Bottom Line header
SPRING 2011
In This Issue
Dean's Message
ACBSP
CyberWatch
Strategic Management Students Published
Stahl Center Forms Partnership with NICAR
Graduate Social Media Marketing Class Offered
Undergraduate Social Media and Online Marketing Track
Perfect Score on ACE Exam
Spain Travel Study Trip
Computer Forensics Provide Free Data Recovery Services
"COBIT 101" Webinar
Faculty News
Upcoming Events  
March 10, 2011 - 13th Annual Adam Smith Award Ceremony
March 15, 2011 - Webinar: Healthcare Data in the Cloud
April 22, 2011 - Deadline for Real Estate Research Project Submission
April 29, 2011 - Senior Reception
May 14, 2011 - Graduate Commencement Ceremony
May 15, 2011 - Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony
Webinar: Healthcare Data in the Cloud
Tuesday March 15, 2011
1:00 - 2:00pm
Click here to view the Fall 2010 Senior Reception and Awards Ceremony photos.

Never Miss A Class Again!

The Graduate School of Management introduces a new, flexible option to attend classes.  Students enrolled in the Master of Science in Information Security (MSIS) program have three ways to attend classes.

  • On campus
  • Online in real time
  • Anytime* 

*Classes are recorded and archived for your convenience

 Sit-in or Log-in to a class before you enroll.

Call today to learn how!

Go to Class...Anywhere...Anytime...

 APPLY TODAY!

Next sessions begin March 14, 2011 and  June 6, 2011.

(815) 836-5913 www.lewisu.edu/academics/msinfosec

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If you have any questions or comments regarding The Bottom Line E-Newsletter, contact Editor Tracy Joyce at [email protected] or (815)836.5991.

Message from the Dean

Welcome to this issue of the College of Business and Graduate School of Management's e-newsletter, The Bottom Line.  As most of you know by now, the College of Business has achieved ACBSP Accreditation. The faculty and staff are very excited about reaching this critical milestone. This accomplishment certifies that our faculty provides excellent programs and that the teaching and learning processes within our college meet the rigorous educational standards established by ACBSP. To earn this accreditation, the College of Business and Graduate School of Management programs met the highest internationally recognized standards of academic excellence with particular emphasis on curriculum, student performance, and student & stakeholder satisfaction. Thank you all for your support.

 

The College of Business has started several initiatives in the area of social media marketing, CyberWatch, student accomplishments, service learning, and internship partnerships. You will find more details about these initiatives and other projects in this issue.  I hope you enjoy reading this latest issue.  Please feel free to email us with your feedback and comments.

Rami
 

 

Dr. Rami Khasawneh

Dean and Professor

College of Business and Graduate School of Management

  

Lewis University College of Business programs gain prestigious accreditation

The College of Business programs at Lewis University have been comprehensively reviewed and are now accredited by the prestigious Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP).

 

ACBSP is a global, specialized accreditation association for business education that supports, celebrates and rewards teaching excellence. It also develops, promotes and recognizes best practices that contribute to continuous improvements of business education.

 

Dr. Rami Khasawneh, Dean of the College of Business said, "This will be an added value for our students to receive their degree from a school which is publicly recognized at this level. Our faculty members have always been devoted to teaching excellence in the classroom, and to working with our students to provide internships that will prepare them for their careers. This accreditation reflects the great work we have done and will continue to do preparing tomorrow's business leaders."

 

Programs offered by the College of Business, which will be accredited at the undergraduate level include accountancy, business administration, computer information systems, economics, finance, information security and risk management, international business and marketing. Graduate level programs include the MBA, and masters' degrees in information security, finance and management, as well as the dual degree offered in nursing and business administration.

 

Dr. Stephany Schlachter, Provost at Lewis University said, "This is a significant achievement by the College of Business as only one in four business colleges offer accredited programs. The focus on teaching excellence and continuous improvement fits well with the Mission and goals of the university."

CyberWatch Ehances Lewis University Relationships with other Instiutions

Lewis University recently became a member of CyberWatch, an Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Center funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

 

"This membership will enhance academic and professional opportunities for our students, faculty and staff of our Master of Science in Information Security program," stated Dr. Faisal Abdullah, director of Lewis University's MSIS program.

 

CyberWatch aims to improve the quality and the quantity of the Information Assurance (IA) workforce. CyberWatch coordinates series of programs and services for its members and partners, for educational institutions and for the general public as well. The members, which include two-year and four-year colleges and universities, share their newest developments and benefit from information provided by others through their work on CyberWatch committees, consortium meetings and the CyberWatch newsletters. Lewis University plans to participate in at least one of CyberWatch's three student competitions each year. There are several different areas of competition including general focus, curriculum focus, faculty focus, student focus, pre-college focus and institution/program focus.

