Ventures: Spring 2019

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S P R I N G 2019

SIGM UND WEIS SCHOOL OF BUSINES S AT SUSQUEHANNA UNIVERSI T Y

TOP STORY

SU’s Finance Majors Leverage a Wealth of Opportunities

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

Matthew Taylor ’09 Named an Up-and-Comer p.14 Accounting Grads Get Out the Gate Fast p.16

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DEAN’S CORNER

A CONVERSATION WITH MAT THEW ROUSU

The spring semester always brings a special energy.

Seniors are finalizing their post-graduation positions, juniors are landing great internships and many sophomores are preparing to study abroad. Indeed, during the semester both faculty and students are hard at work, but it is important to us to take moments to celebrate great accomplishments.

And we have a lot to celebrate. Two of our seniors passed the first part—Level I—of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam. Sigmund Weis School of Business alumni who have passed all three levels of the exam—becoming CFAs—will attest that passing Level I while still in college is an incredible achievement.

Matthew Bershefsky ’19 and Ty Bricker ’19 each received a scholarship to take the exam through our new CFA affiliation agreement, which grants us seven per year.

Five more senior finance majors who received scholarships are studying hard to take the exam in June. Matt and Ty’s success is further validation that the finance curriculum is in line with the top accrediting body—ensuring all our finance majors are learning the skills necessary to succeed after they graduate.

We are also celebrating a further expansion of international internship opportunities.

This academic year, juniors studied and interned in Chester, England; London; and Barcelona, Spain. Next year, students will also intern in Hamburg, Germany, and Waikato, New Zealand. I recently returned from a trip to Hong Kong, where we are working to establish student internships over the January break and in the summer.

Our Center for Economics, Business, and Entrepreneurship Education has had a great second year. We trained more than 500 teachers and 1,500 students in 2018–19, all with the purpose of improving business education for K–12 students. Of course, a side goal is to develop better relationships with those teachers so that when their students think about studying business, they are excited to recommend Susquehanna University and the Sigmund Weis School.

And there is much more. A team of three business school students competed in the national e-Fest 2019 Schulze Entrepreneurship Challenge, landing an April trip to Minnesota to pitch their business idea in the final competition that awards more than $250,000 to winners! Thanks in part to Susquehanna alumni, students continue to land impressive internships and jobs at leading firms around the world. Faculty and staff are working on innovative projects and have had their articles accepted at several prestigious journals.

As we near the end of this academic year, I am so proud of our students, faculty and alumni for their many achievements and look forward to seeing you back on campus soon!

Matthew C. Rousu Dean, Sigmund Weis School of Business

SPRING 2019

Dean of the Sigmund Weis School of Business

MATTHEW ROUSU Editor

BETSY K. ROBERTSON Director, Digital and Print Communications Contributing Writers

AMANDA O’ROURKE Communications and Media Specialist

KATE ANDREWS ’03 WELLER Web Content and Social Media Manager

BRUCE BEANS Design

JOSIE FERTIG Creative Director

ERICA HOOVER Graphic Designer Lead Photography

GORDON WENZEL HEATHER NECESSARY Copy Editor

KATHLEEN FLORIO

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 5 | ISSUE 1

2

6

2 | Student Spotlight Miller Seizes Every Opportunity at Gilson Internship

4 | Faculty Spotlight Economics Doesn’t Happen in a Vacuum

6 | Top Story What Makes Us Tick?

SU’s Finance Majors Leverage a Wealth of Opportunities

14

18

10 | Faculty Spotlight

16 | Campus News

Pomykalski Heads Up the Reaccreditation Process

12 | Alumni News

Accounting Grads Get Out the Gate Fast Students Provide Free Tax Assistance to Elderly, Low-Income Taxpayers

Executive Council Holds Spring Meeting

Barron’s in Education Program a New Resource

Bahrain Visit

New Majors Coming in the Fall

Matthew Taylor Named an Up-and-Comer

Back cover photograph by Gordon Wenzel

GORDON WENZEL

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

OUR BEST AND BRIGHTEST

MILLER SEIZES EVERY OPPORTUNITY AT GILSON INTERNSHIP

BY K ATE ANDREWS ’03 WELLER Interning at a small company has many perks, including working closely with the CEO, feeling like an integral part of the team and getting actual professional experience.

