The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh College of Business wrapped up another successful semester with the Saturday, May 12, 2012, University commencement ceremony. The COB graduated a record number of students — 263 undergraduate and 38 graduate students. With an accumulation of classroom and professional experience, these students will take their degree and enter the workforce with an advantage over their peers.

Graduation Statistics*:

38 completed their MBA degree
81 completed a marketing major
48 completed an accounting major
38 completed an human resource management major
60 completed finance a major
34 completed an economics major
46 completed a supply chain and operations management major
22 completed a management information systems major
7 students completed a minor in insurance and financial planning
6 students completed global business minors

There were many new and exciting changes in the College of Business this semester, including changes to the curriculum. The College added a new sustainability minor and partnered with other departments and disciplines on campus to create a new major, Interactive Web Management. This is the first new major offered in the COB in 30 years.

The spring semester was also a time of great student growth and leadership development outside the classroom with a variety of networking events and traveling. Over $28,000 was awarded to College of Business students at the annual Undergrad Honors and Awards Luncheon. The Luncheon was also a time to recognize six COB students who received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence and to honor two outstanding College of Business alumni.

The Beta Gamma Sigma chapter inducted 45 members in the International Honor Society. Two College of Business students were recognized by the Milwaukee chapter of Financial Executives International for their academic achievement and community involvement, and in March, the UW Oshkosh chapter of the Society of Human Resource Management traveled to North Charleston, SC, to learn leadership skills as they volunteered in one of the most dangerous cities in the United States.

A variety of new events brought both alumni and business professionals together throughout the semester. The International Business Club hosted the second annual Global Careers Day with immense success. Another very successful networking event was the Insurance Networking Social, which brought more than 20 insurance executives working in the Fox Valley to campus to meet and network with students in the Insurance and Risk Management minor.

In May, the University hosted the Oshkosh Chamber After-Hours event in Sage Hall, which brought Fox Valley business professionals together for an evening of networking. Also in May, the College hosted a simulcast of Chick-fil-A Leadercast, bringing local business leaders together to view a live stream of the major leadership conference in Atlanta, GA. The Business Alumni Dean’s Event marked the final event of the semester, a networking event that brought COB alumni back to campus to not only reconnect with faculty, staff and fellow students, but to check out the new Sage Hall.

*All data is unofficial at this time awaiting official grade data.

Fox Valley business professionals gathered to hear from world-renowned speakers, business leaders and best-selling authors on the topic of leadership at the 12^th annual Chick-fil-A Leadercast May 4, sponsored by the UW Oshkosh College of Business.

Held at the Oshkosh Convention Center in Oshkosh, Wis., the College of Business was one of many host sites across the globe broadcasting the live Leadercast event in Atlanta, Ga., to local business leaders.

According to the Chick-fil-A Leadercast website, the event had 85,000 leaders participating globally along with 600 host sites broadcasting the event in 2011.

The one-day leadership development event included a wide variety of speakers including football quarterback Tim Tebow, CEO of Burberry, Angela Ahrendts and leadership experts such as John Maxwell and Andy Stanley.

The cost to attend the event was $99 and in addition to the program, participants received a journal to accompany the information from the presenters and two meals were provided throughout the day.

“If we brought this many speakers of this quality to Oshkosh, it would have been hundreds of thousands of dollars. Partnering with Chick-fil-A as a host site is a great way to have the same motivational message, just through the live streaming from Atlanta,” Krause said.

Heidi Reinke (BBA ’01), event planner and marketer in the Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning at UW Oshkosh, said the event provided not only leadership development but also things she could teach her students.

“I’m actually going to be teaching two sections of internet marketing for the College of Business this fall, so I’m trying to hear things that they’re talking about in terms of leadership that I can relate back to the students,” Reinke said.

Krause said he would like host the Leadercast annually in the future and include student organizations to participate and learn from the event.

“People really seem to enjoy it so hopefully it’s one of those events that will grow and be even better next year,” Krause said.

Tim Greinert (BBA '85)

It’s rare when you meet an individual who has spent his entire career with one organization.

Tim Greinert (BBA ’85), president at Junior Achievement of Wisconsin, Inc. (JA), recalls two reasons he chose to accept his first job with the nonprofit organization 27 years ago.

“Weighing multiple options upon graduating from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh College of Business, the opportunity at JA was a great way to use all of my skills in a role that offered me the ability to do outbound sales, business development and build community relationships,” said Greinert.

The second reason satisfied his personal values.

“I have always had a strong interest in youth development,” said Greinert, who spent years coaching at the high school level.

And just like other young graduates, at the time he took his first job, he had not intended to stay more than a few years.

