Price E-News - October 2020

Despite unprecedented challenges, we are driven to foster the success of our students. We need loyal alumni and friends like you to support our efforts. By contributing to the Business Dean’s Innovation Fund, you will help us explore leading-edge teaching technologies, new program offerings, and unique ways to increase access for students and our impact on them. Thank you for considering a gift.

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Best Colleges Online has named the college #6 for the Online EMBA in Energy program in its Top 40 Affordable Accelerated Executive MBA Online Programs 2020 list. Additionally, College Consensus has named Price College #8 in its new Best Online Executive MBA Programs 2020 ranking for the EMBA in Energy program.

Price Rankings

In response to the challenges posed by the pandemic for the energy sector, the OU Energy Institute launched a new complimentary bi-weekly webcast series this summer. The latest episode, Innovation for the New Energy Era, featured special guest Kevin Fitzgerald, Partner and Chief Utility Officer at Energy Impact Partners.

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The Energy Institute has published its fall 2020 e-Newsletter. The issue features the latest news regarding faculty research, program rankings, students, alumni spotlights, and more.

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To address the growing demand for virtual graduate business education, Price College will launch a new online MBA program in spring 2021. The online format will make it possible for professionals to access Price College’s well-established, top-ranked, and accredited MBA program, regardless of where they live and work. Applications for the first cohort currently are being accepted online through Nov. 15.

About the program 

Applications from students, entrepreneurs, and business owners to participate in OU’s third annual Entrepreneur Expo are now being accepted. The expo will be held entirely online Nov. 16-18. The OU Entrepreneurship Expo is a public exhibition for OU students, local business owners, and entrepreneurs of all ages, including K-12 students, to showcase new products and services, receive feedback, and compete for top prizes.

About the Expo

The First Fidelity Bank Integrated Business Core (IBC) Program is celebrating 25 years of providing students hands-on, real-world, experiential training through simulated business opportunities inside and outside of the classroom. Thanks to community partners like First Fidelity Bank, IBC develops the skill sets necessary to launch a successful business by exposing students to the challenges of a startup.

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In U.S. News & World Report’s 2021 Best Undergraduate Business Programs rankings, Price College’s international business program rose five spots to 24th in the nation, and the Tom Love Division of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development rose four spots to 27th. Overall, the college’s undergraduate program ranked 34th among public universities and 53rd among all universities, public and private.

Press Release

Lowell Busenitz,Professor Emeritus of Entrepreneurship and the Michael F. Price Chair of Entrepreneurship, received the Mentor Award by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management for long-term contributions made towards the mission of the Entrepreneurship Division. Professor Tom Lumpkin also received the award in 2018.

About the Award

Price alumnus and entrepreneur Fedi Kourbatov (BBA, Finance, 2020) started a new business, Baba Bags, to support nonprofits and organizations around the world, with a recent focus on the national movement for racial justice. By working with the Sooner Innovation Fund, he started Baba Bags in his OU dorm room. 

About the Partnership

Adriana Sanford, Lecturer of Management, Acting Director of Executive Education, and Senior Fellow at OU Center for Intelligence and National Security, is a feature speaker at next month’s (ISC)² 2020 Security Congress. The annual event brings together a global community of cybersecurity professionals.

About the Event

Price College launched a new online OU Global Risks & Threats Series this summer, with global leaders from the intelligence, finance, law enforcement, corporate and cyber sectors. The fourth event was held Sept. 19 and focused on the latest security threats, healthcare IT, and COVID-19 response and readiness initiatives.

About the Series

Sue Ringus, Director of Internships at the Ronnie K. Irani Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth, received a United Way of Norman Inspire Award. Ringus helped design The Launch, a social innovation grant program started by United Way last year.

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The Tom Love Innovation Hub offered a two-part Zoom series on diversity, equity, and inclusion, called How Do I? Part one was titled What is DEI & Why Is It Important for Your Business, and part two was titled How to Execute DEI at Your Business. The series was presented by The Pathwayz Group and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and both episodes are available online.

iHub Events

Dean Corey Phelps recently visited the OU-Tulsa campus during an exploratory trip on the university’s efforts to expand Price College’s footprint into the Tulsa area. The Tulsa World wrote a feature about the visit, including information about Phelps’ background.

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The U.S. Small Business Administration’s National SBIR Road Tour is virtual this year and is coming to Oklahoma Nov. 2-6 as part of a 17-stop tour to connect entrepreneurs working on advanced technology to the country’s largest source of early stage funding – the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs.

SBIR Road Tour

Karma Choedak (BBA, Management Information Systems, 2020; MS in Management of Information Technology, 2020) received the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Award for his research titled, “The Effect of Chatbots Response Latency on Users’ Trust.” He also is among a select group of students who earned a perfect 4.0 GPA.

MIS Program

Cordney McClain, director of Diversity and Inclusion, was featured in a 2021 calendar published by Today I Want To Be, which inspires Black children to consider careers to which they can aspire. The calendar includes tips for success, words of affirmation, weekly goals, and promotes positive and inspiring images of Black adults.

