montana state universitycollege of business

2008 a n n u a l r e p o r t

Faculty and Programs

Community Involvement

Alumni and Friends

Honor Roll of Donors

Outstanding Students

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Dan Moshavi · Ph.D., Interim DeanBruce Raymond · Ph.D., Associate Dean

Susan Dana · J.D., Associate Dean & Director of the Bracken CenterChris Lamb · Ed.D., Assistant Dean

Jackie Sather · Director of DevelopmentAudrey Lee · Director of Communications & Public RelationsLinda Ward · Assistant to the Director of the Bracken Center

412 R e i d H a l l · P.O. B Ox 173040B O z e m a n, m T 59717-3040

w w w.m O n Ta n a.e d u/c O B

We would like to thank the College of Business faculty and staff, as well as the MSU Office of Communications and Public Affairs, without whom this report would not be possible.

Design for this Annual Report by Creative Services, Montana State University Publications and Graphics.

Editorial assistance provided by Rilla Esbjornson of the College of Business.

2008 n aT i O n a l B Oa R d O f a dv i s O R s

Shavon Cape · JWT

Susan J. Carstensen · RightNow Technologies

Bridget Cavanaugh · O’Berry Cavanaugh

Bob Culliton · Microsoft

Jim Edwards · Mountain West Benefit Solutions

Todd Eliason · Rock Creek Associates

Andrew Field · PrintingForLess.com, Inc.

Alan Fuhrman · Naviscan

David Hill · KPMG, LLP

Karen L. R. Howard · Enchantment Land CDC

Alan Kahn · Entrepreneur

Teresa J. Krohn · Retired from Sterling Savings Bank

Daniel Larson · Renaissance Marine Group, Inc.

Donald C. Larson · Boeing

Andrew S. Martzloff · Bitterroot Capital Advisors

Paul Matteucci · US Venture Partners

Michael Monaghan · UBS Financial

John Murdoch · Murdoch’s Ranch & Home Supply

John O’Donnell · Tech Ranch

James C. Taylor, Jr. · Bostwick Properties, Inc.

Janice K. Whetstone · Janice K. Whetstone, P.C.

T H e P R i n T i n g O f T H i s a n n ua l R e P O RT i s f u n d e d i n Pa RT B y a g R a n T f RO m d.a. d av i d s O n & c O.

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Table of Contents

OUR

GREATEST INVESTMENTS

Montana offi ces in: Great Falls, Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Dillon, Hamilton, Havre, Helena, Kalispell, Livingston, Missoula and Whitefi sh. Also in Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

dadavidson.com

4 Dean’s Letter 5 College of Business 2008 Event Highlights 6 AACSB Accreditation Reaffirmed 6 College of Business Dean Steps Down, Returns to Faculty 7 New Executive Education from the Management Institute Executive Education Series

Outstanding students 10 New Beta Gamma Sigma Members Inducted 11 Torleif Aasheim Community Involvement Award 12 Annual Awards for Excellence Banquet 12 Women Student Achievement Awards 13 Day of Student Recognition 14 College of Business Awards Scholarships 15 Hooding Ceremony a Memorable Event 16 CoB Students Spend Spring Break Volunteering

Faculty & PrOgrams 18 Letter from Susan Dana 19 Alzheimer Recognized for Work 22 Business Professor Wins $100,000 NSF Grant 23 2008 Commencement Awards 24 Munro Honored as MSCPA’s Outstanding Accounting Educator 25 CoB Recruiting Fairs Have Record Attendance 26 Women’s Circle of Excellence Event 27 Faculty Updates 30 Write on Target

cOmmunity invOlvement 34 David B. Orser Speakers Forum 36 Students Help Hawaiian Ranch Become More Sustainable 38 Enhancing the Entrepreneurial Spirit Through Education 39 Family Business Program On the Road Seminars 40 Unique Hands-on Experiential Education Courses 42 Guest Speakers Share Their Expertise 43 Five Family Businesses Recognized for Achievements 44 7th Annual CoB Classic Open Benefit Golf Tournament 45 Montana Board of Investments Shares Expertise

alumni & Friends 48 Teaching in Tanzania 50 MSU Grads Hatch Online Fishing Reporting Business 51 Gil Crain Accounting Student Scholarship Established 51 We Can Start a Strong Future Today 52 Who is Clancy Powell? 54 Recent Graduates

HOnOr rOll OF dOnOrs 57 Honor Roll

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a fter eight years as a faculty member in the MSU College of Business (CoB), it is my pleasure to now serve as the interim dean of

the college. I am honored to have the opportunity to help guide the college in its continuous pursuit of excellence.

As you read this annual report, you will notice that the entire CoB community – faculty, students and alumni – is responsible for our many successes. During this past year, the college has been reaccredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), launched the Management Institute, brought the Montana Board of Investments meeting to campus, and hosted numerous highly-accomplished professional speakers. In addition, members of our faculty have won prestigious national awards, our recent graduates have launched new ventures and our alumni have helped us product-improve newer initiatives, including our Women’s Circle of Excellence program.

In the following pages, you will learn that the CoB is one of only 15% of business schools worldwide to be accredited by the AACSB. You will also discover that the College now offers executive education for entrepreneurs, businesses and organizations in Montana and the Rocky Mountain West through the newly created Management Institute.

As you peruse the latest faculty news, you’ll have an even greater appreciation for why our faculty is special. Management professor Laura Black’s cutting edge research on virtual teams has earned

her a prestigious grant from the National Science Foundation. Finance instructor Tim Alzheimer received the International Institute for Business Simulations “Award of Excellence” for his outreach to high school students. Management professor Myleen Leary and a team of CoB students are helping lead the charge toward a more “interdisciplinary” CoB by working with a team from the School of Architecture to create a sustainable development plan for a large ranch in Hawaii.

The annual report gives us the chance to reflect on the past, but also look to the future. Given challenging economic conditions (as I write this, unemployment has risen to some of the highest levels in years), it’s more important than ever that we provide our students with the skills necessary to obtain and succeed in professional jobs. Although we have done an outstanding job over the years providing our students with a strong business knowledge foundation, we recognize that we need to put more emphasis on developing their “professional” skills, including interpersonal communication, writing, critical thinking and ethical decision-making. To this end, we have begun a formal assessment of learning process in the college to measure a variety of student competencies, have instituted a student PRIDE (Performance, Respect, Integrity, Diligence and Engagement) code, and are actively exploring other ways of enhancing the student experience.

This year, for both strategic and financial reasons, we’ve created an on-line interactive version of this annual report. While some of you are receiving this

report in “hard copy” form, many of you are being sent this report via an electronic web link (available at www.montana.edu/cob). We believe that this distribution strategy enables us to keep you updated on College of Business activities and manage our financial resources wisely.

Stay tuned as we continue to innovate.

Dan MoshaviInterim Dean

Letter from the Dean

“it’s more important than ever that we provide our students with the skills necessary

to obtain and succeed in professional jobs.”

Dan Moshavi

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College of Business 2008 Event Highlights:

Family Business Program On the Road goes to Helena for Business Days at the Capitol.

Awards for Excellence: CoB Students and faculty honored.

Students of Achievement Awards: Six CoB female students honored.

Family Business Program On the Road goes to Butte.

More than 150 scholarships were awarded to CoB students at the Annual Scholarship Banquet and throughout the year, totaling over $200,000.

The annual Entrepreneur Day attracted students and entrepreneurs from across the state.

Spring David B. Orser Speakers Forum: Delmar Jones, CoB alumni and entrepreneur.

Inaugural Management Institute Executive Education Series seminar: Finance and Accounting for Managerial Decision Making.

Premier Women’s Circle of Excellence Conference: Links of a Lifetime.

New Beta Gamma Sigma members inducted.

CoB students recognized during Day of Student Recognition.

Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAc) Hooding Ceremony held at the Museum of the Rockies.

MSU’s 112th Commencement.

Rich Semenik returns to faculty and Dan Moshavi is named interim dean.

Freshman Convocation with Stephen Covey.

7th Annual CoB Classic Open Benefit Golf Tournament took place at the Riverside Country Club.

2nd Management Institute Executive Education Series seminar: Managing Change at Work: A Practical Guide to Removing Barriers and Creating Buy-In.

Family Business Day: Five Montana family businesses recognized for achievements. Meet the Recruiters and Meet the Accounting Recruiters Fairs have record attendance.

Family Business Program On the Road goes to Missoula.

David Olsen, Starbucks executive visits the CoB.

Montana Board of Investments senior staff members participate in panel discussion.

Fall David B. Orser Speakers Forum: Lyle Knight addresses credit crisis.

AACSB Accreditation Reaffirmed

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) has granted the Montana State University (MSU) College of Business (CoB) full, unconditional reaffirmation of its accreditation. AACSB, an international organization dedicated to the evaluation of collegiate programs in business, has been providing accreditation services since 1916. Only 555 programs in business worldwide have achieved AACSB accreditation.

To achieve accreditation, business programs must satisfy the expectations of a wide range of quality standards related to strategic management of resources, interactions of faculty and students in the educational process and achievement of learning goals in degree programs. These standards are mission-linked. During the accreditation process, business school deans with detailed management education knowledge visited and evaluated the CoB, applying accreditation standards that are widely accepted in the education and business communities.

“We are honored and extremely pleased to maintain this prestigious and rigorous accreditation by AACSB, particularly since it was reaffirmed unconditionally,” said Rich Semenik, former CoB Dean.

Interim Dean Moshavi was equally delighted. “We are particularly pleased that the AACSB visit team commended us for having a ‘crisply defined mission…that emphasizes high quality undergraduate education.’”

Only the finest programs in the country achieve and maintain this accreditation. Employers and students look to AACSB’s accreditation as verification of the quality of a program’s curriculum, faculty and staff. The CoB at MSU has maintained continuous accreditation by AACSB since 1981.

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— Anne Pettinger, MSU News

m ontana State University officials announced last May that Richard Semenik would step down as dean of MSU’s College of Business, effective August 1. He has been replaced by

College of Business associate professor of management Dan Moshavi, who was named interim dean.

Semenik, who was appointed dean in July 2000, decided to leave his position because the timing was right, he said.

“When I came here eight years ago, I thought a lot of things could happen here that were closely aligned with my skill set, and those things have been accomplished,” Semenik said. “It’s a new era. There is a need now for new and different ideas.”

MSU Provost David Dooley praised Semenik’s work and accomplishments.

“One of the great rewards of being provost has been the honor and privilege to work with Rich Semenik. He has provided extraordinary leadership, in every capacity to the College of Business and MSU,” Dooley said. “I will miss him greatly in his role as dean, but that is tempered by the fact that Rich will remain on the faculty, and that Dan Moshavi, who I am very confident will also provide superb leadership, has agreed to serve.”

Semenik said he is particularly proud of several programs that were established at MSU’s College of Business while he was dean, including the Bracken Center for Excellence in Undergraduate Business Education, the Alderson Program in Entrepreneurship and the Center for Entrepreneurship in the New West.

Semenik also highlighted the hiring, over the last eight years, of 15 new faculty members. Those professors reflect the strength of the College of Business, he said, not only because they hold the highest degrees possible in their field from first-rate institutions, but also because they “are completely dedicated to student success and achievement.”

Semenik pointed to student performance as an indication of the strength of the College

College of Business Dean Steps Down, Returns to Faculty

Richard Semenik

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of Business’s programs and the quality of its faculty.

“I am very proud that our faculty and programs are producing students who score in the 90th percentile on business knowledge and skills tests compared to 555 other business programs nationwide,” Semenik said.

Semenik remains on the faculty of the College of Business and teaches marketing courses during the spring semester of each year. He also plans to do consulting work in branding and advertising strategy, which will require some traveling. He plans to continue to live in Livingston.

Moshavi, who has been on the MSU faculty since Aug. 2000, has been the recipient of several prestigious university-wide awards, including the Cox Award in 2007 and the President’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 2006. In 2003 and 2007, College of Business students voted to award Moshavi the Gary Bracken Student Choice Award for Outstanding Performance in Teaching. Moshavi earned a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon and has focused his research on service provider-customer relationships,

with a recent emphasis on physician-patient interactions. He has also been an active organizational consultant for a number of companies and organizations, including Nike and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana.

Moshavi said he is excited about his new role as dean.

“Rich has done an extraordinary job of setting a clear vision for the College and of really helping us achieve excellence, in undergraduate business education in particular,” Moshavi said.

Moshavi plans to build on Semenik’s vision and accomplishments to “enhance

the reputation of the College in the state, regionally and nationally,” he added.

According to Dooley, Moshavi is well-respected by the College of Business faculty.

“Dan was recommended with tremendous enthusiasm by his colleagues in the College of Business,” Dooley said. “They clearly have great confidence in his abilities as a leader and manager, and so do I.”

Moshavi’s appointment is for two years.

Dan Moshavi

t he Montana State University (MSU) Management Institute, developed in 2008 by the College of Business (CoB), held two successful

seminars for local business executives last year. The first seminar, Finance and Accounting for Managerial Decision Making, was held April 10-11, 2008 and led by CoB finance professor Gary Caton and accounting professor Priscilla Wisner. Managing Change at Work: A Practical Guide to Removing Barriers and Creating Buy-In, the second seminar held on September 25, was led by CoB management professor Laura Black and Interim Dean, Dan Moshavi. ”One of the most beneficial things I learned from the September seminar on change was how to prepare for an important meeting,” said Michael

Johns, director of financial reporting and investor relations at RightNow Technologies. “Dan and Laura recommended creating buy-in by talking with key decision makers prior to a meeting to share specific meeting points and discuss the need for their support. I followed these suggestions, as I prepared for a very important meeting, and met with great success. The action items we implemented as a result of this meeting are still working successfully today.” These professional development opportunities give participants real-world insights and a deeper understanding of business principles that can be applied immediately to their ventures. Recognizing that professional learning takes place in both informal and classroom environments, the course format has been

New Executive Education from the Management Institute Executive Education Series

—Lisa Daniels

Continued on page 31

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outstanding Students

48% female (113)52% male (122)

2008 College of Business Profile

Gender Options

This year the CoB student body has taken great strides to help out the

community through volunteer activities, to find top-line professional

speakers like the MT Board of Investments and executives of major

companies, and to take action to help students network with recruiters

through multiple career panels and the Meet the Recruiters events.

— sarah saxby, Finance student

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13% MPAc20% Accounting13% Finance30% Management24% Marketing

MPAc (breakdown) Male 28% (10) Female 72% (26)

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t wenty-seven Montana State University CoB student names were added to the prestigious list of Beta Gama Sigma (BGS) inductees at

the annual initiation luncheon. BGS, an international honor society started in 1913, provides the highest recognition a business student anywhere in the world can receive in an undergraduate or master’s program at a school accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). During the initiation luncheon held on April 8, students were welcomed by BGS President, Matthew Pugh, and encouraged by VP of Membership, Lindsey Pierce, and VP of Programs, Joseph Ottoy, to live by the standards of Beta, meaning honor, Gama, meaning wisdom and Sigma, meaning earnestness. CoB professor of management, Dr. Mike Reilly, was honored with the Beta Gama Sigma Professor of the Year Award. Reilly has been a professor of marketing for the CoB for more than 20 years. He was also one of two visiting professors who taught strategic management at the International Business School at Vilnius University in Lithuania. Reilly received both his Ph.D. and M.B.A from Pennsylvania State University and taught at Pennsylvania State University, his alma mater, and the University of Arizona, before joining the CoB in 1984.

Following the Professor of the Year Award, David K. Palagi (’76), Branch Manager for Smith Barney was recognized as the Chapter Honoree. He talked about the book, Cowboy Ethics by James P. Owen. He stressed that “The Code of the West” is very applicable to life and business. The code consisted of ten items: Live each day with courage; take pride in your work; always finish what you start; do what has to be done; be tough, but fair; when you make a promise, keep it; ride for the brand; talk less and say more; remember that some things aren’t for sale; and know where to draw the line. After his speech, Palagi gave a copy of the book to the CoB. 2008 BGS Inductees Include: MPAc: Heather Budd*, Victoria Hayden and

Elizabeth VanderbySENIORS: Dane Anderson, Jacquelyn Bodfish*,

Rayla Brandewie, Anne Delaney, Mara Hoefer, Shardae Johnson, Brooke Metcalf, Fraiser Opel and Brandon Perkins

JUNIORS: Susan Bolstad, Jaci Cebuhar*, Jolyn Deshler, Whitney Griffin, Leah Kraft, Morgan Legerski, Meghan Lunney*, Brittany Maroney*, Austin Owens, Kile Patrick, Jeffrey Pipkin Morgan Rangel, Joshua Ressig, Stephanie Sanders and Sarah Smith.

* in absentia

New Beta Gamma Sigma Members Inducted

2008 CoB inductees at the initiation luncheon.

c ollege of Business (CoB) accounting major Emily Quinn was honored with one of two

2008 Torleif Aasheim Community Involvement Awards as the female senior at Montana State University who best embodies the spirit of community service. The other honoree was Tory Lodmell, a history major from Malta.

Quinn is very active on campus and in the community. She is a member of the Beta Alpha Psi/Accounting Club, Mortar Board, Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society, Septemviri, the MSU Honors Program, Advocats, National Society of Collegiate Scholars and the MSU Symphony Orchestra, as principal clarinetist. Quinn also spends her time volunteering in the community, participating in events and programs such as Relay for Life, Bowl for Kids’ Sake, Up ’til Dawn fundraisers for St. Jude’s Research Hospital, Red Cross Blood Drives and Habitat for Humanity.

The CoB is credited with many of Quinn’s successes. “The CoB has provided me excellent teachers and mentors that have inspired me to enjoy learning. The high quality education I received at MSU has provided me an invaluable foundation that will enable me to succeed in my chosen career path. In addition, the CoB has provided me valuable networking opportunities, enabling me to feel more comfortable interacting with business professionals. Most importantly, the CoB has provided me job opportunities that would not be as easily accessible elsewhere,” she said.

Quinn worked for Ernst & Young in San Jose, California as a summer intern before returning to Bozeman to complete her degree in the CoB Master of Professional Accountancy Program (MPAc).

