College Report
College of Business Administration
UW Oshkosh is the best place in the state and probably the Midwest to earn a business degree, for the following reasons: a long history of being successful and first; being accredited with higher standards than other schools due to a large master’s of business administration program; curriculum and instructional staff that meet the rigorous standards for accreditation; commitment to innovation and risk-taking; location in the middle of Fox River Valley—home to thousands of businesses; and a long history of strong relationships with those businesses, allowing a blending of theory and practice through activities, internships, guest speakers and real-world projects. We also are large enough to offer a variety of majors and services but small enough to know our students.
Community
- Dean Al Hartman was named Volunteer of the Year by the Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce. He received the award in large part for his service to Leadership Oshkosh. He serves on the steering committee, coordinates a retreat and evaluation day and co-chairs Business Day.
- More than 500 people from UW Oshkosh and the community attended the Third Annual Fall Symposium, “A Celebration of Entrepreneurship.” Alumnus Craig Culver (’73) served as the featured keynote speaker for the four-day event held in October.
- The 2005 College of Business Alumni Association Dinner raised more than $15,000 for scholarships and college pride facility improvement projects in February at Butte De Morts Country Club in Appleton. Honored at the dinner were outstanding alumna Karla Blair (’80), partner with Schenck Business Solutions; Bill Raaths (MBA ’73), CEO of Great Northern Corporation; and emeritus faculty member Larry Lang.
- The UW Oshkosh chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma selected Kathi Seifert as its Business Professional of the Year. Seifert was the second highest-ranking manager at Kimberly Clark before she retired last summer. She was responsible for global personal care operations as well as marketing services for the United States and Canada.
- In April, the College hosted its first Environmental Symposium titled “Improving the Bottom Line and the Environment” to heighten awareness about how businesses can benefit from including environmental considerations into their business plans. Representatives of three Wisconsin businesses—Ariens Company, Orion Energy Systems and Minergy Corporation—shared how their companies incorporate win-win strategies that benefit business and the environment. Also, the recently established COBA Environmental Group is in step with a campuswide commitment to green principles.
Scholarship
- The Student-Managed Endowment Fund has outperformed the Standard and Poor’s 500 for the last three years. Students who manage the fund, all finance majors in the College, reported on the year’s performance in April. The fund, founded in 2000 with a $25,000 gift from Thomas and Antoinette Brinkman of Oshkosh, was the first undergraduate student investment fund in Wisconsin. The students now manage two funds that total about $60,000. This year, the CBAA also entrusted the students to manage its scholarship funds.
- In April, 49 students were inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma (BGS) business honors society. To qualify, juniors have to be in the top 7 percent of their class, seniors in the top 10 percent and graduate students have to be in the top 20 percent. In addition, the undergraduate students maintain a 3.75 or better grade point average and the graduate students maintained a 3.94 or better grade point average.
Teaching
- The College has added an intensive, three-week course about what it takes to be a CEO—Conversations with CEOs. The inaugural class of 30 business graduate students learned about leadership development and successful management styles from 10 high-powered CEOs from the Fox River Valley.
- Top business students are helping local businesses through a new Student Consulting Program, taught by two professors in the College for the first time in spring 2005. The students provided J.J. Keller and Associates and the Oshkosh Area Humane Shelter with options for dealing with major strategic issues. In return, J.J. Keller contributed about $1,500 and the OAHS contributed $1,000 to support student organizations in the business college. The students gained valuable experience working with top management on strategic issues and had the opportunity to apply what they learned in the classroom to real-life business issues.
Partnership
- The College teamed up with Fox Valley Technical College to launch New Venture Center.
- College of Business Ambassadors supported college events, such as COBAdvantage, a freshmen orientation program, a weeklong fall symposium about entrepreneurship, the college alumni association’s annual dinner and the Junior Achievement Business Challenge. They also participated in the Alumni Association Board and the Business Advisory Board. They helped improve student professionalism by e-mailing monthly professional tips to all business and pre-business students and organizing “Dress for Success.”
- More than 300 employers, mostly local, sought to hire business students for internships during the 2004-2005 academic year. Participation in the internship program by employers grew nearly 60 percent in one year. While meeting the needs of the Fox River Valley business community, the students gained experience in such areas as accounting, economics, finance, human resource management, marketing, management information systems and operations management.