to get a couple of guest speakers in front of them,” he said.

“Ernie Clevenger (’75) (DB), also a member of the Lipscomb Board of Trustees, and Parker Polidor (’99) are both proven entrepreneurs. I like for students to hear about not only me and my back story. It’s important for them to see what Christian businesspeople can accomplish.”

“Sometimes I’ll give students a critical skills thinking test where I give them a list of trivia questions. I don’t expect them to know the answers, but what I expect them to do is to use their brain to come up with their best guesses,” he said. “So I love fostering that sense of thinking

outside of the box, and showing that if they do a good job, I’m also willing to reward them,” sometimes with that real gold coin, which he says is “always a big hit!”

Kittrell is impressed with the growth of the College of Business over the past two decades, from the increase in graduate programs to the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, from the Center for Business as Mission to “making sure students come out of here, holistically, as a Christian businessperson who also has good employment prospects,” he said.

Today, Kittrell is on the board of a public company and is an active investor in small private companies. He’s also an investor with Tokens Media LLC, which produces the Tokens Show created by a Lipscomb Bible professor.

He will continue to serve on the Lipscomb Board of Trustees until 2024. He has two daughters, fourth-generation Bisons on Jane Kittrell’s side of the family, who are Lipscomb University alumna and four grandchildren at Lipscomb Academy (who are fifth-generation Lipscomb students).

New assistant director brings federal, entrepreneurial and Clifton Strengths coaching experience to Career Connection

This school year brought a new assistant director and career coach to the Career Connection team. Petchell Luepke will use her diverse background of 30 years in the workforce to benefit two Lipscomb populations: students and COB alumni.

Her background includes stints as staff in the United States House of Representatives and as a senior policy advisor in the United States Department of State; a decade as a small business owner of Bellies & Babies Consignment Boutique; and as a certified leadership coach.

“As a leadership coach, I love supporting people to discover what they’re good at, to help identify meaningful ways to develop their talents and to take on any obstacles that stand in the way of their achieving their goals,” she said.

Luepke, focuses on providing Clifton Strengths coaching to help students identify, develop and use their top talents. For undergraduate students, she offers the assessment and coaching to start their personal development journey. For MBA students, she helps them use their talents to be the most successful in their workplace, as well as building new partnerships with prospective Nashville employers for the Fast Track MBA Directed Work Experience internship program.

Luepke’s arrival also brings a new initiative to offer career coaching services and a career support program for alumni. “If an alum is five, 10 or 15 years into their career, we are available to support them in their professional journey, from helping them update their resume and LinkedIn profile to offering strengths-based coaching,” said Luepke.

“A career coach is a personal advocate who will challenge and inspire you to be the best version of who God created you to be,” she said. “As a certified leadership coach, I coach people to bring out and leverage their strengths, get clear on their vision, and identify what’s getting in the way of fully realizing the success they want.”

A native of Kampala, Uganda, Merabu Nagwandala came from humble beginnings as she grew up in a family of 10. She dreamed of being a runner, but at times she didn’t even have a pair of shoes to wear. As a child she contracted typhoid four times and spent eight years of her youth in and out of school and on bedrest.

Yet she overcame those health complications to begin to run and train again. At age 21 she earned a college scholarship to Georgia Southern University, where she earned her undergraduate degree. Upon the recommendation of a coach, she came to Lipscomb to pursue her MBA degree and to use her remaining NCAA eligibility.

For two years, Nagwandala was also a member of Lipscomb’s cross country and track and field team and last fall was named to the ASUN All-Academic team. She said that the MBA program has been beyond her expectations and that sometimes she has to “pinch” herself to make sure she isn’t living in a dream.

“The professors are very encouraging and have given me good guidance and advice,” she said. “Dr. Nina Morel was especially there for me a lot. When I was falling apart because of my busy schedule, she encouraged me, but also held me accountable, which is what I needed. I didn’t need someone to babysit me. She showed that she cared by pushing me to be my best.”

