Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/55943
Jerry Strawser of Texas A&M Uni- versity in College Station; and Melvin Stith of Syracuse University in New York. The other members are William Ezzell of Deloitte LLP and Leslie Murphy of Murphy Consulting Inc. "Interest in accounting as a career is the highest it's ever been. We need to make sure the educational infra- structure remains solid and able to meet the profession's evolving requirements," says Barry Melancon, AICPA president and CEO. For more information, visit www. pathwayscommission.org. Boosting Inclusiveness Ernst & Young recently released a report outlining the steps that undergradu- ate business schools can take to improve inclusiveness. The report, which is based on discussions and interviews with deans, faculty, and administrators at undergraduate business schools, identifies four key action areas: institutional commit- ment and accountability, curriculum development, student recruitment and development, and faculty recruitment and development. The full report is available at www. ey.com/us/campus_inclusiveness. Quoted in the report is Steve Reinemund, dean of business at Wake Forest University Schools of Business in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He notes that it's much better for individuals to make mistakes and learn about other cultures in an aca- demic setting than in a business one. "Creating a classroom and campus that represent the marketplace is absolutely essential for developing the future leaders of business," Reine- mund adds. "The marketplace is looking for students—both majority and minority—who are prepared to 10 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 lead in a multicultural environment. If we're not preparing them, we're doing a disservice to every graduate that we put out of this school." The global professional services firm also recognized five faculty members for their impact on diver- sity and inclusiveness efforts at their business schools. The professors honored with 2010 Inclusive Excel- lence Awards were Araya Debessay, accounting and MIS professor at the University of Delaware in Newark; George Gamble, professor of accoun- tancy and taxation at the University of Houston in Texas; William Wells, senior accounting lecturer at the University of Washington in Seattle; Stevie Watson, assistant professor of supply chain management and marketing sciences at Rutgers State University in New Jersey; and Ingrid Fischer, associate professor and chair of accounting and law at SUNY at Albany. Winners were chosen for their ability to create positive change by leading diversity councils, sup- porting diversity faculty, mentoring students, and incorporating cultural competence into the curriculum. Supporting the Startups— and the Economy As economies around the world struggle to recover, business schools are pitch- ing in to support local businesses. n The Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City recently unveiled The Foundry, a program created to fos- ter economic development in Utah through an entrepreneurial practi- cum launched in May. The Found- ry, which provides participants hands-on business training and other assistance, currently consists of 49 entrepreneurs in 15 startup companies. Foundry companies range from food service providers to software developers, and their owners all receive practical train- ing as they grow their businesses alongside one another. "We are convinced that there is no more impactful force for economic progress than the devel- opment of savvy, civic-minded entrepreneurs," says Taylor Randall, dean of the Eccles School of Busi- ness. "The Foundry helps us fulfill our fundamental promise to con- tribute to the development of the region's economy by developing the leaders of the future." In addition to offering participants office space and basic business train- ing, the Foundry partners with the Utah business community to bring in individuals with expertise in patent and intellectual property rights, orga- nizational strategy, finance, public relations, marketing, and Web devel- opment. The Foundry draws on local business resources to create a "just- in-time" curriculum, with YouTube videos on mobile devices supplanting traditional lectures. Educators work closely in the background to address knowledge gaps, and the program employs a peer-driven coaching model, in which founding members coach one another. WHITE/PHOTOLIBRARY