Month: May 2023

New Initiatives and Collaborations Support Student Success

Sulin Ba Notes from the Dean

Next month I will have the honor of presenting diplomas to our Class of 2023 business graduates, the culmination of a whirlwind academic year in which our college community made great progress in addressing what must be done to advance the DePaul mission.

We started the year by setting three primary college objectives: strengthen our alumni and business community connections; cultivate faculty, staff and student engagement; and review our academic program portfolio to identify opportunities for growth and innovation.

Here are a few highlights of our work to address these priorities:

  • Students have enthusiastically embraced our updated Bachelor of Science in Business program and the opportunity to compete in a quarterly “Shark Tank”-like business pitch competition called the Driehaus Cup, which debuted last fall. This issue’s feature story tells how the revised curriculum and our renewed focus on campus engagement is supporting the success of DePaul undergraduate business students.
  • We’ve deepened our relationships with alumni and business organizations by collaborating on mutually beneficial programs and partnerships. DePaul alumnus and Morningstar Global CIO Laura Kohl (MBA ’94) and the late finance executive and DePaul Trustee Lori Holland (BUS ’84) are among the alumni benefactors of new programs we’ve launched this year. In this issue, read more about Kohl and Morningstar’s co-sponsorship of the Driehaus Cup, and the Holland Initiative for Women in finance.
  • We’re developing new programs that offer highly marketable skills to students at all levels. This fall, our college will offer a new business analytics undergraduate major and a multidisciplinary computer science + economics degree program that will help prepare students for the future of business. Our Hay Center for Leadership Development, which opened in September, also continues to expand its certificate and customized corporate leadership education programs that empower professionals and organizations to reach their full potential.
  • We’re cultivating innovation, which is essential for differentiating and growing our programs. In January our college opened BETA Hub, a new resource center where business students and faculty can apply emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to teaching, learning and research. This spring the DePaul Academic Growth and Innovation Fund awarded a $100,000 grant to BETA Hub so that it can expand its programming. We also recently made the first investment of DePaul’s new Halperin Emerging Company Fund into a venture co-founded by a business alumna. Read more about BETA Hub and the Halperin fund in this issue.

Our faculty are the foundation for all of these positive changes, and in this issue you’ll learn more about two who are expanding the boundaries of student outreach and research: Hui Lin, our accountancy school director and newly named Deloitte Foundation Endowed Professor, and author Kelly Richmond Pope, our Dr. Barry Jay Epstein Endowed Professor of Forensic Accounting.

Our efforts to innovate and expand programs, reach new student populations and strengthen our bond with the business community depend on your generous support for — and engagement with — DePaul.

Behind the success of every graduate who crosses the stage this spring is a vast community of alumni and business allies who give to DePaul, guest-speak in our classrooms, advise and recruit our students, and share their expert advice on how we can best prepare the business leaders of tomorrow.

Thank you for being true blue supporters of the Driehaus College of Business.

Sulin Ba
Dean
Driehaus College of Business

Reimagining the Business Major

Kate Silver Features

DePaul’s refreshed bachelor’s in business curriculum is energizing and engaging career-minded students

Pictured from the Drift Team (L to R): Shivani Patel (at podium), Suzanna Linek, Omar Hatamleh, Ethan Brock. [The fifth member, Arshdeep Singh, is not pictured.]
Business students (L to R): Shivani Patel (at podium), Suzanna Linek, Omar Hatamleh and Ethan Brock pitch their business idea, a resale shop called Drift for DePaul students, at the Driehaus Cup Competition. [The fifth  team member, Arshdeep Singh, is not pictured.]

This spring, a temporary thrift store will pop up on DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus. Called Drift, the store will be filled with clothing and accessories donated by students, for students, in an effort to support pocketbook-friendly, repurposed fashion.

Fittingly, students designed and pitched the thrift concept last fall at the Driehaus Cup, a new business competition within the Driehaus College of Business. Business major Ethan Brock says he never imagined he’d be planning and running a business, especially during his first year of college.

“Everybody has ideas. But making it come to life is a different thing,” he says. “So this project has definitely forced me to change the way I look at things.”

In fact, that understanding of business principles isn’t just the goal of the Driehaus Cup, which caps off the new course, BUS 101: Introduction to Driehaus, Fundamentals of Business & Entrepreneurial Thinking; it’s the focus of the redesigned core curriculum of the Driehaus College of Business’s Bachelor of Science in Business (BSB) program.

