Baylor Team Wins National xTax Competition
The Baylor xTAX student team won first place in the national xTAX competition in Washington D.C. sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers. This is the third time in five years that a Baylor team made it to the national finals, and the first win. The team members included captain Brinn Serbanic (graduate student -Salado, Texas), Abby Haston (graduate student -Mineola, Texas), Tristan Vick (junior-San Antonio, Texas), Kathryn Mothershead (sophomore-Cape Girardeau, Mo.), Justin Bexley (sophomore-San Antonio, Texas) and was coached by Brett Wilkinson, associate professor of Accounting.
Baylor Students Garner National Rankings on CPA Exam
Baylor Business students are continuing to prove themselves outside the classroom and the national rankings for the 2007 Uniform Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam released by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) proves this yet again. (The 2007 test results are the most recent.)
Baylor’s graduate accounting students had the second highest pass rate in the nation for students who took and passed all four sections of the exam, with an overwhelming 80 percent passing. This is the third straight year that Baylor graduate students have achieved a national top- 5 ranking. Undergraduate students also fared well; their 57.14 percent pass rate ranks them 16th in the nation among first-time candidates without advanced degrees.
Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business in Top 50
The Hankamer School of Business was ranked 45th in BusinessWeek’s 2009 rankings of undergraduate business schools. The School also earned national specialty rankings: 5th in Quantitative Measures, 7th in Accounting, and 8th in Corporate Strategy.
MBA Program Climbs in Rankings
Baylor’s MBA program climbed 8 spots to 63rd in U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Graduate Schools: Business Schools” list. The magazine surveyed 426 master’s programs in business accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and ranked 118 programs.
Baylor University Hosts the Association of Christian Economists 25th Anniversary Conference
Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business and the Baylor Institute on Faith and Learning hosted the Association of Christian Economists 25th Anniversary Conference April 16-18 on campus. The focus of the conference was “Three Perspectives on Economics and Faith.” Dr. John Pisciotta, professor of Economics, served as the conference director.
Baylor University’s Student-Managed Investment Fund Provides $1 Million in Scholarships
For the sixth straight year, the Baylor University athletic department has received a generous financial contribution from the Philip M. Dorr Alumni & Friends Endowed Investment Fund, bringing the total amount of scholarships from the student-managed investment fund to $1 million. The fund operates out of the Southwest Securities Financial Markets Center in the Hankamer School of Business.
Estate Gift Supports Endowed Scholarship for Baylor Business Students
A significant gift from the estate of Lee and Millie Harris of Bartlesville, Okla., formerly of Oklahoma City, has established the M. Lee and Millie Harris Endowed Scholarship Fund in the Hankamer School of Business. The scholarship honors the couple’s three granddaughters who each earned degrees from the Hankamer School of Business: Stacy Lessman (BBA ’93) of Yukon, Okla., Lori Rodgers (BBA ’97) of Frisco, Texas, and Kristi Blauser (BBA ’00) of Rockwall, Texas.
New Additions to Development Staff
Dusty Bedwell has been named assistant director of development for Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business. Bedwell holds a BBA in Marketing from West Texas A&M University and is working towards a master’s degree. He is married to his wife Amanda who is a teacher and coach at Lorena ISD. Jennifer Hodgens was also added to the team as a development associate. They will join Kevin Ludlum, executive director of development; and Greg Davis, director of development; in fundraising efforts for the business school.
Baylor MIS Program Wins Innovative Achievement Award
The Southwestern Business Deans’ Association (SWBDA) awarded Baylor’s Management Information Systems Program the 2008 Bobby G. Bizzell SWBDA Innovative Achievement Award at its annual meeting held June 14-16 in Santa Fe, N.M. The award recognizes business programs that demonstrate innovative excellence and includes $1500 donated by BusinessWeek to continue the good work of the program.
Baylor Business Review, Fall 2009