CoB Accounting Student Receives Torleif Aasheim Community Involvement Award

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“ the coB has provided me excellent teachers and mentors that have inspired me to enjoy learning.”

Emily Quinn (left) and Tory Lodmell (right)

C0B Students and Faculty Honored at Annual Awards for Excellence Banquet

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t he annual Awards for Excellence banquet, sponsored by the

MSU Alumni Association and the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce, was held on Tuesday, February 19, in the Strand Union Building (SUB) ballrooms. Thirty-nine of Montana State University’s top seniors and their faculty or staff mentors were recognized. Seven students and six faculty from the CoB received an award. Each student was nominated by faculty in their college or department and then chosen by an award selection committee. The student, in turn, selected a mentor who has contributed to their success as a student. The student and mentor were then honored together at the event. All the students must maintain a minimum 3.5 GPA and must be involved in campus leadership and have demonstrated an active role in the community to be nominated for one of these awards. The senior CoB students and mentors who were honored at this year’s banquet were:

· Jacquelyn Bodfish, management, selected gary Bishop, m.a.s., adjunct instructor of management;

· nathan deiBert, accounting, selected dennis schmidt, Ph.d., professor of accounting;

· daniel huffman, management, selected Jerry carvalho, m.B.a., adjunct instructor of management;

· fraiser opel, accounting, selected ilse-mari lee, Ph.d., professor of music;

· emily quinn, accounting, selected mary ann Jacobson, D.M.A., professor of music;

· Karoline teien, management, selected susan dana, J.d., Associate Dean for the College of Business;

· Jessica Burch, graphic design and marketing, selected laura Black, Ph.d., assistant professor of management

· Jessica Gausman, political science, selected carmen mcspadden, adjunct instructor of management

Six from CoB Honored with Women Student Achievement Awards

m ontana State Women’s Center Director, Betsy Danforth, and Alumni Association Director, Jaynee Groseth, collaborated to host the annual Women Student Achievement Awards banquet at the SUB ballroom on Tuesday, March 25. This event featured 11 female student-athletes from various Bobcat

teams including golf, tennis, track and field, skiing, and women’s basketball. Six of these athletes are pursuing degrees or minors through the CoB. The annual ceremony is a partnership between MSU’s Women’s Center and the MSU Alumni Association. This year marked the 16th time the awards were given, but it was the first year that the awards featured a particular group on campus. Head women’s basketball coach Trish Binford was the keynote speaker for the event. Outstanding CoB women seniors honored are listed with their team and academic major:

CoB honorees at the Awards for Excellence banquet.

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t his year marked the 85th anniversary of the Day of Student Recognition ceremony. The focus of this day

is exclusively on MSU students who are outstanding in the areas of leadership, service and scholarship. Superior academic performance also plays a significant role in the Day of Student recognition; however, a strong emphasis is placed on qualities that are integral to being or becoming exemplary leaders within the campus and global community. Since service is a natural extension of true leadership, it is also an important facet of the ceremony.

2008-2009 Mortar Board Members

A national senior honorary with membership based on leadership, service and scholarship.

· Joseph Bogen – (finance)

· Katharine M. Bergsgaard (management)

Alpha Lambda Delta Individual Awards

Awarded to the full-time student having the highest GPA in the sophomore, junior and senior classes based on credits carried at MSU.

· James Trotter – Junior (accounting)

Cole Tierney African American Award

Awarded to an outstanding student leader by MSU alumni Lee Tierney and his parents, Lee and MaryLouise Tierney. This award is named in honor of the grandparents of Lee Tierney.

· Jason Manning – Senior (marketing)

Leadership, Service and Scholarship Showcased at Day of Student Recognition

stephanie simmons (golf ) accounting

erin Goodman (basketball) business marketing

frasier opel (nordic skiing) accounting/university honors

Karoline teien (nordic skiing) business management

nuria hernandez (tennis) business management

teGan molloy (former ASMSU president) Media Theater and Arts/international business minor

Jason Manning (left) and President Gamble

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m ore than 152 scholarships and awards for students majoring in business options at Montana State University College of Business (CoB) were given in the spring for the 2008-2009

academic school year. The scholarships, announced Monday, March 31st at the CoB’s annual scholarship banquet, were provided through endowments and funds set up to specifically grant financial aid to students enrolled in the CoB. About 350 people, including family and friends, were in attendance. Rick Reisig (‘82), director of audit for Hamilton Misfeldt & Company, P.C., was the banquet’s keynote speaker. He delivered an entertaining and lively presentation for those in attendance. Reisig is a major supporter of the CoB and is very active in the community. He has served on the CoB Advisory Council, and presently is a member of the MSU Accounting Advisory Council. He also serves as the Treasurer for the MSU Alumni Board of Directors, and is a non-voting member of the MSU Foundation Board of Directors. He also serves as a committee person on the “Bringing the U to You” lecture series, a Great Falls committee consisting of MSU and UM alumni. If you would like more information about CoB scholarships, please contact Halina Rickman at hrickman@montana.edu or 406-994-4423.

Student Awards

Dean’s Award for Undergraduate ExcellenceAccounting – Mitchell ClarkFinance – Amber BaumgartManagement – Karoline TeienMarketing – Jessica Burch

Alfred L. Day/Wall Street Journal Award for Academic ExcellenceMitchell Clark

Beta Alpha Psi MSU Accounting ScholarshipJoey Chugani

Dean’s Award for Graduate Excellence (MPAc)Erin Ahlgren

Montana Society of CPAs Medallion AwardLynn Spokas

For a complete listing of all scholarship and award winners at the Annual Scholarship Banquet, please go to http://www.montana.edu/cob/Current_Students/scholarships.htm.

Many students received scholarships thanks to our generous supporters.

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Master of Professional Accountancy Hooding Ceremony a Memorable Event

On Friday, May 9, about 200 people gathered at the Museum of the Rockies to celebrate the graduation of the College of Business’ Master

of Professional Accountancy (MPAc) students. Marc Giullian, associate professor of accounting, welcomed family and friends attending the ceremony. Anne Christensen, professor of accounting, gave a brief presentation about the history of the hood and its significance before she and Christie Johnson, associate professor of accounting, proceeded with the hooding of the students. The excitement was apparent on the students’ faces as they received their hoods. After the hooding ceremony, Tina Dykstra, MPAc class speaker, thanked her professors, addressed her fellow peers and talked about the graduating class’ academic journey. She credited the extraordinary accounting faculty with the transformation most of the graduates experienced—a change from young students struggling to make sense of debits and credits, financial statements and journal entries to mature professionals capable of understanding complex accounting theories, tax returns, and passing the CPA exam. Dykstra stated, “Today, I believe that we can all say we have a future and a hope. This new chapter in our lives is a beautiful road stretched out before us. From where we began, to where we are today, we could not have done it without the support of you, our friends and family. We would not be able to walk across this stage today and tomorrow, to wear our hoods without the many teachers who have guided us along the way. From the depths of my heart, I would like to thank each and every person here for taking part in this incredible transformation.” The emotional and touching speech deeply affected the audience as sniffles were heard throughout the auditorium before those attending erupted into thunderous clapping. A slideshow introducing all the newly hooded students was shown after Dykstra’s presentation. Closing remarks were given by Micki Munro, adjunct instructor of accounting. She gave the graduates five pearls of wisdom, four of which she attributed to a great teacher and constant companion, Sophie, her five year old African grey parrot. The pearls were: attitude is everything; look at challenges from all perspectives; quack, quack (teamwork); don’t say anything you don’t want repeated and continue to make a difference. The hooding ceremony was an unforgettable event both for the students, their families and friends in attendance. It marked the closing of one chapter of the students’ lives and the opening of yet another.

Erin Ahlgren receiving hood at the Hooding ceremony from Anne Christensen, professor of accounting.

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ts College of Business Students Spend Spring Break Volunteering

i nstead of travelling south to Cancun or some other tropical vacation destination for spring break, three College of Business (CoB) accounting students chose the opposite direction--Alaska. William Kolski, Larene Newman and Sam Roche, participants in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program,

put in 12-hour days and prepared over 200 tax returns in one week. They volunteered their services for residents in small, remote Alaskan villages, most of which are comprised of a larger than 90 percent native population. When asked why they chose to spend their spring break on this trip, Kolski, Newman and Roche’s answers were fairly similar. They believed that working in an unfamiliar part of the country was a great volunteer opportunity. It was also clear that they would gain valuable additional tax accounting experience. Newman added, “I was interested in learning about the culture in the native villages, which I knew was very different from my cushy life.” The students experienced the necessity of their services when they arrived in the first village on their journey, Quinhagak, with a population of 700. Everyone from the airport employees to the building janitor was excited to see them arrive. Most of the village residents seeking tax assistance traveled far distances to utilize the free service. In each village, long lines quickly formed while people waited for the volunteers’ time. With no accountants available

in many smaller villages, the nearest tax preparation services are a three hour plane ride to Anchorage. Before tax preparation volunteers came to these villages, most of the residents did not file tax returns since many did not make enough money to owe income tax. Now with the volunteers’ expertise, the residents are receiving substantial tax refunds due to the earned income tax credit, so they jump at the opportunity to utilize this service. With so many people depending on Kolski, Newman and Roche’s knowledge of tax return preparation, the three students had received additional training, along with their experience from the MSU VITA program, prior to their trip. Alaskan tax requirements and structure is different than that of Montana, so the students had to familiarize themselves with tax preparation specific to Alaska. They found that the CoB prepared them well for this task. Kolski gives credit to his tax courses and professors for the tax law and research knowledge he possesses, as well as the expertise he gained preparing Montana tax returns through the VITA program. “I also find the knowledge of accounting and management communications to be valuable to the experience. It was good to know how to handle and approach certain situations and to be able to represent ourselves and Montana State University in a professional manner,” he said. Similarly, Newman added, “I used quite a few of my notes from ‘Advanced Tax’ when questions came up while working in the villages. In addition, without the VITA program, I don’t know that I would have felt qualified to prepare returns without direct supervision.”

William Kolski preparing taxes.

“ i was interested in learning about the culture in the native villages, which i knew was very different from my cushy life.”

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“The MSU professors did a great job this semester with the MSU VITA program. Thanks to the experience we got in Bozeman, the three of us were confident and capable of heading to Alaska,” Roche agreed. The three students gained valuable tax accounting experience on the trip. Kolski highlighted the one-on-one experience with a different demographic of taxpayer, as well as working with the Alaskan Business Development Center, Inc. (ABDC), who coordinated the volunteer efforts to assist 85 villages across the state. Roche said the volunteer work placed the students in the midst of a new culture, language, environment and new tax scenarios. “I got the perfect combination of technical knowledge and personal knowledge of self from the experience,” he said. Newman had similar positive experiences. She compared her experiences in Alaska to that of Montana. She said, “I was reminded how lucky I was to live where I did and have easy access to surrounding areas, technology and health care.” Both residents and the students benefitted greatly from this experience. Tax returns were prepared for the residents and the three students had the experience of a lifetime. Programs like VITA, whether for those on the MSU campus or in another state, provide CoB accounting students with the hands-on experience that they need to succeed after graduation.

Sam Roche and Larene Newman preparing taxes in Alaska.

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faculty Programs&

Minors

EBSM · Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management IB · International Business MIT · Management of Information Technology BADM · Business Administration

48% ESBM (46)32% BADM (31) 4% MIT (4)16% IB (15)

2008 College of Business Profile (cont.)

Out-of-State vs. In-State

Out 18% (42)In 82% (193)

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The dedication of our faculty to students, research, MSU and the

community is extraordinary. They are creative, collaborative and

absolutely tireless. It is an honor to work with colleagues like this.

— susan dana, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and the Director of the Bracken Center for Undergraduate Excellence

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We at the College of Business know that this is an extraordinary place where students are challenged and faculty and staff are

excited to contribute to student learning. Every now and then, however, it is nice to hear from others that we are doing a good job. Last February, a team of three deans from other schools of business, after reviewing voluminous information and visiting the College, wrote a report to AACSB-International recommending that the accreditation of the College be extended for another five years. The team was impressed with the College, and overall the visit was a very affirming experience for all of us. The following are some excerpts from the team’s report to AACSB-International:· The College has a crisply defined and appropriate mission that emphasizes high quality undergraduate education. The entire structure of the College, including its policies, programs, centers, and faculty, is coherently focused on fulfilling this mission, which the accreditation team believes is substantially unique for a public institution.

· The College of Business hired well as the faculty was rebuilt to replace a large number of retiring faculty. The newly hired faculty members are deeply committed to the college mission and are revitalizing the research energy in the college. In addition, there is a high level of cohort support within the group, with faculty publishing collaborative projects across fields and actively supporting one another’s professional development. This group of committed faculty members will remain a strategic advantage for the college throughout their careers.

· The College’s process for integrating adjunct faculty, which includes full-time and part-time faculty, is particularly effective at preparing professionally qualified faculty to meet high standards of course delivery and student interaction. This is a significant

strategic strength because it allows the College to maintain high quality delivery while integrating professionally qualified individuals from the local community into the program delivery.

· The entrepreneurship and small business thrust for the College, which includes several complementary programs (the Alderson Program in Entrepreneurship and the Center for Entrepreneurship for the New West), is a particularly effective program delivery that matches the preparation of students with the evolving business community in the Bozeman area. This integration of business education with support programs for the local business community builds strong community support for the school and provides exceptional educational experiences for students.

Although we are proud of the accomplishments highlighted by the review team, as the review team noted, we also “hold a very strong and consistent ethic for continuous improvement.” Thus, we are constantly working on ways to improve students’ experience at the College, including:· Improved advising resources to help both students and faculty access helpful information to assist in curriculum and career planning.

· Exploration of ways to provide students with mentoring by business professionals in the community.

· A workshop for faculty to help integrate critical thinking, ethical decision making and writing more effectively into the curriculum.

Students’ writing skills and critical thinking skills will be a particular area of focus in the future because of their importance to career success. According to a 2004 survey of business leaders by the National Commission on Writing, “[w]riting is almost a universal professional skill required in service industries as well as finance, insurance, and real estate.” Therefore, the vast majority of companies “hold poorly written application materials against a job candidate,” and more than half “take writing skills into account in making promotion decisions for salaried employees.” Moreover, “[c]orporate leaders’ comments equating clear writing with clear thinking were impressive.” Thus, the College will continue to focus on improving our teaching of these essential professional skills in order to enable students to pursue and succeed in their chosen careers. As always, we welcome your input and advice. Please do not hesitate to call or e-mail any time.

– Susan DanaAssociate Dean for Academic Affairs and the Director of the Bracken Center

Susan Dana

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t im Alzheimer, College of Business adjunct assistant professor of finance and former commercial bank officer, was awarded the

2007 “Most Outstanding High School Economics Program” from Business Simulations, Inc. in Pompano Beach, Florida, in April 2008. This award recognizes Alzheimer’s administration of the High School Business Challenge Simulation for the Montana Council for Economic Education. The Business Challenge is an eight-week simulation, where students manage a compact disc video player manufacturing company. Business decisions are made weekly, with each decision representing one quarter in the business lifecycle. Students are required to make decisions in areas such as plant size, amount of production, product price, advertising and human resources. The team with the highest overall stock price is deemed the “winner.” This simulation, used in high schools across Montana as well as other states across the country, is one of several separate business simulation applications created by Business Simulations, Inc. Each year, the company selects one secondary and one post-secondary teacher and program that they believe has developed the most outstanding business and economics program by using their software, for the award. This award is a great honor and former Dean Richard Semenik commends the efforts of Alzheimer and the high school teachers he works with. “Under the leadership of College of Business faculty member Tim Alzheimer, the High School Business Challenge has proven to be one of the most successful and impactful developmental economic education programs in the state,” said Semenik. “Literally thousands of high school students

Alzheimer Recognized for Work with High School Business Programs

“ this is why i teach, and am so passionate about what i do.”

have been able to participate in a sophisticated, hands-on learning experience that would otherwise not be available to them.”

Montana’s Business Challenge program is sponsored by the Montana Chamber Foundation. The Montana Council on Economic Education administers the program. Alzheimer plays an integral role in this program, providing all teacher training and simulation demonstrations across the state. In addition, Alzheimer personally analyzes all student team simulation decisions. The Business Challenge began in eight schools around the state in the spring of 2000, with approximately 186 student participants. The program has expanded exponentially, with more than 60 junior high and high schools and nearly 1,600 students now participating in the program.

When asked what this award means to him, Alzheimer says that it shows students and teachers are embracing his efforts in the field of economic

education, as evidenced by the increasing number of participants in the program. “Our country is now, and will continue to face many serious economic issues.

In ten years, today’s students will be an integral part of our economy. I would rather they be a part of the solution, rather than a part of the problem,” Alzheimer states. Alzheimer finds that having students learn basic economic fundamentals is very rewarding in itself. He quotes Jon Huntsman, Jr. saying, “Economic prosperity and quality of education for our children are inexorably linked.” Alzheimer goes on to says, “This is why I teach, and am so passionate about what I do.”

Tim Alzheimer

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a Montana State University professor and a team of researchers have won a $100,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to expand

their study of virtual organizations. Laura Black, a management professor in MSU’s College of Business, said the grant will allow her and the people with whom she is working to study how virtual organizations—or businesses and organizations made up of people who are not physically in the same place— can be more effective. The team’s research has been focused on what Black says are communication breakdowns among people trying to do innovative work. They hope their research will shed light on why it is hard for virtually organized workers to stay on the same page, as well as provide steps people can take to overcome some of the challenges. For example, some companies have workers scattered throughout different states and time zones, which can create communication issues. While

computer networking and teleconferencing technology has allowed people to work together while located in different places, challenges still arise when people with different expertise try to identify cross-organizational dependencies in their work, Black said. “Because innovation involves doing something that hasn’t been done before, it is often hard to integrate everyone’s knowledge,” Black said.

