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UPCOMING EVENTS

SPOTLIGHTS

ALUMNUS                                          

Elliotte Dunlap ('97)

Elliotte Dunlap knows how to motivate people. In his first semester at UNT in 1992, he noticed the campus didn't have a dedicated space with staff to promote the success and inclusion of students from cultural and ethnic minority groups.

Passionate to effect change, Dunlap, together with some of his Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity brothers and a few other students, wrote a proposal to create a Multicultural Center. They petitioned and led marches for students, faculty and staff to show their support of the proposal.

When Dunlap and 11 other student leaders met with then UNT Chancellor and President Alfred F. Hurley, Dunlap says he learned a lesson he'll never forget.

"After Dr. Hurley listened to our suggestions, he offered us ice cream and brought in folders containing our transcripts. To those struggling in their classes he said, 'UNT is excellent and will support its students, but are these students excellent and supporting UNT?'" says Dunlap, now a senior partner solution sales executive at Microsoft Corp. in Las Colinas. "I thought that was a great insight, and to this day, I make sure my brand symbolizes excellence. He taught me my No. 1 rule -- inspect what you expect."

The mass communication studies major committed to studying two hours each day in the library, worked on his time management skills and made sure the proposed Multicultural Center received continued attention. In 1995, the center -- which Dunlap originally sketched as thoughts on a napkin -- opened on the fourth floor of what was then the University Union, under Hurley's leadership.

"It's a great honor to be part of a movement that was ahead of its time," Dunlap says. "I had imagined the Multicultural Center as a place for students like me to find support, and seeing its contributions to UNT's gender, race, lifestyle and religious groups and all the students served today is far beyond my wildest dreams. Anyone can come to UNT and fit in."

READ MORE...

ALUMNUS


Jim McNatt ('66)

Jim McNatt was honored with the Wings of Eagles Presidential Award at this year's Wingspan Gala on March 17. The Wings of Eagles Award, launched during the celebration of the 125th anniversary of the University of North Texas, is the most prestigious award presented by the President to someone who has made a transformative impact on the university. The honor celebrates creativity, spirit and innovation at UNT and is awarded to an alumnus or friend who embodies what UNT represents: engagement, generosity and affinity.

McNatt earned his degree in general business from UNT in 1966 and was an active member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. He is a partner in the Luttrull-McNatt Chevrolet dealership in Sanger and the Luttrull-McNatt Buick/Chevrolet/GMC dealership in Gainesville. He serves as vice president of McNatt Properties LLC, a real estate construction and apartment management business.

McNatt is active in the community and also within UNT. A lifetime member of the UNT Alumni Association and a member of the prestigious McConnell Society, he serves on the President’s Leadership Board, the UNT Foundation Board of Directors, the College of Business Advisory Board and the Kuehne Speaker Series Board of Directors.

With gifts totaling more than $6 million, he and his wife Linda have made an immediate impact through their generosity supporting athletics, logistics, National Merit Finalists and autism research. In addition, the McNatts recently made a transformative commitment to the Athletics Indoor Practice Facility initiative, created the Jim McNatt Institute for Logistics Research, and funded the McNatt College of Business Graduate Fellowship, the Linda McNatt Master’s in International Sustainable Tourism Graduate Scholarship, the Linda McNatt MIST Student Research Award and the Linda McNatt MIST Marketing Fund.

IN THE NEWS

UNT student is first woman to win IBM's Master the Mainframe coding contest

Anna McKee became the first woman to win IBM’s Master the Mainframe challenge for the North American region this year, when she took home first place in the final and most difficult portion of IBM’s contest.

 “Part Three was by far the most challenging,” said McKee, who is pursuing two degrees, a Bachelor of Science in business computer information systems and a Bachelor of Business Administration in decision sciences. “The final task was to create a coding solution based on very loose requirements. This required creativity and innovation with lots of research. Fortunately, I was able to draw on my experience from my summer internship where I modified mainframe programs.”

Master the Mainframe pits students from across nine regions worldwide against one another in a hands-on, virtual contest that gives students the chance to master the skills experienced mainframe systems programmers need to do their job. Competitors like McKee, a student in the Department of Information Technology and Decision Sciences, faced off against students in their region to come up with the most creative solution to real-life computing problems and coding errors. In addition to coming in first in North America, McKee was also ranked in the top three of competitors globally.

Approximately 17,000 high school and university students from more than 120 countries participated in the competition; however, only a select number of students chose to go on to Part Three, and an even smaller number were able to complete that portion.

READ MORE...

UNT student lands internal audit award to study how data analytics can improve decision-making

Accounting doctoral candidate Megan Seymore, CPA, has been awarded the $10,000 Michael J. Barrett Doctoral Dissertation Grant to study how visualizations of big data and differing data sources influence decision-making in internal audits.

