FA L L 202 0
S IGMUND WEIS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AT SUSQUEHANNA UNIVERSIT Y
Students Seize Global Opportunities Remotely Summer International Internships Are Completed From the Safety of Home During the COVID-19 Pandemic ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
New Students Get Jump-Start, Take Flight p.10 | Alumni Share Expertise in Speaker Series p.12
DEAN’S CORNER
A CONVERSATION WITH MAT THEW ROUSU
Confronting change. Adapting. Serving clients regardless of circumstances. These are the traits that a great business needs to succeed. And this is what the Sigmund Weis School of Business has been doing since March. COVID-19 has disrupted higher education, and Susquehanna has not been immune to the disruption. I am proud of the way everybody here rallied to serve our students. First, in March, our professors moved to remote teaching with one week’s notice. I was impressed by their dedication to maintaining a high level of teaching and interaction with students when we couldn’t be face-to-face anymore. As the pandemic intensified, we found new ways to serve students. You’ll read about some in this issue, and I’ll highlight two briefly here. When the pandemic stymied summer internship and job opportunities for our students, we worked with international partners who were able to match students with remote international internships. Thanks to generous alumni support from the Eric Stein Fund for International Internships, Jim ’65 and Carole App, and dozens of other donors, we were able to provide these opportunities to 44 students at no cost to them. Students earned two Susquehanna credits and completed an internship which gave them valuable work experience. A second initiative we’ve created is the Sigmund Weis School of Business Virtual Speaker Series. This semester, alumni and friends of the business school, who represent a wide variety of disciplines, are presenting over 25 virtual talks to students on diverse business-related topics. Even better, we are partnering with admissions, alumni relations and our own Center for Economics, Business, and Entrepreneurship Education to provide access to alumni, K–12 teachers and prospective students. In other news, 2019–20 was an amazing year in which we improved our retention rate yet again. Our faculty have been studying what helps students persist through graduation and have worked hard to implement new initiatives over the past three years. We also had a great recruiting year. Our incoming class to the business school is 20% larger than in 2019–20, with 175 students in Global Business Perspectives this fall vs. 144 in fall 2019. This is more impressive given that enrollments in peer schools are down about 6%. We’ve worked hard to improve our reputation — with guaranteed international internships, increased visibility on social media, work with our Center for Economics, Business, and Entrepreneurship Education, and more. While one year does not make a trend and we still have to keep working hard, we’d like to think our success is at least partially a result of these efforts. I tell people that the Sigmund Weis School of Business is one of the top undergraduate business schools in the world. With the chaos created by the pandemic, 2020–21 will certainly remain challenging. But with the continuing efforts of our great faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends, I expect another great year. ■ Matthew C. Rousu, Dean, Sigmund Weis School of Business
FALL 2020
Dean of the Sigmund Weis School of Business
MATTHEW ROUSU Editor
JENNIFER YURICICH ’00 SPOTTS Director of Strategic Communications Contributing Writers
BRUCE BEANS RACHAEL BLAINE ’21 SAMANTHA CARPENTIERE ’20 AMANDA O’ROURKE Communications and Media Specialist Design
JOSIE FERTIG Director of Design and Digital Marketing
ERICA HOOVER Graphic Designer Copy Editors
KATHLEEN LARSON FLORIO BETSY K. ROBERTSON Lead Photography
GORDON WENZEL HEATHER NECESSARY
SIGMUND WEIS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Susquehanna University 514 University Ave., Selinsgrove, PA 17870 570-372-4455 As one of the few undergraduate-only business programs in the world to earn AACSB accreditation, we pride ourselves on our highly qualified faculty, rigorous curriculum, and continuous assessment and improvement processes.
SUSQU.EDU/BUSINESS
INSIDE
VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 1
12
John Strangfeld ’75
10
6
2 | Student Spotlight Students Take Studies to Singapore
4 | Faculty Spotlight Building the Ranks: New Faculty Business & Communications Team Up to Offer Professional Sales Minor
6 | Top Story
14 | Alumni News
Remote International Internships Open a Future of Opportunities for Students
10 | Campus News
Alumna Blends Creative Writing and Economics in a MultiFaceted Career
16 | Student Spotlight
Bridge to the Boardroom Gives Students Jump-Start on a Career
Seniors Lauded for Exemplary Work
Alumni Share Their Expertise Virtually New Honor Society for Entrepreneurship Back cover photograph by University Marketing & Communications.
