Professional Development Events for Students

by | Oct 18, 2018 | Careers In..., COBA Events, Current Students, Uncategorized

Students speak with Jeff Campbell of Southwest Airlines.

You may have heard it said before, but ACU’s College of Business Administration is not your typical business and technology school. Our mission is to educate business and technology students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world. We do this by providing exceptional academics, fostering spiritual growth, and providing students with unique opportunities to interact with professionals during their time here. We work hard to give students exposure to a variety of different businesses that lead to internships and entry0lvel career opportunities.

In October, ten different companies came to campus to speak in classes and lunches, participate in networking events and career fairs, and host on-campus interviews for jobs and internships. Southwest Airlines, Brazen Animation, USAA, Faithlife, KPMG, and PWC are just a few of the companies that come to network and recruit our students through these events. Anna ter Kuile, a senior computer science major from Nashville, Tennessee attended a networking lunch with USAA in the fall of 2017. She had the

David Mitchell from Faithlife Corporation speaks to a class.

opportunity to meet and connect with employees at USAA and ended up receiving an internship as a software developer and integrator in the summer of 2018. ter Kuilereceived another internship offer from USAA at the end of the summer and plans to work for them again in 2019. “The personal connections I made at the information lunch on campus were invaluable in the hiring and application process,” said ter Kuile. “It gave me an edge over other applicants and I was able to really see the culture of USAA through that event, which made me want to work there even more. Attending that event opened doors for me that I did not know were there and helped me build a foundation for my future career.”

 

Employees from USAA speak with students at a networking luncheon.

 

Attending events like these has a wide variety of benefits for students. The most obvious benefit is the potential of internships and jobs that influence careers. These opportunities allow ACU students to get a foot in the door with companies that have competitive hiring. Another benefit is developing the discipline and networking skills necessary in the professional world. Students can practice professional development by not only signing up for the events, where they will network and learn about the professional world, but by being committed, disciplined, and following through by showing up to that event.  They can also practice conversation skills and make meaningful contacts with companies.

Employees from Brazen Animation speak in a class.

In order to take advantage of these incredible opportunities and events, we advise that students take the time to read their newsletter. Once a week, COBA & SITC send out a newsletter through email that contains everything the student needs to know – special announcements, event promotions, chapel information, giveaways, and more – for the following week. In less than a minute, students can scroll through and see what is going on in the college and sign up for anything they might be interested in. We also promote events on our blog and social media, and monitoring those also helps students to take advantage of special opportunities in our college.

 

As a student at ACU’s College of Business Administration, we hope you will take advantage of the many professional development resources that are available to you. Be sure to read your newsletter and follow us on social media to stay up to date with the latest in COBA.

Excellence in Everything: Distinguished Speaker Series with Horst Schulze

by | Oct 12, 2018 | COBA Events, Distinguished Speakers Series, Faith Infusion, Special Speakers, Uncategorized

Last week, COBA partnered with the Lytle Center for Faith and Leadership to host our annual Distinguished Speaker Series. We were honored to have Horst Schulze as our guest this year.  Schulze was born in a small German village and knew he wanted to work in hotels at age 11. He left home at 14 to be a busboy and the rest, as they say, is history. Schulze spent nine years with Hyatt Hotels Corporation before becoming a founding member and president of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. After resigning from The Ritz-Carlton, Schulze is now the chairman and CEO of Capella Hotel Group, an ultra-luxury hotel chain. 

Schulze spent his time in Abilene connecting with students, faculty and staff, and community and university leaders conversing about exceptional customer service and what it means to be a leader striving for excellence. He shared stories from his years in the hotel industry and the absolute importance of having a vision and a purpose. Schulze advised that the steps to success are vision, commitment, and initiation. You must have a dream, a vision, to guide what you do and define what you are working toward. The dream becomes more than just a dream when you commit to it and decide to carry it out. Carrying it out entails taking the first step, initiating, and persevering to make the dream and vision a reality. Especially as a leader, the vision is very important and gives meaning and information to everything you do. According to Schulze, being a leader implies that you have something in your mind that you are bringing people to. People respond not to rules and orders, but to objectives and motives. Schulze shared that he thought it was immoral to hire people to fulfill functions; you hire people to join the vision and become a part of the dream.

Schulze also spoke about a seeming contradiction: what it means to be the best in the world but to live a life as Christian where we are called to not be of the world. In scripture, we are consistently reminded that our citizenship is in heaven, how we should not conform to the world, and how it is likely that the world will hate us because we are not of it. This leaves many questioning how can we be in the world, but not of the world. Schulze shared how he struggled with working in the luxury hotel business and wanting to create the very best hotel in the world, but not being sure how that connected with his calling as a Christian. He then realized that this was an opportunity to be an example and show the kingdom to the world. It all connects back to Schulze’s personal vision for his life: to be excellent in every role he fills. Excellence in how he treats and grows his employees, excellence in serving customers and shareholders, excellence in every aspect of his hotels points back to Christ. Creating the best hotel in the world sets his hotels apart and creates an example for others. Schulze believes that if we are not living with a mission to be excellent and not using our God-given gifts and abilities, then we are not fully living in every way we can for Christ. Being an example of excellence while living for Christ allows others to see Him through you and points people back to Him. Scripture also reminds us that being holy implies being different and unique. By being excellent, you are set apart like we are called to be. 

Schulze’s messages were eloquent, inspiring, and convicting. Below are some of the testimonies that students shared after listening to him:

“This was the best part of my entire semester.  I heard him in the morning and at the luncheon and wish I could have had him in all of my classes.  I have a renewed commitment to living out my calling with Christ.”

