Teresa Keefe named Distinguished University Lecturer

The University of Toledo honored three Distinguished University Lecturers in April during a ceremony in Doermann Theater, including Teresa Keefe, senior lecturer in the Department of Information Operations and Technology Management in the College of Business and Innovation.

Teresa Keefe

“Appointment to the rank of Distinguished University Lecturer is the highest permanent honor The University of Toledo can bestow on a lecturer,” said Dr. Andrew Hsu, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.

“Those named Distinguished University Lecturer have earned recognition and distinction as educators, advancing student learning, facilitating and supporting student success, and demonstrating a commitment to the University’s educational mission.”

Keefe is the faculty adviser to the Association for Information Technology Professionals, and has been teaching at UT for 13 years.

“This recognition means a lot because it brings a clear message that the University leadership team values the work and contributions of lecturers across the campus,” Keefe said. “We are, in many cases, teaching workhorses -- and it validates our role in helping UT achieve its mission. I still feel a sense of disbelief, even a month later.  I know I work hard and I know I make a difference in many students' lives - but to put a title of ‘Distinguished’ on what I do is very humbling.”  

“She continuously develops new and innovative courses, incorporating new technologies, and providing active learning experiences for her students, including flipped classes and service learning, all contributing to student retention and graduation rates,” one nominator wrote. “Over my 37 years at the University, I have never seen the likes of Teresa in terms of teaching, service and dedication to the betterment of students.”

A former student wrote, “If I was asked who outside my immediate family had the largest impact on my education and professional growth, without hesitation, ‘Teresa Keefe’ would be blurted out.”

Another graduate noted, “I owe my success to Teresa Keefe. She is an exceedingly wonderful professor, mentor and friend. The amount of dedication that she pours into her passion daily is inspiring.”

The duration of the appointment as a Distinguished University Lecturer is unlimited, and the title may be retained after a lecturer has retired from the University.

“The best part of teaching is the privilege of working with students and watching their transformation as future business leaders,” Keefe said.  “The most joyful moment for me is at graduation.  Watching our students proudly walk across the stage and hear that they have found employment makes all my efforts worthwhile. And, I love the fact that every one of my colleagues in COBI all share that perspective of being student centered and are equally invested in and committed to mentoring and providing opportunities for our students' success.”

“It is well deserved and great for COBI that our faculty continue to be recognized for excellence,” noted Gary S. Insch, Ph.D. Dean, COBI.

COBI students display talents at major competitions

COBI’s HR students place 2nd in East Regional case competition
The UT College of Business and Innovation Human Resource Management team of three HR students— Amber Mulholland, Dina Teeti, and Morgan Siegler— won second place in the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) East Region’s HR Case Competition in Philadelphia in April!  Dr. Jenell Wittmer, Associate Professor of Management, accompanied the team to the competition.

This year’s East region’s competition included twenty-two undergraduate teams from twelve states.  After preliminary presentations, the University of Toledo’s team competed against a team from Olivet Nazarene University (Illinois) in the final round.

The competition is an event that offers the opportunity to bring professional chapter volunteers, students and student chapter advisors together in a meaningful way. The students receive an opportunity to network with other students and showcase their competency to HR practitioners.

Edward H. Schmidt School of Professional Sales wins 10 trophies at national PSE competition
“We had a very solid performance by our chapter at PSE National Convention in St. Louis,”  said Jacob Pawelczyk, Pi Sigma Epsilon President.  “We took 26 members for a week of competitions, workshops, keynote speakers, and chapter bonding, and here is a breakdown of our performance in the three areas of competition:

National Awards Program
• 1st - Top Management Team: Jacob Whitman, Jacob Pawelczyk, Steph Elkins, Alex Edinger, Jovan Sanson
• 1st - Top Professional Development Program: Steph Elkins, Haley Orr, Octavio Vazquez-Ederra, Jacob Pawelczyk
• 1st - Top Marketing/Sales Project (Chapter): Jessie Lindemeyer, Dorian Vance, Taylor Busse, Jamil Stoutamire
• 2nd - Top Gold Chapter (2nd Best Chapter in the Nation): Jacob Pawelczyk, Jacob Whitman, Steph Elkins, Daniel Braker, Patrick Ryan, Jovan Sanson, Alex Edinger
• 2nd - Top Recruitment Program: Dayna Fackler, Max Augsburger, Elena Justice, Miranda Moscinski, Alex Edinger
• Whan Challenger (Highest Individual Award): Jacob Pawelczyk
• Chapter Sustained Excellence Award
National Scholarship Program
• Haley Orr: Geico Scholarship and the Future Leaders Scholarship • Alex Edinger:UPS Scholarship
• Steph Elkins - Whan Memorial Scholarship
National Pro-Am Sell-a-Thon
• 1st Place: Jacob Pawelczyk   • 4th Place - Steph Elkins
National Speakers Competition
• Top 5 Finalists: Alex Edinger, Dorian Vance
National Finalists
• Top Marketing Research Project: Ben Grieser, Brianna Rodriguez, Jordan Dolph, Liam Rogers, Austin Morrin
• Scholarship Program: Daniel Braker, Jacob Whitman
• President's Award for Special Merit: Stephanie Elkins
• Case Study Competition: Christina Miles, Dominic Marino, Rachel Boulton, Liam Rogers

“Needless to say, I am extremely proud of the work our chapter has put in during the 2016 year to result in this very strong performance; the strongest for us to date,” Pawelczyk said. “Thank you for all of the education, programming, and opportunities that ESSPS and COBI offer our students to help us be one of the best chapters in the nation. We could not do this without our great instructors! We are truly thankful for all that you do!”

“We need a trophy case! Pi Sigma Epsilon (PSE) brought home 10 trophies from Nationals,” said Deirdre Jones, director, Edward H. Schmidt School of Professional Sales. “A key contributing factor to the 1st place Professional Development Program is due to PSE, ESSPS, and COBI programming.  Golf outing, speakers, UTISC, ISC, Fall Fete, Networking Night, corporate coaching, job fair, mock interviews, and resume critiques are encouraged and leveraged by the chapter.  The results all the way around for PSE, other students, ESSPS, COBI, and UT speak for themselves.”

Sales teams also do great at National Collegiate Sales Competition
Additionally, at the 2017, the National Collegiate Sales Competition in early April, the world's oldest and largest sales role-play competition, UT sales students also made a tremendous showing. The UT COBI ESSPS team claimed the 7th place overall team award in the Undergraduate Division, while the ESSPS team won the 5th overall team award in the Graduate Division.

Congratulations to the team: Jamil Stoutamire, Andrew Brownlee, Gabriella LeMaster, Dorian Vance, Zach Menden, & Raelyn Mejias Santoro

Individual finishes include:
Dorian Vance, 9th place Overall Individual
Andrew Brownlee, 47th Overall Individual
Raelyn Mejias Santoro, 3rd First Round Graduate Division
Zach Menden, 4th Third Round, Graduate Division
Raelyn & Zach, 4th Second Round Graduate Division

The NCSC takes place each Spring at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia with over 50 Fortune 500 & 100 companies serving as sponsors, and more than 70 universities from across the globe sending their top sales students to compete.

Honors accounting major claims second place prize in statewide manuscript competition
Amal Said, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Accounting proudly spoke of the success of one of her students in the Honors section of her Accounting for Business Decisions course.

“This is the first time we offered this new Honors section, and as part of the Honors experience, I required my students to write a research paper.  I sponsored and submitted four papers to the 2017 Undergraduate Student Manuscript Competition of the American Accounting Association - Ohio Region.”

“Kami Kolnitys' paper titled "Implications of the Border Adjustment Tax on American Companies" received 2nd place among all papers submitted from across Ohio. Kami will receive a plaque and check in addition to being recognized at a conference banquet and dinner award ceremony.”