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
OUR BEST AND BRIGHTEST
STUDENTS TAKE STUDIES TO SINGAPORE BY SAMANTHA CARPENTIERE ’20 This past winter, the Sigmund Weis School of Business sent nine students to Singapore, where each completed an 80-hour intensive consulting internship. Participating students received a scholarship from The Goldstein Fund for International Internships to help fund their one-of-a-kind experience. “We were thrilled that our students were exposed to Singapore’s culture,” says Matthew Rousu, dean of the business school. “Part of their immersion involved working for several prestigious companies. The students’ feedback shows that they had an amazing experience — both at work and exploring Singapore.”
» Team Presents Strategic Plan to Daimler AG Recent graduate and finance major Conor Novak ’20 completed his internship with Daimler AG, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz. Novak, along with Bayley McClure ’22, Molly Turnbull ’22 and Virginia Macomber ’22, used client information and credit data from customers throughout the Asia-Pacific region to create a comprehensive plan to increase customer retention within the financial services department of Mercedes-Benz. At the conclusion of their work, all four presented their strategic plan to the company’s executive team. Novak says the most exciting aspect of his experience was the challenge of having a consultation role with an open-ended project. “Our manager gave us a brief overview of the industry and some of the main ideas of what they were looking for
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us to accomplish. The rest — what direction we wanted to go, what ideas we thought were worthwhile in implementing, the strategies we wanted to use, and the customers we wanted to target — were all left completely up to us. “Personally, the lessons I’ve learned from my education at Susquehanna were tremendous in helping me navigate this daunting task,” Novak exclaims. Following graduation, Novak accepted a full-time position with Merrill Lynch, and attributes his international internship experience to helping him stand apart from other applicants. “Interviewing is all about telling a story, and this internship has provided me with a great deal of information and experiences that I can share with potential employers,” he adds.
» Unilever Consulting Focuses on Marketing International business major Sara Arbogast ’21 completed her internship with Unilever, working closely with Ponds, the branch specializing in beauty products. Arbogast, along with Robert Marks ’20 and Juliana Beatty ’22, was responsible for building a market portfolio, helping redesign the brand’s image, and researching a new target market for their products. Arbogast says a major challenge she faced while working and living in Singapore was the language barrier. While many people spoke English, some common expressions and mannerisms used in the workplace presented misunderstandings for the international students. “When you finally understand each other’s point, it’s something very simple and you just shake your head, but it was definitely a learning curve for me and helped me think outside of the box on communicating,” Arbogast explains. Along with honing her professional skills, Arbogast says that her intercultural fluency was enhanced as a result of her Singapore experience. “This internship really prepared me for my future career in international business by broadening my perspectives,” she explains. “I now have a hands-on experience working outside the U.S., which has given me a better understanding of how interconnected business is worldwide.” ■
SARA ARBOGAST ’21
Also participating in the Singapore internship program were Michael Underwood ’22, an accounting major from Arundel, Maine, and Torey Brown ’20, a finance major from Phoenix, Arizona.
VENTURES | SUSQU.EDU/BUSINESS
FACULT Y SPOTLIGHT
IN THE CL ASSROOM
BUILDING THE RANKS BY AMANDA O’ROURKE The Sigmund Weis School of Business welcomed three new faculty members in August. ANDREW FELO Associate Professor of Accounting Felo earned his doctorate and master’s degree in accounting from the State University of New York at Binghamton and his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Bucknell University. Prior to joining Susquehanna’s Department of Accounting, he taught at Nova Southeastern University, the Pennsylvania State University Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies, and Millsaps College. His areas of research include corporate governance, business and accounting ethics, eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) and disclosure transparency. Felo is a certified fraud examiner (CFE), a certified management accountant (CMA) and a certified financial manager (CFM). JIE HAO Assistant Professor of Accounting Hao completed her doctorate in accounting at the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2020. She earned her master’s degree in accounting and a Master of Business Administration from DePaul University in 2009 and 2011, respectively. Her research interests are in financial reporting quality, sustainability reporting and auditing quality. Hao has taught undergraduate courses in financial accounting, managerial accounting and financial reporting analysis at the University of Texas at San Antonio and City College of Chicago. LAUREN ELSASSER ’13 SMITH Visiting Assistant Professor of Management and Marketing Smith earned her Master of Business Administration from the inaugural partnership program between Alliance Manchester Business School, United Kingdom, and the University of Indiana. Prior to joining Susquehanna full time, Smith worked in multiple organizational areas within Burger King Corporation, including operations, training, development and marketing. She has been actively involved in the Susquehanna community since graduation, including serving as the co-director for the LIFE (Leadership Institute for Entrepreneurship) summer program since 2015 and as an adjunct professor in spring 2020. ■
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BUSINESS & COMMUNICATIONS TEAM UP TO OFFER PROFESSIONAL SALES MINOR LEAD INSTRUC TORS BOAST 50 YEARS OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Susquehanna students can now choose to minor in professional sales, beginning this semester.