 

Lewis University's MSIS program provides students with background and insights into the key managerial and technical issues of information security. It is an interdisciplinary program administered by the Management Information Systems Department in the College of Business and the Mathematics and Computer Science Department in the College of Arts and Sciences. The managerial concentration focuses on the impact of information security on individual lives and personal privacy, the growing information security risks facing business and government, strategies for securing information, and the influence of laws and public policy on how information is secured while the technical concentration examines how information systems can be made secure.

 

The Mission of Lewis University's Institute for Information Assurance (IIA) is to provide quality education and understanding in the field of information security, critical infrastructure protection, homeland security and data network operations. Since one objective of the IIA is to establish collaborative relationships with other IA institutes, academic institutions, corporations and state and federal law enforcement agencies while promoting the awareness and understanding of IA concerns, threats and information security solutions in university, communities and corporations. It is beneficial that Lewis University became a member of CyberWatch.

Strategic Management Students Published

Strategic Management, taught by Dr. Eveann Lovero, department chair and professor of Business Administration, is the capstone course for completion of the MBA program. It is a research intensive course focused on its final project, which consists of a case study that gets published by the students through Amazon.com.  The Fall 2010 MBA graduates were the first class to have their case studies published.              

Every group researches a company, Wal-Mart, Apple, Google, Dell, Costco, EBay or PepsiCo, and does a complete analysis of the company and compares it to its competitors.  They analyze the current situation of the company, identify problems and issues which need to be resolved, develop alternative strategies, make a decision and recommend the best strategic alternative, and then state the goals, participants and steps in order to implement the new strategy. 

 

Dr. Rami Khasawneh, Dean of College of Business and Graduate School of Management, stated, "students will be able to present their published work on interviews with future employers.  This will provide them with an edge in this competitive job market." 

Stahl Center Forms Intern Partnership with NICAR

The Lowell Stahl Center for Real Estate Studies has formed a partnership with the Northern Illinois Commercial Association of Realtors (NICAR) to create opportunities for Lewis students to intern for the member companies of NICAR.  There are currently several internship positions available through the Stahl Center with local companies seeking qualified students for a variety of tasks.  The positions have varying time requirements and compensation.

 

Interested students, or companies that have an internship available, should contact Scott Krafthefer, Director of the Stahl Center at [email protected].

Social Media Marketing Class Offered

Graduate School of Management (GSM) is now offering Social Media Marketing as an elective for the Marketing concentration.  This course discusses the development of a social media strategy for your company.  The course will define what social media marketing is and list the different types of social media tools available.  Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook will be presented with respect of how can they be applied and used in business.

 

The course discusses the process of developing a marketing plan using social media and also presents measurement techniques for the effectiveness of social media and their return on investment (ROI) using number of metrics. 

 

GSM will begin offering this class Spring II 2011. Click here to register!

Social Media and Online Marketing Undergraduate Track

College of Business will be offering Social Media and Online Marketing as a new undergraduate marketing track in Fall 2011.

 

The Internet has rewritten the rules of business, creating a dramatic shift from traditional media to a complex, ever-evolving array of interactive strategies that offer immediate, measurable results. Today's highly competitive environment has further accelerated that change, as companies demand more accountability for marketing dollars than ever before. With this increasing emphasis on integrated digital strategies, the opportunities for marketing professionals and organizations with end-to-end Internet expertise have never been greater.

 

The Social Media and Online Marketing track allows students to learn how to use Social Media Marketing to increase website traffic, increase sales, and Google Ranking; develop a business website; acquire new skills for promoting company products and services; enjoy Interactive Courses that combines Marketing with technology and "hands on" classroom sessions; understand the strategy behind SMM; utilize search engine optimization tools to increase website presence; and find out how to use Google Analytics to measure the website's performance.                                                                                   
 

Students will be able to enroll in this track starting Fall 2011.  Social Media Marketing is the first course offered beginning Fall 2011.

Students Receive Perfect Score on ACE Exam

Fall 2010 students enrolled in Computer Forensics, taught by Dr. Faisal Abdullah, associate professor of MIS,  received a 100% pass rate on the AccessData's Certified Examiner (ACE) examination.  His students registered to take this exam as part of the course requirements.  They completed a multiple choice exam which consists of knowledge-based and practical-based elements.  All 18 students that took the exam passed it and are now ACE certified.

 

The ACE credential demonstrates your proficiency with AccessData Group's Forensic Toolkit (FTK), Password Recovery Toolkit (PRTK), FTK Imager and the Registry Viewer.

