October 2010
Dr. Michael Tidwell, Dean
www.bloomu.edu/cob
(570) 389-4745
Top Accounting Firms Recruiting Bloomsburg Students
When three of Accounting Today’s top
25 firms visit a school to recruit, that
says something about the strength
and quality of the program. Three
of those firms, KPMG, McGladrey
and ParenteBeard, ranked numbers
4, 5 and 21 respectively, returned to
Bloomsburg University in October
looking for prospective employees.
Tim Gooch, partner at ParenteBeard Accounting and Business
Advisors and BU alum, says he has
been coming to BU for about 11 years
because he sees great potential in the
students and because he is still very
fond of Bloomsburg.
“The caliber of the accounting department education is unparalleled,”
says Gooch. “We absolutely find good
recruits here, so we keep coming
back.”
At ParenteBeard, says Gooch, the
goal is to look for students who have
The caliber of the accounting department education is unparalleled...we
absolutely find good recruits
here, so we keep coming
back.
— Tim Gooch—
— Partner, ParenteBeard—
energy, confidence and determination, three of the company’s staple
attributes. They also seek students
who ask a lot of pertinent questions
and demonstrate that they care about
their future employer.
“Generally speaking, the level of
success that we see from BU grads is
very good,” says Gooch.
Richard Baker, chair of BU’s accounting department, often gets good
Dr. Richard Baker
feedback from the major firms and
corporations where many BU grads
begin their careers.
“They recognize we’re a quality
program. They know our students
understand what they need to be suc-
Business Education Program Reaches 80 Year Milestone
From its inception in 1930, the business education program has been a
cornerstone of Bloomsburg University,
laying the foundation for the College
of Business and priding itself on staying at the forefront of the ever-changing business climate.
“From only one small program, you
now have a college,” states Dennis
Gehris, special assistant to the dean
of the College of Business. “It helped
initiate business instruction and education on campus and has played a
major role ever since.”
The program’s history dates back to
the days of Bloomsburg State Teachers
College. As the university evolved, so
did the program that would eventually
grow into today’s College of Business.
“The program began focusing on
Dr. Dennis Gehris
three content subjects – accounting,
shorthand and bookkeeping – and
providing certification to teach grades
7 to 12,” says John Olivo, chair of
business education and information
and technology management. “We’ve
evolved from these three content
areas to 11 content areas reflecting
the National Standards for Business
Education and from grades 7 to 12 to
K to 12.”
Today, the faculty is in constant
contact with public schools to stay
current on educational trends. Students also attend business conferences to discover new teaching strategies
and technologies.
“We feel our future teachers need
to be involved in the profession,” says
Olivo. “The faculty stay involved at a
state, regional and national level and
serve on advisory boards and national
Representative Sample of
Faculty Publications for 2010
•Grandzol, C. & Grandzol, J. (2010).
Interaction in online courses: More is
not always better. Online Journal of
Distance Learning Administration.
•Kass, D. S., Benek-Rivera, J., & Smith,
R. (2010). Lessons from the Edge:
Developing leaders at 5,267 feet.
Journal of the Academy of Business
Education.
•Kleiman, L. & Benek-Rivera, J. (2010).
A 4-step model for teaching interviewing skills. Business Communication
Quarterly.
Dr. Joan Benek-Rivera
•Law, M. D. & Coulmas, N. E. (2010).
Exploration of accounting software usage: An empirical research applied on
the Pennsylvania home building industry. International Journal of Management and Information Systems.
•Molnar, I., Sinka, I., & Báthori, D.
(2010). State-of-the-art information technology for microsimulation.
International Journal of Technology,
Modeling, and Management.
•O’Connor, M. (2010). “Chapter 12:
cultural differences in classroom
management and methodology”, In
Cross-Cultural and International Business Education 2010 Yearbook. Lila
Waldman (Ed.) University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
•O’Connor, M. A. & Egan, W. A.
(2010). Having fun with globalization!
Business Education Forum.
•Okpara, J. O. & Kabongo, J. K. (2010).
Corporate governance in a developing economy: A study of barriers
and issues in a Sub-Saharan African
economy. Sam Advanced Management Journal.
•Okpara, J. O. (2010). Corporate
governance in a developing economy:
Barriers, issues, and implications for
firms, corporate governance. Corporate Governance.
•Okpara, J. O. (2010). Export barriers and internationalization: Evidence
from SMEs in an emergent African
economy. International Journal of
Business and Globalisation.
•Okpara, J. O. (2010). Personal characteristics as predictors of expatriate
managers cross cultural adjustment in
Nigeria. African Journal of Business &
Economic Research.
•Okpara, J. O. (2010). Perspectives on
corporate governance challenges in a
Sub-Saharan African economy. Journal of Business & Policy Research.
•Powell, L. (2010). Website accessibility: Why is it not taught in the business curriculum? Canadian Journal
on Data, Information & Knowledge
Engineering.
•Tidwell, M. V., Richardson, S., &
Mooney, M. (2010). Assessing the
role of individual differences in student performance in online classes.
International Journal of Education
Research.
•Usry, M., Law, M., Leinbach, W., Margolis, D. E. , Staley, A. B. , Shapeero, M.
(2010). E-discovery: What future business leaders need to know. Journal of
Business & Finance Librarianship.
•Williamson, D. T. & Staley, A. B.
(2010). Applying the material participation standards to nongrantor trusts.
Tax Adviser.
•Williamson, D. T. & Staley, A. B.
(2010). The application of the § 469
material participation standards to
members of limited liability companies. Tax Management Memorandum.
Top Accounting Firms
cont. from pg. 1
cessful at an entry level,” says Baker.
“They wouldn’t come back if they
weren’t impressed with our students.”
In order to keep the accounting
program competitive and continue to
generate interest from the elite companies in the accounting world, BU’s
program holds true to its tradition of
success and pushes students to maintain the level of excellence expected.
“We keep the program rigorous
and the standards rigorous, no exceptions. No one passes unless they
deserve to pass,” says Baker. “We use
a lot of hands-on learning and practice techniques and a lot of computer
software. Our students will learn the
things they need in order to survive in
the real world.
“We try to constantly be ahead of
the curve, anticipate when something
is needed, and be ready,” says Baker.
Business Education
cont. from pg. 1
committees, as well.”
With the program’s tradition of
excellence, stemming in part from its
motto, “Educating for success in business and life,” the business education
program and its 4,000 alumni can
boast a 100 percent job-placement
rating, and growing respect from the
business community.
BU’s College of Business has
become one of 596 universities accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business
(AACSB), a premiere business accrediting body. The college has 44 full-time
faculty members, and several business
education faculty members have been
awarded the Collegiate Teacher of
the Year Award by the Pennsylvania
Business Education Association. Olivo
is set to become the National Business
Education Association president next
year, and the second in BU’s history.