Nagwandala next has her sights on pursuing a Ph.D. in business administration. One day she hopes to return to her native Uganda, which currently has about 75% unemployment. “I believe in God’s calling,” she explained. “I was talking to my entrepreneurship professor and he has some connections in Uganda… that may one day help me find a career path that will lead me home.”

Merabu Nagwandala (MBA ’22): Lipscomb experience is a dream come trueUP

COMING bison in business

First Women in Business networking event provided student contacts and inspiration

“Small Bites and Big Takeaways” was the theme of the first annual Women in Business networking event held in fall 2021 at the former historic Germantown location of Alabaster Collective, a co-working and events space for women.

Fourteen faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the College of Business each spent 90 seconds sharing their experiences, advice and inspiration to future female business leaders. Each speaker delivered her words of wisdom to the 40 business students in attendance.

Attendees or speakers who are business owners themselves set up signage and handed out business cards. Authors, technology companies and nonprofits were among the featured businesses.

This new event was designed to give students a unique, off-campus networking experience while also showcasing and supporting local, female-owned small businesses. Students left with networking contacts, new friendships and inspiration.

Food was provided by the female-owned Clean Plate Club and desserts by The Cupcake Collection, owned by Mignon Francois (DB).

In further support of women in business, Lipscomb’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation partnered with SCORE Nashville, the local chapter of the national network of volunteer business mentors, to hold the Powerhouses Panels and Pitches workshop this summer.

REACHING STUDENTS WHERE THEY ARE: After a year of remoteonly interactions with students, the Career Connection team was eager to reach students in new ways. Monthly Help Stations were designed to reach students where they are: on their way to class. Team members set up shop on the first Tuesday of each month in the Swang Lobby to offer no-appointment professional development including resume feedback, career coaching and internship information. The team plans to continue this casual, no-appointment format in the future based on its success this year.

Multiplying success through Directed Work Experiences

In 2021-22, these partners in the Directed Work Experience (DWE) program each hosted at least one long-term student intern enrolled in the Fast Track MBA program. Students worked for 10 months at these partner companies making significant contributions while applying their classroom knowledge to real-world business challenges.

The long-term nature of the DWE program can provide many benefits to both students and employer partners. The Lipscomb College of Business thanks each partner company listed for its support of our students.

Just a few weeks after earning his MBA with a concentration in health care administration at Lipscomb in May, Licona, an MD, began making a difference on a global scale at his new job as project coordinator of the Infectious Disease Transversal Program for the department of Global Pediatric Medicine with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Before coming to Lipscomb, Licona practiced medicine in Honduras for several years, and then went to work for Predisan-USA Inc., a Christian health care organization. He traveled to 37 clinics to care for people in the mountains of Honduras.

During the five years he worked for Predisan, Licona continued his practice while advancing into managerial roles, including becoming the associate executive director. In that role, he realized that he needed to have more tools, credentials and knowledge for a career in health care management.

Learning about the options available at Lipscomb through professors and one of his mentors and supporters, Ken Shumard, he decided to move to Nashville.

At Lipscomb, “I learned to embrace my background, my roots and my passion for global health care, especially for people in isolated communities and in situations where they feel there’s no hope,” said Licona.

That growth as well as his desire to apply his newfound knowledge and pair his profession with his spiritual life, led him to accept the position at St. Jude, where he is responsible for the design, coordination, implementation and oversight of projects to ensure the success of infectious disease initiatives in eight regions around the world, including Mexico, Central and South America, Eurasia, Eastern Mediterranean and Asia Pacific as well as South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The mission of St. Jude Global is to improve the survival rates of children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases worldwide through the sharing of knowledge, technology and organizational skills.

“That’s why my role is very exciting, because we get to develop the knowledge, but at the same time implement it through partnerships with institutions, governments, hospitals and organizations,” said Licona. “Our goal is to accelerate global improvements in the clinical care of children no matter where they live. It’s such a great opportunity.”

