Footnotes - Fall 2023 Accounting Newsletter

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footnotes ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSIT Y ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT

FALL 2023

WHEN BUSINESS INFORMATION SYSTEMS MEETS THE

PERFORMING ARTS Blurring the line between “class learning” and solving real-world challenges is the top priority for Dr. Rosie Hauck in the capstone Advanced Business Systems Analysis course (or BIS as it is commonly known). The class has advanced the work of many local nonprofit organizations over the years and offered a transformative preprofessional experience for hundreds of College of Business students. Carter Calarco ’21, a business systems analyst for Medline, is one. “The biggest takeaway from the BIS capstone course I have applied to my professional career, is learning how to ask questions. Not just any questions, but the right ones. BIS provided me the confidence I needed to challenge the status quo - to take something good, poke holes by asking the right questions, and turn it into something great.” What’s involved Calarco’s experience highlights key outcomes Hauck intends the class to achieve. “I want to help students bring together and apply all the technical, problem-solving, and communication skills they have developed through prior classes and internships. We can’t just rely on a particular technology or platform in BIS because you blink, and something new is coming out. But the foundation of quality thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving stays the same,” said Hauck. One of the first activities students complete is a self-assessment on their communication, management, facilitation, leadership, and technical skills. Hauck then uses the information to form balanced teams. “This is vital because groups have to analyze their client’s needs and use their combined expertise to deliver a viable solution that adds value to the organization in just a few weeks,” said Hauck.

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This article was written by Amy Humphreys and was first published on April 10, 2023, at:

MY REDBIRD STORY

Stephen P. Baginski | BS ’79, MS ’80

Illinois State University was an easy college choice in 1975. My only sibling, my sister Peggy, attended ISU, graduated, and got a job. Coming from an extended family that was, for the first time, sending children to college, higher education was seen as the path to gainful employment and a brighter future. My father and I learned at a high school job fair that accounting was a good career, jobs were plentiful, and that society held Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) in high regard. So, the plan was set – get an undergraduate degree, pass the CPA Exam, and get a job. I can remember the excitement when I arrived on campus. It was a new beginning, and every door was open. Watterson Towers was incredible. I lived on a floor with a bunch of great people, some of whom I knew from high school, others from Chicago suburbs, but many more from small towns I had never heard of. We had very little cash, but ISU sponsored free movies, free speakers (e.g., Truman Capote, Vincent Bugliosi), and free concerts, including Rights of Spring. We also played spades in our lounge all night long, ate gondolas from Avanti’s on Sundays, and wore our MTXE (Mental Toughness Extra Effort) buttons when we cheered for the Redbird basketball team. The wonderful memories from those years have lasted forever. I got a part-time job in the dish room of the Watterson Towers dining room. I did not realize it at the time, but the most important person in my life was just upstairs, checking IDs of the students coming in to dine. I would not meet Lynn Kovic until two years later at the end of the final semester of my senior year when she was introduced to me by a fellow accounting major. But, for the last 42 years, we have been on a wonderful journey together. Many good things came from my time at ISU. She was the best of them. I followed the plan. I got my undergraduate degree, passed the CPA exam,

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