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Centennial Bank Gives $25,000 to UCA College of Business Enhancement Fund, Names Student Commons Area

Centennial Bank has given $25,000 to the University of Central Arkansas College of Business’ Enhancement Fund.

The enhancement fund supports student programming, enhanced learning opportunities, as well as professional development opportunities for students, faculty, and staff in the College of Business. As part of the gift, Centennial Bank has also named the Student Commons area on the second floor of the College of Business building as the Centennial Bank Student Commons.

“Centennial Bank is one of our college’s most involved partners and supporters,” said Michael Hargis, dean of the UCA College of Business. “Their consistent support and partnership enables our college to provide important learning opportunities for our faculty, staff and students.”

More than 40 UCA alumni and current students are employed by Centennial Bank, making it one of the university’s largest corporate partners.

The bank is the wholly owned subsidiary of Home BancShares, co-founded by Johnny Allison and Robert H. “Bunny” Adcock, member of the University of Central Arkansas Board of Trustees. It has locations in Arkansas, Florida, Alabama and New York.

In 2019, Centennial Bank became the first bank to establish an endowed scholarship in the college.

In 2006, the bank established the Johnny Allison Entrepreneurship Speaker Series, which has brought more than 20 speakers to the college to talk with students. Past speakers include Bunny Adcock, Marshall Stewart, Karen Garrett, Rush Harding, Rick Massey, Steve Strange, and former Govs. Mike Beebe and Mike Huckabee.

Additionally, the bank created the John. W. Allison Entrepreneur Endowed Professorship Fund which supports faculty within the Innovation & Entrepreneurship program. The program began in 2012 with a cohort of 40 students which has nearly doubled since.

The UCA College of Business has more than 1,600 undergraduate and graduate students. It offers 14 baccalaureate degrees, two master’s and one graduate certificate and one technical certificate across four academic departments and houses the state’s only insurance and risk management program. The UCA College of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). Visit uca.edu/business for more.

Posted in: COB News on October 19, 2020 Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

UCA Center for Insurance & Risk Management Director Cindi Burleson Featured on Arkansas Shrimp Tank Podcast

Center for Insurance & Risk Management Director Cindi Burleson was on a recent episode of the Arkansas Shrimp Tank Podcast.

Burleson spoke with co-hosts Matt Haas and David Sims about the development and growth of the program — the only of its kind in Arkansas — and how 2020 has changed the way we view risk management.

Burleson is a lecturer in the Department of Economics, Finance, and Insurance & Risk Management. Listen to the full episode here and catch a video recap above.

Posted in: COB News on October 16, 2020 Tagged: , , , ,

UCA College of Business Professors Present Arguments on Arkansas Issue 1

Issue 1 on Arkansas ballots this November considers an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution that would continue a 0.5% sales tax for highways, roads and bridges.

UCA College of Business professors Jeremy Horpedahl, Ph.D., assistant professor of economics, and Doug Voss, Ph.D., professor of logistics and supply chain management, recently presented both sides of the argument in op-eds published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

To read the argument in favor of Issue 1, presented by Voss, click here. For the argument against Issue 1, presented by Horpedahl, click here. The views expressed in the op-eds are the authors’ own and not an official position of UCA or the College of Business.

Posted in: COB News on October 14, 2020 Tagged: , , , ,

UCA MBA Named One of Most Affordable Online Programs

The University of Central Arkansas Master of Business Administration program was named among the most affordable online programs in the country by Best Value Schools.

UCA was the highest-rated Arkansas school named to the list and the second-highest Southland Conference school.

“Enrolling in the online MBA program at the University of Central Arkansas is more than just enrolling in an academic program, it is opening the doors to new opportunities,” reads the review of UCA by Best Value Schools. “Students collaborate and with faculty to learn the intricacies of decision making and risk-taking. Students learn how to meet challenges from within the classroom, or in this case the online course and in their personal lives. Students learn from faculty who are experts in their field and dedicated to each student’s success. Students can attend anytime, day or evening and enroll in courses in the fall, spring, or summer terms.”

The UCA MBA program offers four concentrations — Finance, Health Care Administration, Information Management and International Business — to meet a wide variety of needs for our students. Those who do not wish to select a concentration may earn a general MBA. The program also allows students to complete a 12-hour Graduate Certificate in Data Analytics while enrolled in the MBA program.