Olivia Miller ’19 has experienced all of this and more as a marketing intern at Gilson Snowboard and Ski Co. in Winfield, Pennsylvania.

“I really enjoy digital marketing and using technology to analyze consumer engagement. It allows me to see the products of my work and use the data to better my performance and the deliverables I produce for the company,” Miller adds.

“This internship has been one of the biggest blessings of my college career,” Miller says. “I will be forever grateful to the entire team for giving me this opportunity, and for helping me to grow, believe in myself and believe in my abilities. I now know what I’m capable of and have a vast amount of experience in multiple aspects of marketing, and I owe all of this entirely to Gilson.”

Aside from social and digital media work, Miller has applied the skills gained in her Marketing Research class to research and analyze demographic information and then implement a college student ambassadorship program on Susquehanna’s campus. She also helped market Gilson’s annual Summer Snow Day, a community outreach event attended by thousands of people from across the country.

Gilson was founded by Austin Royer ’10 and business partner Nicholas Gilson in 2014. “Olivia brings a unique perspective to our team. She is encouraged to think outside the box and helps keep our social media current and relevant,” Royer says.

Miller also credits Susquehanna’s Integrated Marketing Communications course as important to her work at Gilson, as it relates to her use and analysis of demographic, psychographic and geographic information; positioning; and development of brand strategy.

Interning at Gilson each semester since May 2018, Miller has helped to manage the social media copy and schedule Facebook and Instagram posts using several types of social media dashboards.

After graduation, she hopes to find a position in digital marketing in the Philadelphia area.

“I exercise a great deal of creative control over my projects, while working alongside the chief operations officer, chief executive officer, and the head of marketing and corporate partnerships,” says the marketing major.

“I’ve learned so much from the Gilson team and will take my knowledge and put it into action with future positions,” Miller says.

OLIVIA MILLER ’19 | marketing major

VENTURES | SUSQU.EDU/BUSINESS

FACULT Y SPOTLIGHT

IN THE CL ASSROOM

ECONOMICS DOESN’T HAPPEN IN A VACUUM: WHY ECONOMIC HISTORY MATTERS

BY BRUCE BEANS

Just ask the first students to take Assistant Professor of Economics Theresa Finley’s economic history class, a course rarely offered at the undergraduate level.

“We look at major historical episodes and talk about the causes and consequences of them from an economics framework,” she says. “My students this spring have really taken what they’ve learned in their economic principles classes and applied those concepts to historical events.”

Finley, a Yorktown, Virginia, native, assumed she would get an economics policy job in nearby Washington, D.C., after earning her bachelor’s degree in economics from James Madison University in 2010. “But the recession’s effects were still terrible,” she recalls. “I joked that ‘I have an economics degree, so I know exactly why I can’t find a job.’”

Instead, she pursued a master’s degree in economics at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, then her Ph.D. from George Mason University (GMU), which she earned two years ago.

“I took an economics class at GMU on analytical narratives, which partially involved history, and that made me realize

4 | SPRING 2019

you could study and apply economics to everything that has happened in the past,” says the documentary-watching, self-described history nerd.

Finley’s doctoral dissertation included such topics as the effects of land redistribution as a result of the French Revolution and the economic factors that contributed to thousands of Jews being burned alive during the mid-1300s in the Holy Roman Empire.

Written with Associate Professor Mark Koyama, her doctoral advisor at GMU, Finley’s essay, Plague, Politics and Pogroms: The Black Death, Rule of Law, and the Persecution of Jews in the Holy Roman Empire, was published last May in the Journal of Law and Economics. Her conclusion: Jewish people, who were scapegoated as disseminators of the plague, were less likely to be persecuted where the emperor exerted strong control because taxes on Jewish moneylenders were an important revenue source.

Finley is now researching why agricultural colonies the French government established in 19th-century Algeria failed.

“I know that 99.9% of my students are not going to do work in economic history,” Finley acknowledges. “But if you can look at historical episodes thought to be driven by revolutions, politics and religion and can find the economics involved, you’re more likely to be able to find the constraints, or lack of constraints, that people are facing when you’re making business decisions.”