“Sometimes people don’t even know when a miscommunication has occurred until work has progressed for some time, making it harder to correct the work and recover the schedule.” Often collaboration on new innovations brings together companies and organizations that have different perspectives and resources. Black said these

efforts are characterized by an absence of both shared governance and shared understanding of the work to be done. “To make matters more challenging, there is no unifying organizational culture to surface and resolve problems,” Black said. Black’s team thinks there are ways to make virtual organizations work more smoothly. They have discovered, for example, that collaborating as early as possible often produces better outcomes. “People usually believe the better the first draft the better the final product will be,” Black said. “But it’s actually better to share a weak document or sketch and interact more times over it, even if it’s ‘ugly.’” The team uses qualitative data from interviews and observations, as well as computer model simulations, which can illuminate useful information that could otherwise be lost, Black said. “When we run scenarios (with computer models), we check the internal consistency and the variety of possible outcomes we think can play out,” Black said. “Sometimes there are holes in our understanding, and sometimes we find a point of leverage we didn’t get from other analysis.”

Business Professor Wins $100,000 NSF Grant with Research Team

—Anne Pettinger, MSU News Service

the team’s research has been focused on what Black says are communication breakdowns among people trying to do innovative work.

22Laura Black

Along with Black, members of the grant team include Black’s husband, Don Greer, who is an individual research associate hired by MSU to work on the grant; Paul Carlile, a management professor and expert on qualitative research methods and sociological theories from Boston University; David Andersen, a professor of public administration and simulation expert from the University of Albany; and Richard Adams, who works at the Aerospace Corporation, a federally funded research development center. The team is studying data collected between 2005-2007. The team hopes the findings could have a positive impact on a variety of organizations, Black said. For instance, it could help organizations working on military programs prevent what are known as Nunn-McCurdy breaches, which occur when the cost of a major defense development program grows 25 percent more than was originally projected.

Beyond that, the research could be useful to organizations and businesses worldwide, Black said. “It could help anyone who is trying to do something that hasn’t been done before, with people who are not co-located and do not share a common organizational culture,” Black said. “We think this is relevant far beyond the industry in which we collected the data. For example, we think it has practical applications for international aid organizations.” Dan Moshavi, dean of the MSU College of Business, agreed the research is important. “Laura’s work will help organizations—especially those that are comprised of virtual networks of collaborators—avoid communication breakdowns, improve collaboration and enhance innovation,” Moshavi said. “I’m excited about the work itself,” Black said. “The fact the National Science Foundation thinks it might be worth more study is terrific reinforcement.”

2008 Commencement Awardsharold and reta haynes faculty fellow

award – F. William Brown

Joe & sharlene loendorf excellence in teachinG award – Marc Giullian

scott and BarBara hecK faculty scholar award – Bonita Peterson Kramer

thomas nopper excellence in teachinG award – Omar Shehryar

dean’s award for outstandinG performance in research – Scott Bryant

dean’s award for outstandinG performance in service – Laura Black

dean’s award for outstandinG performance in teachinG – Dan Moshavi

Gary K. BracKen student’s choice for excellence in teachinG award – Gary Bishop

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Laura Black

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during the 95th Montana Society of CPAs (MSCPA) annual meeting awards banquet in Kalispell, Micki Munro, was awarded the

MSCPA’s Jack J. Kempner Outstanding Educator Award. She joined Bonita Peterson (2003) and Christie Johnson (2001) as Montana State University (MSU) College of Business (CoB) accounting instructors who have won this award. While Munro pursued her Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAc) degree, she first taught at the CoB as a graduate teaching assistant. After graduation, Munro worked in public accounting for Galusha, Higgins, and Galusha for two years and then was CFO for Yellowstone Harley Davidson in Belgrade before returning as an adjunct instructor of accounting in 2004. Her fellow professors and instructors recall that during an Advisory Board meeting, it was announced that Munro had received the highest student evaluations that semester, out of all the tenured, tenure-track, and adjunct faculty, which is a testament to her commitment to excellence. In her years of teaching for the CoB, Munro has served as the coordinator for BUS 221, Principles of Accounting, which required her to prepare the syllabi, all common exams and train new instructors. She

was the sole instructor of ACCT 223, Principles of Accounting II, a course for those students wishing to earn a degree in accounting. Her students consistently comment on her ability to make accounting interesting while maintaining rigor in her courses and not compromising on grading standards. As a result, many of her students hold great respect and admiration for her. “Micki is dedicated to teaching excellence…and is an excellent teacher. She knows and conveys her topic material, and, more importantly, she is very humble and goes beyond her duty to help you succeed,” recalls Tammy Stewart, a former student. Kile Patrick, another former student, had this to say about Munro: “I truly loved her spirit and enthusiasm for accounting and for her students. If she had made this big of an impact on my college career, I know she has positively impacted other students as well. She is a great person, a great teacher, and a great mentor.” This dedication towards excellence in teaching was further supported when Munro received the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Performance in Teaching this last spring. The award was voted on by the CoB faculty. Besides her dedication towards teaching, Munro has been very active in the CoB accounting program. She served on the Ernst & Young Excellence in Accounting Fund Committee, the Facilities Renovation Committee and was also an active member of the Accounting Advisory Board. In 2006, Munro was chosen to be the keynote speaker for the annual scholarship banquet and then for the MPAc program hooding ceremony in 2008. Munro leads by example and is always thinking about how to help others. In the spring of 2008, a dream of Munro’s finally came true. After much hard work and preparation, her vision, the Women’s Circle of Excellence, had its first two-day premier event. The event focused on enhancing and enriching the lives of CoB alumnae and friends through mentoring, inspiration, networking and education. The event was very successful, with more than 80 women attending. The CoB has attributed the successes of its students to the quality of its professors and instructors. The MSCPA’s Outstanding Accounting Educator Award acknowledges Munro’s dedication to professional excellence and the high quality of her classroom instruction and student mentoring. Munro completed her final year of teaching at the CoB this spring. She will be greatly missed by students, colleagues and staff.

Munro Honored as MSCPA’s Outstanding Accounting Educator

Micki Munro

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On October 1, businesses from across the country met with more than 300 College of Business (CoB) students for the annual Meet the Recruiters Fair and Meet the Accounting Recruiters Fairs. The Meet the Recruiters event is co-sponsored by MSU Career Services and Student Employment and the

Accounting event is sponsored by Beta Alpha Psi. Business cards were exchanged while resumes were handed over and interviews were set up between students and potential employers. The sea of professionally dressed students was reminiscent of Wall Street. More than 50 companies from across the nation were represented at the two highly energized events, displaying banners and providing additional information about their companies. The positive effects from previous recruiting fairs were apparent, with some CoB alumni now serving as company recruiting representatives. Students were able to mingle with recruiters from a variety of companies—small to large, local, regional, international, for profit and non-profit. Opportunities for students to find a great job or internship match were abundant. This year’s recruiters included companies such as Kiewit Pacific, Boeing, Northwest Farm Credit, RightNow Technologies, State Farm Insurance, NAVSEA, PrintingForLess.com, FBI, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network and Gallup. The range of companies was also very diverse at the Meet the Accounting Recruiters Fair. Not only did the “big four” accounting firms of Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PriceWaterhouseCoopers attend, but a large number of local and regional firms attended the event including Anderson ZurMuehlen & Co., Galusha Higgins & Galusha, Joseph Eve, Junkermeier Campanella Clark & Stevens and Rudd & Company. Firms based in Idaho, Alaska and Nevada were also present. Current CoB students found the experience rewarding and beneficial. Many students attended to become acquainted with the different firms and worked on developing their professional skills, while others actively pursued internships and future employment. Students were also able to utilize these skills when they attended the MSU Career Fair the next day. For more information about the CoB Meet the Recruiters Fair, please contact Linda Ward at 406-994-1995 or lward@montana.edu.

College of Business Recruiting Fairs Have Record Attendance

Opportunities for students to find a great job or internship match were abundant.

Students met with numerous recruiters during the event.

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On April 17-18, more than 75 women participated in the premier MSU College of Business (CoB) Women’s Circle of Excellence

Leadership Conference at the Hilton Garden Inn. This premier event was sponsored in part by RightNow Technologies with additional support from State Farm Insurance. Other major sponsors included PrintingForLess.com and Donna and Jack Ostrovsky. For a complete list of sponsors and event information, please check out our website: http://www.montana.edu/cob/Alumni_and_Friends/WomensCircle.html. The conference began with speaker Ris Higgins’ seminar, Become a Pioneer of the Future, Not a Prisoner of the Past. Higgins co-founded Leadership Outfitters, a Bozeman based coaching and experiential learning company. She discussed “authentic” living and leading a life by design rather than a life by default. The follow-up seminar, lead by Carmen McSpadden, an adjunct instructor of the CoB, helped participants create personal mission statements. The afternoon session concluded with Tammy Machowicz Olsztyn’s presentation, Communicating with Character. Machowicz Olsztyn is the owner of Harvest Coaching, a business that specializes in assisting entrepreneurs, business leaders and their teams to become more productive, build and sustain relationships and ultimately create enduring profitability. The power-packed day culminated in a graduation celebration for the 2008 CoB graduates as they were welcomed into the Women’s Circle of Excellence. Carina Beck, MSU Career Services, gave the congratulatory send-off to a group of more than 30 graduates. The remainder of the evening was set aside for mentoring and networking between the graduates and alumnae. The event’s second day provided equally powerful speakers. Morning panel sessions were Hindsight’s 20/20, Your Encore Career, Entrepreneurial Spirit and Doing Well While Doing Good. The panels consisted of knowledgeable and successful business women including Susan Carstensen of RightNow

Technologies; Ardi DeVries, with ERA Landmark Real Estate; Ris Higgins; Dana Lasher of Get Ready Girls, Inc.; Shelby Nordhagen of NetNewMarketing; Linda Reynolds, formerly with Northwestern Mutual; Paige Taylor, with Bridger Psychiatric Services and Molly Semenik of Tie the Knot Fly Fishing Instruction and Yellowstone Fly Fishing School. An entertaining afternoon seminar lead by Mary Perry of Ryan Partnership, examined generational gaps in the workforce, as well as everyday life. Susan Dana, CoB associate dean of academic affairs and director of the Bracken Center and Nancy Dodd, CoB associate professor of management, led a negotiating seminar. Katie Goodman of Broad Comedy, featured writer for O, the Oprah Magazine and author of a new book, Improvisation for the Spirit: Living a Creative, Spontaneous and Courageous Life Using the Tools of Improv Comedy, was the conference keynote speaker. She introduced ways to utilize the improvisational comedy skills in everyday life and encouraged the audience to work on their improv skills during the presentation through various exercises and audience participation. The conference concluded at the Riverside Country Club with a closing dinner and entertainment by Broad Comedy. Those attending were able to discuss what they had learned during the conference and had opportunities to network during dinner, before Broad Comedy’s performance. The Women’s Circle of Excellence Leadership Conference provided a welcoming atmosphere for the participants, as well as many opportunities to network, learn and build strong bonds of friendship. Shelby Nordhagen, said, “I was completely re-energized by the conference presenters and the participants.” An overwhelming amount of positive feedback has been received about the conference and many attendees expressed their interest in returning for next year’s event. The Women’s Circle of Excellence group hopes more women will decide to take advantage of the opportunities provided at the conference next year.

Women’s Circle of Excellence Kicks Off with Premier Event

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Ris Higgins leading the event with her session, Become a Pioneer of the Future, Not a Prisoner of the Past.

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Faculty UpdatesTim Alzheimer, M.S., adjunct assistant professor of finance, continues to coordinate and administer

two business simulations in junior high and high schools across the state for the Montana Council on Economic Education. These two simulation programs reach more than 2,500 students per year. For his work with these programs, Alzheimer was awarded the “Outstanding Business Simulation Program for High Schools” from the International Institute for Business Simulations. He served as the Vice-Chairman of the Montana Community Finance Corporation, a non-profit organization that works with commercial banks in using Small Business Administration in financing real estate loans for businesses across the state. He is now the Chairman elect, and will begin serving in that capacity in March of 2009. Alzheimer also served as the Director of the Bridger Mountain Montana Harley Owners Group.

Caroline Graham Austin, Ph.D., assistant professor of marketing, received her Ph.D. from the University of Georgia this summer. Dr. Austin’s doctoral dissertation, entitled “Lifestyle Brands & Peer-to-Peer Communications: Concepts, Contents and Contexts,” earned an honorable mention award from the Relationship Marketing Special Interest Group at the American Mar-keting Association’s Summer Marketing Educators’ Conference in San Diego. She presented a paper, “Not-So-Secret Agents: ‘Produsers’ Respond to Peer-to-Peer Promotions” at the North American Association for Consumer Research annual conference in San Francisco in October. Daniel Huffman, a senior CoB student working with Austin as his faculty mentor, was awarded MSU Undergraduate Scholars Program funding for consumer research regarding gift cards.

Harry Benham, Ph.D., associate professor of management, published “An Empirical Exploration of Software Development Quality” in Issues in Information Systems.

Laura Black, Ph.D., assistant professor of management, was awarded the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Performance in Service at the spring 2008 commencement and was recently awarded a National Science Foundation grant for research on “Virtual Organizations as Sociotechnical Systems: Constructing and Modifying Meaning in Complex Projects” with other researchers from MSU, the Aerospace Corporation, Boston University and University at Albany. Her article “Teaching Undergraduates about Dynamic Systems” is co-authored with Bruce Raymond and will be published in the Journal of Business and Management this December. Black has also had three presentations at conferences this year. “Collaborative Requirements Analysis: Sharing Knowledge and Building Trust in Interorganizational User Group” with L.F. Luna-Reyes at the Western Academy of Management; “Dyadic Communication to Monitor Project Scope: Social Construction of Meaning in an Aerospace Program” with D.R. Greer, D.F. Andersen and N. Ghaffarzadegan at the International System Dynamics Conference and “Untangling the Epistemological and Ontological Challenges of Knowledge Integration in New Product Development” with P.R. Carlile at the Academy of Management.

Bill Brown, Ph.D., professor of management, co-authored “Emotional Intelligence, Transformational Leadership and Gender: Correlation and Interaction Possibilities” in the Journal of International Management Studies with Mike Reilly. He also presented “Personality Preferences and Emotional Intelligence” at the Global Business & International Management Conference in Portland, Oregon and “The Myers Briggs Type Indicator ad Transformational Leadership” at The International Academy of Business and Public Administration Fall Conference in Memphis, Tennessee, both with Mike Reilly with the latter receiving a Research/Best Paper Award.

Scott Bryant, Ph.D., associate professor of management, was the recipient of the 2008 MSU Dean’s Award for Outstanding Performance in Research. Bryant published the peer reviewed article: “A Field Study of the Impact of Peer Mentoring on Organizational Knowledge.” in the Journal of Managerial Issues with J. Terborg, based on his dissertation. He had two refereed conference presentations this year: “Sub-national Institutions, Firm Strategies, and Firm Performance: A Multilevel Study of Private Manufacturing Firms in Vietnam” with T. Nguyen and N. Bich at the Asia Academy of Management Meeting in Taipei, Taiwan and “Wait Time and Parental Perception of Pediatric Care” with Dan Moshavi, Gary Lande and R. Doughty at the Western Academy of Management in Oakland, California.

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Gary Caton, Ph.D., assistant professor of finance, published “Corporate Governance, Shareholder Rights, and Shareholder Rights Plans: Poison, Placebo, or Prescription?” in the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. He also published “The Effect on Rivals when Firms Emerge from Bankruptcy” with Jeff Donaldson and Jeremy Goh in the Journal of Corporate Ownership and Control. Caton also chaired Top-10 session on Corporate Governance at the 2008 Financial Management Association International annual conference in Grapevine, Texas. He was also interviewed by the MSU News Service, Bozeman Chronicle and Great Falls Tribune for articles pertaining to the stock market performance, value of the dollar and potential problems for Big Sky businesses.

Anne Christensen, Ph.D., professor of accounting, has published “Revisiting What Public Accounting Firms are Looking for: The Impact of Academic Qualifications, Gender, and Age on New-Hire Evaluations,” co-authored with Elizabeth Almer in Advances in Accounting Education. She also presented “Unauthorized Electronic Access: Students’ Ethics, Attitudes, and Actions” at Western Region of the American Accounting Association and American Accounting Association Annual Meeting with Jane Cote and Claire Latham.

John Dudas, Ph.D., adjunct instructor of accounting, is the founder and currently the race director of the Huffing for Stuffing Thanksgiving Day Run. This fun, healthy, family-oriented event brings the community together to support less fortunate people in the community who rely on the Gallatin Valley Food Bank. Last year, this largest single day fundraiser brought in $8,000 in donations.

Frank Kerins, Ph.D., associate professor of finance, published “Exploiting Price Pressure Associated with ETF Formation: The Case of Holding Company Depositary Receipts (HOLDRS),” in the Institutional Investor’s Fall 2008 Guide to Exchange-Traded Funds, co-authored with James Bennett. He also taught the Entrepreneurial Finance course to graduate students at the Aarhus School of Business at the University of Aarhus in Aarhus, Denmark this summer.

Bonita Peterson Kramer, Ph.D., professor of accounting, co-authored “The Emergence of Forensic Accounting Programs in Higher Education” with Mike Seda in Management Accounting Quarterly and “Developing an Internal Audit Department: The Case of The Schwan Food Company,” with Hugh Pforsich and G. Randy Just in Global Perspectives on Accounting Education. She also presented “State of Forensic Accounting Tracks at the University Level and the Related Need to Change the Educational Model Used in the Accounting Curriculum,” with co-author, Mike Seda, at the 2008 Fraud and Forensic Accounting Education Conference in Charleston, South Carolina. Kramer is currently a member of the editorial review board of a new journal established in 2008: Journal of Forensic Studies in Accounting and Business.

Agnieszka Bielinska-Kwapisz, Ph.D., visiting assistant professor, is leading the Management Research Group, which began its activity in the fall. The group meets every other week to discuss fascinating subjects in management such as how to publish interesting papers, team behavior and organizational change.

Gary Lande, adjunct instructor of management, presented “Wait Time and Parental Perception of Pediatric Care” along with Scott Bryant, Dan Moshavi and R. Doughty at the Western Academy of Management.

Faculty Updates, cont.