The new core is the culmination of years of planning and discussions that started in 2019, when the college’s undergraduate curriculum committee first came together to imagine the ideal education for the modern business major.

Management Professor Jaclyn Jensen, a member of that committee who is now associate dean of student success, says the updated curriculum, which includes four new interdisciplinary courses, is designed to offer students more opportunities for community, connection and career-readiness.

“It was time to update the core to make sure that we were delivering a modern and refreshed experience to our students that aligned with what employers are seeking today,” says Jensen. “And also to get them connected to their experience as a business student sooner than they have had in the past.”

The New Core

From the moment they set foot on campus, students now get a deeper understanding of what business is and whom it serves, says Associate Professor of Marketing James Mourey, who is faculty coordinator of BUS 101 and also served on the curriculum committee. “Business is about uncovering human needs that are unfulfilled and finding ways to create products, services or experiences that fulfill those needs,” he says. “So at the end of the day, it’s fundamentally human.”

Starting with BUS 101: Introduction to Driehaus, Fundamentals of Business & Entrepreneurial Thinking, all first-year and transfer students learn about core business fundamentals and glean a better understanding of disciplines such as accounting, economics, finance, hospitality, marketing and management. The second half of BUS 101 teaches students about the entrepreneurial mindset — something Driehaus College of Business is known for.

That’s where the Driehaus Cup comes in. In groups, classmates develop business ideas and compete in the signature pitch competition, which is sponsored by Morningstar, the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center at DePaul and Protiviti. Finalists from each section advance to take the stage of the Lincoln Park Campus Student Center and pitch their idea before a panel of judges and an audience of around 300, competing for scholarship prizes and bragging rights for the Driehaus Cup trophy.

“In any given quarter, there are over 50 new business ideas that are coming out of the course,” says Jensen. Past ideas have included a water bottle that monitors intake, a continuous glucose monitor that doesn’t make disruptive alarms and a food delivery service that brings orders to specific seats at a sports or event venue. “It tells students the value of being in a place where the learn-by-doing philosophy is true through and through,” she says.

BUS 101 also aims to help students make the most of DePaul. Every week, students watch a video called “The Driehaus Difference” that highlights services and supports on campus, such as where to go to get help with writing, how to learn more about study abroad and how to go about getting an internship. In fact, Mourey, who has taught at DePaul for nearly 10 years, says he’s seeing students think seriously about internship and career opportunities earlier than ever.

“What I see now is my first-year students are landing internships or have their resume and their LinkedIn page polished and ready to go,” he says. “That’s game changing for career trajectory.”

Three other classes also make up the new core curriculum:

  • BUS 102: Business Analytics gives students the tools to understand evidence-based decision making, says Jensen, and it’s something that is top-of-mind for employers these days.
  • BUS 103: Business for Social Good explores how enterprises can help people and the planet, while also making a profit. “The course is oriented around big, sticky problems that organizations face today and how the different business disciplines can help address those exact problems,” says Jensen. “It’s also aligned with our mission at DePaul around doing good and doing well.”
  • BUS 202: Business Technology teaches students about the latest technologies that successful businesses use, such as artificial intelligence and blockchain, and prepares students to adapt to future innovations.

Looking ahead

It’s the first year for the core curriculum revamp, but so far, it’s receiving rave reviews. Jensen says that student evaluations have been extremely positive. Anecdotally, Mourey says he’s hearing students talk excitedly about signing up for study abroad trips and joining networking groups, such as the professional business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi.

Business major Suzanna Linek, a junior transfer student who recently completed BUS 101, is one of those students. She joined Delta Sigma Pi after learning about it in class and feels energized by the possibilities. “The opportunities are endless and a great stepping stone to so many connections and great experiences,” says Linek.

One of those opportunities is Drift, which Linek is working on with Brock. After the two students and their teammates presented the concept in the Driehaus Cup, judges and students told them they loved the idea. So they decided to pursue it. They secured funding from the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center and began collecting donations for a series of pop-up events around campus before the school year ends.

In time, Brock says the team hopes to open a physical store on campus and employ student workers. It’s been laborious, but Brock says he’s learned a lot about himself and what’s possible. “It’s a lot of work right now, but as it comes to life it feels more and more rewarding and just goes to show the number of things that I can accomplish thanks to the resources and programs provided for undergrad students in DePaul’s business programs.”

