Faculty of Business Administration - University of New Brunswick

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