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Carmen McSpadden, adjunct instructor of management, was awarded her second Award for Excellence, as nominated by a student, from the MSU Alumni Association and the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce. She was also chosen as the 2008 Woman of the Year by the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

Dan Moshavi, Ph.D., associate professor of management and Interim Dean, presented “Wait Time and Parental Perception of Pediatric Care” along with Scott Bryant, Gary Lande and R. Doughty at the Western Academy of Management.

Mike Reilly, Ph.D., professor of marketing co-authored “Emotional Intelligence, Transformational Leadership and Gender: Correlation and Interaction Possibilities” in the Journal of International Management Studies with Bill Brown. He also presented “Personality Preferences and Emotional Intelligence” at the Global Business & International Management Conference in Portland, Oregon and “The Myers Briggs Type Indicator ad Transformational Leadership” at The International Academy of Business and Public Administration Fall Conference in Memphis, Tennessee, both with Bill Brown, with the latter receiving a Research/Best Paper Award.

Rod Ridenour, adjunct instructor of accounting, currently serves on the Bozeman Deaconess Philanthropic Council (2004-present) and was just honored for his past work as the secretary/treasurer of the Prospera Business Network’s Board of Directors.

Rich Semenik, Ph.D., professor of marketing, had his book, Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotion, 5th Ed., co-authored with Tom O’Guinn (University of Wisconsin) and Chris Allen (University of Cincinnati), published in March 2008. The book has been used in 500 universities in six countries.

Omar Shehryar, Ph.D., assistant professor of marketing, published “The Effects of Buyers’ Sex, Risk Proneness, and Time Remaining in an Internet Auction on the Decision to Buy-it-now or Bid” in the Journal of Product and Brand Management, Vol. 17. Along with David M. Hunt and Stephanie Geiger-Oneto, Shehryar had a conference proceeding titled “A Meta-Analytic Review of Fear Appeals: A Terror Management Perspective,” in the Advances in Consumer Research, Vol 36.

Shannon Taylor, Ph.D., associate professor of management, finished his role as Chair of Faculty Senate in September and is now the Chair of Faculty Affairs. In his faculty leadership roles, Taylor helped lead programs that resulted in a 1% increase in funding for TIAA-CREF recipients and the Regents voting for multi-year contracts for adjunct professors at MSU. He also served on the Regents’ Recruitment and Retention Task Force. Taylor had two articles published, “The Strategic Role of Wildlife in Montana’s Economic Future: Public and Private Policy Implications,” co-authored with R. Bergstrom and K. Hanson and “Multiple Regression Analysis of Faculty Salaries: Policy Implications,” both in the Proceedings Western Decision Sciences Institute.

Geo rge Thompson, adjunct instructor, taught a business class through the Bozeman Junior Achievement Program this spring at Sacajawea Middle School titled “Global Economics.”

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Kyle Blessinger is an excellent student who maintains a 4.0 GPA as a junior majoring in accounting in the College of Business (CoB).

He plans to enter the CoB’s Master in Professional Accountancy program after graduation. Blessinger is also a talented athlete. He played third base, catcher and pitcher throughout high school and the summer of his freshman year in college for the Helena Senators, an American Legion Baseball team. With lofty goals for the future, Blessinger plans to combine the communication and accounting skills learned throughout his college career with his love of baseball to secure a position within a baseball organization—preferably the Yankees. With his career plans securely in place, Blessinger possesses one quality that has helped set him up to succeed—persistence. He isn’t afraid to examine his weaknesses and work hard to turn them into strengths. “Entering college, I realized that, as far as my writing skills went, I had a lot to learn,” said Blessinger. “I approached this challenge head on, sought help from the BBCC, the College of Business’s writing center, and have vastly improved these skills.” Blessinger knows how important strong writing skills will be in reaching his career goals. His assessment couldn’t be more accurate. According to a 2008 report prepared by the National Commission on Writing, the ability to write well opens doors to professional opportunity. The report also indicates that the reverse is true—poorly written job applications are a figurative kiss of death.

The Cost of Poor Writing SkillsWriting: A Ticket to Work or a Ticket Out, a report by the National Commission on Writing for America’s Families, Schools, and Colleges, presents the findings from a survey of more than 120 major U. S. corporations employing nearly 8 million people and highlights some troubling trends. Among the report’s findings:· People who cannot write and communicate clearly will not be hired and are unlikely to last long enough to be considered for promotion.

· Eighty percent of the companies in the service and finance, insurance and real estate sectors, the corporations with the greatest employment growth potential, assess writing during hiring.

· More than half of all responding companies reported that they “frequently” or “almost always” produce technical reports, formal reports and memos and correspondence. Communication through e-mail and PowerPoint presentations is almost universal.

Based on survey responses, U. S. corporations spend several billion dollars annually to improve employees’ writing skills.

Sharon Stoneberger, currently an MSU human resources officer with more than eight years of industry experience, has witnessed first hand the negative effects of poor writing while assessing job applications. “Your résumé is what sells you as a candidate for a position,” explains Stoneberger. “If it’s poorly written, it really doesn’t represent a candidate’s true potential. With large pools of candidates and lots of choice, especially in today’s economy, a poorly written résumé, as well as not following application instructions, would rank the candidate lower than others in the same pool.” With e-mails and text messages replacing face-to-face meetings and phone calls, the need for clear, concise writing has never been more important than in today’s highly competitive, technology-driven global economy.

The Bracken Business Communications Clinic (BBCC) Offers a SolutionThe BBCC is the CoB’s solution to this troubling trend. In its fifth year of operation, the BBCC is staffed by seven business communications professionals who coach students on ways to improve their written and oral presentation skills. Blessinger and other CoB students have successfully utilized the BBCC’s services to help prepare them to communicate clearly and effectively in the business world. “Throughout this last year, I have really started to see dramatic improvement in my writing skills,” said Blessinger. “I’m proud to have asked for help with a weakness of mine. I think that by admitting my

Write on Target—Lisa Daniels, College 0f Business

Kyle Blessinger working with BBCC coach, Lisa Daniels.

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carefully chosen to offer structured learning objectives as well as dynamic interaction amongst participants and instructors. “Participating in a forum with excellent facilitators that allowed me to hear and understand how RightNow, Murdoch’s, MSU and other local businesses are experiencing and dealing with change was extremely helpful,” said Paul Stouffer, vice president, promotion operations for Korman Marketing Group. “This seminar helped bring organizational change into perspective and provided important strategies that make dealing with change more manageable.” Most MSU Management Institute learning opportunities are appropriate for professionals in all business fields and are designed to deliver a big-picture overview along with applicable, relevant action items. Content is designed for CEO’s, entrepreneurs and current and aspiring managers from organizations of all sizes. CoB faculty members are selected as facilitators for their professional expertise and ability to convey relevant business topics to professional audiences. Seminar facilitators are uniquely positioned to engage with business professionals, because they hold advanced degrees in business specialties, conduct on-going

research pertinent to today’s most pressing issues and often have extensive business experience. “We were delighted to have local executives from industry as well as the MSU community participating in these seminars,” said Moshavi. “Dr. Black, Dr. Caton, Dr. Wisner and I enjoyed helping these executives equip themselves with strategies to improve their financial decision making, as well as effectively manage change in the workplace.” The next MSU Management Institute seminar,

Excel in Hard Times: Strategies for Developing and Managing Your Brand, is scheduled for April 24,

2009 and will be led by former dean and current professor of marketing, Dr. Rich Semenik. This unique session will focus on strategies to develop and manage a company’s brand for maximum market impact during these difficult economic times. The course format provides insights into branding “best practices” and also uses hands-on brand development and management exercises which will result in brand strategy ideas that can be implemented immediately. To find out more about the MSU Management Institute, go to http://www.montana.edu/cob/ManagementInstitute/, call Lisa Daniels at (406) 994-1874, or send an e-mail inquiry to MSUmanagementinstitute@montana.edu.

weakness and putting ample energy into improving it, I have become a good writer.” BBCC coaches provide students with assessments of their overall writing styles and emphasize the fundamentals of good writing: correct spelling, proper grammar, coherent organization and relentless revision. They also help students understand the primary focus of business writing—to quickly and effectively communicate ideas through the use of clear, concise language. Seventy-five percent of students who schedule an appointment with the BBCC come back again for additional training. “We see students multiple times throughout each semester and from year to year, which gives us the opportunity to really get to know them and their writing styles,” said Lisa Daniels, coordinator of the BBCC. “Writing is so personal, and it really helps to

establish trust and understanding between the coaches and the students we serve.” Through their appointments with BBCC coaches, students establish realistic expectations of the writing process and are encouraged to view business writing

as a skill that can be learned and improved upon. So often, students who first seek help through the BBCC believe they are poor writers and that this is a permanent state. With specific instruction and hard work, students begin to see positive results, improve their communication skills over time and become better equipped to succeed as business professionals.

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MSU Management Institute, continued from page 7

“ your résumé is what sells you as a candidate for a position,” explains stoneberger. “if it’s poorly written, it really doesn’t represent a candidate’s true potential.”

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community Involvements

2008 College of Business Profile (cont.)Locations of Internships:

Anchorage, AK

Belgrade, MT

Big Sky, MT

Billings, MT

Bozeman, MT

Butte, MT

Helena, MT

Bellevue, WA

Kent, WABoise, ID

Kennesaw, GA

Wichita, KS

Hillsboro, OR

Portland, ORBeresford, SD

Dallas, TX

Denver, CO

Hudson, CO

San Jose, CA

Tokyo, Japan

See next page for participating businesses33

The extensive involvement the CoB has with its communities (from

local to international) benefits businesses and students alike. It is a

win-win situation.

— nancy dodd, associate professor of management

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2008 College of Business Profile (cont.)

57 internshipsParticipating Businesses:Every effort has been made to ensure that all names are listed correctly. If your name has been inadvertently omitted or misspelled, please contact Audrey Lee at (406) 994-7026 or audrey.lee@montana.edu.

American WildlandsAnderson Zurmuehlen & Co.ATS GraphicsBear Canyon Real EstateBoeingMSU Career ServicesChisel IndustriesClark NuberDeloitte & Touche LLPMSU Division of Graduate EducationEide Bailly LLPEnterprise Rent-a-CarErnst & Young LLPFaboshkri, LLCGalusha, Higgins & Galusha PCIntel CorporationJoseph Eve, CPAKPMGKSE Lacrosse/DBA NDP LacrosseMcDermott Financial ServicesMerrill Lynch & Co.Mike Wheat for Attorney GeneralMilligan AccountingMontana Bride, Inc.MSU AthleticsNorthwest Pipe FittingsRessler MotorsRightNow TechnologiesRunyon & Associates, PCScalanger & Kohtz CPAA, LLCSilvertip Business SolutionsSioux CorporationSky Federal Credit UnionSpine and Sports ChiropracticSpirit AerosystemsStarzen Company, LtdThe Club at Spanish PeakTire Recycling, Inc.Travis WolffWilliams Plumbing, Heating & Utilities

t his year, the College of Business (CoB) invited Delmar Jones and Lyle Knight as guest presenters for the David B. Orser Speakers Forums. These national-level speakers

addressed important business topics, bringing their personal business insights and experiences into the classroom. They interacted with students during their presentations, taught valuable business lessons and helped raise students’ awareness of corporate culture. Delmar Jones, motivational speaker, president of the Cindel Group Inc. and owner of Jonesy’s Classic Cleaners was the 2008 spring Orser speaker. He interacted with students, faculty and people from the community in Reid 108 on Thursday, April 10. Jones has more than 20 years of experience in business. In his presentation, “Values of Leadership and Networking Skills,” Jones discussed the knowledge and skills he gained, at the General Electric Crotonville Executive Management School, in leadership and management training. Jones employed a 9-block grid, utilized by the GE management team, to lead Forum participants through frameworks designed to help individuals set strategies, bring value to a company, make decisions and become an effective manager, owner or team leader. He gave examples of tools and performance assessments used by GE to assist in the evaluation and promotion process and discussed how he uses these practices to manage his businesses today. Participants gained insight into making an immediate impact in a company, building networks of support and fine tuning business and personal skills that can give them a competitive advantage in the business world. A Helena native, Jones played football while at MSU with Coach Sonny Holland and was a member of the 1976 Division II national championship team. After graduating from MSU with a degree in business/marketing, Jones worked for GE Plastics, eventually working his way up to various senior level management and marketing positions. He attained his Six Sigma Green Belt Certification through the Crotonville Executive Management School while working with GE. Jones then worked in various businesses at the executive level before starting his own businesses. The fall Orser speaker, Lyle Knight, is President and CEO of First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. and advisor to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. He oversees 50 First Interstate branches located in Montana and Wyoming and 18 branches located in South Dakota. Knight shared his in-depth knowledge about the country’s current financial situation during his presentation, “The Credit Crisis: How Did We Get Here andHow Do We Get Out of Here,” with the audience of about 250 people gathered in MSU’s Procrastinator Theater on Thursday, November 13. Though the United States is in the midst of a recession, Knight sees this as a time of opportunity. He predicted that in five years, most people will wish they had invested their money at today’s prices. Financial crises are all different, with different causes and solutions, said Knight, who has been in the banking business for 38 years. “If you’ve seen one financial crisis, you’ve seen one financial crisis,” he said.

David B. Orser Speakers Forum Allows for Interaction with Successful

Business Executives

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Knight said that in fact, recessions are a natural part of an economy’s normal business cycle. Rather than being surprised by a recession, people should realize that the economy always becomes stronger, with weak businesses being outdone by stronger businesses. He said that recessions force businesses to reevaluate their practices and become creative in their work processes. To put the current recession in perspective, Knight said it pales in comparison to the crises of the 1930s and the 1980s. During the meltdown in the 1980s, 1,000 banks failed, while another 1,000 were on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s watch list. At the time of the Orser Forum, 19 banks had failed and another 107 banks were on the FDIC’s watch list. Knight pointed out that today’s current financial crisis is not just due to sub-prime mortgage loan failures, though that may have been the trigger that made people aware that there was an even greater problem. Rather, he said, a number of different factors have contributed to the recession, including markets across the world flooding the U.S. with money; complicated unsound investment products; a herd

mentality in investing, where people try to mimic others’ investment strategies and a misuse of incentives in the free enterprise system, such as annual bonuses for C.E.O.’s, which encourage short-term profit instead of long-term stability. The real problem, Knight said, and one he predicts won’t be solved in his generation, is how to

support retirees. Social Security was founded when the average longevity age was 67; now, with people living into their 80s and 90s, the system is simply not viable. Still, Knight remains optimistic about the economic future of the United States. “I would never bet against the U.S. economy,” Knight said. The annual David Orser Executive Speaker’s Forum is now in its 20th year. The forum is named for David B. Orser, a 1966 MSU graduate who started funding the program in 1988 in order to inspire MSU business students to pursue careers as innovative, responsible and ethical business leaders.

these national-level speakers addressed important business topics, bringing their personal business insights and experiences into the classroom.

Delmar Jones interacting with the audience at the Orser Executive Speaker’s Forum.

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With Architecture Students to Help Hawaiian Ranch Become More Sustainable— Anne Pettinger, MSU News Service

m SU architecture and business students have spent the semester working on a sustainable development plan for a large

ranch in Hawaii. As they find ways to both conserve and develop the land, professors say the project has challenges that are similar to ones faced in Montana. The ranch, which is located on the east side of the Big Island of Hawaii, spans an area of about 10,000 acres, rising from sea level to about 9,000 feet. In September, two MSU professors and six architecture students visited the ranch, gathering information to aid in their work throughout the semester. “We looked at the big picture, such as how to create a plan that protects the land, is consistent with the cultural values in Hawaii, is self-sustaining, and benefits the community,” said Myleen Leary, a CoB professor who is directing the business students’ work. “Some of these ideas address larger issues the state and island is facing,” she added. “It’s not just for the benefit of the family.” The ranch’s owners, a family, are interested in keeping the 10,000 acres intact and simultaneously having it pay for itself, said John Brittingham, the architecture professor who is directing architecture students’ work on the project.

The MSU students became involved in the project after ranch personnel approached a non-profit in Hawaii, the Kohala Center, about helping develop the ranch and make it more sustainable, according to Brittingham. MSU had worked with the Kohala Center on a different project about four years earlier, and Brittingham said the non-profit was thrilled with the results. Because of that interaction, Brittingham said the Kohala Center again turned to MSU. But another reason MSU students may have been chosen to work on the project is because parallels exist between the Big Island and Montana, with both experiencing rapid, unplanned growth. “The issues the ranch is facing are some of the same that Montana is facing,” Leary said. “Small-town, main-street life might be fading away. There is an influx of money and second-home owners. There are fundamental similarities.” “We both live in beautiful parts of the world and suffer from unplanned, unchecked growth,” Brittingham added. “We’re experiencing the same kind of pain.” The architecture and business students’ work is divided into six main sections: cattle operations; the community (including employee issues and employee housing), education, conservation, timber and energy

and water. The students have paired up into six teams of two

people each, one student from each college, to work on those six sections, and they will then

come together to integrate those sections into an overall plan. Students also have

consulted with people in other entities at MSU, such as the College of

Agriculture and the College of Engineering, when gathering

information. The six CoB students involved with the project, who are undergraduates, are researching the feasibility of the plans and looking at implications of the various business proposals. “The architecture students have developed land use ideas and the business students are analyzing the ideas to make sure they’re financially viable,” Leary said. “It’s a lot

Artist’s rendering, courtesy of the MSU School of Architecture, of a pump house on the ranch.

