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STUDENT
Inaara Tharani
Each semester, the Sport Entertainment Management (SEM) MBA program gives its students the unique opportunity to learn from Dallas Cowboys executives on their home turf.
These excursions, aptly named MBA Bootcamps, provide cohort students with hands-on, real-world experiences in the sport entertainment industry – including this semester’s Sports Marketing Pitch Competition.
The competition served to give attendees a first-hand look at challenges in today’s sports industry, tasking students to innovate ways that encourage increased engagement at The Star in Frisco.
Inaara Tharani, 2023 SEM MBA candidate, led her team to bring home the win, as well as some other invaluable takeaways.
“The ability to network in such a unique and iconic setting was truly an experience of a lifetime,” explained Tharani. “Being able to lead a team who I had not met prior, also provided me the opportunity to enhance my soft skills in collaboration, communication, and responsibility.”
With just five hours to conduct research and formulate their pitches, Tharani and her team competed with some high-stake executives waiting to judge their ideas—including front office employees for the Dallas Cowboys.
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STUDENT
Shalen Alfaro
Shalen Alfaro has made the most of his major during his time at UNT. He decided to pursue a degree in HR because of the endless opportunities to build meaningful connections. Under the guidance of Professor Erin Welch and Dr. Mariya Gavrilova-Aguilar, Alfaro excelled personally and academically. He notes adaptability and sustaining meaningful connections as keys to his success.
Alfaro began as a member of UNT SHRM before serving in the leadership role of director of student relations, where he confidently oversaw student recruitment, mentoring, and program enrichment.
As a May graduate, Alfaro reflects on his final semester at UNT with great pride. He is incredibly grateful for his parents, siblings, friends, and teachers, whose support helped him finish four years of college strong. Alfaro encourages any current or future HR students to take advantage of their time at UNT and to embrace the unknown.
“Open yourself up to new experiences, new opportunities, and new people. Opening yourself up can be frightening but having the courage to put yourself out there can bring you endless opportunities. Do not be afraid and always remember that you are not alone."
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The Ryan College of Business welcomes Mark Engelbrecht as its newest member of the Dean’s Circle of Excellence.
Engelbrecht, a 1994 marketing alum, recently joined the Dean’s Circle at the Executive Director level—committing to the largest impact a member can make toward the continued success of the college and its students.
Members of the Dean’s Circle are integral to the college’s everyday achievements—helping to close funding gaps and provide the necessary support for program growth and institutional excellence. As a member, gifts fund the college’s top priorities and enable it to better attain strategic goals.
Click here to invest in the future of the Ryan College of Business by becoming a Dean’s Circle of Excellence member today.
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Brigham Young University ranks UNT accounting among best in the world
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UNT’s Department of Accounting is once again making a name for itself in recent rankings.
According to Brigham Young University (BYU), in the field of Accounting Information Systems (AIS) Experimental Research, UNT ranked 5th in the world and 1st in Texas in 2023, after being unranked in 2018. Audit Experimental Research also ranked 15th in the world and 1st in Texas, and UNT accounting’s Overall Research Breadth of Topic ranking jumped from 245th in the world in 2018, to 15th in the world today.
Other noteworthy mentions include BYU’s Tax Archival Research ranking placing UNT accounting in 23rd in the world and 3rd in Texas, as well as its Managerial Experimental Research ranking the department’s work at 23rd in the world and 2nd in Texas, behind only the University of Texas.
BYU rankings are considered the most respected benchmark for accounting programs, with a methodology based on the research output of university faculty in 12 top accounting journals.
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Professor Gopala Ganesh honored for engagement excellence
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Marketing Professor Dr. Gopala Ganesh was honored with this year’s UNT Foundation Community Engagement Award.
Recognizing his vast efforts to integrate exemplary community engagement into his curriculum (and beyond), Ganesh was surprised in late January by Vice Provost for Faculty Success Holly Hutchins and a large check. He was the only awardee of this year’s UNT Foundation Community Engagement Award, one of the university’s most respected distinctions.
"It was a very happy experience for me and a great honor to be recognized in front of my students," said Ganesh.
An honor that many would agree is well deserved.
Since joining the university in 1983, Ganesh has been developing creative ways to facilitate growth for both his students and the greater community.
In 2006, he became one of the first professors in the nation to teach his advanced marketing research analytics course entirely online, driving him to innovate ways to better engage his class, virtually.
“This was a daunting task because of the significant advanced statistical analysis content that many students find challenging even in a face-to-face format,” explained Ganesh. “I had the great opportunity to learn new ways of presenting course content and assessments online and it was an immense learning experience to get it done.”
One way in which Ganesh found success was bringing in real-world data from community partners for students to learn from.
“I have always opted to serve, at negligible cost, public organization clients that typically do not have the budget to hire a marketing research consultant. Many of these past clients have been units of UNT Denton,” said Ganesh.