Embracing the Entrepreneurial Spirit: Laura Kohl (MBA ’94), Global CIO of Morningstar

Kate Silver Alumni Profiles
College of Business alum Laura Kohl (MBA ’94), far right, with DePaul students visiting the CIO at Morningstar.
College of Business alumna Laura Kohl (MBA ’94), far right, with visiting DePaul students who won the Driehaus Cup winter quarter 2023 business pitch competition sponsored by Morningstar.

Laura Kohl (MBA ’94) remembers when she started to think like an entrepreneur, and it involves Airfone, a pioneering company at the time.

She was working toward her MBA in management information systems at DePaul in the early 1990s and had an assignment to bring in a business leader to talk about starting their company. Kohl had recently met Sandra Goeken, who was president of Airfone — the country’s first air-to-ground telephone system, founded by her father, John Goeken — and she mustered the courage to invite her to be a guest speaker.

As Sandra talked about her family’s business, and how it changed the way people communicate by putting phones in airplanes, Kohl felt her world expand. “The experience made me think about technology in an entrepreneurial way. It made me think a little bit differently about the art of the possible and what we could do differently.”

After that experience at DePaul, Kohl felt inspired to dream and knew she wanted to work with a company that had the same effect.

Kohl spent three decades harboring that entrepreneurial spirit in technology roles at McDonald’s, WW Grainger, United Airlines, Ulta and ultimately Morningstar, where she’s global chief information officer. The Chicago-based investment company, founded by Joe Mansueto, has grown from seven employees in 1984 to nearly 10,000 employees in 29 countries today, and Kohl says an agile mindset has helped it adapt and expand.

“Because we’re entrepreneurial, and we’ve grown organically and through acquisition, my job is to build a foundation off which to quickly continue to grow,” she says. “And so that’s looking at how we leverage the right tools, how we support our fellow colleagues with technology and how we get some financial benefits from things like automation.”

In 2021, around the same time Kohl started working at Morningstar, she reconnected with DePaul. She’d reached a nexus in her life: her three daughters were in college or preparing to go to college, and she was eager to focus on something inherently hers.

So at the invitation of Dean Sulin Ba, Kohl joined the executive committee of the Driehaus College of Business Advisory Council. She soon learned that the Driehaus Cup — a new student business pitch competition that’s part of the newly refreshed core undergraduate business degree curriculum — needed corporate sponsors. She approached one of the presidents at Morningstar, who jumped at the idea. “He was like, ‘Go do it. Yes!,’” says Kohl. “It was almost too easy.”

Kohl, who was recently named one of the Top 100 Women in Tech Leaders to Watch in 2023 by WomenTech Network, is thrilled for the new opportunities to make an impact at her alma mater.

Kohl says the opportunities at DePaul align perfectly with the advice she dispenses to young people: First, be a sponge and learn everything you can, and second, do something that scares you. “Don’t be afraid to do a stretch project or do something that might not be in your comfort zone,” she says. That, in turn, could reveal new dreams.

Follow Laura Kohl on LinkedIn.

Accountancy Professor Kelly Richmond Pope Publishes New Book on Fraud

Nadia Alfadel Coloma Scholarly Pursuits

Spotlight on Research by DePaul Business Faculty

Professor of Management Alyssa Westring with her book, "Fool Me Once."
“My hope is that by humanizing fraud, I can make it more relatable and approachable for people to understand,” says Professor Kelly Richmond Pope of her new book, “Fool Me Once.”

“Anyone can be victimized by fraud, commit fraud or report fraud. No one is immune. I’ve seen so much over the past 20 years and wanted to offer something from the research that people can use,” says Professor Kelly Richmond Pope, whose new book, “Fool Me Once: Scams, Stories, and Secrets from the Trillion-Dollar Fraud Industry,” was published by Harvard Business Review Press in March 2023.

Pope, the Dr. Barry Jay Epstein Professor in DePaul’s School of Accountancy & MIS, is a nationally known forensic accounting expert who has spent the last two decades researching fraud and white-collar crime. Her book is part memoir, part accounting and part fraud analysis, detailing Pope’s extensive research into what makes fraudsters, their victims and whistleblowers tick.

Her book introduces a fraud archetype framework that can assist with analyzing fraud cases. The framework posits that there are different types of perpetrators, whistleblowers and “prey,” as Pope calls them.