 

The structure of the ACE certification exam is similar to other industry standard certifications, the content and completion requirements are relative to the AccessData tools being used in the field. The concept of a "knowledge-based assessment" (KBA) combined with a "practical-based assessment" (PBA) has become a recognized standard for legal defensibility when candidates have completed certifications and been required to substantiate them.

Student/Faculty Study Group Travels to Spain

Fifteen students and two College of Business faculty members will travel to Madrid and Barcelona during spring break, February 25th to March 6th, to study the business environment in Spain.  Spain has been in the news lately as a result of the financial difficulties in Europe, making this trip timely for business students.  Both graduate and undergraduate students with a variety of business majors, are members of the group.

 

Professors Eveann Lovero, Chair of the Business Administration Department, and Frank Rose, of the Finance Department, have organized a trip that will allow students to learn first-hand about doing business in Spain and, in addition, get acquainted with peers at Spanish Lasallian universities as well as develop an appreciation for the rich Spanish culture.

 

The first stop is Madrid, the capital of Spain, where the group will have a business briefing by staff of the U.S. Embassy to provide context for subsequent meetings with U.S. and Spanish firms.  Then, visits are planned to Banco Santander, one of the largest banks in the world, Telefonica, a multinational telecom firm, and DHL, a global provider of logistics services.  Apart from the professional meetings, the study group will enjoy the sights in Madrid, including the world famous Prado Museum, and take a full day excursion to the historical cities of Segovia and Toledo, outside of Madrid.  Faculty from Lewis University's sister Lasallian institution in Madrid have helped arrange the group's itinerary in Madrid, and a get-together with students and faculty is being arranged.

 

After four days in Madrid, the members of the study group will take a high-speed train to Barcelona, on the eastern coast of the country.  There, they'll meet with Hewlett-Packard, TV3, a principal television channel serving the Catalonia region of Spain, and LaSalle Technova Barcelona, a center of entrepreneurship and innovation associated with LaSalle Ramon Llull University, another of Lewis' sister schools.  Members of the Ramon Llull community were instrumental in arranging the study group's business meetings in Barcelona.  As in Madrid, there will be plenty of time to experience the Spanish culture.  Visits to the famous architectural sights in Barcelona are a priority, and a full day bus trip to the cities of Gerona and Figueres - the home of Salvador Dali - will be a highlight.

 

The trip to Spain is the latest in a series of successful study trips organized by the College of Business. The COB considers study trips like this to be an essential component of its educational offerings.  As integration of the global economy grows, it is more important than ever that students have a strong knowledge and appreciation of business practices abroad.  Future study trips are currently being planned.

Computer Forensics Students Provide Free Data Recovery Services to the Community

Computer Forensic students, taught by Dr. Faisal Abdullah, associate professor of MIS and Director of the MSIS program, are reaching out to the community by providing  free data recovery services to the community and non-profit organizations.  "It all started when a College of Dupage student thought he had lost his family pictures when he formatted his hard disk. We recovered all pictures and documents for the COD student," said Dr. Abdullah. As a part the computer forensics coursework students are taught techniques to recover sensitive data, documents, pictures, videos and e-mails that are stored on a computer. Dr. Abdullah believes that this free service will provide students hand-on experience with computer forensics while helping the community.

 

Additionally, College of Business students also help businesses with secure hard drive recycling.  If you have an old computer you would like to donate, Computer Forensic students can clean up your hard drive and remove all your personal data before donating it. 

 

Please contact Samer Mustafa, graduate assistant for College of Business (815) 836-5079 or [email protected]for more information. 

"COBIT 101" webinar

Lewis University's Institute for Information Assurance and the Graduate School of Management hosted an online webinar entitled "COBIT 101" at 1 p.m. on Feb. 22.  The webinar was presented by Gary Bannister, an adjunct professor at Lewis University.

 

Webinar participants gained a deeper understanding of Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT). Participants also learned how COBIT is used with a focus on governance and compliance, how it relates to other frameworks and where to get more information about Risk IT and Val IT.

 

A British chartered management accountant and CPA, Bannister is currently working as a manager in the ISACA research department in Chicago.  Previously, he worked as a consultant with Jefferson Wells International in Chicago and BP International.

 

For 19 years, Bannister has worked for BP in various finance, control and information technology roles in Europe, United Kingdom, North America and South America.   In the United States, he previously held the position of finance officer for the BP information technology department.  Bannister served as a BP chemicals site controller in Marl, Germany before coming to the United States.

