The Master Plan for February 16, 2011

MBA team excels in competition

From left: Eric Klein, Casey Terrell, Efren Blackledge and Kevin Kronawitter.

The College of Business will honor the 2011 MBA Case Competition team – Efren Blackledge, Eric Klein, Kevin Kronawitter and Casey Terrell – at a reception at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22, in Weichelt Lounge, 220 Rovetta Business Building. The team competed against five other schools in the Florida Intercollegiate Case Competition in Tampa over the weekend. The University of South Florida team won the event and the $10,000 grand prize. “We were solidly the second team,” said FSU team coach Dr. Ceasar Douglas, who teaches the MBA capstone Strategy and Business Policy class. “It was an outstanding performance.” Each team had 24 hours to create a comprehensive analysis and recommendation for Beck, a full-service building firm based in Dallas. MBA students presented their recommendations one team at a time on Saturday morning to a five-person panel of judges that included company representatives.

Spread the word

Graduate Programs will hold an information session at 6 p.m. Thursday about the new Master of Science in Marketing program. The session, in Starry Conference Room, 214 Rovetta Business Building, will provide prospective students an overview of the new degree focused on corporate reputation management and how firms market to all stakeholders, not just consumers. For more information or to RSVP, contact Jessica Rollins, jrollins@cob.fsu.edu, in graduate admissions.

RMI program ranked among nation's largest

FSU's online Master of Science in Management with a major in Risk Management and Insurance has been ranked the second largest graduate program of its kind in the nation by Business Insurance, a weekly journal for insurance professionals. The publication also ranks the program No. 2 in graduating students at the master’s level. Read more here.

Meet with Harris Corp. officials

Harris Corporation will hold a recruitment and information session for College of Business students from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. today in Starry Conference Room, 214 Rovetta Business Building. Attire is business casual. Harris, an international and information technology company based in Melbourne, Fla., has a strong history of recruiting FSU MBA students. For more information, contact Joanna Southerland, director of graduate support services.

Speaker series highlights real estate

Edward O Wood Jr., president of Concord Management, Ltd., will speak at 3:30 p.m. next Wednesday, Feb. 23, in Starry Conference Room, 214 Rovetta Business Building. Concord, based in Maitland, is one of the nation’s largest privately held affordable multi-housing firms, with locations in 11 states comprised of 145 communities, 32,000 units, and 1,100 team members. The event is part of the Evan D. Jennings Executive Speaker Series and is open to all students.

Nominees sought for ethics award

The College of Business is now accepting nominations for the annual “Sunshine State Ethics in Leadership Award,” an award established in 2010 to recognize and honor ethical leadership in Florida’s public and private sectors. Nominations for the 2011 award are due by March 15. The 2011 winners will be honored at a ceremony in April and will be invited to speak as part of the College of Business’ Ethics Roundtable Speaker Series later this year. To nominate someone, please visit http://www.business.fsu.edu/ethics/leadership_application.cfm.

Attention, graduates

Any master's student graduating this spring should order his or her cap and gown by this Friday from the Florida State Bookstore, 104 N. Woodward Ave. The deadline to order without a $10 late fee was last Friday. Online students only should call in their orders, (850) 644-0832. Cap and gown pickup will be held April 18-22 in Student Union room 315.

Graduation weekend includes the Master’s Hooding Ceremony at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 29, and the campuswide commencement on Saturday, April 30.

See the registrar’s website for more information on all things regarding graduation. Students traveling to Tallahassee should consider making hotel reservations as early as possible. For other questions about the hooding ceremony, contact Melanie Yeager, director of graduate programs.

Scholarship deadline nearing

The MSM-RMI program departmental scholarship application for spring is due March 17 at 5 p.m. Applications have been e-mailed to students. For more information, contact Dr.Kathleen McCullough, program director.

Apply now for business-plan competition

Student entrepreneurs are invited to compete for more than $1 million in prizes at the 2011 Rice Business Plan Competition on April 14-16 in Houston. The deadline to apply for the competition is this Friday. This is a graduate student competition, but teams may include undergraduate students. There is no entry fee.

To apply, teams should submit their contact information and a 3-5 page executive summary. For more information and the online application, go to www.alliance.rice.edu/rbpc. Interested student teams should also notify Marietta Dye, program associate in the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship.

Kudos, colleagues

Jean Bates, MBA 2008, owner of Lucy & Leo’s Cupcakery in Midtown Tallahassee, recently competed in the wedding edition of the Food Network’s popular “Cupcake Wars.” Bates and Lucy & Leo's co-owner Paula Lucas went toe-to-toe with other bakers from across the country and reached the final competition, where they placed second.

“The whole experience of getting my MBA was critical to the success of Lucy & Leo’s Cupcakery,” Bates said. “Having an MBA gave me the business tools and professional confidence to put myself out there.” Read more here.

Spencer

Stephen Katona, MBA 1995, is a director at Ryder Integrated Logistics in Miami.

Holly Spencer, MBA 2011, has written an abstract, “The Impact of the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico on the State of Florida’s Hotel Industry,” which has been accepted for an oral presentation March 29 at the Southeastern Travel and Tourism Research Association’s Annual Conference in Destin.

Michael Welner, MAcc 2006, is a senior tax accountant at Thomas, Judy & Tucker, P.A. in Raleigh-Durham, N.C.

Mark your calendars

• March 7-11 – Spring break
• March 14 – Registration for Summer and Fall 2011 begins

The Master Plan is a monthly newsletter sent to all on-campus and online master’s students in the Florida State University College of Business. The newsletter is coordinated by Michael Baggett and designed by Andrew Burgess. Please e-mail Baggett, newsletter editor, with any news or career updates about our students or alumni.