Stephen F. Austin State University’s Rusche College of Business honored faculty members for their teaching excellence, innovation, research and service.
Among the honorees were Drs. Gina Harden, Mark Scanlan, Calee Jo Holcombe, Carol Wright, Jason Reese and Treba Marsh.
Harden, assistant professor in the Department of Management and Marketing, was recognized with the college’s Marlin C. Young Teaching Excellence Award.
“SFA is primarily a teaching school with the emphasis on students and quality instruction,” Harden said. “To be recognized this way is a great honor and very humbling, especially when you see the top teachers previously chosen. Being included in that group is a true honor.”
Harden incorporates numerous applications and simulations into her courses to enhance her students’ skills. She has been instrumental in developing the management productivity systems course, which introduces students to information system concepts they will encounter in various business disciplines.
Harden is a certified instructor for Systems, Applications and Products, one of the largest software companies in the world. With this certification, Harden utilizes the software’s enterprise resource planning simulation to provide her students with the opportunity to work in a SAP environment and gain valuable experience.
Also, Harden received the Outstanding Intellectual Contribution Award, which recognizes faculty members for the best peer-reviewed article accepted or published within the year. Harden’s research paper titled “Turnover Intention of Technology Professionals: A Social Exchange Theory Perspective” discussed the pressure IT workers feel to continually update their skills, due to rapidly changing technology requirements. This pressure, along with the simultaneous pressure to be more productive, causes faster turnover among IT workers than employees in general, Harden added.
Scanlan, professor in the Department of Economics and Finance, was honored with the Teaching Innovation Award for a new activity he incorporated in a money and banking course.
Through this activity, students utilized the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ economic forecasting game, FREDcast, to predict each month’s unemployment rate, level of payroll employment, read gross domestic product, growth rate and consumer price index inflation rate. Students compete against each other for an experiential learning scholarship.
Holcombe, assistant professor in the Schlief School of Accountancy, received the Outstanding Service/Experiential Learning Award. Three projects she implemented into her courses that exemplify experiential learning are the systems understanding aid, a paper-based accounting system simulation; QuickBooks project, which helps in learning accounting software; and an enterprise resource-planning simulation cases utilizing SAP.
“These three projects allow students to experience different kinds of accounting information systems, apply and connect information learned in multiple accounting classes and learn about two software programs they will likely use in the workforce,” Holcombe said.
The college’s Research Excellence Committee awarded Wright, assistant professor in the Department of Business Communication and Legal Studies, the Outstanding Researcher Award, which recognizes faculty members for their journal articles, presentations and grant projects completed within the most recent academic year. Wright has published 11 articles and delivered nine presentations and two poster presentations. Her research involves utilizing technology to improve learning and teamwork in online and face-to-face business communication classes for Generation Z students.
Reese, assistant professor in the Department of Management and Marketing and sports business program coordinator, received the Distinguished Service Award. Reese serves as chair of the Management and Marketing Scholarship Committee, faculty advisor to the Sports Business Society and associate faculty advisor of the American Marketing Association.
At the university level, he is the Faculty Senate chair-elect, a member of the Lumberjacks Sports Institute Advisory Board, and is on the Mr. and Miss SFA selection committee. Additionally, he is the associate editor of the Global Sports Business Journal, a member of the Alliance for Sports Business and has served as a member of the Nacogdoches Convention and Visitors Bureau’s board of directors.
From the Schlief School of Accountancy, Dr. Treba Marsh, professor, was named the Distinguished Faculty Member for her service to the college.
“Her leadership dedication and passion for the well-being of students are special,” said Dr. Tim Bisping, dean of the college. “Her dedication to the profession is certainly impressive, and her performance in teaching, research and service are consistent with that of a distinguished faculty member.”
For more information about SFA’s business programs, visit sfasu.edu/business.
By Kasi Dickerson, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.
