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BizBuzz Student spends intense summer honing leadership skills.
Since transferring to the College of Business Administration in January, 2007, from a junior college that “seemed like high school,” accounting major Gabriela Manrique has discovered a world of challenge and opportunity. In May, 2007, Grant Thornton (GT) selected her as one of the first two students from the college to participate in its newly launched local version of the firm’s national Footsteps program, which identifies internship candidates early and gives them a taste of a public accounting career. The event to announce her selection included presentations about GT’s service lines and career options, lectures from company principals, and teambuilding activities. Read more. Degree sends aerospace professional’s career into full throttle.
Six years ago, when Patricia Azuaje was laid off from her position as a marketing coordinator at a manufacturing firm, her employment prospects seemed bleak. Despite the fact that Azuaje had considerable job experience and held a position with decision-making capacity, she hit a roadblock in her quest for meaningful work: she lacked a college degree. “I was getting hired only for menial jobs, jobs I didn’t like,” Azuaje said. So at 35, she decided to go back to school. The mother of three knew that adding school to her already full plate would be challenging, but realized the pay-off would be worth it. She earned her associate’s degree and then enrolled in the College of Business Administration’s BBA+ Weekend program. “I loved it the minute I started doing it,” Azuaje said about the accelerated program. “The real-life simulations were great and the cohort approach enabled us to get to know each other very well.” Read more. Winning essay earns student MBA scholarship—and paves the way for an exciting career change.
“What would an MBA do for your career?” Answering this question won Livia Esteves Guedes Muzzi the opportunity to pursue an International MBA (IMBA) in Florida International University’s College of Business Administration. It all came about when the university and Latin Trade magazine partnered earlier this year to launch the Latin Trade MBA Challenge, offering participants the chance to win a full-tuition scholarship for the IMBA program in the college’s Chapman Graduate School of Business. To quality for the one-year, full-time MBA scholarship, candidates had to have maintained at least a 3.6 GPA as an undergraduate and scored 600 or higher on the GMAT. In addition, they had to submit an essay that persuasively answered the thought-provoking question about the value of an MBA. Read more. Students in Dominican Republic earn U.S. graduate degree locally.
Working professionals in Dominican Republic can receive a Professional MBA (PMBA) from Florida International University without having to travel to Miami—an unbeatable opportunity for Rodrigo Aguilar and Daniela A. Maini, two people with technical expertise looking to acquire managerial skills. Read more. Different paths lead two students to same solution.
Rajesh A. Jaghai (BBA ’06), son of Jamaica’s largest thoroughbred horse breeder and nephew of three other entrepreneurs, and Sunil Kurup, college-educated and long employed in Russia, both have found satisfaction in the College of Business Administration’s Master of International Business (MIB) program and as graduate student assistants in the Ryder Center for Supply Chain Management. Read more. Business graduate’s initiative bears fruit for local nursery.
A nursery may not be the first workplace that comes to the mind of a graduating finance major seeking employment. However, it turned out to afford the perfect opportunity for Ryan McFarland (BBA ’07). In truth, McFarland does not work for a small operation. He is a financial analyst at Costa Farms, one of the largest plant growers in the nation with more than 2,400 employees and 2007 sales estimated at $200 million. A chief supplier of foliage and floral products to Lowe’s, the company also serves retailers such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot. Read more.
College invests in Career Management Services to meet student needs.
The challenge of getting an internship or job weighs heavily on most students, but Career Management Services (CMS) in the College of Business Administration now offers more resources, support, and timely advice to make the challenge manageable. New employee focuses on undergraduates. In June, 2007, Dawn Lazar (MS ’06) joined CMS as assistant director, undergraduate programs, working with fully admitted college juniors and seniors. Though she held a managerial position after earning her master’s degree, she quickly realized that she wanted to work with and help students. “The majority of my graduate work focused on career development,” said Lazar who had worked at Florida International University for four years as the first advisor in the School of Public Health. “I plan to build relationships with the college’s undergraduate students and to work closely with student organizations to bring career development opportunities to their members.” Read more. Mark your calendars for important upcoming Career Services events. More than 150 employers attended the recent fall Career Fair. Be sure to take advantage of these future events designed to help you launch a successful career. Business Etiquette Dinner Career Services Open House
One word sums up Krystel Ramos: honors.