Perpetrators can either be accidental (unknowingly committing fraud by simply doing their job or following orders), intentional (purposefully committing fraud) or righteous (committing fraud for the purpose of helping someone, in a Robin Hood sort of way).

Whistleblowers, meanwhile, can be either accidental (unintentionally discovering fraud), noble (coming across fraud but turning a blind eye) or vigilante (seeing something and saying something; these people believe in true justice no matter the circumstance).

“Understanding these types of perpetrators through the years has really impacted my emotions,” Pope says. “I can empathize with the accidental and righteous perpetrators and, yes, even though these people still go to jail, understanding their reasoning is really important. In my book, I argue that all three perpetrator categories can exist in your organization, therefore knowing these categories can assist in developing an organization’s internal controls.”

The categories also serve another purpose: helping people see themselves. “My hope is that by humanizing fraud, I can make it more relatable and approachable for people to understand,” she says. To this end, the book includes a virtual game people can play — Fool Me Once Fraud Experience — to see what type of perpetrator or whistleblower they might be if they were to become one.

Pope is not new to virtual games that aid in learning. She is an innovative educator who created a game-based e-learning platform called Red Flag Mania, which she uses to advance student learning in forensic and investigative accounting.

Pope is also a filmmaker who produced two documentaries on fraud, “Crossing the Line: Ordinary People Committing Extraordinary Crime” and “All the Queen’s Horses,” the latter of which she says was the inspiration for her book.

“Fraud can happen to any one of us,” Pope says. “The more aware you are of your own weaknesses, the more likely you can protect yourself from falling victim to it.”

Q&A with Hui Lin: Accountancy Professor, School Director and Global Perspectives Advocate

Nadia Alfadel Coloma Faculty Focus
Hui Lin.
Hui Lin.

Professor Hui Lin is the recipient of two DePaul Excellence in Teaching Awards. But her influence on student success extends far beyond the classroom.

Lin is director of the School of Accountancy & MIS, and she was recently named Deloitte Foundation Endowed Professor at DePaul University. Before these roles, Lin spent a good amount of time jet-setting for DePaul as the associate director of regional initiatives, China. For five years she helped recruit students from China and strengthened alumni engagement there. Lin is from China herself, growing up in the coastal city Dalian and moving to the U.S. in high school because her father was a visiting scientist at the University of Virginia.

This June, Lin concludes a three-year tenure as director of the Driehaus Center for International Business, where she managed the business college’s degree programs in Bahrain and paved the way for a new partnership that will bring more accounting students from India to DePaul in the next academic year.

Business Exchange asked Lin to talk about her experiences and what keeps her motivated as a multifaceted leader.

Why do you feel it’s important for students to have international experiences?

I’ve always been an advocate for global perspectives in business education and supporting our students, whether students going outbound or international students coming here. Drawing from my personal journey of being a young immigrant in this country and overcoming cultural and language barriers, I know what that’s like, so I want to support our international students and help them succeed.

The business environment continues to become more complex. At the same time, the world is getting smaller. Nowadays, it’s more likely that you will engage on a global level in your job, for instance with a colleague or client who is located in a different country. It’s become an essential skill in business to have the cultural sensitivity and the global business communication expertise to navigate that. I tell my students, you should always be open to other people’s viewpoints because then you’ll develop a more well-rounded view. That’s what international experiences can give you. They broaden your perspective.

Why is the Deloitte Foundation Endowed Professorship important for DePaul?

The establishment of this professorship is a validation of the quality and success of the accounting education we offer at DePaul. It demonstrates the strong alumni connections we have at Deloitte and their commitment to help our faculty and students succeed. I am honored to hold this prestigious title to represent DePaul at national conferences and events. The professorship also strengthens our relationship with Deloitte, which has provided long-term funding for academic and professional advancement of our students and faculty.

What are some of your priorities as director of the School of Accountancy & MIS?

Given the current shortage of accounting professionals and certified public accountants, my priority is to attract more students to major in accounting, provide up-to-date, high-quality curriculum to prepare them for career success, and contribute to the diverse workforce development in our profession. Collaborating with the Deloitte Foundation Accounting Scholars Program to create pathways for more students has been one successful milestone in the pursuit of these goals.

How can alumni engagement support these priorities?

When alumni stay connected — donating, attending events, mentoring our students, giving time to classroom visits — they can help our students get employed and elevate DePaul’s profile as ambassadors. It’s a two-way street. We want alumni support, but it is equally important for us to provide something back.