Learn more about the UCA MBA here.

Posted in: COB News on October 13, 2020 Tagged: , , , , ,

Three Alumni Make 20 In Their 20s List

Three UCA College of Business alumni were recently named to Arkansas Business’ 20 In Their 20s List. Corey Parks (BBA ’16, MBA ’18), Christopher Diaz (BBA ’14), and William Jones (BBA ’12).

Each year, the list recognizes young, talented leaders in Arkansas’ business and nonprofit community.

Parks earned his bachelor’s in Insurance & Risk Management in 2016, and his master’s in Business Administration in 2018. He serves as vice president of economic development for the Conway Chamber of Commerce & Conway Development Corp.

CLICK HERE: Corey Parks Profile

Christopher Diaz earned his bachelor’s in Business Administration with an emphasis in Innovation & Entrepreneurship in 2014. He serves as a commercial loan officer at First Security Bank in Benton.

William Jones earned his bachelor’s in Finance in 2012. He is vice president of operations at Sissy’s Log Cabin in Pine Bluff.

Posted in: COB News on October 2, 2020 Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

College of Business Gets $100k Gift from Acxiom

Acxiom Gives $120,000 to UCA

Acxiom’s most recent gift to the College of Business and College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics pushes the company’s total support provided to UCA past $1 million.

The University of Central Arkansas College of Business has received a $100,000 gift from Acxiom to support several initiatives.

The gift is part of a larger $120,000 gift from Acxiom to UCA to support the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and College of Business. The gift takes Acxiom’s support of UCA to $1.1 million across a 30-year partnership.

In the College of Business, Acxiom’s gift will support the Acxiom IT Careers Camp, a yearly, two-day camp held on UCA’s campus for high school students interested in careers in information technology. The camp began in 2007 and has welcomed more than 400 students to UCA.

The gift will also support the Acxiom Scholarship, open to qualifying juniors and seniors majoring in Management Information Systems, and the Acxiom Information Systems Student Award, given each year to the top Information Systems major.

“Acxiom has played a vital role to our college, especially in our Department of Management Information Systems, where IT and analytics education is the primary focus,” said UCA College of Business Dean Michael Hargis. “Acxiom has provided more internships for MIS and other business students than any other company, more full-time positions for our MIS graduates than any other company, and has been crucial to curriculum enhancements we have made to keep our courses relevant and current.”

“Central Arkansas is home for Acxiom, and we’re delighted to continue to support our community,” said Acxiom’s Chief Customer Officer Drew May, who also serves on the UCA College of Business Advisory Board. “Investment in education and in future talent is so important, both in good and in challenging times, as it ultimately benefits everyone.”

For more information on the impact Acxiom’s gift will have on the entire UCA campus, click here.

Posted in: COB News on September 24, 2020 Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

UCA College of Business Hires 2 Accounting Faculty

The University of Central Arkansas College of Business has hired two faculty members in its Department of Accounting.

Mengyu Ma, Ph.D., and Qifeng Wu, Ph.D., were both hired as assistant professors of accounting.

Ma was an instructor of accounting at Florida International University. Her research interests include financial reporting quality, information environment, equity markets, debt contracting and financial analysts. She earned a bachelor’s and master’s in accounting from the Max M. Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University and a doctorate in business administration from Florida International University.

Wu was previously an assistant instructor at the University of Texas at El Paso. He conducts research on financial reporting quality, corporate governance and auditing. He earned a bachelor’s in computer information systems from Idaho State University, his master’s in accounting from the University of Idaho and a doctorate in accounting from the University of Texas at El Paso.

The UCA College of Business has more than 1,600 undergraduate and graduate students. It offers 14 baccalaureate degrees, two master’s, one graduate certificate and one technical certificate across four academic departments and houses the state’s only insurance and risk management program. The UCA College of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

Posted in: COB News on September 2, 2020 Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Putting the GDP Numbers in Context: What You Need to Know

By Jeremy Horpedahl, Ph.D.

Jeremy Horpedahl, Ph.D.

We all know that we are going through one of the worst economic downturns in US history. But how bad exactly is the downturn? The recently released Gross Domestic Product data for the second quarter of 2020 paint a very grim picture, with the headline number suggesting that the economy contracted by -32.9%.