Salisbury University, where he helped to launch the Mid-Atlantic Sales & Marketing Institute (MASMI).
“Professional selling and the skills attached to this minor are beneficial for students across the university because the skills gained can be used in business, in the nonprofit sector, government and more,” says Emma Fleck, associate professor and head of the Department of Management and Marketing in the Sigmund Weis School of Business.
“Many employers expect sales skills to be developed before students graduate and enter the work force, so that they can ‘hit the ground running’ from day one of their employment,” Wilson says. “Professional selling not only benefits salespeople in selling to customers, but also benefits them when presenting internally to senior management and boards of directors.”
The interdisciplinary minor requires courses from the Department of Communications and the Sigmund Weis School of Business.
Welliver and Wilson will train selected sales students to successfully compete in national competitions. They also hope to develop a sales lab in which students will hone their presentation skills through role-play exercises, and where potential corporate sponsors will be involved as role-play buyers.
Courses will be taught by Michele Welliver, an assistant professor of communications who has more than a decade of professional sales experience in radio and television, and Darrell Wilson ’78, an adjunct professor of marketing with more than 40 years of sales experience. “Students minoring in professional sales will gain vital business and communication skills that will help them build their portfolio to pursue a career in a variety of sales roles,” Welliver says. Prior to his retirement, Wilson enjoyed a successful career in professional sales at companies such as Energizer and Troy-Bilt, eventually rising to vice president of sales at Yuasa Battery, Inc. He earned his Master of Business Administration from Golden Gate University in 1992 and is also an adjunct professor of marketing at
VENTURES | SUSQU.EDU/BUSINESS
OP
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Remote International Internships
ENofAOpportunities FUTURE for Students This summer, 44 Sigmund Weis School of Business students participated in an invaluable educational experience. They completed internships with companies across the globe, all while working remotely.
By Samantha Carpentiere ’20 Illustrations by Sorbetto
VENTURES | SUSQU.EDU/BUSINESS
“At a time when so many opportunities were taken away from students, I’m thankful for the alumni donors who helped make these international internships possible,” Matthew Rousu, dean of the business school, says. “I’m also thrilled that our students seized the opportunity to gain skills during the summer.” THOMAS DINNENY ’22 For finance and economics double major Thomas Dinneny, his remote experience with Forte Markets in London blossomed into an unparalleled employment opportunity. “I was excited when they told me that they wanted to eventually hire me full time,” exclaims Dinneny. “I was also excited because this intern program from SU could prove to be an effective way of landing internships and jobs for business school students in the future.” Throughout his internship, Dinneny researched and analyzed various topics to provide consulting services for clients. Some of his projects included preparing a presentation that analyzed and compared the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 COVID-19 crisis, as well as creating e-learning courses for clients on topics such as open banking and regulation technology. Currently, Dinneny is working part time as a consulting intern for Forte Markets while he continues his studies at Susquehanna. Along with continuing his summer internship duties, he has also ventured into the company’s legal technology space, creating e-learning courses for a certification program that will be offered.
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“I’m looking forward to doing more big things for Forte, even if it will be challenging during the school year,” Dinneny says. Despite having to balance his workload with his academics, he feels his summer internship and student-athlete experiences at SU prepared him to manage his time. “I really believe that SU’s blend of a liberal arts education within the business school provided me with the business and research skills needed to do the job effectively and efficiently,” Dinneny says. ELIZABETH LUDWIG ’21 Likewise, in London, Elizabeth Ludwig, a luxury brand marketing and management and strategic communications double major, took her events management knowledge to Hire Space. She developed social media content, conducted business development on LinkedIn, researched and developed reopening guidelines for the UK events industry due to COVID-19, and further assisted with the development of the Saver Events Program that Hire Space started. “I’ve learned quite a bit about how companies have tackled the pandemic and even assisted in tackling it firsthand [with Hire Space],” Ludwig says.