What we are providing alumni is a sense of community and the opportunity to broaden their networks. I believe education should not stop when you receive your degree. It should be a continuous experience. Staying engaged with the college can enhance our alumni’s knowledge and career opportunities.

What keeps you motivated in your work?

I have always enjoyed learning and helping others learn. That’s how I see my job, whether in the classroom or in an administrative role. To quote an ancient Chinese proverb, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” It gives me so much joy to do what I love and love what I do. I wholeheartedly believe in DePaul’s mission and the power of education, and that is what motivates me every day to do my best.

Holland Initiative Supports Women in Finance

Robin Florzak College News
Lori Holland Emerging Leaders (front row, L to R), students Desna Shah, Julia Zuzinski and Grace Haucke, celebrate the new Lori Holland Initiative for Women with (back row, L to R) donor Robert A. Holland and Lori Holland Memorial Scholarship winners Faria Mobashar, Diego Villasenor, Molly Ball and Nicole Juszczy.
Lori Holland Emerging Leaders (front row, L to R), students Desna Shah, Julia Zuzinski and Grace Haucke, celebrate the new Lori Holland Initiative for Women with (back row, L to R) donor Robert A. Holland and Lori Holland Memorial Scholarship winners Faria Mobashar, Diego Villasenor, Molly Ball and Nicole Juszczy.

The newly established Lori Holland Initiative for Women awarded its first scholarships this spring, part of its mission to elevate opportunities for DePaul women and their allies to advance in the fields of finance and investment management.

The multi-pronged initiative is funded by a generous gift honoring the late DePaul alumna Lorraine “Lori” Holland (BUS ’84) made by her husband, Robert A. Holland. Lori Holland was a first-generation business college graduate who rose to become managing director of investment management firm Neuberger Berman and serve as chair of DePaul’s Board of Trustees.

Students Nicole Juszczy, Molly Ball, Diego Villasenor and Faria Mobashar were awarded Lori Holland Memorial Scholarships and Grace Haucke, Julia Zuzinski, and Desna Shah received Lori Holland Scholarships for Emerging Leaders. Haucke, Zuzinski and Desna serve as president, treasurer and corporate relations chair, respectively, for Females in Finance (FIF), a student organization at the Driehaus College of Business.

“This initiative provides us with a platform to network, learn from industry leaders, and support each other in our journey towards becoming finance professionals,” Haucke says. “It reminds us that gender should never be a barrier to success, and that we have the power to break through glass ceilings and achieve our goals. Together, we are reshaping the landscape of finance and creating a more inclusive and diverse industry for future generations.”

The awardees were introduced at a summit of students and business leaders in finance hosted by the Holland initiative and FIF at the Union League Club on May 17.

In addition to scholarships, the initiative provides DePaul women students and alumni in finance access to career resources, workshops, group mentorships and other support services. In January 2024, DePaul will begin taking applications for another phase of the initiative, the Holland Scholars Program, which will offer a cohort of women undergraduates career education, experiential learning, mentorships and networking opportunities in investment management. The Lori Holland Initiative for Women is managed by the DePaul Career Center in collaboration with the Department of Finance & Real Estate at the Driehaus College of Business.

DePaul University Invests $100K in Alumna-Founded Media Company

Mary Hansen College News
Visual Feeder, co-founded by DePaul alumna Yaxi Yang, received the first investment from DePaul’s new Halperin Emerging Company Fund. Yang stands in front of one of Visual Feeder’s displays at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. (Photo credit: Ioana Juravlea, DePaul University) 
Visual Feeder, co-founded by DePaul alumna Yaxi Yang, received the first investment from DePaul’s new Halperin Emerging Company Fund. Yang stands in front of one of Visual Feeder’s displays at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. (Photo credit: Ioana Juravlea, DePaul University)

Visual Feeder receives first investment from Halperin Emerging Company Fund

DePaul University made its first investment of $100,000 from the new Halperin Emerging Company Fund in Visual Feeder, an experiential media company co-founded by a Driehaus College of Business alumna. Yaxi Yang (BUS ’14) and her brother Eddie Yang co-founded Visual Feeder, which produces immersive activations and transforms vacant storefront windows into dynamic displays to create vibrant and engaging streetscapes, providing businesses with a new platform to engage audiences.

