th e S c h o o l of o f Management Management School www. n a z . ed u Vo l . 1 , I s s u e 2 • F a l l , 2 0 0 8 • A n e w s l e t t e r f o r a l u m n i a n d f r i e n d s o f t h e N a z a r e t h S c h o o l o f M a n a g e m e n t
Dear alumni and friends, A lot has happened since our last newsletter. We launched two new undergraduate programs in international business and music business, and three new faculty members have joined the SOM. Last May, we held the first SOM Alumni Golf Tournament. The proceeds from the tournament were used to create an endowed scholarship in the name of the late Mike Dianetti ’85. The event was particularly special because it was created and run by a group of our business alumni. By all measures it was a great success. The plan is to make this an annual event — so stay tuned for information on next year’s event. Our newest graduate program, in human resource management, continues to grow at a rapid rate. We see graduate programs like this one as opportunities to serve even more students, and additional graduate programs are under discussion — we will let you know more about them as plans firm up. We are very grateful that so many of you want to stay connected to Nazareth. We regularly hear from alumni who want to learn how to help. Many have offered support for scholarships, established internships, mentored current students, and delivered guest lectures. Nazareth has always been a special place. You, our alumni and friends, are the ones that have made it so special.
Sincerely,
Gerard F. Zappia, Dean Nazareth College School of Management
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Faculty Transitions
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Student Highlight
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SOM Partners with National Society of Hispanic MBAs
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he School of Management is pleased to announce that it is partnering with the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) as that group expands into Western New York. “Partnering with Nazareth College’s School of Management will surely help open doors to new opportunities for both NSHMBA and Nazareth,” said the organization’s vice president of Rochester membership, Iveth Reynolds. “When the prospect of a partnership between NSHMBA and Nazareth’s School of Management presented itself, it was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up” said SOM Dean Jerry Zappia. “In addition to hosting NSHMBA meetings and events on campus, we’ve started discussions on how to bring Hispanic entrepreneurs and business leaders into the classroom to talk about their experiences in the business world.” The National Society of Hispanic MBAs was created in 1988, and serves 32 chapters and 7,000 members in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. It fosters Hispanic leadership through graduate management education and professional development.
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Golf Tourney Results
New SOM Programs
A l u mn i
P r o f i l e
C o n g r at u l at i o ns !
Succeeding in the Twenty First Century
ongratulations to all those recognized C at the Honor Society celebration.
Harris Interactive VP and Alumna Priscilla Fritsch Fisk ’96 Shares Business Wisdom with Honor Society Students
S igma Beta Delta (Business Honor Society) Inductees Juliette Marie Brind’Amour ’09 Riley K. Carhart ’09 Nathan M. Dewey ’09 Justin Richard Drake ’08 Anthony C. Ferrari ’09 Stephanie Jayne Ostrander ’08 Sean E. Rahrle ’09 Jessica Michelle Seefried ’08 Pamela L. Severin ’09 micron Delta Epsilon O (Economics Honor Society) Inductees Matthew Bader ’08 Nicole DelVecchio’08 Diana Hrustanovic ’08 Kathryn Elizabeth Kaiser ’08 Jamie Lingenfelter ’08 Steven Luttman ’08 Janelle McAllister ’08 Amanda C. McIntosh ’08 Ashley Moore ’08 Sarah Potozniak ’08 Jessica Michelle Seefried ’08 Jordan L. Sutton ’08 Manjela Tuladhar ’08
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he School of Management held its annual induction ceremony for Sigma Beta Business Honor Society and Omicron Beta Delta Economics Honor Society in April. Guest speaker was Priscilla Fritsch Fisk ’96. Fisk graduated from the College with a B.S. in business administration with high honors, and is now vice president of internet panel management at Harris Interactive. In this capacity, she works closely with business leaders and executive staff to develop and implement Harris’ panel development and management strategies, and is responsible for the execution of global panel initiatives. Fisk presented a motivating
Priscilla Fisk’s Three Practical Rules for Succeeding in the 21st Century
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Elizabeth Fake Award (presented to seniors on the basis of academic achievement and overall contributions to the School of Management)
Do Your Job: You are an employee. You have been hired to execute a very clear set of tasks. Do them.
Cody Gardner ’08 Heidi L’Esperance ’08 Colleen Smith ’08 Elizabeth VanTyle ’08
Tell the Truth: You’ll earn a lot more respect by being honest and admitting when you are unsure of something.
Leo Yballe Servant Leadership Award Karim Belhaj ’08
Assume Nothing: Make sure to double check facts and figures – mistakes happen.