“I thought that JA would be a great place to get my feet wet,” said Greinert.
In 1985, Greinert started working in program management, but it wasn’t long before his responsibilities evolved to management and he became more involved in the business side of the nonprofit organization.

“Working in nonprofit management is just like any other business except for the tax status,” said Greinert.

Next, he took over as director for northeastern Wisconsin and then moved to the state and national level.

“I enjoyed the opportunity to work in a variety of roles at both the local and national level,” said Greinert, who received his MBA from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs during his time serving at Junior Achievement’s national office in Colordao.

Following several years of service in Minnesota, Greinert moved back to Wisconsin in 2003, where he began his tenure as president of the Wisconsin branch of Junior Achievement.

Fast forward almost three decades, Greinert’s motives for staying with Junior Achievement are still the same: being able to form relationships in the community while making a difference in the lives of young people.

According to its website, Junior Achievement of Wisconsin is an affiliate of Junior Achievement Worldwide, a global economic education organization serving 9.7 million students in 123 countries.

Greinert believes JA gives young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future and make smart academic and economic choices.

“Bottom line, our goal is to teach young people how to control their economic future,” said Greinert.

Embodying the heart of JA, in over 7,000 Wisconsin classrooms, volunteers inspire and empower over 150,000 students a year to believe in themselves.

“JA provides a turnkey program where volunteers go into the school and provide education in areas such as financial management and budgeting,” said Greinert, who believes both corporate and community volunteers who share their personal experiences and breathe life into the concepts make all the difference.
He believes using individuals from the community make the concepts stick with young people.

“The goal is real-life learning,” said Greinert.

Other programs at JA take children out of the classroom.

“Students have the opportunity to go onsite and job shadow,” said Greinert.

Another program is the Business Challenge, which is held annually at UW Oshkosh, which challenges high school students to make decisions in a strategic business simulation game.

“Our research shows that students are learning and that is most important,” said Greinert.

Nearly 80% of students surveyed by the JA agree that the organization has positively influenced their attitudes toward continuing their education.

“We continue to expand our programs each year based on our evaluations of what is working,” Greinert adds.

Looking back, Greinert remembers the solid education he received and the personal relationships he formed at UW Oshkosh.

“To me, UW Oshkosh meant a good, quality education close to home,” recalled Greinert, who grew up in Appleton, Wis. “Professors were accessible and gave me individual attention.”

Greinert and his wife, Tina, have been married for 20 years and live in Cedarburg, Wis. Together, they have three children; Marissa, Joshua and Allison.

The keynote speaker for the event was Joe Fikejs (MBA ’06), Executive Vice President of Finance and Operations at Bergstrom Automotive. Joe spoke to the graduating students about the “MBA Attitude,” providing guidance on how to take control of their career now that they have earned their degree and encouraged them to push themselves to step out of their comfort zones in order to advance their careers.

Congratulations to all of our MBA graduates on this incredible achievement.

View photos from the event.

2012 Outstanding MBA Student – Kelli Karpinski

2012 Outstanding MBA Student – Tammy Karcz

2012 Outstanding MBA Student – Valerie Swanborg

2012 Outstanding MBA Faculty – Paul Frederickson

Mike with daughter, Katherine, before starting a rib eating contest.

Years at UWO: 13

Undergrad/Graduate schools: University of Georgia (BBA), Indiana University Fort Wayne (MBA), University of Nebraska (Ph.D.)

Dissertation Topic:  IT competency and firm performance

Food you couldn’t live without: Pizza

Hobbies outside of teaching: Reading and painting

Favorite movie: Casablanca

If you weren’t a teacher, what would you be doing:Probably what I was doing before becoming a teacher…working in the business consulting industry.

Mike with daughter, Katherine, who beat him in the rib eating contest.

Who is your biggest inspiration for teaching? Kathy Rassuli. She got me interested in doing academic research.

What is your favorite thing about teaching at UWO? The students tend to be hard-working and our new academic building is great!

What is your current research focus? I am currently doing research in the area of customer loyalty and voice-of-the-customer driven market positioning.

What is your best piece of advice for current COB students? Have some confidence in your abilities.  Just because you may not have a lot of hands-on business experience, doesn’t mean that you don’t have a lot of potential.

The 2012 Global Careers Day event team.

For the second year in a row, Global Careers Day at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh drew in many corporate guests, faculty and alumni who shared their experiences and career opportunities with students through panel presentations and a hands-on workshop.

The event took place on April 6 and each of the three morning sessions featured different presenters and topics. After each presentation, the audience could interact with the speakers by asking questions and engaging in discussion.

