by Amanda Pittman | Oct 3, 2011 | Uncategorized
We are pleased to report our placement data for the graduating class of 2011. These numbers are self reported from students who graduated in May with a BBA in Management, Marketing, Accounting, Finance or Information Systems. If you are a May 2011 graduate and you need to update us with your new employer and salary information, please send an email to Tim Johnston at johnstont@acu.edu.
May 2011 Placement Data – BBA and M.Acc graduates
- $40,263 – Average starting salary for a COBA graduate
- $49,503 – Average starting salary for a M.Acc. graduate
- 83% – Percentage of COBA graduates employed or enrolled in master’s-level program within three months of graduation
- 100% – Percentage of M.Acc. graduates employed or enrolled in master’s-level program within three months of graduation
- 94% – Satisfaction rating for the quality of COBA Connections’ customer service (COBA Connections is our Academic and Career Advising Office)
And we’re already busy with our juniors and seniors through our Jump Start program, prepping Juniors on how to search for internships and then how to prepare your resume and cover letter and walking with seniors through the process of beginning a job search and the importance of building your network now. Through our Connections office, we offer intense interview training and preparation as well as resume writing hints, tips and reviews. Also, be sure to join the official COBA alumni group (ACU COBA Alumni) on LinkedIn and “like” our COBA page on facebook.
by Amanda Pittman | Sep 22, 2011 | Uncategorized
We’re about a month into the fall semester and we have been busy here in COBA.
Here’s a brief update of what’s been going on:
Guest Speakers
– Luanna Cole from The Plantation House and Rachel Hollis of Chic Events {Career Connect: Event Planning}
– Chad Baker from Jones Lang LaSalle {Career Connect: Commercial Real Estate}
– Shannon Wilburn, founder of “Just Between Friends” consignment business {Women in Business and Intro to Business classes}
– Paul Sprague of The Warwick Group, Inc {Griggs Center’s Entrepreneur Forum}
Events
– The first annual Business Mixer – hosted by AMA; opportunity for all students to join a COBA student organization
– Our first ever Elevator Pitch Competition is underway. Students have submitted a business plan ‘pitch’ for a chance to win $1500 cash in a live ‘pitch off’ final round during the first week of October.
– Two Career Connect events: Event Planning and Commercial Real Estate
Press
– Research done by Dr. Ian Shepherd and Dr. Brent Reeves using the ipads in the classroom has been featured in publications around the world and nation. Most recently, a report he contributed to was featured on KEYE News in Austin, TX as well as the news stations here in town. For more information about the research and the awards they’ve won, read this.
– Dr. Rick Lytle’s Consumer Behavior class was featured on local news outlets earlier this week for a research project they did based on Texaco’s “5 Point Service” check. Read more about what they learned here.
Upcoming Events
– Jump Start information sessions: Required for Juniors and Seniors in order to receive their advising code. Juniors will receive more information and training on internship search and prep and Seniors will receive more information on job search and interview prep.
– A group of approximately 20 students as well as faculty will travel to New York City over Fall Break to visit Wall Street and the headquarters of Johnson & Johnson and Tommy Hilfiger.
– Leadership Summit applications are now available in the Dean’s Suite and the Connections Office. An interest meeting will take place next Wednesday, 11am, in COBA rm. 301.
– Venture Out teams (project in Intro. to Business) will be selecting their products to sell and pitching these products to the Venture Out board starting at the end of next week.
If you are a parent of a current student, find out what events in which your student has participated or what speakers they have heard from. Please continue to encourage them to join in on all of the things that are happening in COBA. If you are the parent of a prospective student (or you are a prospective student), please feel free to send an email to coba@acu.edu to find out more information or schedule a time to come see us.
We are truly blessed with a great community of students, faculty, staff, friends, alumni and prospective employers.
by Amanda Pittman | Sep 15, 2011 | Uncategorized
We’re pleased to report that Josh Stites (’03, BBA in Management) has been elected to serve on the Nashville City Council, representing District 13. You can go here to read our profile about Stites from earlier this year. We couldn’t be more proud of Josh and look forward to seeing the ways God will use him to bless and serve the people of Nashville through this new position.
Newly elected Councilman Josh Stites
by Amanda Pittman | Aug 18, 2011 | College Decisions, Current Students, Executives In Residence, Uncategorized
Earlier this summer, three b-school professors, Dr. Jim Litton, Dr. Darryl Jinkerson and Dr. Andy Little headed to Mission Lazarus, in the Choluteca area of Honduras. ACU and the College of Business, in particular, have a unique relationship with Mission Lazarus. COBA grad Jarrod Brown co-founded the mission after a high-paying job was leaving him unsatisfied. Brown says, “The defining moment was seeing a need in the mission field where my business training from ACU could be a valuable asset for the Lord’s kingdom, rather than just for my pocketbook.”
Mission Lazarus focuses on four specific areas: agricultural teaching, medical clinics, educational programs and schools and spiritual formation ministries. To read more about Mission Lazarus, visit their website here.
We recently caught up with Dr. Little to find out more about their visit to Mission Lazarus:
- What was the purpose of the trip? What did you all do while there?