PHOTOGRAPHER

No doubt you are familiar with the history of the colonization of America; the American, French and Bolshevik revolutions; the Civil War; and the Great Depression. But how much do you know about the economics underpinning these historical watersheds?

HEATHER NECESSARY PHOTOGRAPHER

w hat

MAKES US tick?

by amanda o’rourke

SUSQUEHANNA’S FINANCE MAJORS LEVERAGE A WEALTH OF OPPORTUNITIES

A

shley Ward ’20 thought she wanted to major in business administration when she first enrolled at Susquehanna University, but her experience in Global Business Perspectives— a rite-of-passage course for first-year business students— ignited her love of finance.

“When I was researching the company [we were studying], I would also research who in the company created the information I needed for my project,” Ward explains. “I started to look into the role of the CFO, and I realized that I would like to become one.

“I’m a numbers person,” she goes on, “and enjoy plugging numbers into equations and formulas and seeing if I come up with the right number.”

photography by gordon wenzel

6 | SPRING 2019

Ward, a junior from Teaneck, New Jersey, took the first step toward her future career aspirations when she became treasurer of the Student Government Association. She has attended Women’s Leadership Symposium events in New York City and Philadelphia and also became certified in using the Bloomberg Terminals in the Apfelbaum Hall trading room.

Beyond Ward’s affinity for numbers and critical thinking is a desire to use her academic gifts to help others.

“I hope to become a financial planner,” she says. “Using my knowledge to help people who know little to nothing about their finances or how to plan for their future retirement would be rewarding.”

Ward is one of nearly 140 finance majors within a department that has seen remarkable growth over the past five years. The number of students majoring in finance has grown by 60 percent, from 84 in the 2014–15 academic year, to 139 this year.

CFA CERTIFICATION IS THE GOLD STANDARD

For many students, the Sigmund Weis School of Business’ accreditation by the prestigious International Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is what draws them to Susquehanna.

“I always had an interest in investments,” says senior Ty Bricker, of Manheim, Pennsylvania. “But I came here for the AACSB accreditation.”

(See related story on p. 10.)

The accreditation is one of several affiliations that give finance majors a competitive edge upon their entry into the workforce.

Bricker, who is also majoring in economics, and fellow senior Matthew Bershefsky, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, are also benefitting from Susquehanna’s two-year-old membership in the University Recognition Program of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute.

VENTURES | SUSQU.EDU/BUSINESS

Through the recognition program, the CFA Institute promotes ethicsbased investment education in qualifying university degree programs aimed at developing serious investment professionals.

Bricker and Bershefsky were the first finance majors from Susquehanna to pass the CFA Level I exam— the first step toward earning their CFA certification.

“If you want to work in finance, the CFA designation is a must,” Bricker says.

Susquehanna is one of only four private, undergraduate-only AACSB schools worldwide with CFA affiliation.

Left: Dadalt instructs students in the trading room.

Right: Finance majors must become certified in using Bloomberg Terminals before graduation.

Fees for the Level I exam can exceed $1,300. Because Susquehanna is a participant in the CFA program, students take the exam at a significantly reduced cost. Scholarship dollars are available to cover additional costs, such as books.

The CFA certification process involves three exams that must be taken sequentially. The Level I exam is an all-day affair involving two 3-hour exam sessions. Most test-takers tackle the exam only after several years of work experience.

What doesn’t have a price tag are the hundreds of hours Bricker and Bershefsky spent preparing for the exam, which Dadalt quantified at about 16 pounds’ worth of textbook material.

“I felt like I was prepared, but after you take the exam you’re exhausted,” Bricker says. “We waited eight weeks for the results. The first week I was nervous because I didn’t want to come back to school and tell everyone I failed.”

Bricker estimated he and Bershefsky studied for approximately 300 hours between mid-May and the end of November, when they began taking practice exams.

Peter Dadalt, assistant professor of finance and a CFA Charter holder, describes it as the “gold standard” for financial analysts.

“A lot of the classes we had in the business school exposed us to what was on the test,” Bershefsky says.

“It’s an independent credential.

Anyone in investment management understands the distinction of passing the CFA exams,” Dadalt says. “The industry is littered with smart people who’ve failed the CFA exams.”

What they didn’t know they learned, with the assistance of their “coach,” Dadalt, who made himself available to the students—whom he describes as “his kids”—whenever they needed him.

He needn’t have worried. They both passed, which put them in the minority. The Level I pass rate for the December 2018 exam was only 45%.

“It was such a relief, knowing I wouldn’t have to do it again or at least have some time before I took the second level,” Bershefsky says.

Bricker chalked up their success to hard work and Dadalt’s coaching.

“He gave us a path to follow. If we had any questions, we knew we could reach out to him.” Dadalt nearly swelled with pride: “I’m very proud of them.”

Bricker and Bershefsky have now transitioned into the coach role, assisting five of their classmates who are studying to take the Level I exam in June.

RIVER HAWK FUND OFFERS REAL-LIFE INVESTMENT EXPERIENCE

The CFA program is part of a portfolio of opportunities available to Sigmund Weis School students to gain finance experience outside of the traditional classroom.

8 | SPRING 2019

Another is the River Hawk Fund, a student-managed investment fund of the Student Government Association.

Students in Dadalt’s 400-level finance course of the same name invested $180,000 in three $60,000 installments beginning in the fall 2017 semester.

Students are split into working groups, each focused on a different economic sector, such as health care, utilities and consumer discretionary.

Using Susquehanna’s Bloomberg Terminals, they conduct what at one time would have been exhaustive research into the financial indicators within each sector.

“Using Excel, they make spreadsheets to see the patterns within the financial indicators,” Dadalt says.

“Then the class as a whole votes on each investment recommendation.”

Those recommendations then go before the River Hawk Fund advisory board, made up of university administrators, including Mike Coyne, co–chief operating officer and vice president for finance and administration, and three alumni with investment experience— Mark Cummins ’78, Tal Daly ’76 and Jenna Poore ’10.

Students are admitted into the course only after receiving instructor permission. One of them is Jessica Bolger, a senior finance major from Stanhope, New Jersey.

“I wanted to work on the River Hawk Fund because it’s an opportunity for students to learn how to properly invest in the stock market while working with real money,” she says.

“This is interesting to me because I’d like to get into a career within the investment management industry, and this class is the perfect hands-on opportunity to really gain investing experience.”

BECOMING CERTIFIED ON BLOOMBERG TERMINALS

The Bloomberg Terminals, which include specialized keyboards, doublescreen displays and the Bloomberg Professional investment software, allow students to monitor and analyze financial markets in real time and place trades on Bloomberg’s electronic trading platform.

The trading room—located centrally on the second floor of Apfelbaum Hall—was recently reconfigured so that all 12 terminals fit in the single room.

The trading room has become a hub for finance majors now that they are required to become certified in using the terminals by the time they graduate.

MORE VALUE-ADDED OPPORTUNITIES

Students, like Bolger, also participate in the CFA Institute Research Challenge, an annual global competition that provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis and professional ethics.

Despite being one of the smallest participating schools in the Philadelphia region, Susquehanna had the largest contingent of students in the challenge’s most recent iteration.

“I took part because I thought it would be a great way to enhance my

writing skills, specifically for analyst reports. It’s also a great topic to discuss in an interview,” Bolger says.

“Although my team and I did not advance to the next round, we received some really great feedback about our report, including areas that needed improvement.”

Students also take part in Quinnipiac University’s Global Asset Management Education Forum, the largest student-run financial conference in the world at which participants discuss and debate financial best practices with world-renowned industry leaders. The newest resource available to finance majors is the school’s new partnership with Barron’s. (See related story on p. 20.)

Students point to all of these factors as having contributed to the success and growth of Susquehanna’s finance major.

Ward adds that a unique strength of the Sigmund Weis School is its robust alumni network.

“I really like how involved our alumni are with helping us succeed and providing knowledge and resources,” she explains. “I have made many

connections I don’t think I would have found anywhere else.”

Hundreds of Susquehanna alumni are employed at the nation’s top financial firms—like Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Prudential and Vanguard—providing students with a worldwide network of professional opportunities and career advice.

Virtually all graduates of the Sigmund Weis School of Business get a job within six months of graduation—thanks to solid business coursework, a well-rounded liberal arts education and the many opportunities available to students outside of the classroom, from internships to programs like the CFA Recognition Program, the River Hawk Fund and others.

“We’re here to invest in our students, and you can see at the end of the day that you’ve done something with intrinsic value,” Dadalt says.

“Susquehanna offers our students the best of both worlds—a worldclass business education in an environment where you will grow as a person.”

VENTURES | SUSQU.EDU/BUSINESS

GORDON WENZEL PHOTOGRAPHER

FACULT Y SPOTLIGHT

IN THE CL ASSROOM

POMYKALSKI HEADS UP THE REACCREDITATION PROCESS

BY AMANDA O’ROURKE Ever since the Sigmund Weis School of Business first earned accreditation by the International Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) in 1993, the faculty has worked diligently to maintain this worldwide marker of quality in business education.

James Pomykalski, in a newly created role as reaccreditation and continuous improvement coordinator, oversees the exhaustive reaccreditation process, which he says ultimately benefits students.

“I always tell parents that the AACSB accreditation is the Good Housekeeping Seal for business schools,” he says. “It gives students a leg up when they say they’ve been to an AACSB-accredited school. Anyone who’s been to business school knows what that means. And it also means that the level of expectation placed on those students is much higher.”

Pomykalski works with the dean and other business school faculty to make sure the following accreditation criteria are being met on an ongoing basis.

ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING GOALS —assessment

of students on five learning goals—curriculum, teamwork, technology, written communications and oral communications—at least twice in each five-year accreditation cycle.

FACULTY AND PROFESSIONAL STAFF DEPLOYMENT

PHOTOGRAPHER

—an overview of how much time full-time faculty spend in the classroom, as opposed to adjunct faculty.

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT— the business school’s strategy in supporting faculty in scholarly research or the practice of business. Faculty are required to publish two peer-reviewed articles every five years, or to maintain some professional activity relevant to their scholarly expertise.

STRATEGIC PLANNING —demonstrated continuous

improvement outcomes and/or achievement of mission, expected outcomes and strategies. The business school is revising its strategic plan to dovetail with efforts that are currently underway at the university level.

Less than 5% of the world’s business schools earn AACSB accreditation. Susquehanna is one of 10 undergraduateonly business schools with the distinction, and one of only eight business schools in a private, liberal arts setting.

Over the next five years, the business school aims to diversify its student body by recruiting more female students, a task Pomykalski hopes will be made easier with the addition of four new, female faculty members.

Pomykalski will work this summer on the reaccreditation report to be delivered to the AACSB at least 60 days before evaluators visit campus in spring 2020.

“We’re fortunate that our processes around accreditation are mature,” he says. “Right now, we’re in good shape and we’re moving in the right direction.”

VENTURES | SUSQU.EDU/BUSINESS

ALUMNI NEWS

OUR BEST AND BRIGHTEST

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL HOLDS SPRING MEETING The Sigmund Weis School of Business Executive Council, a group of alumni advisors to the school, met in Manhattan on a snowy March day just before Dean Matthew Rousu spoke at an economic conference and then jumped on a red-eye flight to China to negotiate more international educational partnerships with Susquehanna.

Rousu says that getting advice and feedback from alumni leaders working in business and industry is critical to preparing students for future workplace needs. During the recent meeting, they provided important input about the university’s forthcoming strategic plan to both Rousu and Aaron Martin, vice president for marketing and communications. Rousu also reviewed updates about Sigmund Weis School majors, courses and opportunities for students.

“The council provides invaluable guidance into everything from current curriculum to future programs with a keen eye on what will be most valuable for our students,” Rousu says.

“The perspectives they share with us benefit the school and provide strategies for how we can continuously improve.”

Rousu credits the council’s past input for the school’s push to expand international internship opportunities for business students. Council members also are providing useful insight into recruiting practices and training expectations of employers.

“I chose to serve as the junior member of the council, integrating my unique entrepreneurial background, to assist in elevating

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Susquehanna’s status as an elite undergraduate business school,” says Cade Vogelsong ’07, managing director of The Viking Group. “Under Dean Rousu’s direction, I believe that the Sigmund Weis School is poised to experience substantial growth with its program offerings and enrollment.”