During the three morning sessions, the students heard from eight global executives about why it is important to consider a global career, what corporations look for in global managers and about the variety of ethical challenges one may face during the course of a global career. From these sessions, students gained valuable insights on how to plan and pursue a successful global career. Speakers included:

• Suhas Apte, vice president of sustainability at Kimberly-Clark Corp.
• Tim Fliss, vice president of human resources at Bemis Co.
• Dnyanesh Patkar, vice president of corporate development at Schneider National Inc.
• Nancy Ebben, director of international finance at Oshkosh Corp.
• Kim Peterson, director of marketing and strategy at Alta Resources
• Doug Olson, vice president of Quest Core Team at Schneider National Inc.
• Dan Rokjer, vice president of sales at Bemis Co.
• Kurt Wanless, senior compliance counsel at Plexus Corp.

After networking over lunch, students, faculty and speakers participated in a series of hands-on workshops about ethics in global management and negotiating across cultural lines.

Professor B.S. Sridhar, faculty adviser for the International Business Club, facilitated a simulation of cross-cultural negotiation entitled “Ugli Orange” involving all participants. Doug Killough, partner development team at Schrieber Foods Inc., and Pete Stanius, vice president of customer management at Plexus Corp., debriefed the participants and shared their experiences and strategies for effective cross-cultural negotiations.

Kathryn Simon, International Business Club president

The event was organized under the leadership of Kathryn Simon, president of the International Business Club, assisted by a number of student volunteers.

“I hope next year there will be an even higher turnout and more company display booths,” Simon said. “We’re also planning more time for networking with the professionals.”

Jessica Alt , International Business Club member, led the marketing efforts for the event and said it was different from the previous year because not only was the event held in a larger space, but Alta Resources and Bemis Company set up booths about their businesses.

“It was great because students were able to talk with professionals from these companies to find out more about them,” Alt said. “I think this would be great if even more companies did this next year.”

The event is only in its second year, but there was a significant increase in interest in the event from last year and it looks like the trend will continue, Sridhar said.

“It was great to see more businesses, students, alumni and faculty take part in the event this year,” Sridhar said. “I am looking forward to seeing how this event grows in the coming years.”

Dean of the College of Business, Bill Tallon said the event is a great way for students to connect with global business leaders and to become better prepared for a future career in global business.

“Students learn so much from networking events like this and the International Business Club has done a great job connecting with businesses to bring them to campus,” Tallon said. “The experiences students learned from the global business leaders represented at this event were really extraordinary.”

There was no cost for the students to register or participate thanks to a generous grant from the Pepsi Fund.

Shannon during an international study tour to Peru in January 2012.

Age: 21

Major/Emphasis/Minor: Supply Chain and Operations Management with an emphasis in International Management

Clubs/Involvement: I am currently President of APICS, President of Phi Beta Lambda, Vice-President of Wisconsin Phi Beta Lambda, and a College of Business Ambassador.

Favorite Class Taken: Supply Management with Dr. Godfrey because he explained the material very well and made it interested. He also related the topics to real life experiences and brought some speakers to class from big name companies.

Food you couldn’t live without:  A chocolate malt with marshmallow added and cheese curds from Culvers.

Hobbies Outside of Class: I really enjoy reading, traveling, spending time with my family and friends and crafts, such as scrap-booking.

 Favorite movie: I love a lot of movies and have many favorites but a classic one that I always watch with my dad is The Princess Bride. We can name almost all of the lines in the movie! Inconceivable!

Why did you choose UWO COB? I really liked the campus of UWO, but the reason I chose the College of Business is because of the great majors and the many opportunities within the college. UWO COB is the only accredited school in the area and the college has great relationships with employers to help with internships and real life experiences. Also, the class requirements for the COB seemed really interesting and actually related to future job duties.

What is your internship experience and what have you learned from this experience? I am currently an intern at Oshkosh Defense in the Aftermarket Purchasing Department. I learned to always ask questions and communicate with the team. Don’t feel like you are a bother to those on your team, they are willing to help and will happily answer questions! Also, ask to sit in on meetings or get more involved in the team to see day-to-day activities and how the business functions. Internships are for learning about the company and the job.

What advice do you have for younger COB students? Get involved outside of classes and network! I have had amazing opportunities through my organizations and interviewers will ask about classes but they are really interested in hearing the stories of organization activities and leadership positions. It is great to add to the resume, but it is also a great career building experience if you want to get into leadership positions in a company.

Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? 10 years from now I would like to be with a company in a leadership role and to have traveled a lot, personally and professionally. I would also like to have obtained some supply chain certification and have completed my masters as well.