Career Connection is always looking for companies interested in connecting with the next generation of business leaders by hosting a long-term MBA intern or a short-term BBA student. Please contact us at business@lipscomb.edu for more information about hiring Lipscomb interns.

Dr. Sergio Licona (MBA ’22): Graduate accelerates childrens’ clinical care globally at St. JudeBOLD BISON making a mark in business

Faculty-in-Residence

New required course brings sophomores career insight

Kevin Monroe Partner-in-Residence Retired Deloitte Partner

Sue Nokes Executive-in-Residence Retired senior executive at Asurian, T-Mobile and Walmart.com

Burt Nowers

CEO-in-Residence for the Center for Business as Mission

Former CFO of AIM Healthcare and retired President of Healing Hands International

Phil Pfeffer

CEO-in-Residence

President and CEO of Treemont Capital Inc. and retired CEO of the Ingram Distribution Group and Random House

Greg Sandfort

CEO-in-Residence

Former President and CEO of Tractor Supply

Ernesto Silva CEO-in-Residence

Retired CEO of Coca-Cola FEMSA, Mexico Division

John Weisenseel

Executive-in-Residence

Retired Senior Vice President and CFO of AllianceBernstein LP

Joe Slawek CEO-in-Residence

Retired Founder, Chairman and CEO of FONA

This past school year the Career Connection offered BA 2601: Connect to a Successful Career, a new one-hour required course for sophomore business majors led by the team and incorporating the CareerLeader and Gallup Strengths assessments to help students identify potential career paths.

Alumni and hiring partners were frequent guests and the course featured six career panels and a presentation from the Nashville Chamber of Commerce. Panelists discussed the types of roles available in their industries and shared the types of skills they seek in new hires as well as invaluable advice about business and life.

Students created resumes and LinkedIn profiles, and attending the College of Business Career Fair was a highlight for many of them. Additional graded elements included writing thank you notes to guest speakers, sending LinkedIn connection invitations and asking thoughtful questions of panelists and speakers.

For their final project, students created a three-part career plan in which they listed what they had learned about themselves and their strengths, explored the job descriptions for potential opportunities of interest and then developed a “gap analysis” to identify professional development, academic and experience/ leadership activities that will serve as a guide for the next two years.

Multiplying success through Career Connection

Career placement rate for the 2021 May, August and December classes within six months of graduation

including students, faculty, alumni, employers and guests, at Career Connection

Thank you to our real-world in-residence faculty who bring both “skill of the hand” and “integrity of the heart” to our students each school year.

THANK YOU TO ALL LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF BUSINESS BOARD MEMBERS!

DEAN’S BOARD

ALFONZO ALEXANDER

President and CEO, Alexander Success Group Inc.

JENNIFER BALDOCK

EVP, Chief Administrative & Development Officer, Surgery Partners LLC

JACQUELINE CAVNAR

Chief Operating Officer, Mental Health America of the MidSouth

PATRICK CHAFFIN

EVP & Chief Operating Officer-Hotels and Development, Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc.

ERNIE CLEVENGER

President, CareHere-A Premise Health Company

BARRY DEAN

Retired Partner, Cherry Bekaert LLP

DALE DENNY

CFO and General Counsel, John Bouchard & Sons Co.

DAVID DINGLER

Health Care Connector, DTD Enterprises

MARK EZELL

Commissioner of Tourist Development, State of Tennessee

DAVID FISHER

Managing Director, Benjamin F. Edwards Co.

MIGNON FRANCOIS

CEO and Founder, The Cupcake Collection

TONY GIARRATANA

President, Giarratana LLC

STEVE GROOM

Managing Partner, Dedicated General Counsel

MARTY HERNDON

President & COO, Snider Fleet Solutions

WINSTON JUSTICE

Former Philadelphia Eagles football player, Investment Manager, AllianceBernstein

GLENN MCGEHEE (CHAIR)

President, SouthStar, LLC

KEVIN MONROE

Former Audit Partner, Deloitte, Member of the Tennessee State Board of Accountancy, Partnerin-Residence, Lipscomb University

SUE NOKES

Executive-in-Residence, Lipscomb University, Retired Vice Chairwoman, Asurion Insurance

BURTON NOWERS

CEO-in-Residence for the Center for Business as Mission, Retired President, Healing Hands International

PHILIP PFEFFER

CEO-in-Residence, Lipscomb University, President and CEO, Treemont Capital Inc.