SYDNEY SANTIAGO ’22 Meanwhile, in Asia, Sydney Santiago, a marketing major, was immersed in digital marketing for multinational healthcare company Baxter International in Hong Kong. She conducted marketing research and developed a marketing plan that would allow the company to expand its outreach to new digital platforms.
Ludwig, Dinneny, Santiago and Samadi all say their biggest challenge was the time difference between themselves and their coworkers. After much trial and error, Dinneny says he was able to set a schedule and manage his time so that he could overcome those struggles and become more efficient with his time and effective with his work.
“I have gained much insight regarding the healthcare industry, as well as different aspects of digital marketing,” Santiago explains. “I was also able to enhance my communication, presentation and teamwork skills through this experience.”
However, despite the obstacles they faced working for an international company remotely, these students agree that their global and intercultural fluency greatly benefitted from their internship experiences and the academic course offered alongside it.
UBAID SAMADI ’22 Down under in Oceania, Ubaid Samadi, a finance major, interned remotely for one of New Zealand’s big four banks, the Bank of New Zealand. During his internship, Samadi created a research report on the development of small- to mediumsized enterprises in New Zealand and how to ease their transition to a digital, post-COVID world. “The internship has benefitted me immensely. I am prepared for a post-COVID world where everything is digitalized, and I’m confident to enter the work force now, more than ever,” Samadi says. The Bank of New Zealand and Baxter International Internships were arranged by Susquehanna's partner, Global Academic Ventures.
Created and instructed by Associate Director of Employer Engagement and Adjunct Faculty for Personal Development Alexandra Grill, the MGMT-503 Business Internship course supported students throughout their remote experiences and helped them process and connect their work to both their academics and future career goals. “[The course] provided a lot of reflective material throughout the internship for students to take some time to think about their internship experiences so far,” says Ludwig. “I am very grateful the business school opened this opportunity for students, allowing me and several other students the opportunity that we may not have had otherwise [due to the global pandemic and international travel restrictions],” Santiago adds. ■
VENTURES | SUSQU.EDU/BUSINESS
Andrew Robinson ’24
C AMPUS NEWS
CATCHING UP WITH THE BUSINESS SCHOOL
BRIDGE TO THE BOARDROOM GIVES FIRST-YEARS JUMP-START ON A CAREER BY AMANDA O’ROURKE
Coordinated and directed by Anjee Gorkhali, assistant professor of finance and analytics, and Michael Ozlanski ’05, assistant professor of accounting, Bridge to the Boardroom was one of five pre-orientation programs offered exclusively to first-year students through the Office of First-Year Experience the week before classes began. It was made possible by the financial support from Richard Loutzenheiser. “The program is all about engagement and fostering success,” says Ozlanski. “We hope that if we make connections, build enthusiasm and confidence, and create
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successes even before the academic year starts, then these participating students should be able to capitalize on that momentum as they move through the rest of their academic career at Susquehanna.” Over three days, students learned about business consulting, marketing, digital marketing, SWOT analysis, effective presentation skills, and entrepreneurship and networking. They also spent time with Kelly Feiler, director of the Regional Engagement Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing educational, recreational and charitable opportunities. Bridge to the Boardroom students met with Feiler to learn about the REC and develop ideas for future growth opportunities, which they pitched to Feiler in their final group presentation. HEATHER NECESSARY
A new business school program was on the menu of offerings to first-year students who wanted to get a jumpstart on their path to becoming a business executive. As part its debut this summer, Bridge to the Boardroom sought to help new students create community and develop networking and personal branding skills.
Brice Gregory ’24 and Janean Foster ’24 practice for their presentation.
“In the course of two days, these 12 students visited the REC, listened to my very large dream for the facility and community, and were able to synthesize and condense their ideas for some of the most pressing issues we've been working on for years into four, 15-minute, priceless presentations,” Feiler said. “This is evidence of powerful and inspired young minds.”
and research that the students did for us,” Feiler says. “The process they develop here — understanding the organization, assessing its potential and responding with recommendations — is something that the students will continue to calibrate in their SWSB courses,” Ozlanski says. “And, it’s something that they will apply when they launch their post-SU careers.”
The presentations focused on the four P’s of business: product, price, promotion and placement, which Feiler says were new to her. “This helped reduce my anxiety about organizing a business plan to expand our Teen Business Innovation Zone,” she says.