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to take on in a semester, particularly since the students have not really been given a budget.” Meanwhile, the graduate students working on the project from the School of Architecture have also been gathering information and working on developing a presentation with all the financial data and current and proposed mapping of the land. “We have to find a way to make the information accessible, and easily accessible,” Brittingham said. “The students are giving (the information) shape, giving it all a form. They’re making it seductive through visual means. They’ve collected a staggering amount of information, and we need to have some visual imagery to help people wrap their heads around it.” Students agreed that the project has been a huge undertaking, and they expressed enthusiasm for the work. Jeff Ernst, an architecture student

from Lewistown, has been working on conservation easements and conservation programs for the ranch. He said he has been investigating options for the ranch, such as offering economic incentives for proposals and putting parts of the ranch on the National Register of Historic Places. Those sorts of steps can have a huge impact on the viability of the land, Ernst said. “They can produce more than an economic profit,” Ernst said. “There can be an educational profit for the community and the state of Hawaii.” Another option students are looking into includes turning a portion of the ranch into a university-like institute. “The ranch could bring in specialists to study a variety of things,” said architecture student Matthew

Breest. “The idea is to use the workforce, to help families who want to create a sense of community.” In fact, Brittingham hopes that if the field institute is developed, there could be long-term opportunities for MSU students and researchers to be involved. “It has been suggested that...we might have a field station out there through the Kohala Center, on the ranch,” Brittingham said. “The project is so complex that multiple MSU schools might be involved. It would be an opportunity for an ongoing partnership. That’s kind of the dream vision.” Regardless of any long-term opportunities, Leary and Brittingham both said the project has had incredible benefits. “This has been a fantastic opportunity on many different levels,” Leary said. “It’s fantastic for College of

Business students to work with School of Architecture students. It’s fantastic for students to work on something so challenging and ambiguous...I’m particularly proud of the work our students are doing.” “It’s been great for my students,” Brittingham said. “I view it as one of the most demanding (projects) the School of Architecture has offered at the graduate level, with potentially some of the biggest benefits and payoffs.” Brittingham, Leary and several of the students are expected to return to the ranch during the spring semester to present their research. In addition, the work was displayed during the School of Architecture’s graduate reviews, which took place in the lower gallery of Cheever Hall during finals week.

CoB students presenting the results of their project.

“ We looked at the big picture, such as how to create a plan that protects the land, is consistent with the cultural values in Hawaii, is self-sustaining, and benefits the community.”

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t he College of Business (CoB) held its fourth annual Entrepreneur Day on April 1 in the SUB Ballrooms on the MSU campus. This event is

part of the COB’s on-going community service to enhance entrepreneurial spirit and education. High school students from across the state, as far away as Rocky Boy, joined MSU students, faculty and community members to participate in this event. The day was broken into several panel sessions. Session I provided students with a glimpse into the Alderson Program in Entrepreneurship, the only university program of its kind in the state, and some of the entrepreneurial and business management courses offered through the CoB, in collaboration with The Center for Entrepreneurship for the New West. A panel of students enrolled in these courses offered insights on projects they were working on, such as programs designed to provide guidance to future business owners and competitions open to student participation. “There’s something really exciting about being around entrepreneurs who have that passion to start something from scratch,” commented Lukas Fleener, who sat on the CoB student panel. A lively interactive conversation between a panel of young entrepreneurs and the audience took place in Session II. The panelists shared personal experiences as well as resources that have helped them develop as entrepreneurs. Local entrepreneurs included Zach and Kasey Anderson, owners of various businesses in Bozeman, such as La Parilla, Gerty’s, The Garage and the Naked Noodle; Jim Evans, Glass Doctor; Sarah Greenshields, Genre & Mode; Lorie Hoffman, L.A. Hoffman In Focus Fine Art and Mark Larimer, Foundant Technologies. Each entrepreneur had their own unique story to share with the attendees. Greenshields used money she won in a business plan competition to help fund her company. Zach Anderson saw a need for casual restaurants in Bozeman back in 1996 and worked 50-60 hours a week to make his dream come true. Evans started his first business while he was still a Bozeman High School student. “You can have a huge fortune,” he told the students “but if you don’t love what you’re doing every day, it’s not worth it.” Larimer, on the other hand, started his first business, a hiking adventure company in Maui, right out of college. Essentially the company made no money but allowed him to hike to his heart’s content. Now, he is co-founder of a new software company, Foundant Technologies.

Originally with just a Bachelor of Arts degree in Photography from the MSU Department of Media & Theatre Arts, Hoffman realized that she needed some business know-how if she wanted to market and own a successful company. She completed her B.S. in marketing along with the Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management minor and her business, L.A. Hoffman In Focus Fine Art, showed a profit in its second year. Robin Bequet, owner of Bequet Confections, an artisan caramel business, was the featured keynote speaker during the noon-hour luncheon. She gave a lively presentation about how she got into the caramel business and how the business has been able to grow

and succeed. Over the past six years, Bequet’s high-end gourmet caramels have won numerous awards in the gourmet food industry. Over 600 gourmet markets and natural food stores across the country carry the all-natural, Bequet Gourmet Caramels, which Bequet brought for attendees to sample. The final session of the day was an open question and answer period with a panel of experts who provide services or advice to entrepreneurs beginning and expanding their businesses. They shared knowledge and real-life stories with the group about what needs to be done, once a business is established, in order for it to succeed. Panelists include Jessica Watson, TechRanch; Kara Stermitz, Business Advisor/SBDC; Gary Bishop, Consultant and CoB Instructor; Bob Griffin, Crowley, Haughey, Hanson, Toole & Dietrich PLLP; and Jeff Koski, First Security Bank of Belgrade. Entrepreneur Day reflects the CoB’s and the Alderson Program in Entrepreneurship’s commitment to improve the economic development of Montana, while providing a framework for an outstanding educational experience for students. Entrepreneurship coursework is offered to students from any major in the University through the College’s 30 credit-hour Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management minor. This event was sponsored in part by Boeing. For more information, please contact Audrey Lee: audrey.lee@montana.edu.

Enhancing the Entrepreneurial SpiritThrough Education

(L-R): Kasey Anderson, Zach Anderson, Jim Evans, Sarah Greenshields, Lorie Hoffman, Mark Larimer

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t he College of Business (CoB) brought the State Farm Insurance Family Business Program On the Road to three different locations, Helena,

Butte and Missoula, this year. “The Business of Customer Service” seminar was presented by adjunct instructor of management, Gary Bishop. Two of the On the Road seminars were held in conjunction with other conferences, offering services to large audiences at the Business Days at the Capitol and the Montana Manufacturing Extension Center’s (MMEC) conference.

Bishop provided great anecdotes and handouts for the participants, focusing on delivering outstanding customer service and effectively responding to customer demands. He discussed why customer service has become a lost art in society and that small business owners need to avoid giving in to societal pressures to conform to the big-box store mentality. Bishop said that small business owners who are open for business 24 hours a day, seven days a week, just because that’s what the big corporations do, are imposing a huge burden on themselves. He said that maybe not going along with what everyone else is doing might give the smaller business a unique niche or competitive edge. One example of breaking this mold, Bishop pointed out, is utilizing “holidays off” as an inexpensive benefits perk to offer employees, who in return provide better customer service. Not asking employees to work certain holidays could draw similar results as receiving a higher wage. Bishop says that he notices when shops put up a sign that says “We won’t be open on the holiday so our employees can enjoy it with their families.” Seeing that an employer is caring well for their employees may be something that customers will appreciate. Bishop believes that a business’ success is a matter of focusing upon customers and meeting or exceeding their expectations. He also says that every employee of a business is the business and that they need to feel like they are highly valued. Customer interaction occurs most often with the young and inexperienced salesperson. Empowering all employees will give them a sense of ownership, motivating them to provide excellent customer service. With these and other tips for ensuring good customer service, Bishop thinks that any business can compete and win. “There isn’t a large store you can’t

go head to head with and beat. You won’t put the big corporation out of business, but you can get the share of the market you want as a small business,” he said. “Walmart makes more than $12 billion annually and you can take a small percentage of that and do just fine. The opportunities to do so abound in small business.” The State Farm Family Business Program events are part of the CoB’s outreach efforts, offering guest lectures and seminars on issues important to family-owned businesses in communities across the state. The

program was established in 1994 and received a funding boost in March 2005, when State Farm Insurance Company recognized Bozeman resident Robert Jaedicke for his many years of service on their Board of Directors with a significant gift to the CoB. The funds

were placed in an endowment for the Family Business Program, to enhance the annual program held in Bozeman in September and to help develop new outreach programs and seminars. With additional support from Stockman Bank, the CoB proudly introduced the On the Road portion of the Family Business Program, with the first seminar held in Helena, January 2007. The seminars have been well received and have provided valuable business education and support to family owned and small business across the state.

Family Business Program On the ROad Seminars Offered in Butte, Helena and Missoula

empowering all employees will give them a sense of ownership, motivating them to provide excellent customer service.

Gary Bishop

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t he College of Business (CoB) uniquely incorporates hands-on experiential education into three of its courses by pairing students with

start-up or growth companies. These students see first-hand the initial decisions and groundwork that helps establish a thriving and successful business. Working hand-in-hand with company executives, students utilize knowledge gained from their group projects, case studies and classroom exercises and simulations, and apply this information to real-life situations. Dan Moshavi, CoB Interim Dean, stresses the importance of these courses. “By providing our students with a variety of experiential learning opportunities, we help them develop both the confidence and competence necessary to successfully manage and compete in the business world.” The following three courses are examples of the College’s unique hands-on experiential education.

Entrepreneurial Experience The Entrepreneurial Experience class, MGMT 463, is the capstone course for the Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management minor through the Alderson Program in Entrepreneurship. Student groups assigned to each business work on projects that focus on specific business areas, based on company identified needs. During the 2008 spring semester, students researched and produced a business plan, developed a proposal for raising venture capital and compiled an exit strategy for the owner of Free Drive EV, who designed and developed a one-person electric urban commuter car. Another group researched and developed a new pricing structure for GoToBilling’s software and services, as well as the feasibility of utilizing web blogging as a marketing tool. InkSpout, the only Marketing and Resource Management (MRM) company making on-demand marketing platforms with proprietary template-based, web-to-print technology, was the third participating business. MGMT 463 teams helped the company define target markets and identify specific market segments, ultimately listing market players, as well as completing a new pricing structure for on-line services analysis. Another MGMT 463 student team researched and produced a business plan, co-partnering KidsUP and the MSU Biomechanics Lab, enabling these businesses to receive an industry grant to continue research facilities development. The last team of students worked with Sokets, Inc., a local high-tech company that produces a residential energy management monitoring system. The team completed a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses,

Opportunities and Threats) analysis for this company, developed an extensive utility contact list and put together a marketing and telecommunications plan. Many of the start-up businesses that participate in the Entrepreneurial Experience course and the Alderson Entrepreneur Program are referred by TechRanch, a Bozeman venture incubator serving entrepreneurs and investors. This partnership is truly unique, as the program is directly involved with both a business incubator and technology transfer organization. This program’s success can be measured by its national recognition, one of 19 entrepreneur programs recognized by the Small Business Administration in 2005 and again in 2007 for demonstrated market-based results. Interest and involvement in this course since its inception has been extraordinary, with more than 250 students logging 9000-plus hours of pro bono consulting for participating companies through the College’s Alderson Program in Entrepreneurship.

Management Practicum MGMT 475, Management Practicum, is another course where students and businesses work together. The course gives students the opportunity to work with client companies. Each group must coordinate presentations, weekly meetings and regular communication with their client company. Similar to MGMT 463 but without the entrepreneurial emphasis, the groups in MGMT 475 also work on a variety of projects such as developing operations manuals, marketing plans, business plans, metrics to identify sales targets in a geographic area, as well as employee satisfaction surveys, to name a few. Participating companies for the spring 2008 semester have included Pacific Equipment Corporation, InterMountain Opera and the MSU Bookstore. Abby Olp commented on what she experienced in her MGMT 475 class: “I really enjoyed this class, and it has allowed me to talk about my experiences with potential employers.…Because it is a more practical, hands-on class, I was able to apply my book knowledge and really demonstrate that I was able to handle work that lasted over a period of months, work with outside clients, demonstrate research capabilities, presentation skills, contracting skills and maintain client relationships.” Justin Reedy felt similarly about the experience. “What I liked most about MGMT 475 is the freedom to make decisions for a real client in real-life situations. We are allowed to develop creative ideas and then [we] find realistic ways for our client to implement them.”

Hands-on Experiential Education CoursesUnique to the College of Business

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Marketing Mix Design A third course, MKTG 447, presents emphasis on business marketing. The course is a non-textbook course, focusing on real-life applications of marketing academics. Students exercise their marketing skills with local companies by helping them research, develop and execute marketing strategies. Working in teams, students build a relationship with their client, coordinate schedules with them and prepare marketing proposals as requested by the client. At the end of the semester, clients are brought into the classroom for a professional presentation and receive a bound proposal document. The evaluations and comments from the clients involved in this course have been overwhelmingly positive. Recent clients have included local businesses such as Alpine Lawn Care, the Arts Council of Big Sky, Big Sky Premium Meats, Elle’s Belles Cookies, ERA Landmark, Girls Outdoors, Gold’s Gym, The Holiday Inn and Red Willow.

Shane Skinner, owner of Alpine Lawn Care commented on the students’ work. “This group went above and beyond to set things up for us. I was very impressed with their enthusiasm and ideas of how to better our business. You could tell this wasn’t just a project for them; they really gave their all. It was an honor to be a part of the class. Thank you.” The owner of Gold’s Gym, Keith Hamburg agreed, saying, “(they are a ) smart group with honest and sound business/marketing advice.” Experiential education assists CoB students as they prepare for the professional world, helping them understand and apply their classroom experiences to real-world situations while they are still in school. Discovering their creative abilities while solving real business problems, students develop strong business communication skills and learn how to interact professionally with co-workers and clients, all while helping local businesses improve their company’s performance.

CoB student presents group research results to a client.

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have shared their time and expertise with the CoB:

Kurt Alt • Fish, Wildlife & ParksMike Antoczyk • Profitable IdeasBill Bacon • Texas InstrumentsRobin Bequet • Bequet ConfectionsDon Cape • JWTMarie Chambers • KiewitFred Dickerson • D.A. Davidson & Co.Dick Dolan • American Prairie FoundationAdam Edelman • Montana State UniversityEric Flynn • Bitterroot CapitalDana Gleason • Mystery Ranch BackpacksBill Hart • Stillwater River/Johnson Ranch board memberAndrew Hull • RightNow TechnologiesFrank Johnson • Cottonwood FinancialDelmar Jones • Cindel Group, Inc. and Jonesy’s Classic CleanersLyle Knight • First Interstate BancSystem, Inc.Don Larson • BoeingRick Leuthold • Engineering IncWilliam Malek • Strategy2Reality LLCJim Malzewski • Thomson Reuters (RIA Checkpoint)Patty Meighen • State Farm InsuranceLibby Miller • NAVSEATerry Moore • Montana Board of Investors/First Interstate BankRandy Newberg • Guza Newberg & Hubley, PLLPLeesa Nopper • Niche Works, Inc.David Olsen • Starbucks Coffee CompanyJo Oudshoom • Montana State UniversityTyler Paulsen • Williams InvestigationsBill Perry • Northwest Farm CreditLeon Royer • American BankGreg Schatz • CostcoMelanie Schell • MSU FoundationAnne Schlenker • Edward Jones InvestmentsBrian Skuletich • Stafford FilmsSteven Stonecipher • Eli LillyAnthony Tangaro • Empire Building MaterialJared Tanner • Printingforless.comHarrison Trask • HS Trask ShoesTed Willer • Smith BarneyZack Wolf • Northwest Farm CreditJesse Woodson • Boeing

Every effort has been made to ensure all names are listed correctly. If your name has been inadvertently omitted or misspelled, please contact Audrey Lee at (406) 994-7026 or audrey.lee@montana.edu

each year College of Business (CoB) student organizations and faculty invite numerous speakers into the classroom. These speakers take the time to visit with students, share insights about

their businesses and careers, as well as answer students and faculty questions. Recently, CoB students had the opportunity to pick the brain of one of Starbucks Coffee’s leading executives, David Olsen, Senior Vice President of Culture and Leadership Development within Starbucks’ Partner Resources Department. Olsen spent two days on campus (October 15 and 16) visiting with business classes, student leaders and participated in a student Meet and Greet. During classroom visits with CoB students, Olsen, who was born and raised in Bozeman and a graduate of MSU, fielded a wide variety of questions about his considerable life experience in the business world. He discussed issues such as the risks and benefits of a large-scale Starbucks employee gathering in New Orleans. Olsen also talked about challenges Starbucks faced when stores opened abroad, and discussed ways the company maintains its corporate culture and identity in foreign countries. After Olsen visited his BUS 474 class, Joseph Meyers, a senior in marketing said, “It gave me a sense of accomplishment, a revived spirit, and a true sense of the confidence that the College of Business has for its students. I had the pleasure to have a discussion with David Olsen about business ethics in my 474 class. This was a true test of my skills as an emerging business leader and a class period I will remember as a highlight of my academic career.” Many of the guest speakers listed in the sidebar are CoB graduates and have gone on to succeed in the business world. These speakers do more than just impart knowledge and share their experiences with students; they also serve as examples of how CoB students can apply their education to the work world after they graduate. It is through guest speakers such as Olsen and others that the CoB strives to bring real-world experience into the classroom setting. Olsen’s visit was coordinated with the MSU Foundation’s Corporate and Foundation Relations office.