GLEASON ROGERS

Director, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, Tractor Supply

JOHN RUTLEDGE

President and CEO, American Physician Partners

DEWAYNE SCOTT

Co-founder/President & CEO, SRS Incorporated of Tennessee, Deputy Commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development

FLOYD SHECHTER

President, SmartSpace LLC

ERNESTO SILVA

CEO-in-Residence, Lipscomb University, Retired, Coca-Cola FEMSA

JOE SLAWEK

CEO-in-Residence, Lipscomb University, Chairman & CEO, Slawek Family Holdings

DAVID SOLOMON

Founder and Managing Director, Meritage Funds

JODY VENKATESAN

President and CEO, Platinum Business Services

MARK WHITACRE

Executive Director, t-Factor and Coca-Cola Bottling Company

RANDY WOLCOTT

President, NorthStar Real Estate Advisors LLC

ALUMNI ADVISORY BOARD

SYDNEY BALL

Vice President, Business Development, NFP Executive Benefits

BECCI BOOKNER

Former President, Family Staffing Solutions

JOEL CAMPBELL

Product Manager, Axial Healthcare

JOSUE CHAVEZ Medical Sales Representative, Stryker

TAYLOR CONSTANTINE Channel Lead, Rain

MIGUEL CORTEZ Assurance Senior, EY

ALEX DAMPF President, Oakmont Benefits Group

JORDAN DOBBERSTEIN Manager-Competitive Insights, Jackson National

ZACH EVANS (PAST CHAIR) CTO, XSOLIS

ANDY FAUGHT

Managing Partner, Continuum Planning Partners

DON HULSEY Sr. HR Talent Consultant, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

BENJAMIN KILLION

Data Analytics Manager, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

MATT MCCALL

Chief Financial Officer, American Constructors

JOCELYN NEAL

People Operations Manager, Bloomerang

FRANK OSTEEN

Director of Graduate Enrollment, Lipscomb University

HEATHER SCONCE Distribution Manager, Communication Components

BOB SIRCY Senior Executive Vice President, Southwestern Investment Group

MARSHA SWANDER

Provider Contracting Executive, Humana Inc.

JOHN TOUGHER Senior-Assurance Services, EY

REBEKAH TRAN

Assessment Manager and Data Analyst, Lipscomb University College of Education

AUDRA WAIT (CHAIR)

President & Owner, Wait & Co. LLC

DREW WATSON

Executive Sales Representative, Paycom

HEALTH CARE EXECUTIVE ADVISORY BOARD

JIM BLUE

Vice President, American Physician Partners

DANA BONAMINIO

Women’s Imaging National Subspecialty Lead Breast Imager, Advanced Diagnostic Imaging Director of Breast Imaging, Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown Center for Breast Health, Advanced Diagnostic Imaging/Radiology Partners

MARK BROWN

Chief Operating Office, Nashville General Hospital

ALEX DAMPF

President, Oakmont Benefits

PAULETTE FEWELL

Senior Vice President of Operations, Encouragement Ministries

WES FOUNTAIN

Chief Financial Officer, HCA TriStar Division

DON GIBSON

Chief Medical Officer, Mercy Community Healthcare, Franklin

CHRIS HELM

Senior Director, Learning and Development, Compassus

TODD KAESTNER

EVP Corporate Development & President CCRC Division, Brookdale Senior Living

PAUL KECKLEY

Managing Editor, The Keckley Report

JIM LORDEMAN

Retired

TIM MANGRUM

Medical Director of Saint Thomas Medical Group, Chief Medical Officer of AdvancedHealth, Saint Thomas Medical Group