The council provides invaluable guidance into everything from current curriculum to future programs.

— Matthew Rousu

BAHRAIN VISIT

ALUMNI SERVING ON THE COUNCIL Tal Daley ’76, retired managing director, senior investment specialist ClearBridge Investments Jason Eck ’05, vice president, prime service sales Goldman Sachs & Co. Lynda Guinan ’80, chief financial officer Chiral Technologies, Inc.

Tim Murray ’93, CEO of Aluminum Bahrain, also known as Alba, hosted 20 students in the London Program during their visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain in January. They were accompanied by SU faculty members Jerry Habegger and Michael Ozlanski, and business school dean Matthew Rousu. The group toured the Alba facility, learned about Bahrain’s aluminum industry and attended a town hall meeting led by Murray.

Amy Junger ’86, senior director Publicis Sapient Gerohn Lanns ’04, financial accounting advisory services partner EY Robert Leslie ’80, former chief investment officer Patriot Wealth Management, Inc. Nicole Payne ’99, vice president, new product & vendor risk governance American Express Co. Douglas Ralph ’82, retired chief financial officer Carpenter Technology Anne Shire ’06, senior vice president Northern Trust Corporation Cade Vogelsong ’07, managing director The Viking Group

VENTURES | SUSQU.EDU/BUSINESS

ALUMNI NEWS

OUR BEST AND BRIGHTEST

MATTHEW TAYLOR NAMED AN UP-AND-COMER

BY BRUCE BEANS After his so-so first year at Susquehanna University, no one—especially Matthew Taylor ’09 himself—would have predicted that, on his 33rd birthday last September, NJBiz would have named him one of New Jersey’s Top Forty Under 40 up-and-coming business leaders.

“I didn’t have the proper perspective, and I didn’t think it was the right path for me at the time,” explains the Long Valley, New Jersey, native. So he left Susquehanna and spent much of the next year working, literally almost around the clock: as a daytime auto mechanic, at a shipping plant on a night shift until 1:30 a.m., and on weekends as a Scott’s fertilizer vendor at local Home Depot and Lowe’s stores.

“It helped me realize that, for what I wanted to accomplish in life, I needed to continue my education at Susquehanna,” he recalls. Studying “as if my life was at stake,” Taylor excelled as a business administration major with a focus on entrepreneurship.

Among his most memorable classes was an economics class taught by Matthew Rousu, now dean of the Sigmund Weis School of Business. “He inspired my continued interest in the study of economics and the way the economies work around the world—a great benefit to working now with international companies on a daily basis,” Taylor says.

For the close-up look at how businesses actually operate, his entrepreneurship classes were also highly influential, particularly those taught by former management professor Leann Mischel. “The Sigmund Weis School is very good at

14 | SPRING 2019

giving you the space you need to really take hold of your education and stand out,” he adds.

Following a series of software and marketing jobs, in 2016 Taylor joined Delia Associates, a business-to-business branding and marketing firm in Whitehouse, New Jersey, as its director of program management. Early last year, he was appointed managing director.

The firm specializes, he says, in “finding the extraordinary in the ordinary.” For example, one client manufactures miniature extruded aluminum parts. “Not terribly exciting on the surface,” he concedes, “until we discovered those parts had been part of SpaceX missions and are found in modern electric cars. Then we had an extraordinary marketing story to tell.”

Taylor lives in Califon, New Jersey, with his wife, Amber Cook Taylor ’11, a Susquehanna graduate who went on to complete a three-year Master of Fine Arts in creative writing and poetry. She now inspires her students as a middle school English teacher. Matthew is a board member of the Califon Veterans Memorial Fund, was involved with a bicycle safety charity for children and partnered in heading Delia’s rebranding effort for the Hunterdon (County) Drug Awareness and Prevention organization.

His charitable work is a continuation of his experience as a leader with SU’s Habitat for Humanity and with Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), a business-based club now known as Enactus. “Its focus on philanthropic work was exactly in line with how I wanted to live my life in the future,” he says.

FRANK VERONSKY

C AMPUS NEWS

CATCHING UP WITH THE BUSINESS SCHOOL

ACCOUNTING GRADS GET OUT THE GATE FAST

BY K ATE ANDREWS ’03 WELLER Exceptional job placement rates and first-rate preparation for the CPA exam continue to be the hallmarks of Susquehanna’s accounting program.

