News

Six PBL members competed at the PBL National Conference June 23 – June 26 in Baltimore, MD, and we had some winners:

Emily Ketchum

1st place in Client Services

4th place in Job Interview

Tyler Gum

2nd place in Contemporary Sports Issues

Russell Holley

6th place in Impromptu Speaking

Ciara Devine

7th place in Retail Management Concepts

First Service Bank established a scholarship for students studying Marketing in the College of Business. The scholarship recipient will receive $1,500 per academic year. The recipient will be majoring in Marketing and have a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 2.5 and have at least 30 hours of coursework remaining for graduation. Preference is given to students who graduated high school from a Faulkner County high school. This scholarship is housed in the UCA Foundation and will begin being awarded in the Fall 2018 semester.

Auto-Owners Insurance, headquartered in Lansing, Michigan, recently made a gift to the UCA College of Business Insurance and Risk Management program. Their gift of $15,000 will go to support the Dr. John Bratton Endowed Professorship, departmental needs and a departmental scholarship. Auto-Owners Insurance has a local office in Little Rock that has hired interns and graduates of the Insurance and Risk Management program. Auto-Owners Insurance is a mutual insurance company that offers auto, home, business and life insurance to policyholders exclusively through independent agents.

Announcing the winners of the College of Business Research and Project Presentation Day

There were 30 research and projects on display and 44 student participants. A team of 10 judges, faculty from the College of Business, evaluated and scored projects for clarity, strategy, quality, resolution, and presentation excellence.

Jennifer Westpfahl

UCA Day of Giving on March 8 resulted in a historical outcome for the university as a whole, raising $434,526 for dozens of departments and initiatives across campus, but it was also an important day for the College of Business. On this day, the Jennifer J. Westpfahl Women in Finance Scholarship was established as the very first scholarship with the goal to support women pursuing a career in the finance industry was established.

UCA Alum Jennifer Westpfahl ’99 established the scholarship to advocate on the behalf of female finance students. “I want this to be a gift that inspires others to give back but also makes an immediate impact on students,” Westpfahl stated.

Upon completing her finance degree at the UCA College of Business, Westpfahl embarked on a path to achieving her dream of working on Wall Street.

“There were not many opportunities for women to work in the financial services industry when I began my career. That has changed considerably, but there is still work to be done,” said Westpfahl.

Westpfahl did achieve her dream of working on Wall Street as she was recently promoted to Executive Director, Head of Field Services at Morgan Stanley. This came after her role as Head of FAA Talent Management where she was responsible for recruiting and developing the next generation of advisors in the financial services industry. In that role, she encouraged those who have not traditionally considered a career in finance in the past, specifically females, to do so.

“I want to bring to the forefront the importance of chasing your dreams and hard work. I hope this provides young women who want to work in the financial industry the opportunity to continue their coursework and pursue their dreams,” said Westpfahl. “Additionally, I am aiming to inspire other alumni to give back and support the College of Business and its students. UCA made a significant impact on my life, both personally and professionally, and I am grateful to have the capability to give back now. I challenge other UCA alumni to think about doing the same thing.”

The Jennifer J. Westpfahl Women in Finance Scholarship will be available for awarding beginning in Fall 2019. The scholarship will be awarded to students who are female and have a declared major of finance in the College of Business. The recipient shall be at least in junior-level standing and have a 3.0 cumulative GPA. The scholarship will be housed with the UCA Foundation, Inc.

Students on tour at US Bank

Last month, students studying economics, finance, accounting, and banking took a trip to the US Bank location in North Little Rock. On a tour guided by Arkansas and Missouri Region President for US Bank and UCA alum, Mike Richardson, students were exposed to all sides of banking including commercial lending, underwriting, and retail. Students met directors and managers of local US Bank locations and were able to ask questions and get an up-close look at all of the different career paths that are available in the field of banking.

Emily Ketchum (l) and Ciara Devine (r)

This past weekend, Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) students competed against college/university students state-wide in business-related events at the PBL Spring Leadership Conference.  They took their competitions very seriously this year and did very well! Several of them will be eligible to compete at the PBL National Leadership Conference this summer.

Russell Holley:  1^st place – Impromptu Speaking and 1^st place – Public Speaking
Jordan Rivera:   1st place – Management Concepts
Emily Ketchum:  2^nd place – Job Interview and 2nd place – Client Service
Logan Walsh:      2^nd place – Computer Applications
Tyler Gum:          2^nd place – Contemporary Sports Issues and 3^rd place – Sports Management & Marketing
Abbie Weaver:     3^rd place – Marketing Concepts
Kennedy Neely & Megan Tustison (Team Event):  3^rd place – Business Ethics
Chloe Nelson:         5^th place – Entrepreneurship Concepts
Derek Johnson:      5^th place – Personal Finance
Ciara Devine — 2nd place in Retail Management and 4th place in Sports Management Marketing

The Business & Information Technology (BIT) Club is having its last meeting of the school year on Tuesday, April 10th.  The event, which will be held in the College of Business Auditorium (Rooms 107/208) during X-period (1:40 – 2:30 p.m.), is open to all majors on campus.  Tucker Adams, an Agile Business Analyst on an Application Development team for Dillard’s Inc., will be the featured speaker.  He served in the United States Marine Corps from 2008-2012 achieving the rank of Sergeant before pursuing an MBA in Information Management from UCA.  His bachelor’s degree is from the COB as well. Tucker has demonstrated experience in Retail, Technology, and Manufacturing industries, working in a variety of functions such as Accounting, Operations, Sales, and Information Technology.  We will also conduct Officer Elections for next year, as well as discuss our upcoming field trip to the Dillard’s Data Center and Headquarters in Little Rock on Thursday, April 12th.  Refreshments will be served (PIZZA!) and door prizes will be awarded.  All students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend.

The 2018 Day of Giving was a day of goals being reached and records being broken. The $50,000 institution-wide goal was achieved with over $434,000, a Day of Giving record, being raised last Thursday, March 8th. Of that amount, over $100,000 was given to College of Business funds, with three new scholarships being established.

Jennifer Westpfahl made a gift to establish the Women in Finance Scholarship fund. This scholarship will go to women who are majoring in Finance and want to pursue a career in the financial industry. This is the first scholarship established to support women who are pursuing a career in this field.

Drew and Lauren Gainor made a gift to establish the Drew Marshall Gainor Scholarship fund. This fund is in honor and remembrance of Drew Marshall Gainor and will be awarded to minority Hispanic students who are studying Economics, Finance, Insurance & Risk Management, or Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

Bruce Oakley Inc. made a gift to establish the Bruce Oakley Excellence in Logistics Scholarship fund. This scholarship will go students who are studying Logistics and Supply Chain Management.

To learn more about giving and involvement opportunities in the College of Business please contact Director of Development for the UCA College of Business JD Gray at jdgray@uca.edu or 501-580-4045.

The Business & Information Technology (BIT) Club is having its third meeting on Tuesday, March 13th.  It will be co-hosted by Phi Beta Lambda.  The event, which will be held in the College of Business (Room 118) during X-period (1:40 – 2:30 p.m.), is open to all majors on campus.  Ben Youngblood and Brent Saunders, Network Engineers for Edafio Technology Partners, will be the featured speakers.  Ben and Brent are both recent graduates of UCA and we are delighted to welcome them back to campus.  Refreshments will be served and door prizes will be awarded.  All students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend.