Faculty of Business Administration - University of New Brunswick

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently announced that UNB’s BBA with a major in Human Resource Management degree program offered on the Fredericton campus through the faculty of business administration fully aligns with the recommended requirements for HR degree programs, as outlined in the SHRM HR Curriculum Guidebook and Templates.

The SHRM devised the curriculum guidebook and templates in 2005, as a way to provide universities and colleges a resource for tracking HR Curricula against a common, minimum skill set needed by employers who seek to fill HR positions. The template identifies 13 minimum core HR topics that should be required curriculum in every HR degree program, as well as 11 elective HR topics to complement the required core.

An important feature of the HR curriculum template is that it offers professors greater flexibility in devising their HR courses, while providing a minimum level of standardization for HR content being taught.

SHRM has also gained the support of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International in an effort to bring a similar level of commonality to HR degree programs that is required of AACSB accredited Schools of Business.

Representatives from the SHRM met with the faculty of business administration and engaged in talks regarding the current HR curriculum. After thorough discussions and assessment of the topics, courses, business context, and delivery methods used by UNB, it was determined that the HR honours program fully aligns with the standards SHRM laid out in their guidebook and templates.

Affiliations with professional associations, such as SHRM are extremely important for students and the university. This certification distinguishes UNB’s HR program as being taught in accordance with the highest of standards, giving students the skills and training they need for successful careers in human resources management.

Posted at 1:36 PM

Dr. E. Stephen Grant, Professor of Marketing, was recently awarded the 2009 Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award.

The award was created by the faculty many years ago to support faculty excellence in teaching. Each year the faculty honours one professor for his or her outstanding teaching performance.

The choice of the award recipient belongs to the students. At the end of each academic year students in the BBA and MBA programs nominate the professor who they feel is most deserving of the Award. A committee of current BBA and MBA students, plus an alumni representative then selects the winner from among the nominees.

Dr. Grant is a graduate of the UNB BBA program, and he joined the faculty as a lecturer from 1987-1990 and later returned to the faculty in 1993 as a full time professor of marketing. He now teaches courses for the marketing and entrepreneurship areas.

For a number of years Dr. Grant has been involved in the export partnering program, teaching the export market entry course. Dr. Grant has an outstanding record of research and service to the faculty and university, which was recognized in 2005 when he received the UNB Merit Award.

“Steve Grant’s recognition for excellent teaching is long overdue”, commented Dr. Daniel Coleman, dean of the Faculty of Business Administration. “Steve has contributed to teaching in many ways for many years, having helped with the export partnering program, the Activator (entrepreneurship) program, and of course, his outstanding delivery of a wide array of marketing courses. He is one of our very best instructors.”

Posted at 11:22 AM

With the sun shining outside and the temperature in the upper teens the faculty of business administration celebrated UNB’s 180th Encaenia with a reception and awards ceremony to honour the accomplishments of this year’s graduating class.

Of the class of 2009, 178 students graduated with BBA degrees including 71 students earning honours degrees, 114 earning concentrations, and 10 earning co-op designations. Thirty-five students graduated from the MBA program, including the first two ever to graduate with our new concentration in entrepreneurship designation.

On the international front 24 students graduated from the BBA program in Trinidad and Tobago along with 18 students from the BBA program in Singapore. Ten students graduated from the BBA program in Egypt, with many more expected to graduate in October.

During the faculty of business administration’s awards ceremony the following graduates received prizes for their academic achievements.

MBA Encaenia Prizes:

E.D. MAHER GRADUATE STUDENT PRIZE IN ADMINISTRATION: Mr. Colin M. Simpson. Awarded to the graduating MBA student with the highest GPA.

MBA SOCIETY GRADUATION AWARD: Mr. Colin M. Simpson. Prize of $800. Awarded to the graduating MBA student with the highest cumulative GPA.

MBA SOCIETY GRADUATION AWARD: Ms. Vinithra Srinivasan. Awarded to the graduating MBA student with the second highest cumulative GPA.

MBA SOCIETY GRADUATION AWARD: Mr. Edgar Gallibois. Prize of $400. Awarded to the graduating MBA student with the third highest cumulative GPA.

BBA Encaenia Prizes:

LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF NEW BRUNSWICK SILVER MEDAL: Ms. Kathryn L. MacKinnon. Awarded to the most outstanding graduating BBA student, based primarily on performance in the last half of the program.

FACULTY OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AWARD: Ms. Katie A. Wasson. Prize of $300. Awarded to the graduating BBA student with the second highest cumulative GPA.

FACULTY OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AWARD: Mr. Craig T. McLaughlin. Prize of $200. Awarded to the graduating BBA student with the third highest cumulative GPA.