Nearly all accounting majors earn the necessary 150 credit hours to sit for the CPA exam in just four years—one year faster than most other colleges. It often takes five years and a master’s degree to be ready for the CPA exam, but more than 90 percent of our accounting majors choose to pursue our manageable path to get their 150 hours in four years.

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“This not only saves them a year of tuition but gets them into the job market that much sooner,” says Mike Ozlanski ’05, assistant professor of accounting. “Because they don’t have to finish a master’s to attain the 150 hours, they can wait and focus on what’s meaningful to them. They’ll appreciate their master’s coursework even more once they have work experience.”

Graduates are landing at elite firms in big markets like New York City; Washington, D.C.; and Philadelphia; and also smaller boutique firms. One–hundred percent of graduates have been

SU ACCOUNTING MA JORS

placed in jobs in the last three years, with nearly one-third of those offers coming before starting their senior year.

Cameron Dougherty ’14 received one of those offers, going right to work at Deloitte in Philadelphia and passing his CPA exam within a few months.

ADEPT

150

CREDIT HOURS

ONE YEAR FA S T E R

"Susquehanna definitely gave me this opportunity. It taught me that I am truly the author of my own life story. SU provided the tools, the facilities and the guidance. All I needed to do was go for it!" he says.

Kerstie Blue ’15 accepted a job as an audit associate at KPMG in San Diego.

JOB PLACEMENT RATE

100%

SUCCESSFUL

“ S U PROVIDED THE TOOLS, THE FACILITIES AND THE GUIDANCE. ALL I NEEDED TO DO WAS GO FOR IT!” — Cameron Dougherty ’14

DESIRED

“The people I work with here in San Diego weren’t able to take the time to complete study abroad programs at their schools, complete internships for credit, or even finish their 150 hours in less than five years,” she says.

In addition to being able to study abroad through our award-winning GO program, students benefit from studying at a liberal arts institution with an AACSBaccredited business school—a rare combination. Not only are graduates well-versed in the tools of the accounting trade, they excel at sought-after “soft skills” such as writing, teamwork, presentations, critical thinking, interpersonal relationships and leadership.

“Given the post-graduation success of our students, it is clear that top companies recognize the high quality of our accounting degree,” Ozlanski says.

1/3

ACCOUNTING GRADUATES RECEIVE

JOB OFFERS BEFORE SENIOR YEAR

95%

SIT FOR CPA EXAM IN 4 YEARS

PREPARED

C AMPUS NEWS

CATCHING UP WITH THE BUSINESS SCHOOL

STUDENTS PROVIDE FREE TAX ASSISTANCE TO ELDERLY, LOWINCOME TAXPAYERS

BY AMANDA O’ROURKE

Above: Ryan Seibert '19 helps a local resident with her tax form.

Below: Professor Rick Davis mentors Seibert and Nick Meale '19.

Tax season can be a stressful time, particularly for taxpayers who cannot afford tax assistance. Accounting majors in the Sigmund Weis School of Business are lending a hand through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.

Sponsored by the Internal Revenue Service, VITA offers free tax help to people who generally make $54,000 or less, persons with disabilities, and limited-Englishspeaking taxpayers who find it challenging to prepare their tax returns. Locally, the program operates through the Union-Snyder Community Action Agency.

It’s a hands-on opportunity for students to get careerspecific experience working with a variety of people with different tax situations.

“This is directly relevant to students’ profession—to use tax and accounting knowledge and to have real clients,” says Richard O. Davis, professor of accounting.

Davis, who leads Susquehanna’s participation in the program, has volunteered for VITA and similar programs for the past 20 years.

18 | SPRING 2019

Seniors Justin Endy and Abby Carr volunteer at the Union-Snyder Community Action Agency.

For the first time, he offered a four-credit course this year for students wishing to participate and earn hours toward their 150-hour requirement for CPA certification.

VITA volunteers are required to pass several exams before participating in the program, including an ethics and code-of-conduct exam and one on basic tax law, which Davis said was particularly difficult this year due to the new tax reform law. All of that work is completed as part of the course.