Yaxi Yang says the seed money is a full-circle moment for her. “It highlights the power of the DePaul community and their commitment to empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs and changemakers,” she says. “This investment marks a valuable addition to our latest seed round, enabling us to pursue ambitious growth and expansion plans. With these new funds, we’ll be investing in growing our team, focusing on specific areas of our business that will generate the highest returns and building a stronger foundation to achieve our 2023 goals.”

Founded in 2020, Visual Feeder’s mission is to create visual experiences through immersive activations. The company works with a diverse range of clients, including consumer brands, non-profit organizations, private institutions, and museums. The street-level window activations have gained significant traction through partnerships with leading real estate companies such as JLL, CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield to transform underutilized spaces into dynamic displays.

“We are proud to see our work helping to revitalize underutilized spaces in communities and providing a new platform for brand campaigns and artwork to be displayed,” Yang says. Visual Feeder’s displays are active on Chicago’s iconic Magnificent Mile, including the Hancock Building, and in Lincoln Park at 2380 N. Lincoln Ave, among many others. The company also collaborated with Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum on an immersive photography exhibit of the Chicago region’s natural wonders.

Overseen by DePaul’s Coleman Entrepreneurship Center, the Halperin Fund focuses on investing in ventures that show potential for growth and job creation. “The fund gives DePaul the opportunity to invest in incredible new ventures that will help businesses thrive and further connect us to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Chicago,” says Emily Doyle, director of emerging company programs at the Coleman center. “These investments will have a huge impact on our community and the potential returns will support the growth of future entrepreneurs for years to come. We are thrilled to invest in Visual Feeder as they continue to create beautiful and immersive digital experiences for brands and consumers.”

All potential investment deals are reviewed and approved by the Halperin Emerging Company Fund investment committee, chaired by alumnus John Crosson (MBA ’95), an angel investor. “Visual Feeder checked all the boxes, from a stellar startup team to building a creative solution to company traction,” he says. “The committee is proud to support Visual Feeder on its mission to create interactive experiences for the future of brand marketing.”

The Halperin Emerging Company Fund was launched in 2023 with a generous gift from the late attorney and DePaul Double Demon, Errol R. Halperin (BUS ’64, JD ’67), and his wife, Libby.

DePaul community members, including alumni, interested in applying to the Halperin Emerging Company Fund can complete an application online.

BETA Hub Infuses Tech into Business Education

Robin Florzak College News

The Driehaus College of Business opened a new resource center in January that is infusing emerging technologies into student classwork and faculty research.

BETA Hub — short for Business Education in Technology and Analytics Hub — offers a collection of teaching and research resources that includes virtual reality headsets, a blog creators’ studio, a Neurobusiness Lab for conducting research based on eye-tracking and other neuroscience indicators, and a Big Data Analytics Computer Lab with tools for data and text analyses.

Housed on the 7th floor of the DePaul Center, the initiative is the brainchild of Associate Professor James Mourey, Associate Dean for Faculty Success Sue Fogel and the Driehaus Tomorrow Committee, a group of faculty and staff tasked with developing ideas that prepare DePaul’s business college for the future. This spring BETA Hub received nearly $100,000 in funding from DePaul’s Academic Growth and Innovation Fund to support its innovative teaching and learning activities.

“The BETA Hub is where technology meets business — a place for hands-on learning and the testing of transformational business solutions,” explains Mourey, who serves as the faculty director of BETA Hub. “Tech-savvy business graduates are in high demand. It is essential that we give our students the hands-on experiences necessary to make them the most attractive job candidates in the market.”

The initiative supports creativity in teaching and learning across the college, Mourey adds. “For example, instead of having students write a paper, faculty can ask students to create an original podcast to record over the 10-week quarter at the BETA Hub.”

BETA Hub also provides technology resources for faculty to advance their research. “To continue attracting the very best faculty, we need to provide innovative resources for faculty to pursue their research and obtain the publications necessary to be successful in their field. BETA Hub does that,” Mourey says, adding that the hub’s new monthly faculty research presentations also encourage interdisciplinary inquiry.

Mourey recently hosted a marketing strategy course in BETA Hub, where his students embraced using technology to study and develop strategies. “They were super eager to return to BETA Hub the next class session so they could work on their final group project in a fun, cool space full of technology resources,” he says.

“That’s what we want the BETA Hub to be: a space where students enjoy spending time, collaborating and learning, and it just so happens we can conduct research there, too.”