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION SOCIETY OUTSTAND STUDENT AWARD: Ms. Falen McNulty. This award is awarded by the business society to an outstanding fourth-year BBA student in recognition of participation in campus activities, scholastic standing, character and attitude.

MERRITHEW/DEGRANDPRÉ ACTIVATOR AWARD: Mr. Christopher Marhsall. Prize of $1,500. Awarded to a student leader enrolled in the Activator program in the Faculty of Business Administration on the Fredericton campus. Selection is based on scholastic attainment in the Activator courses and leadership abilities.

ACTIVATOR FELLOWSHIP(S): Mr. Christopher Marhsall. Prize of $4,000. Awarded by the International Business and Entrepreneurship Centre to students who demonstrated excellence in their role as Team and Co-Team Leaders while in the Activator Program.

Posted at 10:50 AM

Barbara A. Trenholm was honoured as Professor Emeritus of the University of New Brunswick at the 180th Encaenia Ceremony this past May.

Trenholm retired from the faculty of business administration in 2009 after almost 30 years of excellent service including serving as acting dean from 1995-1996. She joined the faculty in 1980 as a member of the accounting area and taught accounting and financial statement analysis courses. For her years of service to the faculty, the university, and the profession, UNB bestowed upon her the UNB Merit Award in 2001.

Widely regarded as an outstanding professor, the quality of Trenholm’s teaching has been formally recognized by UNB with the Allan B. Stuart Excellence in Teaching Award, and a UNB Teaching Professorship. She has also received numerous awards from outside the university, including the National Post’s Leaders in Management Education Award for Atlantic Canada and the Academy of Business Administration’s Global Teaching Excellence Award.

Trenholm has a record of extensive service for the faculty and the University and has chaired or been a member of numerous committees. She served as an ambassador for the Forging Our Futures campaign and as co-chair of the Board of Trustees of the UNB Pension Plan for Academic Employees Pension Board. In the business community, she is a member of the board of directors for Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. and Plazacorp Retail Properties Ltd. and chairs the audit committee of both organizations.

Trenholm has also been active in several professional organizations such as the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA), the New Brunswick Institute of Chartered Accountants (NBICA), the Canadian Academic Accounting Association (CAAA), and the American Accounting Association (AAA). Her participation included serving on the CICA Board of Directors and serving as acting president of NBICA.

A prolific author of pedagogical and learning materials; Trenholm has co-authored two bestselling accounting textbooks and authored multimedia supplements. Her publications have appeared in several accounting journals, including Accounting Horizons, CA Magazine, and the International Journal of Production Economics.

Posted at 9:58 AM

There have been so many beneficial changes in the business administration program over the past few years, and a lot of these changes can be accredited to two professors, Dr. Martin Wielemaker, and Dr. Abdur Rahim.

Both Dr. Wielemaker and Dr. Rahim are recipients of the 2008-2009 University of New Brunswick Merit Award. They have both distinguished themselves in more than one area, and made notable contributions to the faculty.

The UNB Merit Award is awarded annually by the university to recognize and encourage individuals who make outstanding contributions in the course of their work for the university. It is awarded to members of the faculty who have demonstrated exceptional research, scholarly or creative accomplishments that have resulted in the publication of articles and/or books, and have created for them a national or international reputation as an expert in their field. It is also awarded to faculty who make exceptional contributions to the dissemination of knowledge in their fields through the art of teaching, demonstrated by their significant innovations in teaching methods and publication of articles or books that advance effective teaching.

Dr. Wielemaker is an Associate Professor in the areas of competitive strategy and entrepreneurship, and he has also served as the chairperson of our Graduate Curriculum Committee for the past two years. In his citation, Dr. Daniel Coleman, Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, noted that Dr. Wielemaker “has by far had the most significant influence on the FBA’s programming of any faculty member over the last several years. Not only is he one of the faculty’s most dedicated instructors, he was also the leader of a process which resulted in the most radical and innovative redesign of the MBA program since its inception at UNB in 1985”.

It is thanks to Dr. Wielemaker that the MBA program now offers the professional development and corporate governance courses. It is also Dr. Wielemaker’s work that led to the formation of the Entrepreneurship Thematic Area group, the Activator program, the International Business and Entrepreneurship Centre’s business plan competition, and the development of Concentrations in Entrepreneurship for both BBA and MBA students.

Dr. Rahim is a professor and a recognized world expert in Total Quality Management. He has delivered numerous invited talks around the world that have dealt with inventory control or quality management issues. In his citation, Dr. Coleman stated that Dr. Rahim “has produced over 70 refereed journal articles or book chapters, 11 of which have been published in the past three years. His scholarship is widely recognized, yielding almost 400 citations of his work—moreover, it is clear that the importance of his work is gaining recognition of late, as over 140 of these citations have occurred since 2006.”