Faculty News
Dr. Robert Atra Presents, Consults, and Attends Presentation   

Bob AtraDr. Robert Atra, department chair and professor of Finance, presented chapters published in the Valuation Handbook by Wiley and co-authored by Dr. Robert Atra at the University of Chicago's Gleacher Center in December.  As part of the Center's "Business Book Roundtable" series, the works of various authors were presented and discussed.  The theme of the presentation was "What's New in Valuation and Lessons on Risk and Value from the Financial Crisis," which included Dr. Atra's work on automated valuation models and risk measures using fat-tailed distributions. 

 

A start-up firm Dr. Atra consults for, Lincoln Advanced Technologies, recently won 2nd place at the Global Security Challenge in London this fall.  Lincoln owns the patent for a respirator designed to protect critical infrastructure workers in the event of a pandemic or bioterrorism.  The firm advanced to the finals after being selected from a regional competition at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.   Dr. Atra has worked with Lincoln for the past five years. 

 

As part of the CFA Society of Chicago's annual dinner, Dr. Atra attended a presentation by best-selling author Steven Levitt.  Levitt's books, Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics explain how economic theory can be used to challenge conventional wisdom.  The presentation challenged financial analysts to sharpen their thinking skills and continue to examine problems with an open mind but grounded in solid economic theory.  Dr. Atra holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Society of Chicago, one of the nation's oldest and largest societies of financial analysts in the world. 

Dr. Roberto Gamarra: Research Activities During October 2010-January 2011

Roberto GamarraProfessor Roberto Gamarra presented his book chapter titled "Strategic Management of the Relationship Channels of Internationalization and Technology" at the authors' workshop for the 2011 edition of Advances of International Management in Copenhagen, Denmark, January 17-18, 2011.

 

This chapter argues that international management and business scholars think that through the triad countries concept we know the technological sophistication of international markets. Likewise, scholars think that classifying markets into advanced countries and developing countries will tell us which markets are technologically sophisticated and which are not. The chapter develops a new view of international markets to demonstrate that this group of scholars never quite got into serious analyses of the technological heterogeneity nature of international markets. The chapter presents managerial implications of technologically heterogeneous international markets to the study and management of the relationship between channels of internationalization and acquisition of technology.

 

As part of Dr. Gamarra's book research program on International Learners and Innovators, in October 2010, he interviewed Dr. Chung Hoon Chough, General Manager of Posco America Corporation.  This company is located in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

 

Posco America Corporation is a canonical example of a company that seeks to combine exporting and foreign direct investment in technological advanced markets in order to acquire sophisticated technical know-how.

 

In the period December 2010 and January 2011, Professor Gamarra conducted coordination meetings with Dr. Hugh Patrick, Director of the Center on Japanese Economy and Business, and Dr. Charles Armstrong, Director of the Center for Korean Studies, to coordinate invitations to visit companies in Japan and South Korea in the Summer of 2011. These company visits are part of the book research program on International Learners and Innovators.

Dean Khasawneh Quoted in Yahoo! Finance US

RamiDr. Rami Khasawneh was quoted in a recent article in Yahoo! Finance US, one of the top finance sites on the Web. The article discussed the risks of using a public Wi-Fi to your credit cards. Dr. Khasawneh indicated that most information exchanges over a public Wi-Fi are not secure. Usually the only thing secure over these connections is the login information. He also suggested that users use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection such as OpenVPN, which is free,  to secure all data being transferred by users over the public Wi-Fi connection.  Dr. Khasawneh was also quoted in Creditcrads.com, NASDAQ and Fox Business.

Dr. Pae Presents and Reviews Papers

Dr. Yuntaek Pae, assistant professor of Finance, reviewed a research paper in the journal "Spreadsheets in Education" in November 2010.     

Dr. Rose Authored and Contributed Articles

Dr. Frank Rose, associate professor of Finance, contributed an article entitled, "Globalization in the Futures Markets; The Case of a Brazil-U.S. Partnership," to the Portuguese-language journal, Dialogo, published by Lewis University's sister institution, Centro Universitario La Salle in Canoas, Brazil.  The article appeared in the January-June 2010 edition of the journal which was issued in November.

 

Dr. Rose also authored, "Developments in the Futures:  The Role of Swap Dealers, Money Managers and Index Traders in the United States Maize, Wheat and Soybean Futures and Options Markets - An Update", in the November 2010 issue of Food Outlook, published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome.  This is the third in a series of articles the FAO has asked him to prepare on the relationship between activity in the derivatives markets and the formation of food prices.

If you have any questions or comments regarding The Bottom Line E-Newsletter, contact Editor Tracy Joyce at [email protected] or (815) 836.5991.
                                 Belltower