“Horst made me grateful to be at ACU.  I never realized how special this place was until I heard this accomplished man come to us and tell us that we bring him hope by what we do and how we aren’t ashamed of Christ.”

“The way he stayed consistent with his vision over his entire career is so impactful – I just want to live better after hearing him.”

“How often do you hear about someone who worked their way up from washing dishes and busing tables to running the #1 hotel brand in the world?  This means we have to start being our best right now, where we are.”

It was our pleasure to have hosted Horst Schulze this year. To view pictures from the DSS luncheon, click here.

Tales from Abroad: COBA goes to Australia and New Zealand

by | Oct 2, 2018 | Academics, Accounting, COBA Faculty, Current Students, MAcc, Uncategorized

Our last installment in our COBA Study Abroad series highlights the MAcc (Master in Accountancy) trip to Australia and New Zealand, led by Dr. Curtis Clements and Dr. Kyle Tippens. MAcc students received credit for International Accounting and Financial Reporting and International Financial Markets. We can’t think of a better way to learn about global business than being immersed in it! We asked Dr. Clements to tell us what it’s like to learn in the land down under.

 

What made your destination a unique place to study?

We didn’t really have a home city.  Instead, we traveled to three cities:  Sydney and Melbourne in Australia and Auckland in New Zealand.  We chose Australia and New Zealand because we had business contacts there and for their diverse cultures.

 

What businesses were you able to visit? 

We visited a number of companies and organizations.  These include PWC, KPMG, EY, the Sydney Wool Exchange, The Australian Accounting Standards Board, The Australian Auditing Standards Board, ANZ Bank, Australia-New Zealand Chartered Accountants, and Xerox.

 

Did you take the students on any sight seeing tours? 

In Sydney we went to Taronga Zoo.  Taronga is a world-class zoo with many different animals from around the world.  We also took a nighttime harbor cruise during the Vivid Sydney festival, which was outstanding.  In Melbourne, we took a trip outside the city on a train powered by a steam engine.  In New Zealand, we toured Hobbiton where the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed as well as the Hobbit movies.  We also went to the Te Puia Maori Village‎ cultural center in Rotorua.  On their own, the students also traveled to the Blue Mountains, Manly Beach, and Bondi Beach in Sydney.  They attended an Aussie Rules football game, went to Brighton Beach, and watched the penguins come ashore in Melbourne.  In New Zealand, the students traveled to several locations outside of Auckland.

 

What is it like to be able to spend so much time with students in another country? How does it differ than being in a classroom setting in Abilene?

The experience was outstanding!  You get to know the students so well and they get to know you beyond what they see in the classroom.  It allows you to speak into their lives on a much deeper level.  We learned so much about the students and, hopefully, they know us and our families better.

 

What were your favorite moments/experiences of the trip?

Two things stood out for me.  First, my wife and I were able to renew friendships with people we haven’t seen in 27 years.  As far as the academic part of the trip, there are so many things that were enjoyable and informative.  I don’t think we had a bad visit and it is really hard to point to one thing.  It was interesting as I was reading the students’ journals as they would say, “This is the best thing on the trip!”  And then just a day or two later, they would say the same thing!  As far as the sightseeing, I would have to say the trip to Hobbiton was the best thing we did.

 

If students could only learn one thing, what do you hope they learned?

That we live in an interconnected world.  This is especially true in business. As an aside, I also hope they learned that what we teach and tell them in class really matters!

 

Anything else I’ve forgotten to mention that you would like to talk about?

We have some outstanding students!

Intern Spotlight: Trent Warren

by | Oct 1, 2018 | Academics, Current Students, Management, Student Spotlights, Student Spotlights

Trent Warren at Schriever Air Force Base.

Trent Warren is a senior business management major from Colorado Springs, Colorado. This summer, Trent was an intern for Lockheed Martin, a global security and aerospace company. Trent worked as a systems engineer in the Experimentation Lab (X-Lab) at the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). Specifically, Trent worked in control account management, space system engineering, and also participated in the Lockheed Martin summer intern project.

Trent was able to grow professionally this summer because of the variety of projects he worked on and what he learned from his coworkers. He gained experience in finance, programming, and engineering because he was not limited to one type of project. He also knows that working with the brilliant people in the X-lab was key to his growth this summer. Throughout his internship, they guided Trent and challenged him to accomplish difficult but rewarding tasks.

Trent’s favorite part of his internship was working in the X-Lab. He got to work on and solve new and exciting problems. Even though he was there for a short time, Trent feels as if the work he did helped those around him and, more importantly, fulfilled the mission and values of the MDA. Trent’s experience will help launch him into a promising career in systems engineering. He discovered a lot about what it means to be an engineer and how to overcome obstacles in the job. Trent plans to take the lessons he learned this summer with him for the rest of his life.

Reflecting on his internship, Trent has three pieces of advice for future interns:

1. Push through your blockers. Whenever you get stuck on something, or whenever a task just seems too difficult to accomplish, keep attacking it from every conceivable angle. There are plenty of people that can do most of the work on a job. What makes you stand out is if you can use your resources to finish a job that no one else can figure out.

2. Write. Down. Everything. Every business has their acronyms and lingo. If you do not understand what something means in a meeting or in a conversation, write it down and ask someone later. Knowledge is power, and the first step to knowledge is writing down what you don’t know (which is usually almost everything at first). 

3. Work hard for the right reason. In every business, there are people who are just working for the next promotion. Personally, I work for the people around me, for the mission of the organization, and for my God. Pick what you work for because that philosophy affects every decision you make.