Olivia Agnoni ’24, of Muncy, Pennsylvania, had been confused about her choice of study as she looked ahead to beginning college in the fall. During her admission process, she chose art as her major, but within months changed it to international business. It was “a big change and a very unfamiliar scene for me,” Agnoni explains.
Separately, the presentations focused on fundraising and marketing as well as specifics for launching a statelicensed childcare facility, a longtime goal of Feiler’s. The REC’s Board of Directors met the day after the Bridge to the Boardroom presentations and are already acting on the recommendations. Feiler says the REC’s fundraising and marketing committees are using the information presented to them; and Javier Videla, director of youth programming, has already taken information from the presentation on opening a daycare facility to a newly formed committee for that purpose. “This took at most two hours of my time, and I was rewarded with saved hours upon hours of brainstorming
“After I received the email suggesting a pre-flight [orientation] program, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to experience what a business-focused path of study would look like,” she says. Agnoni says she enjoyed every topic that was covered during the program and feels uniquely prepared for the Sigmund Weis School of Business rite of passage — the Global Business Perspectives course. “While listening to the lectures offered by the program, I thought, ‘I belong here, in this classroom,’” Agnoni says. “This program has made me very excited for the rest of my four years here at SU.” ■
VENTURES | SUSQU.EDU/BUSINESS
C AMPUS NEWS
CATCHING UP WITH THE BUSINESS SCHOOL
ALUMNI SHARE THEIR EXPERTISE VIRTUALLY BY R ACHAEL BL AINE ’21 This semester, the Sigmund Weis School of Business introduced a new way to connect Susquehannans with business expertise: the SWSB Virtual Speaker Series. According to Matthew Rousu, dean of the Sigmund Weis School of Business, the series will “allow students to learn from professionals working in a wide variety of disciplines on a wide variety of business-related topics.” Originally intended to take place on campus with a few alumni speakers, the series has gone remote due to the pandemic. But there’s a silver lining — the series morphed into something much bigger. Now, more than 30 speakers will participate virtually in 28 talks throughout the course of the semester, with subjects ranging from tips for grad school to the entrepreneurship life cycle. “I asked over 30 alumni to be part of the series and nobody said no,” Dean Rousu said. “It says something special about the Susquehanna University community that we have so many graduates volunteering their time and talents to serve our students.” Rousu noted a similar series will likely be scheduled in the spring, with different speakers sharing their expertise. Rousu is determined to take the positives away from the current pandemic situation. Because of the now remote nature of the series, speakers across the country (and in some cases, the world) are able to present on their specialties without the hurdle of travel. “Despite being remote, students will be able to learn from, ask questions of and potentially even network with some top business professionals,” Rousu explained. Not only does it increase the accessibility of the series for speakers, but it also allows both prospective students and alumni to engage with the Susquehanna community. Following are some of the highlighted talks scheduled:
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THURSDAY, SEPT. 10 at 7 P.M. “Being a Leader Through a Time of Disruption” John Strangfeld ’75, Former CEO for Prudential John Strangfeld led Prudential Financial, Inc., as chairman and CEO for over a decade, assuming the CEO role just prior to the 2008 financial crisis. Under his leadership, Prudential capitalized on subsequent industry dislocations and experienced significant growth through strategic acquisitions, innovative product development, and the opportunistic hiring of top talent. With $1.4T active assets under management, over $6B annual earnings, and operations throughout the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America, Prudential is one of the world's largest and most admired financial services companies.
MONDAY, SEPT. 28 at 7 P.M. “Working with Luxury Brands: In Fashion, Automotive and Other Industries” Sarah Derrick ’18, Production Coordinator for LDJ Productions Sarah Derrick ’18 graduated with a degree in luxury brand marketing and management and immediately found herself working with luxury brands when she joined LDJ Productions, a full-service creative production agency based in New York that specializes in live and experiential events. As a production coordinator, she works with fashion, luxury beauty, media and automotive clients.
THURSDAY, OCT. 1 at 7 P.M. “Tips to Landing Dream Jobs: When You Graduate and Throughout Your Career” Brett Moyer ’13, Associate for Goldman Sachs Brett Moyer, a 2013 graduate of the Sigmund Weis School of Business who majored in finance and economics, currently works for Goldman Sachs as a compliance officer for their global banking business. Brett started
NEW HONOR SOCIETY FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP his career in banking while at Susquehanna as he worked part time for Susquehanna Community Financial as a bank teller before graduating to join JPMorgan, where he worked between financial control and project management for their treasury division until 2019. Brett volunteers with the National Parks Service as a medical historian at the Ellis Island National Museum and supports a local startup business based in Snyder County, Pennsylvania.
