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Business Networks | February, 2007 | Volume 5, Issue 2
Research reveals the perceptions and realities around audit firms’ services and fees.
The financial collapse of the Enron Corporation in late 2001 generated headlines around the world and set off a chain of events that has left a lasting effect on corporations today—including how investors perceive a company’s relationship with its auditors. “Since then, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has required public companies to provide expanded disclosure about fees paid to auditors,” said Kannan Raghunandan, professor and Ryder Eminent Scholar in the College of Business Administration’s School of Accounting. Read more. Listen.
Burger King Corporation gives MIB students a taste of international corporate concerns.
As the College of Business Administration forges deeper relationships with the business community, one of the most productive is the one with Burger King Corporation (BKC). Through internships offered by the company, the participation of BKC executives on college advisory boards and panels, Alumni Days, and other efforts, the two entities are in close contact and continue to benefit from what the other has to offer. Among the valuable interconnections was the recent involvement of eight students in the Master of International Business (MIB) program in two projects at the company. As part of their capstone project in the last semester of their degree work, MIB students work for a corporation or agency on a project with international elements and of real importance to the organization. Read more. Listen. Have information will travel: College reaches out to local businesses through new information initiative.
Innovative undergraduate and graduate programs with schedules tailored for working professionals. Online courses, degrees, and certificates. Executive and professional programs that provide a quick refresher or advanced work in an array of skill sets. The College of Business Administration has all this and much more. Jennifer Vasquez (MA ’06), manager, marketing and community outreach, has hit the road to let human resources (HR) departments and employees at major corporations in South Florida know more through “corporate information sessions.” “Many companies provide tuition assistance to their employees so they can finish undergraduate degrees or go back and get a graduate degree,” said Vasquez who took on the newly created position in the marketing and recruiting office three months ago and who sympathizes with the challenges working professionals face: it took her three years to complete her graduate work as she juggled courses and work. “We want them to be aware of the many options the college offers.”
Read more. Listen. New Executive and Professional Education certification delights human resources professionals.
Most disciplines expect their professionals to stay current in their fields. In the area of human resources (HR), it’s a formal—and rigorous—requirement for those who wish to maintain their certification as Professionals in Human Resources (PHR) or Senior Professionals in Human Resources (SPHR). Hard work on the part of the staff of Executive and Professional Education (EPE) in the College of Business Administration just made the challenge of meeting these requirements much, much easier.
Recently, EPE received word from the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) that it was awarding EPE “HRCI Approved Provider” status. The designation enables EPE to assign recertification credit hours (based on stringent HRCI standards) to its HR-related continuing education programs. Florida International University is the only university in South Florida to have earned this status. Read more. Listen. Second offering of Professional MBA achieves capacity enrollment.
Luis A. Franceschi has three words for the Chapman Graduate School’s Professional MBA, which he recently began as a member of the second class: “Super, super, super.” As vice president of sales for the family-owned Simco Recycling Corporation, he has a secure career, yet wanted a graduate degree should he ever return to his native Venezuela. He says he’s delighted. “I have friends in both the Executive MBA (EMBA) and PMBA and was considering both, but I was not interested in the international residency that is a requirement in the EMBA program,” he said. “The PMBA looked like it would meet my needs, and it’s already exceeded my expectations.” Read more. Listen. Students learn about art, cultural respect, and the serious side of shopping in Rome.
Not asthma and not the flu could keep Rome study-abroad participant Carolina Garcia down. In fact, she was up—to the very top of the dome of St. Peter’s Cathedral. “It was the last day of my first study abroad, and I didn’t want to miss this experience,” said Garcia, an accounting major who works in the accounting office and the spa at Trump International Sonesta Beach Resort. “We took an elevator halfway and then climbed the remaining 220 narrow, twisting steps.” The sight may have been the highpoint—literally—of a trip that took fifteen students—under the guidance of Randall Martin, faculty director of the study-abroad programs and member of the Department of Management and International Business in the College of Business Administration—to Rome from December 27, 2006 through January 6, 2007. The trips are offered through the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER). Read more. Listen. College launches undergraduate internship program in response to business demand.
Though the College of Business Administration has an established record of placing graduate students in internships successfully, area businesses have expressed a desire to have access to talented juniors as well. “Companies perceive that when they get an intern from the college, they are getting someone great, especially as our programs continue to move up in important rankings and capture more media attention,” said K. Galen Kroeck, chair of the Department of Management and International Business, which is refining its program to meet the demand. “Employers also appreciate the chance to evaluate a person’s performance before they make a hiring decision.” Read more. Listen. 2007 New Venture Challenge welcomes university alumni into the competition.
This year, for the first time, Florida International University alumni are invited to join currently-enrolled, upper-division undergraduate and graduate students in the 2007 New Venture Challenge Business Competition. Hosted by the Eugenio Pino and Family Global Entrepreneurship Center, the annual New Venture Challenge gives young entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop and present a written business plan to a panel of judges that includes successful entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, lawyers, and consultants. Read more. Listen.
Alpha Kappa Psi fraternity shows how to add some style to community service.
What’s the proper length of a tie? Does “dress casual” mean you can wear jeans to work? Should you ever wear white socks with a suit? How short is “too short” for skirts in the office? Students at Miami’s G. Holmes Braddock High School learned the answers to these and other important “dress-for-success” questions during a recent business fashion show coordinated by the college’s Xi Sigma chapter of the Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity. The event took place on January 12, 2007, in the high school’s auditorium, which was packed with several hundred style-conscious students. Read more.
College’s donors recognized at Torch Society Induction Ceremony. In 1989, Florida International University established the Torch Society—a prestigious giving society and donor recognition program that honors the university’s most generous benefactors. The bi-annual Torch Society Induction Ceremony—a “philanthropic commencement”—recognizes the commitment of individuals and organizations whose philanthropic support exemplifies their generosity of spirit and social conscience. The most recent induction ceremony took place January 28, 2007, at the Wertheim Performing Arts Center on the University Park campus. Twenty-seven individuals and organizations were recognized, nine with specific connections to the College of Business Administration. Read more. Two BBA+ Weekend graduates take same path to same company, more than a decade apart.
Eleven years separate the graduations of Jorge Munilla (BBA ’94) and Mercy Ramirez (BBA ’05) but much brings them together. Each opted to take the BBA+ Weekend program, a flexible, value-added option offered in the College of Business Administration. Each continues to hold the college in high regard. And each works for the same organization: MCM Corporation—one of the largest Hispanic-owned construction companies in the United States. “The program offers a unique environment and team feeling, with a cross-section of age groups,” said Munilla, president of MCM, which he owns and runs with his four brothers. “In a typical college setting, I would have taken my classes and left, but in the BBA+ Weekend, I saw the same people weekend after weekend, which enabled me to build friendships and lasting relationships.” Read more. REACC Alumni Affinity Council holds networking event.
Business Alumni Conference to be held March 23rd. The third annual Business Alumni Conference will be held on March 23, 2007, from 8:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. at the college’s Downtown Center, located at Macy’s on Flagler Street, on the 6th floor. The conference is FREE for all university alumni and $25.00 for non-alums. The day will include executive briefings on today’s hottest business topics, such as real estate, corporate governance, healthcare, insurance, and family business. Breakfast, lunch, and parking will be complimentary. Do not miss out on this informative opportunity. Call Zoe Leal at 305-348-0421 for more information. Alumni Notes
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