“Every [VITA] client had a different situation, whether it was their filing status, if they had any dependents, if they forgot any important paperwork and how to work around this,” Shields says. “Many of the clients who came in were elders, and some could not even hear what I was saying to them.”

This is senior Katelyn Long’s second year participating in VITA.

“This program showed me how much I learned during my four years at Susquehanna,” he says. “I [understood things] that many of my coworkers were very surprised that I knew coming out of college.”

“After completing three tax courses, you have a mindset that you know so much about taxes and tax preparing.

After my first day, I found out I was completely wrong,” Long remembers. “There is so much that you come across while preparing someone’s tax return; no two are ever alike.”

Tom Shields ’17, now an audit associate at Gelman, Rosenberg and Freedman CPAs in Bethesda, Maryland, agrees.

Despite the challenges, Shields says he was more prepared than he realized when he started his first job.

Beyond the concrete skills students develop by volunteering with VITA, the work can be very gratifying.

“When you meet with a single mom trying to support two kids and she finds out she’s getting a $2,000 tax refund, that’s like winning the lottery,” Davis says. “Now she can buy Christmas presents for her kids, she can put some better food on the table. This is an education for our students, showing them there is another world out there.”

VENTURES | SUSQU.EDU/BUSINESS

C AMPUS NEWS

CATCHING UP WITH THE BUSINESS SCHOOL

BARRON’S IN EDUCATION PROGRAM A NEW RESOURCE Students in the Sigmund Weis School of Business have yet another way to gain financial knowledge and career advice—through Barron’s, one of the nation’s premier financial resources.

Thanks to the Hudock Capital Group, LLC, of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, sponsor of Susquehanna’s two-year site license to Barron’s, students and faculty have free access to the financial magazine’s online content, which provides in-depth analysis and commentary on the financial markets every day.

The Barron’s in Education partnership will also provide Sigmund Weis School students access to webinars, connections with corporate recruiters for internships and jobs, and opportunities to tour corporate headquarters.

“This is a wonderful resource for students,” says Matthew Rousu, dean of the Sigmund Weis School of Business. “An especially exciting benefit of the partnership is the invitation for our students to visit the Dow Jones headquarters in Manhattan and tour the Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch newsrooms.”

Susquehanna is an early participant in Barron’s new program, which launched in 2018. It connects real-world analysis to textbook theory, fosters professional growth by exposing students to a wide range of careers in business, and shares knowledge from the world’s top financial professionals.

NEW MAJORS COMING IN THE FALL The business school will offer two new majors starting in fall 2019—international business and management.

International business majors will develop the crosscultural and business skills to effectively manage all types of enterprises in a global environment as well as prepare local and national organizations to expand across international borders. Students will be required to complete an international internship, enabling them to experience firsthand the differences and challenges of working in a foreign environment while developing an understanding and appreciation of other cultures.

20 | SPRING 2019

The management major provides a broad background in management and is intended for students who wish to manage and lead organizational activities. They will develop the ability to manage people and relationships in for-profit and nonprofit organizations and grow business opportunities.

The current business administration and global management majors will no longer be offered to new students, but current students in those majors will be able to complete them.

Do you know a high school student who has a passion for … business and investing? entrepreneurship and innovation?

SUMMER

2019 PRE-COLLEGE PROGRAMS for High School Students at Susquehanna Universit y Susquehanna University’s pre-college programs are ranked among the top 25 nationally. Students develop their skills.

Enhance their college résumé. Live on campus and make friends who share their interests.

L e a d e r s hip In s t it ut e f or E nt r e pr e n eur s hip ( L I F E ) Find out what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur in this fast-paced business boot camp. Work with teammates to develop a business idea in a simulated entrepreneurial setting guided by expert faculty.

June 23–29 or July 7–13 Register at: susqu.edu/LIFE

Wa l l S t r e et S u s q u e h ann a Get a first-class introduction to business and investing during a fast-paced week in the life of a Wall Street analyst. Learn to use one of our Bloomberg terminals, rarely available to high school students.

June 23–29 or July 7–13

Register at: susqu.edu/wallstreet

LEARN MORE AT

susqu.edu/summer-programs

514 University Ave. Selinsgrove, PA 17870-1164