For Krystel Ramos (BACC ’07), currently a student in the College of Business Administration’s Master of Accounting (MACC) program, the tributes keep coming. The former president of the Florida International University Accounting Association (FIU-AA) and now its consulting officer received two student awards at the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting’s (ALPFA) 2007 convention. Students affiliate with ALPFA through their membership in FIU-AA, and the college has the largest ALPFA student chapter in the country. Read more. KPMG case competition brings recognition and professional growth to six students in the college. Half a dozen members of Florida International University’s Accounting Association (FIU-AA) made a strong showing in a case competition at the annual convention of the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA) in Orlando, Florida, in August, 2007. The KPMG/ALPFA case competition pitted 27 teams against each other at the regional level, with the FIU-AA team advancing to the finals. Contestants had to address three specific questions related to accounting, R&D risk, and possible litigation for a pharmaceutical company. They had insurance proceeds from a fire that they wanted to invest in a new product production. Read more. Diversity students sharpen abilities at Accounting Scholars Leadership Workshop.
Carlos Canasi, Nuria Huillca, Gabriela Manrique, Martha Murillo, Krystel Ramos, Daniel Toribio, and Catalina Zorrilla—along with 81 other diverse undergraduate and graduate leaders from across the country, Canada, and Puerto Rico—took advantage of the resources and generosity of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) during the all-expense paid Accounting Scholars Leadership Workshop in Peachtree, Georgia, from May 31-June 2, 2007. During the event, they formed ad hoc teams to develop presentations on financial literacy, learned networking techniques, and got valuable insights from academics and practitioners. Meet three of the participants, all members of the Florida International University Accounting Association (FIU-AA), and read what they had to say about their experiences. Read more. Accounting major builds diversity leadership capabilities.
Dressed for success, accounting major Jaleesa Lynch found herself stuck in airports as she tried to make her way cross-country from Ft. Lauderdale to Hollywood, California, to participate in KPMG’s Future Diversity Leaders (FDL) program—a two-day workshop for fifty exceptional students nationwide. Faced with keen competition for talented employees, KPMG established the program to identify top diverse students early—and keep them in the firm’s pipeline. When she arrived at 10:00 p.m. local time, Lynch had missed the entire first day’s activities, but that didn’t stop her from making the most of the second. Read more. New faculty: Spotlight on two of the new professors who joined the college in the fall of 2007.
School of Accounting welcomes faculty couple. As a child, Divesh Sharma, associate professor, School of Accounting, “never thought I would go to college,” and Vineeta Sharma, assistant professor, School of Accounting, foresaw a career as a pharmacist. Both from Fiji—a three-hour flight from Australia and described by Divesh as “paradise”—the couple met in high school. With doctorates from Griffith University in Australia, they’ve moved to the United States from New Zealand to be closer to transplanted family and nearer the action in their profession. “I’ve come to the American Accounting Association’s annual meeting for a decade and wanted to narrow the distance to my research collaborators and increase my awareness of what’s going on in the discipline of accounting—a rapidly growing field in the United States,” Divesh said. Read more. Study-aboard programs satisfy the appetites of students for travel and more.
Twenty-six students took in the sites, the sights, and the flavors of Europe on two recent study-abroad programs—one to Spain from May 3-22, 2007, and one to France and Ireland from August 13-23, 2007. Randall Martin, faculty director of the study-abroad programs and a member of the Department of Management and International Business in the College of Business Administration, led the trips—which include coursework and interaction with local businesses and which the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) organizes. Read more. Students participate in prestigious Harvard Business School summer program.
Every year, students gather in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for the Harvard Business School Summer Venture in Management Program (SVMP), a one-week management training program for college seniors designed to increase diversity and opportunity in business education. For the past two summers, a student from the College of Business Administration has counted among this impressive group of rising business stars representing colleges and universities from across the United States. “Harvard builds the next generation of business leaders who can change the world in a positive direction,” said Douglas Garcia, who attended the ten-day program in June, 2007. “This thought inspired me throughout my Harvard experience.” Read more. American Marketing Association chapter distinguishes itself . . . again.