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Changing Leaders? You May Be a Target of Hackers
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By G. Brint Ryan Endowed Chair of Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity Gurpreet Dhillon
A change in leadership in an organization is often a time of uncertainty, confusion and insecurity.
It’s also the perfect time for cybercriminals to strike.
My colleagues and I have been investigating the cyber vulnerability of companies for many years, and our interviews with C-suite executives reveal that the chances of someone falling victim to a phishing email are higher during times of leadership change. And hackers know this: Criminals often time their attacks to take advantage of such changes, typically targeting the most susceptible.
In our research, we found at least one case where criminals even started attending local chapter meetings of industry associations under false names and fake identities. After gaining knowledge of leadership movements, the perpetrators had enough information about the targeted company, the organizational structure, and the departure and arrival of leaders to successfully target those most affected by the change.
But the truth is that such elaborate sleuthing is rarely necessary. Companies announce leadership changes, often with great fanfare, so cybercriminals need not work very hard to know when companies are most vulnerable. Perpetrators then use such a situation to their advantage.
READ MORE...
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Published by The Wall Street Journal, February 2023 |
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Business Analytics Day set to ignite conversations and ideas
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UNT’s Information Technology and Decision Sciences Department will be hosting its first Business Analytics Day on March 31, 2023.
The day-long event will include multiple presentation sessions by faculty and industry professionals on how analytics is used in today’s business organizations for faster and more accurate decision making as well recent trends in analytics, data science, and artificial intelligence. It will also include several poster presentations by UNT students.
Speakers set to present include a wide range of industry professionals and UNT faculty, including Aamer Charania of Best Buy, Mohamad Safa of Baylor Scott & White, Nick Evangelopoulos of 7-Eleven, and Samantha Mardis of Toyota, to name a few.
Registration is free. Click here to learn more and reserve your spot today.
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Southwest Airlines challenges UNT Hackathon students
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Forty-six UNT hackers competed against one another at UNT’s annual Hackathon event.
The two-hour competition brought together students from different backgrounds and skill sets to develop innovative solutions to real-world problems.
Hosted by the Department of Information Technology and Decision Sciences, participants were presented with a unique challenge concerning flight capacity additions using data provided by Southwest Airlines. Teams were encouraged to use their combined knowledge in programming, design and marketing to discover a way to increase route flights.
Seven undergraduate and thirty-nine graduate students participated in the challenge, but ultimately, the winning team was represented by MS business analytics majors Mustafa Hussain (pictured left) and Karthikeya Rekulapalli (pictured right).
“Mustafa and I came up with a plan in the initial 20 minutes…” said Rekulapalli. “Feedback from the judges, including the professors, was valuable; their questions opened new dimensions of thought.”
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PHILANTHROPIC OPPORTUNITIES AT THE RYAN COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
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THE WILSON JONES ENDOWMENT FOR RYAN COLLEGE OF BUSINESS CAREER SUPPORT SERVICES
Alumnus Wilson Jones (’85) and his wife, Jane, donated $5 million to the college in 2022 to create a new career center in the G. Brint Ryan College of Business. This generous gift will not only go towards the build out of a space that will serve to better prepare students for successful careers, but it will also fund the hiring of new staff and resources to support the college's growing student body. Working in conjunction with this gift, the Wilson Jones Endowment for Ryan College of Business Career Support Services will provide additional assistance to reach these goals and support services that promote career readiness.
G. BRINT RYAN COLLEGE OF BUSINESS DEAN'S EXCELLENCE FUND
The Dean’s Excellence Fund also provides immediate, essential support to our students. This fund serves as a vital resource to help our students and campus respond to opportunities and challenges as they occur. When you support the Dean’s Excellence Fund, you support the strategic vision of the college by allowing the Dean to have flexibility in directing the use of resources to the priorities of the college during this difficult time.
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G. BRINT RYAN COLLEGE OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS SUPPORT FUND
Frank Dudowicz was an ardent supporter of the G. Brint Ryan College of Business. Before he passed away on May 1, 2022, one of his final requests was to have memorials be made to the Ryan College of Business Communications Support Fund, a testament to his ongoing efforts to be a positive force in the UNT community. Donations made to the Communications Support Fund aid Dudowicz’s most recent board efforts to increase brand awareness for the Ryan College of Business. Click here to honor Frank's memory with a gift. |
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PLP "25 IN A QUARTER" CAMPAIGN
UNT Professional Leadership Program (PLP) members, former members, and corporate partners and friends are invited to help develop the program's future leaders and their skills in servant leadership, stewardship, diversity and inclusion, ethical practice, problem solving, communications and teamwork.
As part of the inaugural "25 In a Quarter" Campaign, PLP will be setting out to raise $25,000 each fiscal quarter. To help kick off the campaign the PLP Board of Directors has pledged a generous “Leadership Gift” in the amount of $10,000. Now is your opportunity to support the PLP program and make an impact on the future of servant leadership. Click here to give today.
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