The grant comes from the Institute of Internal Auditors’ Internal Audit Foundation, which typically awards only one or two Barrett winners per year.

The award will help fund Seymore’s doctoral research, in which she is examining the way data analytics and different sources for information can alter business judgments. Internal audit reports have traditionally been text-heavy documents. However, auditors are increasingly incorporating charts, graphs and other visuals into the documents to help explain results from large data sets.

“Different visualizations can influence how easily someone understands the information and how willing they are to rely on that information,” Seymore said.

Additionally, business decisions are increasingly made from multiple sources of information, including financial and non-financial data. Seymore wants to better understand how individuals respond when conflicting data sources exist.

“I hope to learn whether managers have a bias towards financial data compared to non-financial data sources, and whether the type visualization can help reduce any bias that may exist,” she said.

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Graduate students offer solutions to senior-level oil and gas executives

Students worked hand-in-hand with a major oil and gas company in Dallas to explore solutions in wastewater disposal inefficiencies and costly load tracking operations.

With more than 21 billion barrels of wastewater produced each year from fracking endeavors, finding optimal solutions for minimizing these costs has vast implications on the company’s bottom line. In fact, students uncovered after their initial research that the company spent roughly $40 million dollars in disposing wastewater last year alone, with expenses drastically increasing in recent years.

Uncovering these inefficiencies and the reasons behind them were just the tip of the iceberg. Students were tasked with providing financially appropriate solutions for implementing new technology and innovative solutions to solve the problem – and during their final presentations to the company’s senior-level executives, they proposed a technology-based solution with an 18-month return on investment.

“For me personally, having the opportunity to present to C-level executives was an incredible experience — to take what we had learned in class and apply it to reality,” explained 2019 marketing major Kathleen Robertson.

The executives were equally impressed with the class results, too, announcing that they are now considering a pilot project based on the students’ feedback.              

“Books and essays do not teach action. Being able to apply the knowledge was enjoyable and taught us more than what a Scantron could teach,” said Alisun Templeton, 2019 MBA supply chain and logistics management major.

Accounting professor honored with Accounting Information Systems Distinguished Service Award

In January of 2018, Dr. Mary Curtis, UNT Department of Accounting professor, was recognized at the Accounting Information Systems Midyear Meeting with the prestigious Distinguished Service Award – a rare honor typically only given out “as needed.”

“The award is a recognition by my peers in the Accounting Information Systems section of my contributions to their discipline,” said Curtis.

For twenty-five years, Curtis has been contributing to the Journal of Information Systems, the premier accounting information systems research journal, in a variety of capacities – one of which even included president.

In her current role as senior editor, she works effortlessly to increase the journal’s visibility and quality to help elevate and sustain the value of its perception. In doing so, featured researchers and publications within the journal also gain a greater sense of respect.

 

THE MORE YOU KNOW

UNT experts discuss major retailers' decisions to restrict gun sales

Walmart, Dick’s Sporting Goods and most recently Kroger, through its Fred Meyer locations, recently announced changes to their store gun sale policies following the tragic shooting at a Florida high school. Among the limitations, all three companies will end the sale of firearms to anyone under age 21.

Associate professor Francisco Guzman, and professor David Strutton, both in the Department of Marketing and Logistics, weighed in on what decisions like these mean from a business perspective.

Guzman says companies make these types of decisions based on two factors: “When the company understands that their consumer base expects them to act accordingly or when the company's leadership decides, it's the right thing to do. This last point could be because of a corporate ethical stance, because they believe the move will benefit profit and market value or because they believe it is the right PR move.”  

Strutton adds that a typical business will consider its long-term survival. “Firms will and should make this sort of decision when the weight and trend of public opinion dictates, financially and market share-wise,” he says. “None of these sorts of decisions are made in a vacuum. Without question, the data suggested to Dick’s Sporting Goods and Walmart’s leadership that these were the best decisions to make. They made it. Good for them, from both a business public relations and reputational perspective.”

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Philanthropic opportunities at the College of Business

$1,000  - Women in Business
A $1,000 gift will assist with costs associated with speaker presentations, mentorships and professionalism courses as part of the Women in Business Program, which serves to empower women as they build one another up in the business industry.

$5,000  - Distinguished Speaker Series
$5,000 will offset the costs of the college's Distinguished Speaker Series - providing students and faculty with the opportunity to learn from prominent executives and leaders in the business community.

$10,000 - Student Worker
$10,000 sponsors a student worker for one full year, aiding staff efforts and giving students the added benefit of valuable real-life work experience to help them succeed in life after college.

We welcome and appreciate your gifts as we continue to offer our students the best quality education at an affordable rate.
 

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University of North Texas
College of Business

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