Visit their website

Students in the new Executive MBA in Aerospace and Defense program met with Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt in August. After student introductions and brief remarks by Senator Adam Pugh, the governor reiterated the importance of the aerospace and defense industry to the state. He told class members they were in a good industry and encouraged them in their studies.

About the Visit

David Greenwell (MBA, 1984), member of the John T. Steed School of Accounting Board of Advisors and current OU adjunct instructor, was inducted to the Oklahoma Society of CPAs Oklahoma Accounting Hall of Fame.

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The Steed School of Accounting has received another Top 50 ranking. Best Accounting Software has ranked Price College at #49 (out of nearly 600 colleges) on their new Best Colleges for Accountants Based on Earning Potential list.

More about Rankings

Associate Professor of Marketing and Innovation Jeffrey Schmidt, far left in photo, serves on the board of directors for the OU Federal Credit Union Financial Literacy Club. Last month, the club donated $1,000 to the OU Food Pantry, which provides free supplemental food assistance to OU Norman campus students, faculty, and staff.

OU Food Pantry

Price seniors Creed Humphrey and Pat Fields are serving as OU football team co-captains for the 2020 season. Humphrey is a Finance major who plays on the offensive line, and Fields is an Accounting major who plays safety. Please join us in cheering on the Sooners for more football victories this season!

View 2020 Roster

Instead of their annual in-person scholarship ceremony, the Steed School of Accounting recognized its 2020 scholarship recipients online this year, with a fun video of thanks to donors and partners. A full list of scholarship recipients, as well as this year’s faculty awards, is available online.

Scholarships & Awards

In its 27^th year, the JCPenney Leadership Program recently inducted an impressive 65 candidate Associates. With a cumulative 3.85 average GPA, the sophomore and junior students represent seven countries and nine states, and include seven Merit Scholars and 21 Honors students.

JCPenney Leadership Program

Margaret Shaffer has co-authored two new articles. Outcomes of Organizational and Community Embeddedness: A Conservation of Resources Perspective has been published in Group & Organization Management. And Unpacking the emergence of born global founders: A careers perspective, co-authored with alums Robert Pidduck (Ph.D., 2019) and Yejun Zhang (Ph.D., 2020), has been published in Journal of Small Business Management.

Read the Paper Summary

Jocelyn Pedersen has co-authored an article in Practical Academic Librarianship: The International Journal of the SLA Academic Division. In Employers Needs Versus Student Skillsets, Pedersen determines whether there is a disparity between employers’ needs and the abilities of recent graduates who have grown up in an e-learning environment.

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Chenxi Lin has co-authored a new paper forthcoming in Contemporary Accounting Research, an A-level journal. Auditor Responses to Shareholder Activism investigates how auditors respond to shareholder activism against their clients.

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Jared Stanfield has co-authored a new article in the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. In Does Government Spending Crowd Out R&D Investment? Evidence from Government-Dependent Firms and Their Peers, Stanfield provides evidence that managerial incentives to manipulate real activities can influence the effectiveness of fiscal policy.

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Tom Lumpkin has received a 2020 Best Article award from the Academy of Management Perspectives for his paper, Civic Wealth Creation: A New View of Stakeholder Engagement and Societal Impact. The Academy of Management has 20,000 members worldwide, publishes six highly ranked journals, and awards one top article per journal each year.

About the Award

Richard Price has co-authored a new article in the Review of Accounting Studies, a top-tier accounting journal. His research finds that the impact of oil prices on a firm’s earnings and investments varies significantly by industry and by whether the firm is an oil producer or oil consumer.

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Matthew Jensen’s research into phishing was referenced and he was quoted in a new article for the Harvard Business Review. Drawing on Jensen’s new paper (co-authored with Alexandra Durcikova) and past research, the article provides advice for resisting phishing attacks.

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Alumnae and longtime Price College supporter Virginia Lee “Ginger” Kanaly (BBA, Marketing, 1952) has passed away. For nearly 40 years, she served as vice president and director of the Kanaly Trust Company, which she formed with her husband Deane (BBA, Business Statistics, 1952; MBA, 1953). She devoted a substantial amount of her time and talents to numerous charities, including her more-than-15-year involvement in the Blue Bird Circle. Following her husband's death in 2006, she and sons Steve, Jeff, and Drew, recognized how much the University of Oklahoma meant to her and Deane and decided to endow an annual lecture series at Price College in their name. The Deane and Ginger Kanaly Lecture Series continues to provide OU students opportunities to learn from business experts around the globe. In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests that memorial contributions in Ginger’s memory be directed toward the OU Foundation in support of the Deane and Ginger Kanaly Lecture Series (note in the memo line, gift) at: OU Foundation, 100 Timberdell Rd., Norman, OK 73019. Gifts may be made online by typing “Deane and Ginger Kanaly Lecture Series, fund #6368000” in the gift designation field.

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