7 minute read
Business Matters
RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Middle Tennessee’s top leaders shared insights on the key issues impacting the region at the Invest Nashville conference and networking event. Dean Joyce Heames moderated the first panel discussing the trends and technologies driving innovation in banking and finance.
CUDDLES WITH CANINES
The Jones College advisors and MTSU’s Gamma Iota Sigma Omega Chapter teamed up to help students de-stress during finals through visits with therapy dogs in the BAS courtyard.
MTSU CARES
Putting the “giving” in Thanksgiving, Jones College won the Provost Cup for the 11th year in a row—thanks to the stellar participation of Jones College faculty and staff during the MTSU Charitable Giving Campaign in fall 2023 to support local nonprofits and charitable causes. Overall, MTSU raised a record-breaking $157,933.74 through 2024 payroll deductions and other gifts.
ETIQUETTE SCHOOL
Each semester the Center for Professional Selling hosts a Business Etiquette Dinner, inviting students to learn best practices in a business dining setting and interact with industry professionals. The dinner is an IGNITE event and open to all Jones College of Business students.
A WORLD LEADER
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, a former assistant professor in Economics in the Jones College of Business, recently became the interim prime minister of Bangladesh.
YOUNG ALUMNI ADVICE
MTSU’s Jones College of Business last spring created the new Jones Young Professional Advisory Council, comprised of alumni who have graduated in the past 10 years. The council’s goal is to engage, elevate, and empower the college’s programs and students. The role of the council is to advise on current issues, identify new opportunities, provide guidance to shape curriculum, and act as an advocate for the college in the community.
"Our connection to recent alumni is key to staying relevant in the market to ensure our graduates are well-informed and well-prepared for both immediate and long-term career success. Their guidance and advice will help us to develop and continuously improve as a college and provide a world-class, relevant business education."
—Dean Joyce Heames
PROFESSIONAL SALES PODCAST
Level up your sales skills with “Drink Coffee, Make Friends (That’s What Salespeople Do)” podcast hosts Thom Coats and Mark Roberts. Enjoy engaging discussions on sales techniques, interviews with industry leaders, and updates from the MTSU Center for Professional Selling.
BEST OF SHOW
Jones College of Business’s BEST (Business Exchange for Student Talent) Career Fair was a huge success. Hundreds of students met with representatives from more than 70 organizations.
2023 JONES COLLEGE FACULTY AND STAFF AWARDS
Andrea Kelton, Kathy and Bill Jones Outstanding Faculty Award
Mark Roberts, Outstanding Dale Carnegie Trainer
Richard Tarpey, State Farm Outstanding Professor
Jill Austin, Dean’s Special Award of Merit
Lara Cotey, Dean’s Special Award of Merit
The E.W. “Wink” Midgett Awards are named for the professor who began business classes in 1939 at MTSU, then known as Middle Tennessee State Teachers College. The awards were presented by Jones College Dean Joyce Heames and Midgett’s son, Don Midgett.
Tonya Grata, Outstanding Staff Member
Gretchen Leming, Outstanding Staff Member
Sam Zaza, Distinguished Research
Dennis Gupton, Distinguished Teaching
Leigh Anne Clark, Distinguished Service
Audrey Scarlata, Faculty Excellence
MINORS ARE MAJOR
Business minors are an important part of the Jones College community, and the college is equally proud of their achievements in and out of the classroom. In fall 2023, Marketing minor Lily Beth Woods successfully defended her Honors thesis and was crowned the MTSU Homecoming queen.
LAUDING A LEGEND
Andy Womack, an MTSU alum and a friend of Jones College, was named the 2024 Business at its Best Business Legend of the Year. The award celebrated his long tenure at State Farm and extensive service to the middle Tennessee community.
2023–24 PERSONNEL CHANGES
NEW FACULTY / STAFF
Dean’s Office
Nita Brooks, associate dean of undergraduate programs and accreditation
Carly Escue, director of executive education
Becky Milliken, financial administrator
Jacob Smith, operations administrator
Eric Ouimet, advisor
Andrea Sakoff, administrative assistant
Accounting
Jack Badger, assistant professor
Sandy Benson, named interim chair
Kehinde Ogunade, assistant professor
Jake Morris, executive assistant
Kyle Baker, administrative assistant
Information Systems and Analytics
Elyssa Rachelle Morissette, assistant professor
Soham Sengupta, assistant professor
Economics and Finance
Quan Qi, assistant professor
Management
Bukola Bakare, assistant professor
Kelly Manix, assistant professor
Marketing
Cheri Strissel, executive assistant
Tennessee Small Business Development Center
Galen Longo, director, TSBDC Lead Center at MTSU
RETIREMENTS
Jill Austin, Management
Tony Eff, Economics and Finance
Ghassem Homaifar, Economics and Finance
Tim Koski, Accounting
Raholanda White, Marketing
A MAJOR INFLUENCE
Every year, over 700 students take the Dale Carnegie course to learn the soft skills necessary to succeed in business. Each summer, around 20 new faculty and staff participate in the three-day immersion course.
2023 JONES COLLEGE LEADERSHIP AWARDS
Charles Avent Jr., who earned his M.B.A. focused on health care management and a B.B.A. from MTSU, was presented the Young Professional of the Year Award. Avent is a senior project manager for HCA Healthcare/Parallon’s Corporate Affairs and Digital Marketing Division and held leadership roles with HCA Healthcare for over 11 years. He is described as “a strategic visionary, an experienced health care management professional, and a real estate executive with significant career accomplishments.”Jami Averwater
Jami Averwater, who graduated from MTSU’s Economics program and the Belmont University College of Law, received the Jones College Exemplar Award. Averwater is the co-founder and owner of Hywater Title, one of the fastest-growing title companies in middle Tennessee, and maintains an active law practice, where she specializes in business law. She also serves on the Murfreesboro Planning Commission and in 2022 became the youngest woman ever elected to the Murfreesboro City Council.
John Cipriano, who holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance from MTSU, earned the Jennings A. Jones Champion of Free Enterprise Award. Cipriano is a senior director with Alvarez and Marsal North American Commercial Restructuring in Dallas and specializes in management within financial institutions. With three decades of experience, Cipriano focuses on developing target operating models, risk mitigation, development of policies and procedures, commercial and industrial lending, residential credit analysis, portfolio management, enhancing sales, and profit and loss responsibilities for banks and non-banks.
Lisa Nix, who majored in Accounting at MTSU, was presented the Joe M. Rodgers Spirit of America Award. Nix is a certified public accountant and shareholder at LBMC, a top 35 accounting and business consulting firm. Nix joined LBMC as a shareholder in 2014 to launch and lead the firm’s transaction advisory services. She brings over 30 years of experience in public accounting and health care to her role.
JCB IN THE ATL
Fantastic meeting with fantastic friends! A Jones College contingent had a great time in Atlanta meeting with alumni and partners: (l–r) Dean Joyce Heames, Elveta Cooper, Andre Dyer, Carolyn Tumbleson, and Betty Conn.