Many Guest Speakers Bring Their Expertise Into CoB Classrooms,

Including Starbucks Executive, David Olsen

David Olsen

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m ontana family businesses were recognized for their achievements at the 15th Annual MSU College of Business (CoB) State

Farm Insurance Family Business Day Program. The event took place Friday, September 26, with winners traveling from across the state to attend. Each year a number of businesses, ranging in size from fewer than 10 employees to more than 50 from diverse industries, are nominated for awards. This year was no exception, with small and large business winners receiving their awards during the awards luncheon at the Bozeman Holiday Inn. This year’s award winners ranged from a ranching operation to a floral and rental shop, as well as a magic show entertainment business. Multiple generations were represented and several family members were MSU alumni. Family Business Day Award Winners: • St-Char-Ro Floral & Event Rental of Ronan,

very small business category (fewer than 10 employees)• Owenhouse & Associates of Bozeman,

small business category (10 to 30 employees)• Wyo-Ben, Inc. of Billings, large business category

(more than 50 employees)• Montana DataSure of Bozeman,

new business category (under 10 years)• Hofeldts Livestock of Chinook,

Judge’s Special Recognition Award

The importance of balancing work and family was emphasized throughout the luncheon, especially when the recipients accepted their awards. It is not easy to balance family life and business, but it does bring families together and the rewards make it well worth the effort. Family businesses allow the younger generation to get a good behind-the-scenes look at how the business is run—the hard work involved and the importance of family and support. When presented with an awards plaque, Dennis Gardner, with St-Char-Ro Floral & Event Rental,

said, “The most important thing is our family and the children learning to work.” Greg Young, MSU’s vice provost for undergraduate education and an awards presenter agreed, “It’s wonderful that kids contribute to the businesses, but they also contribute to their own development.” Family businesses are vital to the state’s economy. This event honors those businesses exemplifying a commitment to customer service, family values and their adaptability to an ever-changing business environment. The families were pleasantly surprised when they were notified of their awards and one recipient commented on how this recognition was “the closest to a Grammy as we will ever get.” In the eyes of the judges, including John Baucus of Sieben Ranch, a past Family Business Day award winner, everyone was a winner. “The fact that a business was submitted indicates it meets family and business goals. Each business owner puts in the extra hours and bears the stress to meet deadlines, make payroll, and maintain or enhance family values. Any employer who is honest, treats employees like family, and is fair in his or her relationship with customers is a winner.” Phil Rogers, an adjunct instructor of marketing in the CoB, presented a seminar, “Thrive in Tough Times: How Your Focus is Your Future,” prior to the awards luncheon. Rogers discussed ways to control expenses, grow sales and build profit margins. The CoB and State Farm Insurance, in honor of Robert Jaedicke, hosted the program. Stockman Bank underwrote the awards, with additional support for the program provided by the Montana Chamber of Commerce. For more information on the Family Business Day program, go to http://www.montana.edu/wwwdb/FamilyBusiness/FamilyBusiness.html or contact Karen Beach at 994-6796, familybusiness@montana.edu.

Five Family Businesses Recognized for Achievements

The Hofeldt Family with their Family Business award.

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g olfers participating in the College of Business (CoB) Classic Open Benefit Golf Tournament enjoyed a beautiful sunny day for the event, held on September 19 at Riverside Country Club in Bozeman.

First Security Bank; Junkermier, Clark, Campanella, Stevens, P.C. (JCCS), Certified Public Accounts and Business Advisors; and Becks, a product of Cardinal Distributing, co-hosted this year’s event. A complete listing of all donors to this event and all CoB activities can be found in the Honor Roll of Donors located in the back of the Annual Report. The day began unusually--during registration a run-away horse raced across the green, with a golf cart in hot pursuit. A shotgun start at 12:30 p.m. sent the golfers in their carts, racing one after another, toward their assigned starting holes. At the end of the day the players slowly trickled in and waited anxiously for the awards ceremony to see who would be named tournament winners. This year’s winners, Paul Pahut (‘00), Brent Zanto (‘93), Neil Thomas and William Schlaebitz, the team with the lowest gross score, were sponsored by Mountain West Bank. Continuing the tournament tradition, the winning players’ names were etched on the base of the prestigious traveling crystal trophy. The winners have the distinct honor of taking turns displaying the trophy at their places of business. A number of individual and team prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, both net and gross, were also awarded following the tournament. Please see the sidebar for the listed winners. Student clubs assisted with special events like the betting hole. Proceeds went directly to the clubs, helping fund competitions and special projects. Norm Millikin’s name was drawn for a chance at the Million $ Shoot Out—unfortunately he missed the shot by a couple of feet. The golf tournament provides a venue for CoB alumni and friends to gather together for camaraderie and competition. Once the awards are handed out and the golf clubs put away, the CoB students are the true winners of this event as all profits fund student enhancement programs and scholarships. CoB students Nobu Aoki, Jessica Bowman and Ryan Mikkola were awarded the 2008 “Friends of the Classic Open Benefit Golf Tournament” scholarships at the April awards banquet. Next year’s event is tentatively slated for Friday, September 18. Contact Audrey Lee at audrey.lee@montana.edu for more information or see the CoB website at www.montana.edu/cob.

Tournament Results

Gross 1st Place: Paul Pahut, Brent Zanto, Neil Thomas and William Schlaebitz (Mountain West Bank)

Gross 2nd Place: Norm Millikin, Les Mahon, Doug Lanphear and Jim Thompson (First Interstate Bank)

Gross 3rd Place: Mick Quinlivan, Brady Meltzer, Willie Eide and Craig Smith (RightNow Technologies)

Net 1st Place: Harry Stannebein, Paul Uithoven, Marlys Stannebein and Troy Watling (JCCS)

Net 2nd Place: Dan Moshavi, Louie Loucks, Dean Folkvord and Hope Folkvord

Net 3rd Place: Adam Wrightson, Paula Anderson, Dustin Fasbender and Eric Murphy (Nevada Restaurant)

Longest Drive (Men 0-20): Willie Eide

Longest Drive (Woman 0-24): Toni Neal

Longest Drive (Men 21+): Steve Dailey

Longest Drive (Woman 25+): Molly Mason

Closest to the Pin (Men): Larry Mikkola

Closest to the Pin (Woman): Penny Shaw

7th Annual CoB Classic Open Benefit Golf Tournament

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t he College of Business (CoB), with help from the Finance Club, hosted a panel discussion on November 1. The event featured three senior

Board of Investments staff members who were in Bozeman for their annual meeting. The panel was comprised of: Terry Moore, Chairman of the Board and a CoB graduate (‘74); Carroll South, Executive Director of the Board of Investments; and Clifford Sheets, Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Board. Panelists answered challenging questions spanning topics ranging from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the federal government bailout plan’s impact on Montana businesses and residents to the effect current economic turmoil may have on college graduates’ job prospects. Students and faculty gained in-depth knowledge about the current financial crisis and were able to obtain accurate information from three people who help make financial decisions that affect businesses state-wide. Non-finance students also took away information about basic financial and economic-related issues. Afterwards, one management student commented on her increased understanding about bonds and the rating system, which will be helpful when she takes a finance class next spring. Created in 1972 by the Montana Legislature, the Board of Investments, a quasi-judicial board, is responsible for the Unified Investment Program

and the In-State Investment Program. Through these programs, the Board invests and manages state funds in accordance with state law and the Montana constitution. The Board, at their discretion, is also able to invest local government funds. Charged with using the funds to diversify, strengthen and stabilize the Montana economy and increase Montana employment and business opportunities, the Board is also committed to maintaining and improving a clean and healthy environment. The Board also provides creative solutions to financial problems that new and expanding Montana businesses face through unique loan programs that can be tailored to individual business needs. The CoB is excited about bringing in guests such as the Board of Investments to add value to the students’ education through the interaction between students and professionals.

Montana Board of Investments Shares Expertise With CoB Students

Representatives from the Montana Board of Investments field questions from the audience.

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Golf tournament participants await the shotgun start.

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alumni Friends&

Exchange Students – 90 students

2008 College of Business Profile (cont.)

CanadaChina

Germany

Japan

Kazakhstan

Korea

Mexico

Mongolia

Morocco

Norway

Poland

Saudi Arabia

Switzerland

Taiwan

United Arab Emirates

47Ali Bittinger (left) poses with a student in Tanzania. Please see story on the next page.

I am impressed and touched by the many roles that our alumni

play in the success of the College of Business and within their

communities. They take initiative, lead by example and work hard

to create a better future.

— dan moshavi, Interim Dean

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a li Bittinger, a 2007 graduate of the College of Business (CoB), recently returned from six months volunteering in a small Tanzanian

village as part of the Village Schools International mission program. Ali taught English and math to students in Maguu, a small village nestled between two mountain ranges in the southern part of Tanzania in eastern Africa.

Maguu: A World Away Maguu’s population of about 3,000 people is spread over a vast region; some of Ali’s students walk an hour and a half to attend school each day. The people of Maguu, one of the larger and more prosperous villages, are part of the Matango, one of about 120 tribes in Tanzania. “One of the most interesting things about the scenery around Maguu is that the whole area is covered in large boulders,” said Ali. “In fact, there is one rock we walked to, called Mbuji rock, that is so large it has a soccer field on the top!” Villagers, who speak Kimatango, Kiswahili (Swahili) and English, farm for a living, tending their fields six days a week. They rely heavily on their main cash crop—coffee. In addition to coffee, they also grow maize (a type of corn), beans, potatoes and cassava (a staple root plant). The local market and some of the wealthier citizens’ homes do have electricity and water pumps are available in the local market. For most of the villagers, however, there is no electricity, and many walk at least 15 minutes from their homes to fill buckets with water.

“Most of my students were living in abject poverty, but they managed to still smile and truly find the meaningful aspects of their daily lives,” recalls Ali. “Seeing the beauty and strength of life through their eyes was definitely rewarding.”

The Challenges of Teaching Ali taught English grammar and basic math to about the equivalent of 8th and 9th grade students, who had no formal training in English. Class sizes were very large and Ali struggled with the sheer number of students, the inadequate teaching facilities and the students’ learning styles.

“My classes were anywhere from 50 to 100 students, which made it impossible to make sure that all my students understood a lesson before moving on,” explained Ali. “Very often, my students couldn’t see the board to correctly copy something down; this was incredibly frustrating when you are teaching students who are used to learning through rote memorization. But, in the end, I saw progress; it may not have been leaps and bounds, but it was progress none-the-less.” One of Ali’s greatest rewards came from getting to know her individual students. On weekends, she was invited to students’ houses to eat with and meet their families or guardians. “Sometimes it was really difficult to strike up a conversation when my students’ English skills were sub-par, but I usually got to hear about their lives and aspirations,” said Ali. “There were so many times when my culture clashed up against theirs, and I just had to hold my tongue. What was fun was trying to find some middle ground, or figuring out how many aspects of my daily life at home were really just not that important.”

Preparation for Success During her tenure in the CoB, Ali took full advantage of the numerous opportunities to study abroad, which helped define her future career path. “Through the College of Business, I was able to visit, work and study in ten different countries,” said Ali. “My first time ever leaving the U.S. was to participate in a study abroad program through the College of Business in Ireland. I then was able to intern in Japan and helped some students learn

Teaching in Tanzania

“ But, in the end, i saw progress; it may not have been leaps and bounds, but it was progress none-the-less.”

Ali Bittinger

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a business simulation game in Lithuania. These experiences sparked my desire to work abroad and interact with international cultures on a daily basis.” Ali also discovered the academic training she received through the CoB and MSU helped prepare her to teach in Tanzania. “The College of Business helped prepare me to be a good leader and a critical thinker; I had to use both of these skills to make it through each day of teaching,” said Ali. “Additionally, the College helped develop my abilities to communicate effectively, both in public and within a small group setting. All of those group projects paid off!” Two of Ali’s most influential mentors were CoB management professor, Bill Brown, and management adjunct instructor, Craig Ehlert, each of whom helped Ali realize her potential. Professor Vince Smith, in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics, was also instrumental in guiding Ali’s education. “Each of these professors was interested in getting to know who I was as a person rather than just a student,” said Ali. “They had high expectations for their students and pushed us to succeed. I left with a great deal of respect for these individuals.”

The Road Ahead Ali is currently enrolled in the master of science program in applied economics at MSU and plans to travel to Singapore and Thailand in 2009. After completing her master’s degree, she plans to continue her education through the Ph.D. program in development and trade economics at the University of Minnesota. “I see myself working abroad and would love to be in a country doing grassroots research,” said Ali. “I’m not sure what my ideal career is, but I do know that I need to be doing something that allows me to talk and learn from the people I’m trying to help.” Ali’s experiences in Africa were life changing, and while she concedes that living in a village in Africa is not for everyone, she says, “I do think that everyone should stretch their comfort zones a bit and experience life in a different culture. Not only do you learn about other lifestyles and values, you come to appreciate more aspects of your own culture. And ultimately, you learn more about yourself: your abilities, strengths, weaknesses, values; you have more tools to figure out how to shape your own life.”

Teaching English in Maguu

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a handful of recent Montana State University graduates have turned a passion for fly-fishing into an entrepreneurial business venture.

Hatchopedia.com, a user-based fishing report Web site launched in May, is the brainchild of five graduates from the MSU College of Business (CoB) and another from the College of Arts and Architecture’s graphic design department. “The site is set up so that an angler going fishing can get on the site and find out what other anglers have used in the same spot,” said Nick Bennett, 23, one of the business’s founders and a 2008 CoB graduate. Anglers share a variety of information on the site, including what flies they’ve had success with and water and weather conditions. Reports can be made for any stretch of water in Montana, though the group is currently focusing on the state’s main waterways. Anyone can peruse the site whether they share information or not, Bennett added, but the idea is that the more useful anglers find the site, the more they’ll want to share information themselves. Bennett said Hatchopedia.com also sets itself apart from fishing reports typically associated with fishing stores by having more current information.

The site is free for its users, and the company sells advertising to generate income. Advertisements on Hatchopedia.com are not limited to fishing-related goods; rather, ads run for a variety of products and services, ranging from bug spray to fishing guides, medical kits and log cabins. Five of the company’s six founders, Bennett, Dustin Diefenderfer, Will Bauerle, Jacob Parks and Mike Antonczyk, dreamed up the idea for the site while working together at a local company. Bennett said that company was focusing on collaboration among executives in the business world, and the five thought the same sort of talking and information sharing would make fishing reports more useful. The five enlisted a sixth to be part of the team, and the group then started working to create the Web site, sell advertisements and market the site. Some of the hardest tasks, Bennett said, have been creating the site itself, working to make it more

user-friendly and getting the word out, which Bennett said the group is trying to do in a “grass-roots” sort of way. He also said the group has been receiving lots of positive

feedback, and they hope to expand Hatchopedia.com within a year with sites for Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado. Though all of the founders work jobs in addition to the time they put in on the Hatchopedia project, Bennett says it’s worth it because they’re all avid fishermen who reap the benefits of the site themselves. For a group of entrepreneurs, he says it’s also rewarding to put into practice some of what they learned during their studies at MSU. “This is a huge learning curve,” Bennett said. “But I think our time at MSU really prepared us for this.”

MSU Grads Hatch Online Fishing Reporting Business

—Anne Pettinger, MSU News Service

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associate Professor of Accounting Gil Crain contributed to the successes of many students in his 33 years teaching in the Montana State

University College of Business (CoB). As many of you may be aware, Gil passed away on July 1, 2008 after a courageous battle with multiple myeloma. He joined the CoB faculty in the fall of 1974 and taught governmental and not-for-profit accounting classes. In addition to teaching, Crain was also heavily involved with the CoB Accounting Advisory Council, established in 2004. He retired from MSU in the spring of 2007 and finished his career teaching at the University of Illinois in Springfield. Gil’s memorial can be found at http://www.montana.edu/cob/Alumni_and_Friends/GilCrainMemorial.html. In honor of Gil’s accomplishments, an Accounting Student Scholarship has been established. The funds received in Gil’s honor will be designated to scholarships for students enrolled in the accounting option at the CoB The first goal of this initiative is to raise a minimum of $1,000 annually, with the intent to award a scholarship for an accounting student in the spring of 2009. We aspire to raise a minimum of $25,000 over the next five years to set up a lasting endowment in Gil’s name. Any amount we raise above the initial goal will increase the amount that can be awarded in the future. The funds will be placed in a CoB memorial account specifically set up in Gil Crain’s name. If you are interested in supporting this scholarship, checks should be made payable to the MSU Foundation and returned to: MSU Foundation, Inc., 1501 S. 11th Avenue, Bozeman, MT 59717. Please put the following on the memo line of your check: Gil Crain Scholarship #92671 Project BU003. You may also give on-line at http://giving.montana.edu using the “Online Donation Form”

(for electronic submission) or “Print Form” (print out and send with your check or credit card payment). Remember, your employer will often match your donation, so please be sure to check with your company’s human resources department for more information about matching gifts. If you have any questions regarding Gil’s memorial, please contact Jackie Sather, Director of Development for the CoB at 406-994.6766 or G. Todd Williamson (‘95) at 406-582-1105.

Gil Crain Accounting Student Scholarship Established

Gil Crain

We Can Start a Strong Future TodayEach year we invite our alumni, friends, foundations, faculty and staff to make a gift in support of Montana State University’s College of Business (CoB). Perhaps you responded to our student callers when they phoned during the annual phone-a-thon, or you participated in an event or sponsorship. You may have placed the CoB in your will, created a planned giving option or paid tribute to a friend or loved one, making a donation in their honor. We may have assisted you in setting up an endowment to fund an initiative you believe in. Thank you for your generous support this past year! The impact of your gift, as we make our way through this challenging economic time, now more than ever, truly makes a difference. The MSU Foundation endowment accounts have faced the same challenges as many of you have experienced with your individual investments. The good news is that our accounts have performed well under the circumstances. You can be confident that your gift is being managed wisely and we will use the funds effectively. Continued on the next page

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Hometown: Bozeman, mt Employer: sony Online entertainment, seattle, Wa

Option/year graduated: marketing 2006 Current location: Bellevue, Wa

Fondest College of Business (CoB) memory: My first day of classes at the College of Business was easily my fondest CoB memory. Once I got back into Bozeman after evacuating Tulane University New Orleans (due to Hurricane Katrina), I was desperately trying to figure out how I could continue my education. Katrina and Tulane both put me in an awkward position, but after explaining my predicament to the MSU and CoB faculty/staff, I began attending classes two days after I got back home. I will never forget walking into Dr. Dana’s Negotiations class that Friday and immediately feeling at home with the other students. Likewise, I will never forget MSU and the CoB’s generosity for letting me continue my education with such great students and professors.

Favorite class and/or professor: During my time at MSU, my two favorite classes were MGMT 480, Negotiations with Dr. Dana and the senior capstone class, BUS 474, with Dr. Brown.

What was the most important thing you learned at the CoB? The most important thing I’ve learned from the CoB has been how to work efficiently as a team when each team member is specialized in a different discipline. Out in the real world, teamwork is crucial to getting things done and done well. Nothing kills a project faster than a team that’s poorly organized, has in-fighting, and can’t facilitate good feedback practices. The senior seminar is a great way for students to get exposed to this, and those that understand how important teamwork is will have lots to take away from that class.