THURSDAY, OCT. 29 at 4:15 P.M. “The Business of Beer” RJ Martucci ’06, Partner at JGS RJ Martucci ’06, CPA, is a partner at JGS. Though he works with a variety of industries, one of his specialties is the beverage distribution and manufacturing industry. RJ works with wholesale distributors of beer, wine, spirits and non-alcoholic beverages. He has also worked with craft brewery and distillery startups throughout the business plan, forecast, funding and development phases. In this talk, RJ will share his expertise on many aspects of “the business of beer.”
THURSDAY, NOV. 12 at 9 A.M. “Strategies for Success When You Don’t Look Like the Typical CEO in Your Field” Sara Luley ’08 Baublitz, Founding Partner of Bid Boss Consulting Sara Baublitz holds a 2008 Bachelor of Arts degree from Susquehanna University in Spanish and international studies (economics concentration) and a joint Master of Arts in Public Leadership degree from United Lutheran Seminary and the Fox School of Business at Temple University. Baublitz is a founding partner of Bid Boss Consulting, LLC, which provides consulting services in the international development sector to help clients win more funding from governments, multilaterals and foundations. Her experience includes over ten years in the international nonprofit sector in proposal management, new program design, strategic planning and relationship management. ■ The full list of the SWSB Virtual Speaker Series, as well as a link to recordings, is featured at susqu.edu/SWSBspeaker-series.
Seven Susquehannans are now members of Susquehanna University’s newest academic honor society, Sigma Nu Tau. Last February, Department Head and Associate Professor of Management and Marketing Emma Fleck established a collegiate chapter at Susquehanna, which became the honor society’s 33rd chapter. One of four chapters in Pennsylvania, it ushered in its inaugural members at a virtual induction ceremony on May 14. “We [have] always wanted to elevate the work of the entrepreneurial students on our campus. There are many students involved in great work but [have] never been recognized,” Fleck explained. “When I found out about Sigma Nu Tau, I knew that bringing a chapter to SU would bring together many of these students in a formal body to make a bigger impact.” Six then-seniors — all of whom majored in various fields of study but minored in entrepreneurship and innovation — were inducted: Talia Basch, a public relations major; Ali Hordeski, a piano performance major; Sherri Hufstedler, a marketing major; Kassi Jata, a luxury brand marketing and management double major; Rachel Sweger, a business administration major; and Kelly Weins , a psychology major. Alumna Deidre Kramer ’94 was also inducted as an honoree member. Student members must be registered within the entrepreneurship and innovation minor, have at least a 3.2 GPA, at least a junior class standing, and exhibit honor and integrity, as well as evidence of an entrepreneurial spirit. Sigma Nu Tau lauds itself as the only academic honor society focused on entrepreneurship in the U.S. Its goals are “to promote, recognize, honor and reward academic excellence in entrepreneurship and to encourage and recognize the practice of principled entrepreneurship.” Fleck hopes that creating a Sigma Nu Tau chapter on campus will help “build an entrepreneurial spirit that is not associated with one professor or group of students, but that will grow and develop over many years.” ■
ALUMNI NEWS
OUR BEST AND BRIGHTEST
ALUMNA BLENDS CREATIVE WRITING AND ECONOMICS IN A MULTI-FACETED CAREER BY BRUCE BEANS Dylan Furlano ’14 has always been a right brain/left brain sort of person. That’s why, at Susquehanna University, she earned dual bachelor’s degrees in both creative writing and economics — while also completing minors in Jewish studies, women’s studies and diversity studies. “I came to Susquehanna knowing I wanted to major in creative writing,” says Furlano, a western Massachusetts native who moved with her family to Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, when she was a high schooler. “But I had enjoyed an economics class in high school, and when I took an elective at Susquehanna, an adjunct professor, Joseph Anderson, really encouraged me. “In the economic theories, I felt like I could see people’s stories, the story of civilization. Creative writing and economics are just two different ways to tell the human story.” Anderson referred Furlano to Professor Matthew Rousu, now dean of the Sigmund Weis School of Business, who helped her with the dual-degree logistics. Today, combining both disciplines, she is both the fulltime marketing coordinator for the Newark Community Cooperative in Delaware — a co-op with a grocery store, café and community space — and the owner of Dylan in the Details, a part-time small business marketing consulting firm that she launched two years ago.