Fisk shares her insights into business success with a Nazareth audience. speech to the new inductees and guests, offering wise words of advice based on her own experiences (see box at left). In addition to her professional activities, Fisk supports the business leaders of the future by serving on Nazareth’s School of Management alumni undergraduate advisory board. “Priscilla is a great example of someone who learned how to learn while she was at Nazareth,” said SOM Dean Jerry Zappia. “The type of work she currently does did not exist when she was an undergraduate. Thanks to her ambition, a great work ethic, an open mind, and solid academic preparation she has no limits.”
(far left) Dean Zappia and Fisk with Leo Yballe Servant Leadership Award winner Karim Belhaj. (near left) Dean Zappia (left) with the winners of the Elizabeth Fake Award (l to r): Colleen Smith, Cody Gardner, Elizabeth Van Tyle, and guest speaker Priscilla Fritsch Fisk ’96.
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S OM
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Tran sition
A Celebration of the Career of Professor April Laskey
rom 1987 until her retirement this year, Professor April Laskey opened the door to new worlds for SOM students. In tribute to Professor Laskey on her retirement, we present some of her own words — excerpts from an essay she wrote on her teaching philosophy. The essay, available in its entirety at www. naz.edu/dept/cte/philosophies/index.cfm, includes her insights into what makes a skilled and thoughtful teacher. “I bring my ‘self’ into the classroom. I bring my analytical skills, my knowledge, my irrationality, my ability to read and synthesize vast amounts of complex material, my prejudices, my percipience, my discipline, my penchant to mix and mangle metaphors, and my annoying traits. … Even taking into account the philosophical and Buddhist difficulties of defining self, still, myself is all I really have to offer my students.”
“Much of teaching is scary as well as hard work. … But it’s the same thing, only worse, for my students. Teaching and learning are often scary, uncomfortable, and challenging.” “Leave time to think, time to grow, time to have fun in the classroom.” “Be prepared to be comfortable with chaos. The process of learning is often not clear, linear, or organized.” “Teaching is a communal activity. I am better because my colleagues are better and we talk to each other and share ideas and support.” “My job is to empower my students, … and not marginalize any of them; there’s no formula for doing this.” “Over the years I have learned far more and grown more from my students than any of them have from me, and I am humbled and grateful.”
New Faces in SOM
The School of Management is pleased to welcome three new faculty members to Nazareth Cheryl Dugas, assistant professor of information technology, was previously an instructor in computer science at Rochester Institute of Technology. She earned a Ph.D in educational technology from Indiana State University, a master’s in computer science from The George Washington University, and her bachelor’s in mathematics from the University of New Hampshire.
Assistant Professor Jennifer Leigh, a specialist in organizational behavior, comes to Nazareth from Gettysburg College, where she was an assistant professor in Gettysburg’s department of management. She has a Ph.D in organizational studies from Boston College, an M.A. in whole system design from Antioch University, Seattle, and a B.A. in history from Swarthmore College.
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Rochelle Ruffer, associate professor of economics, previously served the Center for Governmental Research (CGR) in Rochester as associate director of economic analysis. She earned her Ph.D in industrial organization and her M.S. in economics from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and a B.A. in economics from Colgate University.
Student Spotlight Twelve Questions With IT Whiz Kid Colleen Smith ’08 Colleen Smith will graduate from Nazareth this December with a bachelor of science in information technology (IT) and a bright future ahead of her. We caught up recently with the active senior to find out why she chose Naz and where she’s headed next.
• Why information
technology? I wanted options. My interests are all over the board. Studying IT gave me the tools and skills to be able to chase after them. Plus, IT jobs are on the rise in Rochester.
• A long the same lines:
why Naz? It’s a unique program, and includes business and management courses. There’s not much value in learning or creating technology if you can’t apply it to solving real business problems.
• Wh at excites you the
most about your field? IT is everywhere – in every career field and every country. Your options are limitless with IT and there’s a lot of room for innovation in technology, process, and policy.
• T alk to us about
internships. I LOVED my internship at Energy East! I acted as co-project manager. We designed a project scope and schedule, went through the requirements-gathering process, held meetings with IT managers, and eventually designed 20 different reports to help IT managers manage their workloads. Applying what I had learned in my database design class was amazing! I hadn’t realized the importance of good
data modeling until I was out there fishing around for data in someone else’s databases. Plus, now I can say that I have project management experience.
• I f you could teach one
course at Nazareth, what would it be? What class should all students be required to take? I’d teach project management. Good project management is crucial to success in any business. And all students should take a class in some type of public speaking. It’s painful but it teaches you so much about yourself. It’s a necessary skill.