Dr. Rahim teaches many courses at the BBA and MBA levels, and has always been a highly rated professor among students. He is also an active supervisor of graduate students, and has supervised many student projects that have resulted in publications.
Both Dr. Wielemaker and Dr. Rahim have made outstanding contributions to the Faculty of Business Administration. As Dr. Coleman notes, they are both “very deserving of a merit award”.

Posted at 1:33 PM

A group of investment finance students at the University of New Brunswick have achieved impressive returns on their portfolio of nearly $2 million in spite of the turbulent global financial environment. While stories of bank failures, Ponzi schemes and catastrophic financial losses in the financial markets dominated the news in 2008, student investors in the University of New Brunswick’s Student Investment Fund program significantly outperformed professional money managers during the year.

Students in the program began investing real money in the capital markets in 1998 with the allocation of $1 million from program partner the New Brunswick Investment Management Corporation. By October 2006 the Fund had surpassed $2 million solely from investment returns, by mid-2008 $2.5 million with a subsequent return to roughly $2 million by yearend reflecting global market volatility.

The student-managed fund enjoyed its best results ever in 2008 outperforming many professional asset managers including pension plans and endowment funds. Program director Prof. Glenn Cleland is impressed with the portfolio performance over the ten-year period since its inception. “ This is no coincidence. The students have successfully navigated the markets over a ten-year period.”

“We started up the program investing real money in September 1998 during turbulent times in financial markets stemming from the collapse of Long Term Capital Management. Over the subsequent ten years, student investment decisions were made with the backdrop of the technology bubble, the sub-prime mortgage crisis, US$145 oil prices and the current financial meltdown.”

The students’ abilities extend well beyond their impressive portfolio management skills. The students have a long and distinguished record of success at investment competitions. Last year, a team of students from the program placed first in the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute’s North American valuation competition in New York City and, was subsequently ranked second in the world in the Institute’s Global Investment Research competition in May 2008. If there was ever any doubt that SIF students could compete on a global basis it was erased by this achievement.

Nathan Ough, a current student in the Student Investment Fund program, speaks highly of the hands-on investment learning experience. “The record speaks for itself. Over the past ten years students who have been accepted into this demanding program have developed a skillset that is highly sought after by the financial sector. The integration of theory and practice provides a knowledge base which has contributed to our ten years of outperformance.”

The Student Investment Fund was the first student-managed fund in Atlantic Canada, one of a few in Canada, and unique in North America. Its market neutral equity portfolio construction approach combined with an embedded study program for the Chartered Financial Analyst Level I exam making it leading edge.

The SIF is offered through UNB’s Centre for Financial Studies in the faculty of business administration.

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Posted at 4:04 PM

Two of Canada’s next top ad executives are students at the University of New Brunswick.

Elizabeth McCleave and Matieu Daigle, students in the master of business administration (MBA) program at UNB Fredericton have won Volkswagon’s national marketing competition, beating out teams from universities across Canada.

The students will each receive a new Volkswagon Golf and will be offered internships with ad agencies for winning the competition, Canada’s Next Top Ad Executive.

A second team of UNB students, Mitchell Bernard and Laura Noseworthy also made it to the top ten contestants in the final round.

The students were selected from among 143 teams, representing 36 different universities from across Canada. All of the top ten finalists will be offered internships with ad agencies.

“Winning this national competition, where so many teams from so many universities across the country participated, directly speaks to the outstanding qualities and skills of Matt and Liz,” said Daniel Coleman, dean of the faculty of business administration. “It also speaks to the quality of our programs.”

The theme of the marketing campaign had to be consistent with Volkswagen Canada’s positioning strategy for the Routan, and the marketing campaign had to stay within a $250,000 budget.

The competition was conceived and hosted by the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University and required the students to deliver a 30-minute marketing pitch to a panel of academics and industry experts.

Liz and Matieu will also see their marketing strategy in action as Volkswagen Canada unfolds it over the next few months.

Elizabeth-Anne, 24, and Matt, 23, as well as Laura, 22, and Mitchell, 21, all traveled to Toronto to compete. The teams of students were picked from 143 applications and made it through the top 25 phase. The winners were announced at an awards dinner on March 31, 2009.

Established in 1785, UNB is one of the oldest public universities in North America. One of the top five comprehensive universities in Canada, according to Maclean’s, UNB has more than 12,000 students from more than 100 countries. As the largest research institution in New Brunswick, UNB conducts 80 per cent of the province’s university research. The university has more than 3,500 faculty and staff, and an annual operating budget of more than $160 million. UNB’s two main campuses are located in Fredericton and Saint John, N.B.

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Posted at 10:00 AM