JOHN MASON

Senior Vice President & CIO, Quorum Health

JARED MEGGS

Founder & CEO, Prosody

DAPHNE PALAKIE

Senior Director, CereCore/HCA Healthcare

BRYCE SILLYMAN

Chief Operating Officer, Wellstar Health System

BOBBY STOKES

Retired, HCA

FAHAD TAHIR

Chief Strategy Officer, St. Thomas Health

MAT WAITES

Retired, DaVita, The Little Clinic

CHANTA WILDER

Administrative Resident, LifePoint Health

CHRISTI WITHERSPOON

Medical Director, Alegis Care, Heritage Medical Associates

BILL WRIGHT

Senior Director, HCA Healthcare BUSINESS AS MISSION BOARD

PETER DEMOS

President, Demos’ Brands

JOSIAH HOLLAND

Consultant, TiER1 Performance Solutions

ADELLE MIZE

Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Thew Freeman Company

BURT NOWERS (CHAIR)

Retired President, Healing Hands International

LIBBY PHILLIPS PETERSON (VICE CHAIR)

Managing Partner, Phillips Family Office

LEELLEN SMITH

Founder, OUTsideIN

BARRETT WARD

Founder & CEO, ABLE

BRETT SWAYN

Founder and Owner, The Cookery Restaurant

MATT HOGAN

Business Development Manager, Whiteboard

SCHOOL OF DATA ANALYTICS & TECHNOLOGY FOCUS GROUP

HALEY CARSON

Senior Manager of Data Analytics, Clayton Homes

CHRIS CASHWELL

CEO and Founder, Azra AI

AARON CLIFFORD

Chief Marketing Officer, Mployer Advisor

SEAN COFOID

Senior Director Data Services, Wayspring

KRISTEN COFOID

Senior Director of Marketing, Community Health Systems

KEITH DYER

Vice President Sales and Channels, Cisco Systems

SPENCER ESSENPREIS

Director, Populations Health Analytics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

TOD FETHERLING

Managing Director, Huron Consulting Group

ANDY FLATT CIO, NHC

CHRISTINA INGRAM

Senior Director, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

EDMUND JACKSON

Chief Data Scientist, Whistler Capital Partners

ADRIAN JONES

Vice President of Information Technology, Dollar General

AMY KAUPPILA

Vice President of Data Science and Analytics Technology, InfoWorks

BEN KILLION Data Engineering Manager, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

JENN LANIER

Marketing and Integrations Strategist, MP&F Strategic Communications

PAUL NOVAK CIO, CHS

JASON SCHRADER

Senior Analytics Manager, HCA

BRYCE SILLYMAN

COO, Wellstar Health System

MIKIL TAYLOR

Vice President of Data Science & Analytics, Healthcare Bluebook

CARMEN WENKOFF

EVP and CIO, Dollar General

ED WILKINS

Retired Audit Partner, Deloitte

DEAN’S STUDENT LEADERSHIP COUNCIL

MADISON ALLIE Accounting (’22)

NATALIE BLICKENSDERFER Finance and Entrepreneurship (’25)

ANNABELLE BRIDGES International Business/German (’23)

BRYCE CAPLES Accounting (’24)

LYDIA ELLIOTT

Business Management (’23)

SELENA FRITZ Finance and Music (’23)

ASHLEY GIBBS Business Finance (’25)

COURTNEY GRABLE Business Management and Exercise Science (’25)

AUGUST HAYMAKER Finance-Corporate (’22)

AUDRA HOCHGESANG Business Management (’24)

SADIE KOHLER Marketing (’22)

LUCAS LANDIS Supply Chain Management (’22)

CATHERINE MARSHALL Business Management (’24)

NICOLETTE NEWBY (CHAIR) Management & Marketing (’22)

LISA PATEL

Accounting and Business Management (’23)

MALLORY PEDIGO Accounting (’23)