Age:

Current Employer and Position: Breakthrough Fuel, Director of Client Services

Expected graduation date: May 2013

Favorite class taken or professor at UWO and why it’s your favorite: Organizational Change and Leadership because the change management process is almost always a critical factor in the success of a project.

Food you couldn’t live without: Mashed Potatoes

Hobbies Outside of Class: You can find me water-skiing every chance I get when the weather is warm enough!

Favorite movie:  I don’t have a favorite but I love comedies.

Why did you choose UWO MBA?  I chose the UWO MBA program because it is a reputable program that allowed me to learn with business leaders in the community.  UWO’s MBA program’s Green Bay location is ideal from a location perspective and the program offers a great balance of classroom and internet classes that allows flexibility for scheduling based on my personal and work needs.

How do you balance work, life and graduate school? I try to work ahead and be prepared for each day at the start of the day so I am always one step ahead instead of one step behind.  Also, I am taking graduate school at a slow pace so that I can maintain one night of the week for myself.

What advice do you have for younger COB students or students thinking about pursuing an MBA degree? It is advantageous to have a few years of work experience before beginning the program.  It helps create better discussions within the classroom, internalize the material, and at the same time can provide great lessons to apply to the work environment immediately.

Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? In 10 years I hope to deepen my strategic work at Breakthrough Fuel, expand my knowledge of supply chain management, and develop new product offerings within the organization based on market needs.

Degree/Major/Graduation year: BBA ’09 (Supply Chain and Operations Management major) and MBA ‘12

Current Employer and Position: Oshkosh Corp, Production Manager

Current City: Oshkosh 



Food you couldn’t live without: Ribs

Favorite Hobbies: Boating, Golf, Shooting

Favorite movie: Happy Gilmore

Favorite class taken or professor at UWO and why: Dr. Godfrey. He is a great teacher because of his work experience before becoming a professor. His real work examples help marry the class material to the working world. He spends a lot of time helping students find jobs before and after graduation. 



What were you involved in while at UWO (clubs, sports, internships, ect)? APICS, Marketing Club, and an internship at Oshkosh Corp.


How did you get your first job after graduation? Internship played a huge part. Students needs to have this experience to be competitive in the working world. 


How does your current career path differ from your college ideals? Not too much different than what I was picturing after graduation. I did not want a job where I was in an office all day. Operations at Oshkosh was a perfect match for me. 


What is your best piece of advise for current COB students? Network! You learn skills that will help you through the difficulties off getting a job out of school.

Tim racing in the Racine Half Ironman.

Degree/Major/Graduation year: BS in Studio Art, MBA with an emphasis in Marketing

Current Employer and Position: Rawhide, Inc. and Donation Operations and Marketing Director

Current City: Oshkosh

Food you couldn’t live without: Fruits, Veggies and Lean Meat

Favorite Hobbies: Reading (biographies, science, business and philosophy), training for triathlons, drawing portraits and  personal journal writing

Favorite movie:  Bourne Identity, Forest Gump and Wall Street

Favorite class taken or professor at UWO and why: Professor Bryan Lilly; he is bottomless pit of information, frank, real and is secure enough to wear jogging pants from the 80s to class.

What were you involved in while at UWO (clubs, sports, internships, ect)? I paid for my college bills on my own and had little time to do anything but study and work. I learned a lot about marketing, packaging, business processes, and customer service from working as a delivery guy at Dominos pizza in Neenah.  Always tip the delivery guy/gal. I currently provide internships for marketing and operations management students at Rawhide.

How did you get your first job after graduation? I worked as an insurance agent for Northwestern Mutual Financial Network in Wisconsin and Chicago.

Obstacles are uniquely disguised as opportunities.

How does your current career path differ from your college ideals? I actually wanted to be an illustrator and had gone to Pratt Art Institute in Brooklyn, New York, but made a decision to go back to Wisconsin to complete my studies at UW Oshkosh. I then discovered that I needed a business degree if I wanted to work with clients and pursued a job in sales. I graduated with a BS degree with a minor from the COB and later got my Master’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing.

What is your best piece of advise for current COB students?  Volunteer to get your foot in the door. Focus on the solution. Be problem solvers. Be project managers. Master the tools of technology. Think about where the puck is going. Be imaginative and creative (bring your skills from the sandbox). Your mom never told you what to build, where to pile up the sand and what to imagine. Adults spend more time discussing and making plans about a solution. Kids spend more time on testing solutions. Einstein said imagination is more important than knowledge. Be willing to risk it all by making mistakes.   Be self-directed within the parameters of your responsibilities. Have a good attitude when facing obstacles and work hard.