• N ame one teacher at Naz
who made a difference in your life. That’s easy. Deb LaBelle, my academic advisor and IT professor, has been there every step of the way. She is constantly working to improve the program. Deb’s enthusiasm is contagious and she always relates what we’re learning in class to realworld business situations. That gave me a huge advantage in my internship.
• Wh at’s next for you? I’m currently working part-time as an analyst in the IT applications department of Energy East and I plan on continuing there after graduation. And I definitely plan to go to grad school, probably for an M.B.A.
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• T ell me something about
yourself that no one knows. I’d love to trade places with Samantha Brown or Anthony Bourdain of the Travel Channel … they have the best jobs ever!
• Wh at’s on your iPod right now? Duffy, lots of U2 from the 70s and 80s, and Incubus. • H ere comes the classic
question: you’re stranded on a desert island – what book do you have with you? The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. It’s my favorite, and it’s long enough that hopefully I’d get rescued before running out of pages!
• Wh at advice do you have
for future IT majors? Utilize your professors (at Naz you have some of the very best!), and take classes to develop the skills that other “techies” are often lacking, such as writing, public speaking, and interpersonal skills.
• Wh at are you most proud
of? In spring 2008, I was inducted into Sigma Beta Delta honor society, and I was one of four winners of the Elizabeth M. Fake Award.
Golf Tourney Supports Dianetti Scholarship
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n a world of increasingly competitive fundraising, Nazareth’s SOM graduates still respect and honor their bond to the College. In May, more than 100 SOM alums attended the first of what will become an annual fundraising golf tournament at Shadow Pines in support of scholarships for the next generation of SOM students at the College. This year, according to event co-chairs Doug Johnston ’85 and Jim Ockenden ’83, all proceeds were used for a scholarship in memory of Michael Dianetti ’83, ’86G, who died last year. A respected coach and educator at Aquinas Institute in Rochester, Dianetti earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in education from Nazareth. Held during Reunion Weekend, participants included: (top photo, l to r) Arthur Alvut, Mary Ockenden-Alvut ’82, James Ockenden, and Trevor Wallace; (next photo): Todd Calman ’87, head men’s basketball coach Mike Daley, head woman’s basketball coach Devin Gotham ’88, and Paul Cummings ’85; (bottom photo): Chris Scarlata (Mike Dianetti’s brother in law); Romeo Dianetti (Mike’s father); Nick Verzella, and Peter Nicolucci.
SOM Scholarship & Awards
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tudents and faculty in Nazareth’s School of Management are accomplished and business-savvy. They are often, not surprisingly, the recipients of awards, scholarships, and recognition. Following are some of the most recent SOM honors. The Nazareth College Entrepreneurial Partnership has established three annual scholarships in honor of Dr. Robert Miller, Nazareth’s eighth president. To be eligible, students must be enrolled in a School of Management major, have completed MGT 330, Entrepreneurship, with a grade of B or better, and have a minimum GPA of 2.7. The 2008-2009 awardees were Pamela Severin ’09, Jessica Seefried ’08, and Jenna Battaglia ’09. Assistant Professor of Management Jennifer Leigh received the 2008 Organizational Behavior Teaching Society (OBTS) New Educator Award, in recognition of her teaching evaluations, publications in the management education field, and her commitment to service in academic and teaching associations. The society is the oldest international professional organization dedicated to teaching and learning excellence in the organizational and management sciences. Each year it honors a person early in his or her career who has demonstrated significant promise for creating new ways of thinking about and practicing management education.
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Taking Business in New Directions Nazareth’s SOM develops programs in two growing fields:
international Business and m usic business Here are some fast facts about the new SOM programs for fall ’08. Intern at ional Business
Mu sic / B u sin e ss
This interdisciplinary program combines professional training with a solid foundation in the liberal arts and sciences. In conjunction with the Center for International Education at Nazareth, the SOM is building a global network of institutions and organizations that will work with Nazareth interns as they gain a better understanding of the cultural and business knowledge required to do business in a global society. “By offering a bachelor of science in international business, our students will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to make meaningful contributions to organizations that pursue opportunities in the international marketplace.”
This program’s focus is on giving students the knowledge and skills necessary for entrepreneurial initiatives in the rapidly evolving and changing music business industry. Required courses in the program include rock and roll composition, web design, music business, and music law. In anticipation of the needs of Music/Business students, Nazareth recently installed a state-of-the-art recording and mixing studio on campus. “The bachelor of science degree in music/business allows students interested in music the opportunity to study their art, as well as to determine how that art can produce income. Throughout time, the musicians who have learned to produce, market, and distribute their work have made significant contributions to their culture. Beethoven is an excellent example of this.”
— Robert Marino, Ed.D., chair of undergraduate programs for Nazareth’s School of Management
— Professor James Douthit, chair of the music department
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