COBM Advisory Council

NEWS AROUND THE COLLEGE

NEIU Students in Great Lakes District Student Case Competition

One MBA and seven undergraduate students from the College of Business and Management (COBM), NEIU participated in the 2012 Great Lakes District Student Case Competition on February 24-25 in Downers Grove, IL:  Syed Bokhari (MBA), Natalie Cattouse, Claire Debandons, Julia Ilina, Anastasia Lennikova, Shawn Daniel Manaloto, Victor Sciborski, Alexander Ulyanov.

These students, as a team, competed with 30 other teams from universities in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, including Ohio State University, Purdue University at West Lafayette, University of Illinois, U of Wisconsin Madison, etc. The competition was centered on a case study in the field of Operations Management. Specifically for the given case, the students were required to identify and analyze potential solutions that address the problems in the case, and deliver their rationales in both written and oral formats. The results are encouraging: the overall performance ranks 10^th out of 31, but the writing component ranks 3^rd out of 31. Congratulations to our team!! For more details of competing schools and overall placements, please click here (http://www.apicsgreatlakes.org/ ).

About One Book per Semester: One Book per Semester for COBM includes reading of a common book per semester (except summers) by the participating faculty and students at College of Business and Management at NEIU.  Students and faculty discuss this book throughout the semester and will hold a number of Super Sessions whereas some students and faculty exchange and discuss their views on this book.

Author, Thomas Huynh was on campus on February 28, 2012 as a Keynote Speaker for our 11th Annual International Business Conference

Below is quoted from his blog following his visit to our campus:

"Yesterday I witnessed with own eyes the future business leaders of America. Yesterday I was at the business school of Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) in Chicago. US News and World Report named it the most ethnically diverse university in the Midwest and I can see why. What I saw was the entire spectrum of faces and backgrounds, a microcosm of America, or, dare I say, the world.

Our Art of War book was selected by NEIU as their "One Book per Semester" book for Spring 2012. I was further honored to be the keynote speaker last night and also participated in a student panel discussing Sun Tzu's Art of War.The NEIU students were precocious and all attention. They asked insightful questions -- and, in the case of the student panel, shared with each other the very best of Sun Tzu's principles: how they are relevant and why they can be helpful. They asked, learned, taught, analyzed, and simply had fun. I had fun too! They told their personal stories. From Teresa's story of her and her brother selling cars in Poland to Steve's story of falling through the roof in Korea while on active military duty there, they were all fascinating. My God, I simply can't wait to see where they will all be in five or ten years because they have the will and enthusiasm to be wherever they want to be.

I had the strong sense the administrators truly cared about their students and understood not only what their students are capable of but also the improvements they need to make. The professors, well, what can I say but they are like the dream team of instructors. They are not world famous, but to the students and me, they are better than that.

My speech focused on the business world with examples of how Sun Tzu's Art of War is being applied. However, I also focused on how they can apply Sun Tzu's Art of War in their personal lives, how they can approach problems, how they can resolve problems. There's a reason why a happiness course at Harvard University is the most popular course there -- smart young people really do need guidance on managing their emotions and coping with life's setbacks. Greek parents in olden times would send their kids to not only be educated in the sciences and practical disciplines but also how to live. Don't you think that's missing in our modern world? In the world of Facebook and Ipads, let's hope we can step back and truly say that technology in general has been a poor conduit to being a better person.

My speech and student panel were open to the public. The questions were excellent, deep and profound. Sometimes I had to slow myself down because there were multiple facets to their questions and I peeled away the layers one by one until I truly felt I fully answered their questions. When the executive director gave me a ride to my hotel afterwards, he said he felt I had changed the lives of people that night. I'm not going to pretend I didn't feel the same way too. So I felt glad and at peace.

In this special event I came to teach and teach I did. But I learned just as much from the admins, professors and especially students there as much as they learned from me. If NEIU were the universe, the universe would be in balance and heading toward better days for everyone everywhere. "

Online Classes in the College of Business and Management
More offerings are online this Summer, 2012

Undergraduate classes

ABF	350	51	Charletta Gutierrez	32221	IB
BLAW	285	51	Roger Reinsch	32251	IB
FINA	360	51	Nont Dhiensiri	32251	II
MNGT	370	51	Quimei (Jane) Xu	32282	IA
MNGT	377	51	Jian Li	22552	II-already full!

Graduate classes

In Spring 2009, the College began offering online courses.  Starting with a single class one semester, we will now offer eight online classes in Fall 2011.  Most of the classes are regular COBM undergraduate core course offerings, with a few Graduate Studies in Business offerings, especially for Phase I classes.

Online classes are taught using specific techniques so that communication occurs between the instructor, the student and among the entire class through electronic means.  Faculty who teach online have received special training in these techniques.  Class assignments deliver material over the internet, homework can be assigned and reviewed by the instructor, and individual feedback is given to students and the instructor.  There is a definite pacing of the coursework to coincide with a regular semester.  While some instructors are giving tests and never having in person contact with students, others are offering occasional on campus review sessions as well as asking students to come to campus for test taking, thereby functioning as what we call a hybrid course.

This new form of high tech learning is great for some of our students  because:

*  Some are employed full time who cannot take classes when they are normally offered
*  Individuals with situations where getting to campus creates a challenge (responsibilities at home)
*  Geographical difficulties due to work, residence, or even just lack of transportation
*  Those whose learning style might require more individualized pacing than available in a standard classroom.

A student signing up for an online class should have easy access to a computer and be comfortable with communication by electronic means.  Having a class online does not mean you can get a few assignments on line and do them at the last minute.  It involves a commitment to spending time on the computer to keep up with progressive assignments and can involve as much or more work than actually being in a class.  Being online mostly means that you do not have to commute to campus and you can do the work in your own time frame.

The biggest down side of online learning is the lack of face to face contact with an instructor and other students.  The value to a student depends on their individual situation and should include a personal evaluation of whether the benefits of taking a class online will outweigh any potential difficulties the student may anticipate.

If you have any questions about these classes you may speak with your advisor or contact the instructor with your concerns.

Accounting Degree Completion Program
at the
University Center of Lake County 

We are beginning to build a program extending the ability to earn an Accounting degree from Northeastern at the  University Center of Lake County.   The requirements for the a BS in Business with a major in Accounting are the same at UCLC as they are at main campus and we plan to be able to offer all the classes required for the degree in Grayslake as the program grows.  Faculty will be drawn from the same pool of faculty used on our main campus, and degree requirements will remain the same at both locations.

Class availability at UCLC will be supplemented by online classes as well, helping students avoid the commute into the city.  It is available to anyone who has completed the prerequisites for becoming an Accounting major at Northeastern (especially relevant for those who want to complete an Accounting degree and have already earned an Associates degree) and would prefer to go to class at the Lake County.  Actually, classes could be taken at both campusses.  Current students may opt to take classes in Lake County if that is more convenient.

Thomas J. Krissek
has been designated as the Coordinator for the Accounting Degree Completion Program at UCLC.  In addition to his office on the Chicago campus, Professor Krissek now has an office in Grayslake:

Telephone: 773-442-6154   Email: tj-krissek@neiu.edu
     Offices:  University Center Lake County  Room 305  Tuesdays and Thursdays   (10:30-4:00 pm)
NEIU Main Campus Chicago       CBM 137      Mondays and Wednesdays             

More news coming soon.