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“The number one thing I took from Susquehanna is that I don’t have to be one thing,” she says. “I can take a lot of different pieces and information and be who I am with all these different skill sets. I feel equipped to take on problems and think about them in ways that continue to be innovative and interesting. Susquehanna really fostered that in me.” Following her graduation, Furlano worked with three different insurance agencies, including two that focus on nonprofit clients. However, after realizing that insurance was not her passion, in March Furlano joined the Newark cooperative, where her responsibilities include internal and external marketing, social media, website and graphic design, and photography. “I love what I do as well as the values and mission of the co-op, which focuses on community needs and healthy living,” she says. “I feel like all the work that I do serves a larger purpose.” As an essential business, the cooperative has remained open. However, the pandemic required some agile changes — including spreading the word about online grocery ordering and contactless, curbside pickup. Meanwhile, the Avondale, Pennsylvania, resident has continued her consulting business, which offers branding, light copywriting, social media advice and photography
services. Instead of building a stable of long-term clients, Furlano empowers clients to ultimately execute such services themselves: “I think there are enough small businesses that need my expertise on a short-term basis that it is an underserved market.” One of her clients, hedge fund manager Dale Brethauer, is a retired DuPont engineer whose Options Infinity webinars educate clients about options trading. Focusing on Facebook and LinkedIn, he says, “She helped to create and publish ads that were consistent and impactful. My membership has been increasing 7% a month.”
PHOT0 COURTESY OF DYLAN FURLANO ’14
During her sophomore year, Furlano spent a semester at the Warsaw School of Economics in Poland. Moved by her visits to Nazi concentration camps, she conducted further research at SU; gave a presentation at a 2015 convention in London; and earned a master’s degree in holocaust and genocide studies in 2017 from West Chester University. “It was very challenging living in a country for four months where I didn’t know the language. But because I went to Susquehanna and because I went to Poland, I saw how hard experiences can be a blessing,” she explains. “I found out that I was stronger and more capable than I ever thought I could be.” ■
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
OUR BEST AND BRIGHTEST
SENIORS LAUDED FOR EXEMPLARY WORK BY R ACHAEL BL AINE ’21 Last semester, 10 seniors in the Sigmund Weis School of Business were selected to receive senior awards. Recognition is generally based on a combination of GPA and faculty recommendation. The following graduates were recognized for their outstanding work during their time at Susquehanna University: •D OMENIC CARUSO ’20, economics Outstanding Senior Award (B.S.)
•A RIANNA LYNCH ’20, business administration Outstanding Senior Award
• Z ACHARY COOPER ’20, accounting, Award for Academic Excellence
• C IARA MIDDLETON ’20, global management Outstanding Senior Award
• GABRIELA DRAGANOVA ’20, luxury brand marketing and management Outstanding Senior Award
•M AYRA PEREZ ’20, economics Outstanding Senior Award (B.A.)
• C OREY KINNEY ’20, finance Outstanding Senior Award • T ESS KORINKO ’20, marketing The J. Brady Minich Award
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• S TACIE SAVOCA ’20, accounting PICPA and Outstanding Senior awards • S HANE SULLIVAN ’20, finance Outstanding Senior Award
Susquehanna’s commitment to guaranteeing international internships for Sigmund Weis School of Business students comes at a time when global experiences have never been more important — especially to students who want to gain international exposure in their field of study.
While studying aboard, students achieve intercultural competence. When they complete an international internship, they tie their newly acquired global aptitude to a business environment. This gives them an edge over others who are preparing to enter the workplace — whether they accept a job offer overseas or work for a U.S.-based company. As the number of students participating in international internships continues to rise, so too does the need for financial assistance.
Donations from alumni, and gifts from other supporters, help reduce students’ costs to complete international internships by:
» » »
Providing full or partial scholarships; some students get fully funded international internship experiences. Supporting the cost of the fee the university pays to help match students with employers. Covering the $500 cost of a student’s visa.
If you are interested in contributing to students’ business experiences in countries such as England, Germany, Spain, South Korea and Singapore, go to susqu.edu/makeagift and choose International Internships SWSB or contact Assistant Vice President for Advancement Kimberly Andretta at andretta@susqu.edu or 570-372-4042. On behalf of our students,
danke • gracias • terima kasih • thank you for your support.
514 University Ave. Selinsgrove, PA 17870-1164