The College of Business Administration’s American Marketing Association (AMA) chapter received the “Distinguished Chapter” award at the 29th Annual International AMA Collegiate Conference in New Orleans in March, 2007. It was the latest award for the chapter, which has enjoyed an incredible string of honors since it re-emerged just six years ago. In 2006, the organization was named “Collegiate Chapter of the Year.” Read more. New courses will be offered in spring, 2008 semester. The College of Business Administration continues to expand the courses it offers. Here’s what’s brand new for the spring, 2008, semester. Career Development Financial Software Managing Innovation
Student Organization Snapshot Want to meet people—students and successful professionals—who share your interests and can help you get ahead? Need to add some great experiences to your résumé? Have a desire to perfect skills including leadership and team building? Student organizations in the College of Business Administration give you all this and more. You can do a little, such as attend meetings, or a lot, such as become a committee chair or officer. It’s your call. In each issue of BizBuzz, we showcase a student organization so you can see which one is right for you. Beta Alpha Psi Eta Iota Chapter/Superior Chapter brings real world of accounting to its members.
From weekly meetings and presentations, to Meet the Firms night—mimicking a speed dating event—to professional development activities to a softball game between members and representatives from accounting firms, Beta Alpha Psi offers accounting, finance, and MIS students an array of chances to prepare for a career, learn about the accounting profession from professionals, and form lifelong friendships. The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) sponsors the organization. Read more. Opportunity brews at Honduran coffee cooperative, with help from student volunteer.
Placing your business on the Internet opens the window to the world. So believes Capucas, a coffee-growing cooperative in Honduras. By expanding its presence in the global marketplace via a new web site, the Capucas cooperative hopes to reach new customers who appreciate the high quality of its organic coffee beans. Such potential business growth supports the region’s collective efforts to promote sustainable development while reducing poverty and increasing the quality of life in the rural communities of western Honduras. To help design and launch the new web site, Gustavo Cardenas (MBA ’07) traveled to Honduras in August, 2007, as a volunteer for the College of Business Administration’s John Ogonowski Farmer-to-Farmer (FTF) program, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Read more. Graduate students GROW community connections—and build leadership skills along the way.
Eager to connect with like-minded graduate students? Looking for a way to help others? Ready to develop stronger relationships dedicated to making a difference in the world? Join one organization and accomplish all three goals—with Graduates Reaching Out Worldwide, or GROW. Read more. Career opportunities abound at Business Industry Night.
Held twice each year, Business Industry Night offers College of Business Administration students a not-to-be-missed opportunity to network with representatives from area Fortune 500 companies and governmental agencies. The most recent event once again delivered on these expectations when approximately 250 undergraduate and graduate students—with résumés in hand—attended the fall session of Business Industry Night on September 20, 2007. Read more. MIS Club gets off to strong re-start.
Dormant for the past couple years, the MIS Club has returned with an energetic board, big plans, a web site under construction, and enthusiastic advisors. “We want to educate MIS students about careers and professional options they’ll have thanks to the beauty of the major in the College of Business Administration, which covers both technology and business,” said Elaine Gonzalez, club president and IT assistant in the Honors College. “However, the two areas of focus can make it hard for students to determine what to do with their degree since they can go in the direction of programming, business intelligence, or consulting.” Read more. T-shirt says it all: “We Speak for Autism.”
Florida children with autism and their families may experience improved services thanks to the efforts of the College of Business Administration’s Weekend BBA+ cohort 23. For their Business in Society course’s required community service project, they decided not to fundraise or undertake a hands-on improvement effort. Instead, based on a suggestion by a class member and by course instructor Robert Hogner, associate professor, Department of Management and International Business, and coordinator of the college’s Civic Engagement Initiative, they thoroughly researched how Florida’s support for these families stacks up against what other states and countries do. They sent their forty-page report to Florida state legislators. Read more.
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