BETHANY POHLMAN Accounting (’23)

CARMEN SCHMITTOU Accounting (’24)

MIKAYLA WEBER Business Management (’23)

KARA WILLIAMS Accounting (’24)

CHEYENNE WILLIAMS Business Management (’22)

JOCELYN WITTE Marketing (’22)

ENCORE DEAN’S BOARD

KENT CLEAVER

Executive Vice President, Pinnacle Bank

TOM GRAY

Founder, Employee Pooling

MICHAEL DUNCAN

Retired CFO, HSD Holdings LLC

VIC ALEXANDER

Owner, KraftCPAs PLLC

DAN JORDAN President, Jordan Properties Inc.

KELL HOLLAND

Executive Vice President, Zander Insurance LEADERSHIP TEAM

RAY ELDRIDGE DEAN

ALLISON DUKE

Senior Associate Dean

ANDY BORCHERS

Associate Dean for Accreditation & Assessment

BART LIDDLE

Associate Dean for the School of Data Analytics & Technology

SUZANNE SAGER

Associate Dean for Professional Development & Engagement

DEAN’S REPORT TEAM

NICOLE ANDERSON

Assistant Director, Professional Development & Engagement, College of Business

TAMMY ROBERTSON

Executive Assistant to the Dean and Communication Specialist, College of Business

JANEL SHOUN-SMITH

Senior Communication Manager, Lipscomb University

KRISTI JONES

Senior Manager of University Photography Services, Lipscomb University

TO FURTHER CONNECT WITH US WE INVITE YOU TO:

Thank You for being a continued supporter of the College of Business and the Pfeffer Graduate School of Business. We could not build future business leaders who embrace the values and virtues of Jesus without the contributions of our entire community.

New international endorsement refl ects virtues and values of Jesus and Lipscomb Accreditation by AACSB International promises a positive lasting impact for students today and tomorrow.

My first year spent as the 18th president of Lipscomb University has been such an honor. From my time as an undergraduate, to my time as a faculty member and founding dean of the College of Education, to my time today as the parent of a Lipscomb University sophomore, I have seen Lipscomb from many vantage points—and I can say without hesitation that God has richly blessed our Lipscomb community. After having been away for about eight years, it has been a privilege to come back in this new role and join God’s plans in what He continues to do at Lipscomb.

My own personal experience is a testament to the lasting impact that the day-to-day work of the Lipscomb community has on individual lives, and the College of Business’ new accreditation status with AACSB International is another great evidence of that lasting positive impact on today’s students and those who will follow. Achieving this international endorsement reflects not only the quality of the college’s academics and programs, but also the hard work, commitment, vision and devotion of Dean Ray Eldridge and his team of faculty, staff and students to continually deliver their best, create solutions and embrace collaboration.

As we look to our university’s future, we are prayerfully considering how we can join God’s story and align our plans with His will. I am reminded of Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

Soon after I stepped into the role of president, we launched the Lipscomb Impact 360 strategic planning campaign. With input from voices across campus and around the country and through extensive work, a new Lipscomb strategic plan has been developed to prioritize our work over the next several years. The plan creates a framework and determines a set of priorities that will reflect our vision, mission, values and goals for the future (see back cover). While there have been significant changes in Lipscomb’s 131-year history, and there will be more as we work to meet changing market needs, what has and will remain consistent is our commitment to fulfill the mission of our founders—to magnify the best in our students through a well-rounded education rooted in Christian faith.

So as you can see from the activities and accomplishments of the past school year outlined in this report, the College of Business’ new accreditation and plans to build on that foundation truly reflect the university’s own mission and values and is a light for the future. Please pray for this effort as we continue to seek God’s will in all of our work.

I look forward to sharing more with you as we implement the Lipscomb Impact 360 strategic plan and embark on an intentional path to becoming a nationally ranked, top-tier institution while leaning into our Christian mission and bringing our best to our students. Lipscomb’s future is bright, and its best days are ahead!