What have you been up to since graduation? Two months after I graduated from MSU, I started grad school at The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University in Plano, Texas. I completed their 21-month master’s program and have a Master’s of Interactive Technology in Digital Game Development with specialization in Level Design. I graduated from the Guildhall in March 2008 and started my career at Sony Online Entertainment in August 2008. I’m still new to the company and learning quite a bit, but I have been, and continue, to make great contributions to our current project, The Agency.

What is a level designer? A level designer is a videogame developer that specializes in creating spaces that present the different experiences a game has to offer to the players. The main goal of the level designer is to take the assets created by the artists, game designers, and programmers and create levels that have fun, interesting, and meaningful gameplay. Level designers come in many forms. Some may have artistic abilities (environmental art) while other may have more technical abilities (scripting). Regardless of their form, level designers have one thing in common, they create the player experience.

What are the best aspects of being a level designer? The best part about being a level designer is you are directly responsible for creating the fun areas and scenarios that gamers experience in the game. The “wow” moments and immersive gameplay are what players remember after playing through a well crafted game experience. These memories are in part due to the efforts of level designers. It’s a great feeling to see people having a blast with a product you helped bring to life.

What are the most challenging aspects of being a level designer? The two main challenging elements I see level designers face are working within constraints and living up to player expectations. With each new blockbuster game, player expectations on quality rise (and rightfully so). This isn’t just limited to wanting better visuals; it also includes more fun play experiences. Continuing to deliver high quality products to a very demanding but awesome audience does induce stress. Being able to keep creativity in check so that it meets the criteria of the constraints is hard enough, but making sure the end result is fun is the biggest challenge. Part of why I love level design is because of these challenges. They make developers push themselves to improve and make better products.

Who is Clancy Powell?

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Best relaxation technique: Nothing makes me more relaxed than playing games. Games have been a part of my life as long as I can remember, so it’s very comforting to play them. My mind constantly thinks about things, so games provide a nice break from reality and a chance for my mind to decompress. They give me the opportunity to have fun as well, learn from other great game developers, and expand my creativity.

What is your favorite game? My favorite strategy game is far and away StarCraft. It was developed by Blizzard Entertainment and is over 10 years old now. However, it continues to be played world-wide by thousands, if not millions of players. Doom and Doom II, developed by id software, are my favorite shooter games. Deus Ex and Baldur’s Gate II, developed by Ion Storm and Black Isle/Bioware respectively, are my favorite role playing games. World of Warcraft, developed by Blizzard Entertainment, is one of my favorite massively multiplayer online (MMO) games. The world has no shortage of content and the lore that exists in the world, should players take the time to discover it, is quite interesting and entertaining. The gameplay is good on its own, but when playing with good friends, it’s that much more fun. WoW provides a very solid cooperative experience.

What are your future plans? While I plan on remaining involved in the videogame industry for the foreseeable future, I plan on eventually including game design along side level design as one of my disciplines that I’m good at. I will also get involved in game development education as a professor sometime down the road. The future always lies within the youth, and I feel it will be my responsibility and obligation to help prepare our youth for the future, as my mentors and professors have done for me.

Describe something fun and interesting you have been a part of for work. This year will be my third consecutive year attending the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, but the first year as an industry professional. GDC is a place where many of the game industry’s greatest talent comes together to discuss all things related to game development in the form of lectures, panels, postmortems, keynote speeches, and tutorials. I learn something new every time I go as well as meet exciting people, both noobies [newcomers] and veterans alike, who put hope in the future of game development. One day, I hope to be one of the developers sharing knowledge at a postmortem or lecture. GDC this year is March 23-27, so if you have an interest in meeting game developers, learning more about the industry, and networking with many great people, this is a great way to do it. Hope to see some of you there!

Describe the perfect day. My perfect day is a rather simple one. A perfect day is one that includes but is not limited to: going to work to help make a great game, going home and playing a great game for fun and for research, and spending time with family and friends. Doing what I’m passionate about and visiting those who supported me to live my dream couldn’t be a better day.

What is the one piece of career advice you would give a recent graduate? Take the time to find what you are passionate about and work your way toward making that passion your career. Living your dream is much more rewarding, motivating, and productive than merely wishing you were living your dream. The journey to get to where you want to be is not easy by any means, but it’s worth the effort when you finally arrive. Do all you can now to the best of your abilities, since what you do now is an investment in your future.

Gifts to the CoB help in many different ways, but each gift is important to the overall financial stability of the College. Your support enables us to create and maintain programs that enhance our College’s mission of providing excellence in undergraduate business education and our Master of Professional Accountancy programs. Annual gifts are vital because they meet the College’s present needs. Endowments provide a perpetual source of support, creating greater financial security and stability for the College through funding that can be counted on each year. Planned giving and estate gifts ensure that your goals are met in a way that you vision. A list of our last year’s donors can be found on the final pages of this report. If you were not able to give to the CoB this past year, we invite you to join the hundreds who have demonstrated their generosity and support. You are encouraged to contact Jackie Sather, director of development for the CoB to explore options of giving that best fit your visions. She will offer suggestions that match your goals and will direct your gift in a way that is satisfying and best meets your financial needs and philanthropic wishes. Contact her today and together you can set up a giving plan that works best for you! For more charitable giving information, please contact Jackie Sather, Director of Development for the MSU College of Business. Phone: 406-994-6766 or e-mail: jsather@montana.edu

We Can Start a Strong Future Today, cont.

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ds Recent Graduates

Kaycee (Armstrong) Majxner

Option/year graduated: B.S., Marketing; B.A., Spanish (Dec. 2003/May 2004)

Current occupation: Strategic Planner at Ad Agency

Employer: Thomas Taber & Drazen

Current location: Denver, Colorado

Fondest CoB memory: Singing and dancing to Michael Jackson at the Broadway Night Club (Brodvejus) in Vilnius, Lithuania

Most interesting place you have visited: Lithuania

Best relaxation technique: Reading, watching football or movies

Describe the perfect day: Waking up to a hot breakfast with my husband and all our friends on the first day of an all-expense paid vacation to a foreign country.

Luke SolomonsonOption/year graduated: B.S., Management (2006)

Current occupation: Research Analyst

Employer: McKinsey & Company

Current location: Madrid, Spain

Fondest CoB memory: Chatting with Bob Diggs.

Favorite class(es) and/or professor(s): International Management with Susan Dana, Senior Seminar with Laura Black and International Marketing with Marty Ostermiller.

Most interesting place you have visited: Tough question… 1) US Army Bases in Kuwait 2) Craters of the Moon National Monument 3) Sarajevo

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Matt NeeceOption/year graduated: B.S., Finance (2006)

Current occupation: Assistant Manager – Private Equity (Fund Services)

Employer: Perpetual Limited

Current location: Sydney, NSW, Australia

Fondest CoB memory: Finishing Durham’s tests

Favorite class and/or professor: Frank Kerins and Greg Durham

Most interesting place you have visited: Barcelona, Spain, Brugge, Belgium...or South Island, New Zealand.

Best relaxation technique: Surfing or a glass of red.

Describe the perfect day: The perfect day would be waking up to a few feet of fresh snow, no lift lines and freshies all day.

Morgan SmithOption/year graduated: B.S., Accounting/MPAc (2006/2007)

Current occupation: CPA, public accounting firm

Employer: JCCS Certified Public Accountants and Business Advisors

Current location: Bozeman, Montana

Fondest CoB memory: MPAc graduation at the Museum of the Rockies.

Favorite class and/or professor: Accounting 525 with Marc Giullian – it’s where I learned the most about accounting.

Most interesting place you have visited: Costa Rica

Best relaxation technique: Watching old “Sex & the City” episodes.

Describe the perfect day: A bright, sunny, summer Saturday in Bozeman, spending the day floating and the evening BBQ’ing with friends at home.

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honor roll of Donors

individuals

ABehrooz ‘84 & Sharon ‘83 AbdiJohn ‘67 & Margaret Adams IIITravis Addington ‘93 & Linda

Sarver-Addington ‘94Frank ‘68 & Bonnie ‘68 AhlJames ‘07 & Connie ‘71 AldersonKent ‘62 & Claudia ‘62 AldrichJenifer ‘93 & Bill AlgerMark ‘79 & Laura ‘79 AllisonTimothy ‘93 & Stacey AlzheimerThomas Ames ‘49John ‘99 & Angela ‘00 AmmannJohn ‘84 & Marianne ‘88 AmsdenRonald Anderson ‘68Jon Anderson ‘96Michael ‘93 & Margie ‘93 ArnstKristine ‘74 & Keith ArntzenEdwin ‘54 & Esther AthertonTory Atkins ‘95 & Torrian

Dean-Atkins ‘98Terry ‘79 & Susana Averett

BRalph Bachmeier ‘65Philip ‘70 & Priscilla ‘71 BaileyKevin ‘87 & Elizabeth ‘89 BaileyRobert ‘76 & Annette ‘78 BakerCarolyn ‘81 & David BakkerDorothy BallantyneBette Ballbach ‘56Ted Bangert ‘87

James ‘77 & Debra ‘75 BangsScott ‘96 & Rosalie ‘94 BarndtRussell ‘82 & Michele BarrettGary ‘67 & Nina BartolettEarl ‘73 & Connie ‘73 BartramJohn ‘71 & Shihoko BeagleJack ‘62 & Sara Beals Jr.Brandon ‘97 & Susan ‘98 BeaversDennis ‘77 & Cheryl BechtoldSue ‘81 & Don BeckerLouise Bell ‘48Stephen Bennett ‘66Lori ‘91 & Rodney BennettBradley ‘00 & Molly BergSuzanne ‘94 & Michael BerglundBradley ‘95 & Doris BergumGary & Sylvia ‘66 BerkramFrancis ‘57 & Marlene BerresStuart ‘81 & Janet ‘81 BertolinoLyle ‘76 & Peggy ‘80 BiekertRichard ‘84 & Susan BierwagenJoDean ‘88 & Douglas BingJulie Birrer ‘78Vernon ‘67 & Sharon ‘68 BitzRobert ‘72 & Annette ‘73 BjellandDavid ‘86 & Max BlakeJoan ‘87 & Gregory BlakeVicki Blakeman ‘92Bryant Blewett ‘63 & Ellen MarshallDorothy Bock ‘46Kevin Bokovoy ‘93 & Brenda

Quay-Bokovoy ‘92Margaret Boswell ‘02Frank ‘78 & Cheryl Boucher Jr.Loren & Jill Bough

James ‘90 & Kristen ‘90 BowditchDuane ‘72 & Darlene BowenJohn ‘61 & Sessaly BoydDorothy Bracken ‘63Curtis Braden ‘80William ‘56 & Jean ‘57 BradfordRobert ‘86 & Karee ‘86 BradfordKarla ‘85 & Everett BredingRosvel ‘67 & Agnes BrekhusMargie ‘50 & Gerald BrickleyRichard Bronec ‘04Robert ‘63 & Kathleen BrownRita ‘89 & Todd BrownJarvis ‘94 & Sue BrownBrian ‘95 & Shelby ‘96 BrownBarbara ‘95 & Richard BrownJay ‘77 & Lynne ‘77 BrowneCraig ‘63 & Susan BryantTodd ‘98 & Brooke ‘98 BuchananFrank ‘70 & Patty BuckleyTodd ‘04 & Kapri ‘06 ByrneMartin ‘89 & Brenda ‘94 Byrnes

CTarn ‘92 & Courtney CallisJohn Camden ‘73Tanya ‘78 & David CameronEdward ‘63 & Judith CameronDon ‘93 & Shavon ‘93 Cape Jr.KrisAnn ‘87 & Brian CarlsenJames ‘68 & Patricia CarlsonCasey Carlson ‘92 & Kathleen

Schakel-Carlson ‘92Julie Carlson ‘99

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Susan Carstensen ‘85 & Larry Haferman ‘83

Theodore ‘59 & Virginia CarterRay ‘88 & Kim ‘86 CenterVan ‘79 & Mary CharltonColleen Chase ‘00Dela ‘94 & Nathan ChatriandCynthia Chauner-Niendorf ‘70 &

Dana NiendorfJohn ‘73 & John CheethamChris & Anne ChristensenRobert ‘58 & Sally ClarkBrian ‘82 & Marie ‘82 ClarkJames ‘88 & Peggy CoggeshallMary ‘99 & Eugene ColeMarcia ‘85 & Tim ColemanWilliam ‘90 & Melissa CollinsChristine Connors ‘87Kenneth ‘94 & Stacie ‘96 ConnorsKevin ‘03 & Patricia ‘84 CookMadeline Cooper ‘77Scott Countryman ‘95Karrie ‘91 & Charles CrabtreeDerron ‘88 & Tammi CraftSteven ‘88 & Stacey ‘88 CraigBradley Craig ‘86Russell ‘81 & Lora CrawfordJean ‘67 & Harold CressSteven ‘73 & Donna CrossenGuy ‘58 & Betty ‘58 CroweRobert ‘88 & Mary Jo CullitonSusan ‘80 & Bill CunninghamChristopher Curran ‘06

DPatrick ‘88 & Ennea DaileyBoyd Dailey ‘93Andrew & Susan DanaRichard ‘72 & Kathleen DanzerBrian ‘76 & Rebecca ‘78 De PuydtGary ‘88 & LeAnne ‘92 DeFranceRichard Deming ‘79 & Julie

Bennett ‘90Donald ‘63 & Marilyn ‘61 DerksTerry ‘64 & Elizabeth DesmondMichael ‘80 & Janet ‘80 DevousArdyce DeVries ‘96Timothy ‘82 & Laza Dietz

Ron Dissly ‘64Patricia Doherty ‘92Samuel ‘84 & Kimberly DoleRebecca ‘88 & Robert DonohoJeane ‘72 & Dennis DowningJames ‘60 & Jane DrainGail ‘72 & Gerald DuganPatricia Dunn ‘88

EJoseph ‘93 & Jami ‘92 EarsleyVicki ‘89 & Brian EggebrechtDaniel ‘73 & Lottie ‘73 EggenMichael ‘75 & Donita EideKenneth ‘92 & Holly Eiden IIIBonnie ‘80 & Ray EisenbiesMonte ‘64 & Sylvia EliasonTodd ‘74 & Arlene ‘77 EliasonBrenda ‘85 & Shaun EmerickWilliam ‘60 & Kay EpperlyGillian Erlandson ‘07Deborah Ernst ‘88Tanya ‘93 & Christopher EsquedaRobert ‘81 & Jamie EvansRobert ‘52 & Loraine ‘53 Eyman

FKirk ‘77 & Andrea FalconChad Farrington ‘97Joseph ‘96 & Carrie ‘01 FaulhaberNorman ‘91 & Cheryl ‘91 Faulkner Jr.Jerod Fehrenbach ‘02Lawrence ‘61 & Frankie FicklerDale ‘97 & Rhonda ‘94 FieldSheila ‘73 & Dennis FincoDonne ‘62 & Barbara ‘62 FisherJames ‘88 & Marcy ‘87 FisherRobert Fitzsimmons ‘77Michael & C H FontenotMargaret ‘02 & Dave FosterCharles Fralick ‘69Kendra Freeck ‘06Donald French ‘07Thomas ‘69 & Kathleen FrisbyAlan ‘81 & Debby FuhrmanErin ‘01 & Jason Furr

GHazel Galbreth ‘37Sam & Teresa GaneStephen ‘97 & Jan GerlMarca ‘84 & David GibsonBryan ‘86 & Anita GilbertsonPaul Gill ‘68 & Jo Graves-GillRobert ‘67 & Sandra ‘67 GivenGary Gliko ‘73Merrilee Glover ‘96Stephanie Good ‘89 &

Judson BunkleyKelli Goodian-Delys ‘86Lyle ‘69 & Evelyn GormanDale Grabofsky ‘80Carl ‘84 & Cynthia GrahamDana ‘90 & Sandy GreenfieldStephen Greytak ‘83 & Cheryl

Neithercott ‘83Leif ‘86 & Leanne ‘86 GriffinJoan Griffith ‘86Denis ‘73 & Lilly GrigsbyNorman ‘68 & Patricia GrosfieldBillie Gunn ‘05Gary Gustafson ‘76

HDavid ‘81 & Shirley ‘82 HaidleKaye Hamby ‘90Allan ‘52 & Mary ‘51 HammellDouglas ‘01 & Staci ‘03 HammellMarjorie Hanes ‘50James ‘93 & Dawn HankelMarianna ‘82 & Carl HansenKerry Hanson ‘93Brendan & Ann HansonMary Hardy ‘01Eric ‘85 & Kimberly ‘85 HarlingtonCrystal ‘94 & Chris HarrietMegan HarringtonJamie Harris ‘72William ‘60 & Diana ‘62 Hart Jr.Richard ‘70 HarteWilliam ‘69 & Carolyn ‘86 HartsogRonald ‘66 & Sandra ‘63 HauganJeremy ‘89 & Monica HaukTracy ‘90 & James Hawbaker

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Amy ‘90 & Kittredge HawkinsLeRoy Hayes ‘80Harold & Reta HaynesBarbara ‘85 & Scott HeckPaul ‘55 & M. Jean ‘56 HeinRachel ‘92 & Ned HeitzScott ‘91 & Traci HendersonLaura Hermansen ‘74David Hill ‘84Per ‘86 & Susan ‘86 HjalmarssonBrent ‘82 & Connie HjelvikKathleen ‘78 & Greg HodginsE. Hoffart ‘49Kevin ‘99 & Wendy ‘98 HoffmannChris ‘79 & Tracy HoinessGayle Hokanson ‘76Shirley Holje ‘51Daniel Holland ‘85 & Kim

Barnicoat-Holland ‘85Scott ‘98 & Jennie ‘96 HoltonMichael ‘87 & Kristen HopePeter Horn ‘65Nancy ‘74 & James HornHeather ‘95 & Matt HoughStanley ‘87 & Diane ‘87 Hould Jr.Barry ‘90 & Frieda ‘90 HouserKaren Howard ‘83Kevin ‘94 & Robin HubleyFranklin ‘60 & Sarah ‘60 HuckinsDonald ‘68 & Leslie ‘68 HuffmanMichael ‘78 & Marlene ‘86 HughesVincent ‘88 & Anne ‘87 HullWilliam ‘74 & Marguerite

