For the Fall issue of Blue, the Alumni Insider, we spoke with Dan Connolly, Dean of the College of Business and Public Administration, about what’s new in CBPA.
What’s new?
We are excited to welcome the LEAD (Leadership Education and Development) program into the Department of Management and Organizational Leadership. Chad Cardini-Trollinger will serve as an interim program director while we search for a new faculty member. We expanded our graduate program portfolio to include the new Master of Data Analytics Leadership degree program. The program is available online and can be completed in 12 months. The College also launched a new Data Analytics Leadership Certificate Program, a five-course curriculum that focuses on analyzing and using data to solve operational, tactical, and strategic level organizational problems.
New to our faculty this academic year are Małgorzata (Gosia) Kołotyło-Kulkarni, assistant professor in the Department of Information Management and Data Analytics, and Jieun Park, assistant professor of Management and Organization Leadership. Gosia completed her doctorate at Florida International University. Her research interests include healthcare information systems and cognitive information systems, particularly as they relate to decision making, decision support, and knowledge management. Jieun earned her doctorate from the University of South Carolina’s Darla School of Business. Her research interests include diversity and fault lines, teams, and human capital resources.
CBPA is also pleased to host Xiaobo Zhang, a visiting finance scholar from Southwest University of Political Science and Law in Chongqing, China, and Fulbright Scholar Edmond Muhaxheri, a professor of mathematics and statistics from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Kosovo/American University in Kosovo (AUK) in Pristina, Kosovo.
Sean Severe, associate professor of economics, was appointed to the role of associate dean of the College, effective July 1. Sean joined Drake in 2011. His research focuses on bank failures, Islamic financial markets, game-distributional properties, and the impact of Chinese acquisitions on patent generation.
CBPA is also proud to announce that Daniel Pettit, president and CEO of Des Moines-based Encompass Holdings and Drake alumnus (BN’03, GR’05), joined the College’s National Advisory Board, and Terri Vaughan, the former dean, and professor of insurance and actuarial science, joined our Executives in Residence program.
What are you most looking forward to this semester?
Professor Heidi Mannetter received a teaching innovation grant from the Essman Family Innovation Fund. Her proposal implements a program called LEGO® Serious Play® (LSP), a facilitated meeting, communication, and problem-solving process. Students then build a 3D LEGO® model, which serves as a basis for group discussion, knowledge sharing, problem solving, and decision making. We are excited to pioneer new approaches to learning that will position our students to be on the cutting edge.
Tell us what CBPA is Celebrating:
Professors Chip Miller, Andrew Bryant, and Andy Norman won the Journal for Advancement of Marketing Education (JAME) 2019 Best Article of the Year Award, sponsored by the Interpretive Simulations, for their article “Hidden Learning: Measuring Student Learning in the Marketing Capstone,” which was published in JAME this past spring. They will be recognized at the Marketing Management Association’s fall conference in September in Santa Fe, N.M.
Professor Kelley Ellis has been selected to receive a 2019 Ted Keys Honorable Mention for her contributions to accounting audit practices through her article entitled “Model Governance, Where to Begin?” The article appeared in the June 2018 issue of Governance Perspectives.
Professor Ina Purvanova’s article “Paradoxical Virtual Leadership: Reconsidering Virtuality Through a Paradox Lens” was nominated for best paper by Group & Organization Management. This article was published in 2018 in Group & Organizational Management and featured in the May 10, 2019 issue of the Business Record.
The School of Accounting helped host a three-day intensive AICPA Accounting Program for Building the Profession (APBP) accounting workshop in July for high school and community college accounting instructors. After completing the program, instructors can teach an advanced accounting course, which students can apply towards college credit after passing a qualifying exam. Drake was one of only eight site locations nationwide to hold this APBP Training in 2019.
Drake Actuarial Science students earned first place out of 63 international teams and a $5,000 grant in the Society of Actuaries (SOA) 2019 SOA Student Research Case Study Challenge. The Drake team applied their actuarial skills with the design of an autonomous vehicle insurance policy and actuarial projections of loss costs. Their entry highlighted a variety of new policyholder behaviors, cybersecurity risks, and changes in vehicle-miles exposures that would emerge with the implementation of autonomous vehicles.
And for fun:
What’s your favorite memory of being an undergrad?
One of my favorite undergraduate experiences was serving as a teaching assistant for a professor of information technology. This professor was a great mentor who became a lifelong friend. He identified talents and helped develop talents I did not know I had and exposed me to career opportunities that I did not know existed or had not previously considered. He played an important role in my career development, and because of him, I was inspired to become a professor. I see these same kinds of experiences and faculty-student mentoring happening at Drake.
What’s your one-sentence elevator pitch for Drake?
With a Drake education, you can write your ticket and go anywhere you want in the world.
Have you run into Griff or Spike lately?
I attended one of the Bulldog Days of Summer admission events as a parent with two of my sons. During the visit, we met Griff. My boys were thrilled and made sure we stopped so they could pose for pictures with Griff. Griff was happy to oblige.
A new class of Bulldogs is in their first semester. What’s your wish for the class of 2023?
My wish for the new entering class is that students will dream big, explore, and take full advantage of all that Drake and the Des Moines community have to offer and that they leave nothing on the table. I want students to stretch themselves and look back fondly with no regrets that they missed out on something.
Where have you unexpectedly met a Drake alum or Drake connection?
I was recently returning from San Diego on a business trip. As I was boarding my plane, a person behind me called me out after she saw my Drake luggage tag. She was a recent graduate (and proud alumna, I might add) from the College with a major in finance.
Favorite spot on campus or the surrounding Drake neighborhood?
Drake has a beautiful campus with so many wonderful spaces. One of my favorite spaces is the Noble/American Equity Center in the lower level of Aliber Hall. This collaborative space is heavily used by students working on projects, studying for exams, and networking. The area creates a great vibe, and the energy is contagious. This area also provides a great example of the impact of private and corporate support.
What’s your favorite piece of Drake memorabilia or clothing?
Hanging in my office is a huge picture of a bulldog. It is a great conversation piece for anyone visiting my office, and for me, it is a constant reminder of who I am and why I am at Drake—to serve and foster our Bulldog community.
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