A message from the dean, Dr. Bret Becton,
As the spring semester draws to a close, there is so much exciting news to share concerning what is happening in the Moody College of Business. At our recent 60th Annual Awards Banquet, we awarded 194 scholarships totaling more than $224,000 to some of our best and brightest students. Our students will soon have access to a state-of-the-art finance lab as the Maraist Financial Services lab is nearing completion and we will begin offering classes and programming in the lab during Fall '18. Our newly introduced online MBA program continues to experience remarkable enrollment growth with 300+ students currently enrolled while our traditional MBA continues to enjoy strong enrollment numbers with 181 students enrolled. Furthermore, the MBA continues to receive recognition as one of the best MBA programs for quality and return on investment. Our faculty consistently provide our students with opportunities to connect with industry and learn by doing. Through business pitch competitions, sales competitions, field trips, and service learning projects, our students are applying the business knowledge and skills they develop through our curriculum to real-world situations. It’s a great time to be a Ragin' Cajun and we hope you are just as excited about the great things happening in the Moody College of Business!
IDEAthon
The UL Lafayette Megapreneurship Society hosted the first-ever IDEAthon on February 21 at the Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise Center. High school students from around Acadiana, UL Lafayette students and community members were able to network with entrepreneurs and pitch their ideas to College of Business students in an open-mic format.
College of Business hosts Annual Awards Banquet
The Moody College of Business celebrated its 60th Annual Awards Banquet in April. Banquet highlights included recognition of 150 student scholarship recipients, 60 professorship recipients, two endowed chair holders, and over a dozen business student organization leaders. Special thanks to our banquet sponsors: C. H. Fenstermaker & Associates, LLC; FITS Indoor Range, Jim Doyle, Kolder, Slaven and Co., LLC; and Van Eaton & Romero, A Latter & Blum Company.
Record results for Notary Public course
Target competition
Student teams in Management 490, the undergraduate capstone course, presented judges with ideas to enhance financial and strategic objectives for Target. This competition is a nexus of strategic management and corporate entrepreneurship that allows students to enhance financial and strategic objectives by developing ideas to enhance Target’s market share. The winning team included seniors Chris Cormier, Alexander Costa, and Clayton Sills who proposed an extensive revamping of Target’s café.
College of Business hosts Risk Manager in Residence
Dining Etiquette Dinner
The Office of Career Services and College of Business’ 2018 Dining Etiquette Dinner was a huge success! Over 120 students enjoyed a four-course meal while learning valuable etiquette tips and got a chance to network with professionals in their field of study.
Special thanks to event sponsors AAA Hotel Company, Audubon Energy, Brown & Brown Insurance of Louisiana, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana, Liberty National, as well as UL Lafayette Career Services, our faculty, university and community partners, and our alumni who served as table hosts.
The Moody College of Business will welcome new faculty member
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Gary A. Wagner will join the Moody College of Business in Fall '18 as the Acadiana Business Economist/BORSF Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Economics. Dr. Wagner comes to us from the Federal Reserve Bank where he first served as a Regional Economic Advisor for the Philadelphia office and most recently as the Vice President & Senior Regional Officer of the Cleveland office. Dr. Wagner has a wealth of experience developing and maintaining relationships with external stakeholders and forecasting and reporting economic conditions. Dr. Wagner also has considerable experience in academia prior to joining the Federal Reserve Bank in 2015. He held faculty positions at University of Arkansas-Little Rock, Duquesne University, University of North Carolina, and Old Dominion University most recently where he held the rank of Professor of Economics. Dr. Wagner holds a Ph.D. in Economics from West Virginia University.
Moody Business Week
The Moody College of Business hosted Moody Business Week, formerly Ragin’ Business Week, in March. This week included many opportunities for students to engage in professional development activities. Students were able to attend a Career Closet Pop-Up Shop, Internship Panel, Build Your Brand Seminar, and the Moody College of Business Internship and Career Fair. For more information about getting involved with our Internship and Career Fair, please email us at internship@louisiana.edu.
CEO Magazine recognizes MBA program
The MBA program is recognized as one of the top 71 MBA programs in North America by CEO Magazine. The publication’s objective is to identify schools which marry exceptional quality with great return on investment. Other universities listed in the Top Tier for MBAs include Florida International University, Loyola Marymount University and Texas A&M University.
Business students compete in Annual Bayou Sales Challenge
College of Business tours NOLA hospitality industry
College of Business students, faculty, and staff toured the New Orleans hospitality industry by visiting Mardi Gras World, the National WWII Museum, and the New Orleans Morial Convention Center. The group received a behind-the-scenes look at the venues, event planning details and future expansion plans of the facilities.
Online MBA program receives recognition
The online MBA with a Hospitality Management concentration earned national accolades from Online MBA Today, ranking UL Lafayette’s program 10th in the nation after a review of hundreds of online and hybrid MBA programs. This is a testament to the value of the Moody College’s newly launched online MBA program.
Student Spotlights
Alumni Crawfish Boil
The B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration Alumni Chapter hosted a crawfish boil at the Alumni Center on Saturday, May 5. Business alumni came out and met the dean, Dr. J. Bret Becton and networked with fellow alumni. Interested in assisting with future Moody College of Business alumni events? Please contact Monique Villien at monique.villien@bxs.com.