 December 2012 |
 | | Dean Howard Finch |
Message from the Dean
Semester in Review
Dear Alumni, Parents and Friends, It has been a great fall term at the Brock School of Business at Samford University! As this newsletter attests, we have successfully invested in students, facilities and people. We have continued to work hard to build the Brock brand as an outstanding business school dedicated to educating future business leaders with a Christian worldview. And, we continue to invest in Birmingham and Alabama through our community outreach and resources. For students, we introduced a new course called "Professional Development." Students are required to participate in a minimum number of professional development opportunities as part of their graduation requirements. These include hearing guest speakers who bring real world experience and advice on career development and success, sessions on business etiquette and dress and opportunities to network at Samford Business Network events and Source Network breakfasts held at area businesses. Another requirement of this course is that our seniors now meet with Carrie Anna Pearce, our Academic Internship Director, to lay out a strategic plan for their initial job search following graduation. People are at the heart of everything we do. This fall we welcomed new faculty and staff to the Brock School of Business. New faculty members include Professor Art Carden in economics, Professor Kay Guess in accounting, and Professor Rusty Yerkes in finance. Devon Davidson also joined us as our new Advancement Officer. Our Office of Academic Programs welcomed Patrice Donnelly as Assistant Director of Academic Programs, and the dean's office welcomed Lisa Mosley as Administrative Assistant and Building Coordinator. These important additions add strength to our mission of educating the next generation of ethical and competent business leaders imbued with the Christian spirit. It is a pleasure to work with such an outstanding group of people. Our faculty and staff are dedicated to our educational and spiritual mission, and our students reap their passion, dedication and professional competence through the relationships they forge in our classes, programs and student organizations. We hope you and your family have a blessed holiday season. Thank you for all you do for the Brock School of Business. Merry Christmas, 
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 | | Video: Rite Of Passage 2012 |
Investment in Students
Rite of Passage Ceremony
Samford University's Brock School of Business formally admitted 94 business students in its Second Annual 'Rite of Passage' Ceremony on Nov. 2 at Samford's Reid Chapel. The ceremony marks a student's transition into their declared majors in the Brock School of Business. Students participating in the ceremony vow publicly to uphold the mission and values of the Brock School of Business.
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Investment in People
Meet One of Our Alums, Katie Murnane Class of 2007.
Katie Murnane credits her professors at the Brock
 | | Katie Murnane speaking at the Rite of Passage |
School of Business for helping her be successful in her position at Ernst &Young. Katie recently came back to campus to deliver the Brock Legacy message at the recent Rite of Passage Ceremony. "The Brock School of Business provided me with mentors who have been an invaluable resource to me," said Katie Murnane. "When I was in school, we used real-world experiences that mirrored situations that I now have faced in the workplace. I also learned my work ethic by the way I studied at the Brock School." Katie also credits the Brock School for helping her network in Birmingham with other business professionals. When asked what advice she would offer students, Katie stated, "I would tell students to learn all they can from their professors and to look to them as mentors. Listen to their advice because it will help you achieve your career goals." Katie also stressed that Samford taught her the importance of learning and listening to new ideas and thoughts from others, something she uses in her daily life. "I perform my job with integrity and honesty and I hope those that I work with, do same." Info:
Katie Murnane '07Senior AssuranceErnst & Young |
Investment in Curriculum
Brock and Journalism Mass Communication Collaborate on MBA
Samford University's Brock School of Business and Journalism and Mass Communication (JMC) Department recently announced a unique partnership that allows JMC students who obtain a business minor as part of their JMC degree to remain at Samford with the opportunity to obtain an MBA over the course of the following year. One of only about 10 similar programs in the United States, this collaboration will allow JMC majors to graduate with both a graduate MBA degree and an undergraduate JMC degree in five years. Read More. |
Investment in Facilities
New Student Incubator and Bloomberg Terminals
 | | Bloomberg Terminals |
Original Incubator Story, August 2012 by Marty Swant, AL.com --Samford University's Brock School of Business is launching a business incubator this fall with the hopes of helping students develop their ideas into real companies. Read More. In other facilities news, the Brock School of Business added Bloomberg terminals for finance students to use to access information in real time. Bloomberg Terminals are a financial data system provided by Bloomberg L.P. that enables professionals to monitor and analyze real-time financial market data movements on an electronic trading platform. The system also provides news, price quotes and messaging across its proprietary secure network. BSOB has 11 terminals in the building. Six terminals are in a dedicated Bloomberg Student Lab, three in faculty offices, and two additional terminals are available at instructor podiums in both teaching computer labs. Bloomberg is the industry standard tool for financial and investment research and helps to make our BSOB Finance graduates much more marketable. |
Investment in Our Brand
Our Outreach Events
 | | Author Jason Womack |
The Brock School of Business continues its successful outreach through a number of Samford Business Network (SBN) events in Birmingham and Washington, DC. At the beginning of the semester we hosted a panel on the Business of Sports, sponsored by BBVA Compass and in November fi- Plan Partners hosted world-renowned author Jason Womack at the Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham. In DC, Balch & Bingham and Alabama Power hosted a networking event at their offices for Brock School of Business and Cumberland School of Law alumni and friends. In addition, several SBN Birmingham Source Networking events were held in the Birmingham area, and were hosted by Regions Financial and St. Vincent's Birmingham. Our outreach programs this semester also included our Homecoming tailgate before the Appalachian State game and our Parent's Weekend Tailgate before the Wofford game. We appreciate everyone who has supported and attended these events in 2012 and look forward to your continued support in 2013. Look for an SBN Source Network announcement about our event hosted by Samford's Men's Basketball Program on Jan. 16 as well as an announcement about our plans for networking in Montgomery. |
Investment in Philanthropy  | | Pie Your Professor! |
Students Give Back
This fall Beta Alpha Psi held their annual Pie Your Professor event to raise money for the Salvation Army's Angel Tree. See the video.
This fall, a student-led group Brock for Birmingham, was formed so that Brock students could have opportunities to give back to the communities around Samford University. The students spent one Saturday building a home for Habitat for Humanity in Wylam located on the western side of Birmingham.
In addition, local high schools with Finance academies, Minor, Shades Valley and Hewitt-Trussville, visited the Brock School this semester to learn about what the school has to offer. Beta Alpha Psi and Bulldog Fund Managers led about 130 students on a tour of the school and spoke with the high school students about the Bulldog Fund, the six majors Brock offers as well as many other opportunities that are available at Brock. |
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Contacts:
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Kara Kennedy
Director of External Affairs, 205-726-4070
Devon Davidson
Advancement Officer, 205-726-4108
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