GDP is a measure of all economic activity that takes place in a quarter or a year. Was there really one-third less activity in the second quarter compared with the first quarter? No there was not. The actual number is about a 7% decline. I’ll explain more how I came up with that number, but let me stress this is still a very bad number. It’s the worst we have on record, possibly the worst in US history, probably even worse than any one quarter of the Great Depression (if we had directly comparable data). Still, a number like -32.9% is not a very helpful number in the current context.

Interpreting economic data is challenging during the current economic crisis. My intent is not to downplay the harm, but to give it proper context. For example, I have previously written that the unemployment rate understates how much pain there is in the labor market right now. In contrast, the recently released GDP data overstate the economic pain.

Read more at Texas CEO Magazine.

Horpedahl also recently appeared on The Cato Institute’s Daily Podcast to give a quick rundown of the numbers. Listen here or anywhere you get podcasts.

Posted in: COB News on July 30, 2020 Tagged: , , , , , , ,

E-Payment Use and Perceptions in Japan

Japan is one of the world’s most advanced and largest economies, yet lags behind in its use of e-payment and e-commerce.

In 2018, the Bank of Japan found only 18% of its citizens used e-payment systems. A recent study by three UCA College of Business professors and two students found that age and gender play a significant role in e-payment usage in Japan. The results, recently published in the Global Journal of Business Disciplines, showed males were more likely to use e-payment systems, as well as older residents.

Previous research has found several factors played a role in Japan’s slow adoption of e-payment, including the fact many local retailers and stores do not use or accept e-payment systems. Only 17% of Japan retail sales are made up by e-payment systems, compared to 85% in South Korea, 56% in Singapore and 35% in India.

The postponed 2020 Olympic Games, to be held in Tokyo, provide a new incentive for a faster adoption as millions will visit the country next summer and expect to be able to use e-payments to purchase goods and services. In 2017, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government estimated the games would create nearly $284 billion in economic benefits.

Three UCA College of Business professors — Alex Chen, Ph.D., professor of management; Steve Zeltmann, Ph.D., professor of management information systems; and Ken Griffin, Ph.D., former associate dean of the College of Business — and two students — Moe Ota and Risa Ozeki — examined perceptions of benefits, trust, security, ease of use, quality and competency and how they impact the use of e-payment systems in Japan.

When asked how frequently they use e-payment, 21.6% of respondents said they did not. Less than 15% used it more than 3 times a week and the average weekly use was 1.5. Incentives were shown to be most closely associated with increased e-payment use.

“One of our major findings is the relationship between gender and e-payment behavior,” Chen said. “Men were more likely to use e-payment systems than women in Japan.”

The study found older people were more likely to use e-payment than younger people.

“It is reasonable to assume older people in this group are more likely to have a full-time job and, perhaps, a higher income,” Chen said. “Since they probably spend more money and have more money to manage, e-payment is a good platform for them to use.”

Chen said the upcoming Olympics would serve as the most important marketing tool and expects to see Japanese consumers will use e-payment systems more often in its aftermath.

“People from all over the world are expected in Japan and those people will expect the availability of e-payment,” he said. “The Japanese government and banking system understand this, and e-payment systems will be promoted as necessary to attract this business to Japanese vendors.”

Posted in: COB News on July 29, 2020 Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Insurance & Risk Manager Director Featured on Insurance Town Podcast

Cynthia Burleson, director of the Center for Insurance & Risk Management in the UCA College of Business, was featured in June on an episode of the Insurance Town podcast.

Cindi Burleson, director of the Center for Insurance & Risk Management

The podcasts talks to personalities and leaders in the Arkansas insurance and risk management industry and is hosted by Heath Shearon. The duo discusses Burleson’s journey from the industry to the classroom, UCA’s involvement in insurance programs and events, the Arkansas Insurance Hall of Fame — housed in the UCA College of Business — and the insurance program’s noteworthy internship program.

The College of Business’ four-year insurance and risk management degree is the only of its kind in the state. The program was designated as a Global Center of Insurance Excellence last year.

Listen to the podcast here.

Posted in: COB News on July 27, 2020 Tagged: , , , , , ,