The Griggs Center sponsored our trip to Honduras to scout potential locations and partners for future global business programs for COBA students. Jim Litton, Director of the Griggs Center, invited Darryl Jinkerson and me to join him in visiting with Jarrod Brown and the Mission Lazarus staff on-site in the Choluteca area of Honduras. We spent time touring the Mission Lazarus facility, meeting with Jarrod to discuss possible opportunities, and getting to know the Honduran people and culture. We paid particular attention to ways in which COBA students interested in social entrepreneurship might be able to work with Mission Lazarus in some kind of short-term internship opportunity. Future plans are still in the embryonic phase, but this trip gave us tangible data by which to assess the possibilities and inspired us to work to provide students with opportunities in Central America.
View from the Mission
- Why do you think it’s important that are students have the opportunity to visit and work with Mission Lazarus?
Mission Lazarus is an amazing place, led by a dynamic team. Jarrod is a visionary leader of the highest caliber, and he has surrounded himself with talented people and supporters who help him implement his dream of transforming an impoverished nation for Christ. He has taken several otherwise traditional organizational models–evangelistic missions, for-profit business, rural health care, and education–and combined them in a way that is unique and all-encompassing. I think COBA wants its students to have access to and be inspired by this kind of leadership. More than this, Mission Lazarus fits perfectly with the social entrepreneurship emphasis in the Griggs Center.
- What do you hope our students learn from the class?
Our goal is to put together a multi-week program that combines stateside coursework with an internship at Mission Lazarus focusing on social entrepreneurship in the developing world. If we are successful in making this offering happen, we think it can be a flagship program for the Griggs Center and give students real-world experience with social entrepreneurship. Ultimately, I think much of what students could learn will be internal: the experience we hope to create will help them find out who they are and what really matters to them.
the Refuge at Mission Lazarus
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If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity or the Griggs Center for Entrepreneurship & Philanthropy, feel free to send an email to coba@acu.edu.
by Amanda Pittman | Jul 18, 2011 | Uncategorized
Our second study abroad summer session is underway in Leipzig, Germany. The group of 28 students left last week. Beth, a Junior Communications Disorders major, checks in with us, sharing a brief update of the trip so far:
Our Leipzig adventure started at DFW on July 11th. Our plane left around 5:35 pm and after a long sleepless (at least for me) flight, we arrived at London Heathrow airport where we had just enough time to grab some breakfast and stretch our legs for a bit before catching our plane to Berlin. From Berlin we took a bus to Leipzig. Honestly I don’t remember much of the bus ride because although they encouraged us to try to stay up as long as possible in order to combat the jet lag, my body couldn’t fight off sleep any longer. I remember looking out the window In Berlin, and trying to take in this unique huge city, and the next thing I knew I woke up in Leipzig.
We received our room assignments, and moved into our flats, which will be our home for the next month. I love the flat! There are three girls in my flat, and it is the perfect size. The Shewmakers (who were the professors here last semester and at the beginning of the summer) had pizza for us that night which was delicious considering my hungry confused stomach (poor thing couldn’t keep up with the time change), and afterward we went grocery shopping and walked around the neighborhood. Just grocery shopping in itself was quite the experience. I have never been to a country like Germany where I can’t at least guess at some of the words like I can with Spanish.
My roommates and I found ourselves receiving help from the Shewmaker’s daughters when it came down to picking out the right kinds of lunchmeat or jelly when we couldn’t read the labels, or make out what was on the picture. The neighborhood our flats are located in is quite nice. It is easy enough to get around, and there’s a park nearby with huge trees. Everything is different over here. The cars are much smaller, the streets narrower, and the people are much different than back home. Not to mention the weather is has been around 70-80 degrees and feels wonderful compared to the brutal heat of Texas.
The next day we slept in a bit before walking to the tram station that took us to the train station, which we found out is also like a mall, and then to downtown where we walked around some more. The buildings are beautiful and detailed. It’s crazy to think how old they are. We got to see the church of St. Nikolai where huge groups of people met before the wall fell. It was surreal to think how much has changed since then, and yet the church building has remained the same. We continued to walk around and ended up getting some delicious (cheap) ice cream downtown.
For dinner that night we had durams at a local place near our flats. The only way I can think to describe them is to say that they are similar to gyros, but in my mind they were better. The classes that are being offered are International Business, International Marketing, and Strategic Management. We did some group work last week comparing different advertising strategies here to the ones back home. We will have more class activities starting tomorrow.
I have so much more to write, but I just got back from my weekend trip to Rome, and I must get some sleep!
Beth in Rome (first weekend excursion from Leipzig)
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And stay tuned for a wrap up of Global Apprentice: Oxford!
by Amanda Pittman | Mar 18, 2011 | Current Students, Uncategorized
Looks like Alex, sophomore Management major from Little Rock, will have a great excuse when he misses class next week:
“Wildcat sophomore Alex Carpenter will become the first ACU student to play in a PGA Tour event when he tees off March 24 in the 33rd anniversary edition of Palmer’s tournament, presented by MasterCard, at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Fla. Carpenter, who has won six collegiate tournaments since Fall 2010, is one of the NCAA’s top golfers the past two years.” –Ron Hadfield
Click here to read the full story on the ACU Today blog.
Alex’s twin brother and teammate, Adam, is also in COBA, majoring in Finance. We’re proud of both of these student-athletes and look forward to watching Alex at Bay Hill.
Photo courtesy of acusports.com