Humenczuk IIStephen & Merissa HuntWilliam ‘52 & Elizabeth ‘51 HuppJody ‘96 & Petra ‘97 HurstAngela Huschka ‘95

IRoberta Ice ‘41Walter ‘60 & Betty ImlayIndependent DistributorsRoger ‘85 & Betsy ‘88 IndrelandDwaine ‘76 & Barbara ‘77 Iverson

JWade ‘83 & Susan JacobsenJames Jacobson ‘84 & Karen SchulzRobert & Bette JaedickeJanet B Lee, CPAJoseph Janhunen ‘85Tyler ‘92 & Kim ‘93 JensenLarry Jensen ‘93Sheri ‘78 & Carl JessenSteven ‘80 & Dana JohnsonGordon ‘83 & Linda ‘85 JohnsonAngie Johnson ‘93James ‘64 & Sharon JohnstonKenneth ‘50 & Evelyn ‘49 JonesCharles Jones ‘83Jim ‘68 & Catherine ‘92 Jupka

KAlan & Jean KahnSam ‘48 & Helen ‘46 Kaisler Jr.Timothy Kalberg ‘82Scott ‘96 & Jolyn ‘96 KanningBrett ‘99 & Carlen ‘03 KeasterKerry ‘76 & Susan ‘76 KegelMartha KelseyVickie Kemmerer ‘89LeAnne ‘87 & Timothy KindredSusan ‘80 & C. KingPhilip ‘60 & Anne KirkRichard ‘69 & MaryLyn KleshAlice KlostemanJay ‘83 & Sandra KlosterDonald ‘77 & Lynn KnightClark Knopik ‘93Mark Kohoutek ‘78 & Patty

Murphy-KohoutekDennis ‘82 & Wendy KolbTeri KolnikCurtis ‘97 & Jennifer ‘99 KonvalinJulie ‘03 & Jason KosteleckyKurtis ‘67 & Jill KostyMarlene ‘54 & Richard KovashTeresa Krohn ‘75Douglas Kroll ‘84George ‘70 & Mary KrollRobert ‘75 & Millie KruseMichael ‘99 & Heather ‘99 Kubas

Jim ‘84 & Sheri ‘83 KumpReuben ‘72 & Elizabeth Kuntz

LKenneth ‘76 & Carolyn LaddusawShauna Laden ‘95Susan ‘85 & John LagerquistDuane ‘67 & Mary Ann ‘68 LammersCraig Langel ‘73Sheri ‘84 & Steven LarsenCheryl Larson ‘77Carl Leaman Jr. ‘63Janet Lee ‘79Edwin ‘75 & Jann ‘77 LeppienScott ‘82 & Teresa ‘82 LeProwseTimothy LeutholdMiea ‘97 & Brad LeveryGerald Lewis ‘82Patrick ‘92 & Jaclyn LewisMichael ‘95 & Erica ‘96 LewisChris ‘98 & Jan LienThomas ‘98 & Carla ‘90 LixRichard ‘87 & Patricia LodmellJoseph ‘62 & Sharlene LoendorfMichalyn Longie ‘87Brian ‘64 & Patricia ‘64 LoucksRobert ‘70 & Victoria LouieJean ‘82 & Steve LuckeyRandal ‘79 & Teri ‘79 Lund

MMarjorie MacClean ‘48Thomas ‘79 & Janel ‘82 MadrazoBarbara Malone ‘57Blake Malone ‘05Maureen Maloughney ‘85Scott ‘86 & Malena ‘86 MarchCraig ‘87 & Janice ‘87 MarshallAnthony ‘84 & Christie ‘89 MartelDouglas ‘77 & Patricia MartinVirginia MartinAndrew & Melissa MartzloffLyle ‘85 & Sarah MatternPaul MatteucciDiana ‘89 & Jon MattfeldtDavid ‘84 & Suzanne ‘86 MattsonJim ‘82 & Jacqueline ‘83 MaunderEdythe McCleary ‘49

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Joan McCormick ‘72Sydney ‘81 & Robert McCueRaymond McIsaac ‘99Sheldon McKamey ‘74Steven ‘89 & Faith McNallyCarmen McSpaddenDennis ‘83 & Reva McSweeneyMatthew ‘05 & Nicole ‘06 MeliusMichael Menasco & Jamie

Sommers-Menasco ‘94Nancy Merritt ‘81Charles ‘54 & Sue ‘54 Metully Jr.Daniel MichelsGary ‘64 & Sandra ‘65 MihelishLarry ‘84 & Lynda MikkolaWayne ‘62 & Carol ‘62 MillerGerald ‘61 & Donnalee ‘61 MillerScott Miller ‘85Charles ‘77 & Cathy MitchellDavid ‘89 & Kathleen ‘85 MitchellLyle & Carla MitchellBrett ‘78 & Elaine MoatsRussell Molstad ‘86Michael Monaghan ‘98Steven ‘84 & Susan ‘84 MooreDavid ‘81 & Eileen MorelandMichael ‘89 & Joni ‘91 MorellaPeter ‘93 & Dana ‘06 MorganSteven ‘90 & Jill ‘90 MorleyJames ‘80 & Karla ‘81 MortonDan MoshaviJoanne ‘72 & Glenn MrjenovichDonald ‘83 & Cathryn ‘82 MulryanMicki ‘97 & William MunroJohn & Norma MurdochJohn ‘69 & Judy ‘67 Murphy IIIKelly ‘83 & Mary ‘84 MurphyJohn ‘77 & Donna MyersAndrew ‘86 & Carol ‘87 Myxter

NTyson ‘00 & Kylee NaffzigerTeresa ‘96 & David NaseLynnette ‘82 & David NelsonKurt ‘84 & Gail NelsonScott Nelson ‘94Todd ‘95 & Patricia ‘92 NelsonLois ‘49 & Joseph NemesJohn ‘68 & Judy ‘66 Nerison

William Nesbit ‘67Gordon ‘80 & Reba ‘79 NeumannRodger ‘84 & Laura NordahlDaren ‘93 & Shelby ‘94 NordhagenSara Nugent ‘00Douglas ‘82 & Laurene ‘82

Nunemaker

OSunny Odegard ‘98Jerry ‘67 & Kathy OldsMary OlsonDonald Olsson ‘00Delores Osnik ‘41Larry ‘66 & Joan OstbyDonna Spitzer-Ostrovsky ‘87 & Jack

Ostrovsky

PJames ‘76 & Judy PaffhausenSiri ‘93 & Jeffrey PannellGwendolyn Paquette ‘73Budge Parker ‘71 & Sharon

Bonogofsky-Parker ‘75Bruce & Lisa ‘81 ParkerWilliam Parnell ‘69Mark ‘05 & Jessica ‘03 PaskeWarren ‘78 & Marcia ‘78 PatrickDerek ‘86 & Camille PattenHarlan ‘77 & Linda ‘77 PattersonDon ‘56 & Mary PattersonRobert ‘62 & Mary PeckWilliam ‘50 & Jean PedenButch & Linda PeiperPamela Peiper ‘06Laura & David ‘94 PerettoRichard Peterson ‘78Larry ‘64 & Mary PetersonLowell ‘60 & Deborah PetersonJohn ‘68 & Lorraine PetersonJim ‘78 & Cindy PetersonDouglas ‘75 & Marcia PetersonClifford & Myrtle PetersonJason Peyovich ‘01Andrew ‘02 & Kristin ‘02 PiccioniJoyce ‘71 & Thomas PickardLynne ‘80 & David PinnickCharles ‘92 & Rebecca ‘92 Pipal

Kenneth ‘91 & Donna ‘91 PottsNorma ‘71 & Richard Pruett

RMargaret Randle ‘70 & Guy LoganKeith ‘96 & Aaron ‘96 RanisateGary Rankin ‘79Vickie Rauser ‘81Bruce & Valerie RaymondDarryl ‘75 & Susan RazzanoWilliam RedmondAllen ‘66 & Georgann ‘66 ReelBrent ‘84 & Mary RehmVerlin ‘74 & Patricia ‘74 ReicheltRichard ‘82 & Carrie ReisigCurtis ‘89 & Mary Reynolds Jr.Mary Reynolds ‘03Andrew ‘77 & Janice RiceDavid ‘75 & Nancy ‘76 RiggMarla Riley ‘56Benjamin ‘83 & Dierdre ‘82 RixeJoseph ‘85 & Susan ‘86 RobertsJane Robertson ‘76Gerald Robinson ‘62Craig ‘85 & Jessica RobinsonSharon RobinsonMichael Robson ‘96Jeanne RobyHarry ‘48 & Mary RodenbergLisa ‘81 & Frederick RoeckJonathan ‘95 & Catherine ‘94 RoenBill Roscoe ‘74Ryan ‘03 & Dustin RoseCorbin ‘71 & Jody ‘94 RossHoward ‘64 & Margaret ‘77 RossDavid ‘92 & Melissa ‘04 RossLeif ‘69 & Barbara RoysMelanie ‘75 & Joseph RubyPreston ‘86 & JoLynn RudderowJoseph Ruffatto ‘73Daniel Ryan ‘71Kalli Ryti ‘92

SDwight SageFred Sagebaum ‘66Michael ‘74 & Rita ‘76 SandThomas ‘73 & Jackie Sather

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Colleen ‘79 & Ronnie SchaakAndrea Schatzka ‘03Bradley SchleppSusan Schloss ‘91Gerald ‘61 & Pamela SchmitzEmily Schmoker ‘07John Schuler ‘65Stacey ScottNathan Seibel ‘97Robert ‘90 & Katryn SeliskarTobin Shannon ‘95Robert ‘69 & Linda ‘70 SharplesLinda Shelhamer ‘76Carolinn Shibley ‘94Leslie Simonson ‘01Audrey Skinner ‘90Michael ‘71 & Carol SmithHenry ‘81 & Mary Smith Jr.Melanie ‘93 & Scott SmithMorgan Smith ‘07Violetta Sorokina ‘98Stephen ‘79 & Lois ‘81 SpencerScott St. John ‘00Kenneth ‘84 & Linda ‘81 StahleyCharles Stalnaker Jr. ‘72Maxine Stamper ‘51Brett ‘88 & Cindy SteneStephen J. Spencer, DDS, PLLCSamuel Stevenson ‘78Adrian Stevenson ‘62John Stickel ‘03Rachel Stockwell ‘05Frances Strodtman-Royer ‘77 &

Rodney RoyerJoseph SuteyGary Sutherland ‘69Murray ‘58 & Thea ‘52 SwensonRobin ‘71 & Carolyn ‘71 SwensonTed ‘50 & Dorothy Swift

TMargaret Taylor ‘40Wyman ‘53 & Dee TaylorSuzanne ‘99 & Scott ‘00 TaylorCarol ‘83 & Timothy TempelBob ‘77 & Deb ThomasBrian ‘98 & Laura ‘97 ThomasJohn ‘74 & Linda ‘73 ThompsonJames ‘66 & Margaret Thompson

Timothy ‘80 & Paige ‘80 ThompsonDavid ‘92 & Lynn ThompsonTimothy ‘74 & Cindy ThompsonScott ‘02 & Jill ‘02 ThompsonJerry ‘65 & Nancy ‘63 ThuesenKelly ‘89 & Elizabeth ‘87 TillemanSteve Timmerman ‘91Michael ‘89 & Kimberley TobiasonJoseph ‘81 & Kareene ToddDestry Toney ‘92Thomas ‘64 & Luanne TonkovichKathleen Tonkovich ‘88Karen ‘80 & Fred TownKarla Traeholt ‘88Jerry Trainer ‘55Paul ‘82 & Nicole Tucci

UForrest ‘67 & Linda UllmanTom Upton ‘89Daniel ‘86 & Donna ‘86 Upton

VPatricia ‘89 & Thomas ValenteDonna Van Luchene ‘79Curtis & Kristin ‘84 Van LucheneMichael VanDyken ‘87 & Elise

BurkartLindsey VanHemelryck ‘02Ronald Vaughn ‘83Brian Volk ‘95 & Diane

Lorengo-Volk ‘93Thomas ‘66 & Glenda VollertsenTroy ‘92 & Angela ‘93 Vollertsen

WLorie Wagner ‘83Theresa Waite ‘87Theodore ‘60 & Lucille WaldoPatricia Walker ‘80 & James AronowDonald ‘64 & Jacklyn WalkerJason ‘01 & Nichole ‘02 WalkerJerry Waller ‘67John ‘82 & Kathleen ‘83 WalshDonald ‘69 & Clarice ‘69 WaltersMichael ‘75 & Linda ‘75 WardWilliam ‘87 & Susan ‘87 WardJeanne Warden ‘50

Harvey ‘60 & Polly WarrenGary ‘78 & Connie WaylanderWillard ‘66 & Nancy WeaverRobert ‘80 & Cynthia ‘80 WeaverDeAnne ‘86 & Mike WeeksKimberly ‘89 & Jeff WellsRobert ‘81 & Keri WheelerJames Whitbeck ‘76Brett ‘95 & Jeanne ‘96 WhiteL. Willett ‘69Frank Willett ‘66 & Arleen BoydJames ‘62 & Marilyn WilliamsWilson ‘59 & Louise ‘57 WilliamsAngela Williams ‘93Loren ‘79 & Kimberly WillisGerald ‘74 & Sheri WinePriscilla WisnerDallas ‘80 & Debra ‘81 WivholmShelly Wong ‘97Timothy ‘82 & Julie ‘82 WoodGerald Woodahl ‘68David Worstell ‘90

YNina ‘82 Young & Bruce Scovill

ZBrent ‘93 & Jody ‘93 ZantoRobert ‘93 & Renee Zsidisin

Organizations

3M CompanyA & D Auto Body Repair, IncAmerican Federal Savings BankAdams Funding Resources, Inc.American BankAnderson ZurMuehlen & CO., P.C.Denise Andres of ERA LandmarkAskmore, Inc.Associated AppraisersAssociated Construction

Engineering, Inc.Bank of America CorporationBertolino Livestock Trucking, Inc.Big Sky Western Bank

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Blue Sky ResourcesBoeing CompanyBudget Instant Print, Inc.Butte-Silver Bow Chamber of

CommerceCardinal Distributing Co.Cargill, Inc.Carter Construction, Inc.Castronovo Financial Group, Inc.ChevronTexaco CorporationChico Hot SpringsClorox CompanyC.M. Capital FoundationD.A. DavidsonDavidson CompaniesDeloitte & ToucheDepuydt Farms, Inc.Eide Bailly LLPEli Lilly FoundationExcursion Home ImprovementsExterior Technology Systems, LLCFidelity Investments Charitable Gift

FundFinally, Inc. First Interstate BankFirst Interstate BancSystemFirst Interstate BancSystem

FoundationFirst Security Bank of BozemanFirst West, Inc.Galusha, Higgins & GalushaGeneral Business ServicesGrigsby Farms, Inc.Grubb and Ellis

Hamilton Misfeldt and CompanyHarrington Bottling Company ~

Pepsi ColaHarold and Reta Haynes Family

FoundationHeartland Financial USA, Inc.Highland Liquors, Inc.J&H Office Equipment, Inc.JM ConsultingJoseph Eve, CPAJunkermier, Clark, Campanella,

Stevens, P.C.Knees Butte Farm, Inc.KPMG LLPLyle E. Mitchell Insurance Agency, Inc.Madison Community FoundationMcCormick & Associates LLCMerrill Lynch & Co.Microsoft CorporationMicrosoft Giving CampaignMontana Bankers AssociationMontana Chamber of CommerceMontana Claims Service of BozemanMontana Community FoundationMontana Furniture GalleriesMontana Petroleum AssociationMontana Society of CPA’sMontana Society of Public

AccountantsMontana Travel Inc.Mountain West BankMountain West Benefit SolutionsMSU Alumni AssociationMSU Bookstore

NIKE, Inc.Northrop Grumman Space TechnologyO’Berry Cavanaugh, LLCOld ChicagoPaccar Inc.Payne Financial GroupPricewaterhouseCoopers, LLPPrintingForLess.com, Inc. RightNow TechnologiesRitland FarmRocky Mountain BankScott McFarland Insurance Agency, Inc.Security Title CompanySimkins-Hallin Lumber CompanySpirited Holdings, Inc.Sprint CorporationState Farm InsuranceState Farm Insurance ~ Tim MurphyState Farn Insurance ~ Jeff WeedinState Farm Mutual Automobile

Insurance Co.Sterling Savings BankStockman BankStudent Accounting ClubSun MountainThe Jerry M. Waller Living TrustThe Rocking R BarUltra Imaging, Inc.US Bancorp-BozemanWashington Group Foundation, Inc.Washington Mutual Savings BankJanice K. Whetstone Law Firm, P.C.Wind River Pediatrics

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Every effort has been made to ensure that all names are listed correctly. This list represents donations given in 2008. If your name has been inadvertently omitted or misspelled, please contact Jackie Sather at (406) 994-6766 or jsather@montana.edu.

Thank youto our

College of Business staff With another successful year behind us, the College wishes to take this

opportunity to thank:

The College of Business’ support staff

provides vital assistance to our administrative team, faculty and students

in a variety of ways. From preparing payroll, drafting budgets,

coordinating position searches, to faculty and student support, event planning,

and project management and development, they demonstrate hard work

and dedication to the College. We would like to express our gratitude

and appreciation for their support.

Karen Beach

Lisa Daniels

Rilla Esbjornson

Audrey Lee

Halina Rickman

Jackie SatherAlison Todd

Linda WardStanette Way

Marilyn Wiegand

PRESORT STANDARDU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT NO. 69

BOZEMAN, MT 59715

P.O. Box 173040Bozeman, MT 59717-3040

www.montana.edu/cob

(406) 994-4423

PeR fOR m a nce

R esPecT

InTegR iT y

Diligence

Eng agemenT