News

2020 was anything but ordinary.

Three months into the new year, a global pandemic wrought an unprecedented public health crisis and changed the way that we approach business, teaching, learning and connecting.

On Saturday, December 19, the John Chambers College of Business and Economics welcomed 190 business graduates into our alumni family.

This fall, flexibility has been the name of the game. We’ve all been tasked with adapting to find success in a challenging environment. Our student support services are no exception, as providing opportunities for students to feel connected is more important than ever in these turbulent times. The Recruitment & Retention Team has increased its support in and out of the classroom to help our students navigate through the semester. While these changes were in the works before COVID, the pandemic has exacerbated the need for these investments.

This fall, we implemented the new Chambers Peer Mentorship program that places successful upperclassmen mentors in sections of our Freshman Seminar, BCOR 191. These students serve as a role model and resource to freshmen. Paired with an instructor in BCOR 191, capped at 25 students per section and taught by student support staff, often on a volunteer basis, Peer Mentors provide an additional level of support and guidance as students adjust to college life. Mentors share their insights, advice, and experiences with mentees both in class and in virtual one-on-one meetings. Through this course, freshmen are introduced to our expectations at the Chambers College and learn how to navigate the world of higher education – with a particular eye on setting the stage for business success. The addition of peer mentorship provides a valuable opportunity to improve freshmen retention while simultaneously increasing the engagement, satisfaction and leadership development of mentors. The rollout of this new program couldn’t have come at a better time given the social connection challenges reported by many students in our current environment.

The Chambers College team is doing big things, and we want to know about them! Share through this form to see them in a future edition of Let’s Talk Business and/or our other communications vehicles. Want to recognize your colleagues for their accomplishments? Click here.

Accounting

While this may have been our College’s 6th year hosting the West Virginia University Sales Competition, it was much different from the previous events.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sales Competition – sponsored by Fastenal – was held virtually on October 17. 

May 2019 MAcc graduate Lana Latif received an offer for a position with Ernst & Young (EY) in Pittsburgh. This is a great success story, because Lana decided to return to WVU for the MAcc after living with her family in Palestine. Returning to West Virginia was not a decision she took lightly, but she really wanted to pursue securing a job with a Big 4 firm. She’s now made that dream a reality, thanks to the mentorship of Executive in Residence and MAcc coordinator Gary LeDonne .

The Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination Coursera MOOC (massive open online course) is now at over 75,000 participants and growing!

It is easy to dwell on the negative impact of COVID-19, but positive things have emerged during the pandemic, and these things will continue to be part of our new normal. For the Chambers College, West Virginia University and West Virginia, this is a wonderful opportunity to show businesses and consumers how we are championing entrepreneurship and innovation!

This summer, our HIT Lab team explored what we can do to help to limit the spread of virus and how we can empower consumers and businesses with new tools and technologies that will help us move forward without fear.

West Virginia, birth place of Chuck Yeager, the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound, will now be at the center of developing the next innovation in barrier-breaking transportation.

Virgin Hyperloop announced Thursday, Oct. 8, that it will locate a certification facility on nearly 800 acres of land spanning Tucker and Grant counties where it will leverage intellectual capital and resources from  West Virginia University, Marshall University and from across the state.

You could say Seattle came alive with more than an even flow of tourism dollars from a pair of highly-anticipated Pearl Jam concerts, according to rockin’ new research by West Virginia University economists.

Dubbed the “Home Shows,” two Pearl Jam concerts in August 2018 helped net the seaport city $58 million in additional hotel revenue and $9 million in hotel tax revenue. Compare that to Seattle Mariners baseball games, which generate $140,000 in additional hotel revenue on game days, and the researchers make a clear case for large, one-off events as economic boosters.

As Reynolds Hall, the new hub for business education on the campus of West Virginia University continues to build on the Morgantown waterfront, a John Chambers College of Business and Economics alumnus has given a gift that will ensure that it will build the business leaders of the future by way of experiential learning when it opens in 2022.

Visa executive and WVU alumnus William Sheedy and his wife, Patricia, are donating $2.5 million to the Chambers College for an experiential learning pavilion.