DOLAN UPDATECharles F. Dolan School of Business

The Dolan School makes the grade (pg. 3)

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Spring 2013

Bloomberg Businessweek recently named Fairfield University’s Charles F. Dolan School of Business among

its top 100 undergraduate business schools in the nation. The selection comes after the Dolan School applied to be a part of the dis-tinguished list for the first time.

The news comes on the heels of the school maintaining its AACSB International (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accreditation, and the appointment of a new dean, Dr. Donald E. Gibson, a faculty member who has been serving as interim dean for the past two years.

“Being in the top 100 is an important recognition of the School’s accomplishments,” said Dr. Gibson, dean and pro-fessor of management. “We are ranked at number 83–excel-lent for our first time on this much anticipated annual list.”

The methodology for the rankings included nine measures

Bloomberg Businessweek names Dolan School among best undergraduate business schools in U.S.

On the cover: Bloomberg Businessweek named the Dolan School amoung its top 100 undergraduate business schools in the nation. See Page 3. Cover photo by Jean Santopatre.

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of student satisfaction, post-graduation outcomes, employ-er/recruiter opinion, and academic quality that takes into consideration criteria such as the proportion of business

majors with internships. The Dolan School rated an “A” grade by students for teaching quality, and scored well as a “feeder” to highly ranked MBA graduate programs.

Working with the faculty on a new vision and strategic plan, the School is focused on cultivating career-ready students in a vibrant learning com-munity that is known and respected by important stakeholders. Appearing on the Bloomberg Businessweek list,

noted Gibson, is a strong step in increasing market aware-ness of the school. The profile of the Dolan School notes that students at the Jesuit institution are educated to be thoughtful, ethical leaders who also take into account others while in their professional pursuits.

Dr. Gibson named dean of Dolan School By Meg McCaffrey

Dr. Donald E. Gibson, interim dean of Fairfield University’s Charles F. Dolan School of Business for nearly two years and a respected and popular fac-

ulty member for the past 12 years, has been named the new dean of the business school.

“I look forward to leading the Dolan School of Business toward our goal of educating students to be ethical busi-ness leaders for a global future,” said Dr. Gibson, professor of management and a leader in his field of organizational behavior research. “We have a strong faculty and engaged students, creating a learning community infused by Jesuit values. Working with this community, along with our staff, alumni, and business community, I seek to raise the profile of the Dolan School of Business to be recognized among the ranks of the best business schools.”

Dr. Gibson, a leading expert in the study of anger in the workplace, will lead a school that continues to experience

impressive growth. The Dolan School of Business features a world-class faculty engaging in useful scholarship with expe-rience from a wide array of industries, and counts among its alumni prominent business leaders at top financial institu-tions and Fortune 500 companies. The School is listed by Bloomberg Businessweek, Princeton Review, and U.S. News & World Report as among the best business programs in the U.S.

In making the announcement, Fairfield University President Rev. Jeffrey P. von Arx, S.J., noted that Dr. Gibson is not only an accomplished scholar, but also a talented and skill-ful administrator, as demonstrated by his accomplishments while serving as interim dean. “Don led the School during the rigorous and critical re-accreditation process, guiding the development of strategic themes and initiatives to move the School forward,” Fr. von Arx said. “Don understands the unique needs of a cutting-edge, competitive business school infused with Jesuit values, while fully recognizing the advan-tages of collaboration across the institution.”

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Bloomberg Businessweek names Dolan School among best undergraduate business schools in U.S. .............................. 3

Dr. Gibson named dean of Dolan School ................................................ 3

Michael Garvey founds License Monitor to keep roads safe ................... 4

2013 Business Plan Competition .............................................................. 5

Dan Kagdis applies business degree to higher education ..................... 6

Study Abroad in Senegal, Africa .............................................................. 7

Dolan School Snapshots .......................................................................... 8

Accounting students gain professional experience ................................. 9

Dolan School faculty promotions ............................................................. 9

DSB in the news ..................................................................................... 10

The Business of Sports ........................................................................... 10

Message from the Dean ......................................................................... 11

Congratulations to the 2013 faculty recipients of the Dolan School of Business “Excellence in Teaching Award” and “Outstanding Research Paper.” Dr. John McDermott, associate professor of finance (center, left photo), the recipient of the teaching award, and Dr. Ying Zhang, assistant professor of finance (center, right photo), recipient of the research award, were presented with the honor at the Dolan School’s award ceremony in April. Both faculty members are pictured below with Thomas J. Fanning, Sr. ’78 (L) and Dr. Donald Gibson, Dean of the Dolan School (R).

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Michael Garvey founds License Monitor to keep roads safe

A strong entrepreneurial spirit and a tech-savvy mind led Michael Garvey ’89 to sev-

eral successful business ventures over the past two decades. Starting with an idea that would help him as a police officer in New York (NY), Garvey, who studied marketing and information systems and operations management at the Dolan School, ran with his idea and created License Monitor, Inc., a company with an award-winning system that helps to “keep bad drivers off the roads.”

Garvey’s initial career plans did not include joining the police department – he had already had several successful positions before he graduated. After working for U.S. Paging Corporation as a marketing associate for several years, he worked for a small advertising agency that specialized in the magazine and billboard industry. Garvey explained that as small businesses often do, it folded, and for the first time, he found himself out of work.

That didn’t slow him down for long. “My father was a civil servant, and he taught us that you couldn’t go wrong in civil service. It’s a great line of work and an honorable way to make a living. That intrigued me when I was a kid – I always thought about being a fireman or policeman,” Garvey said. He eventually took the tests for several civil service positions, including the police department.

Even when he was a police officer, Garvey continued to innovate and solve problems. While studying for a promo-tional exam (after which he was promoted to sergeant), he read something that struck him. “It said, ‘at the request of the local police department’s Chief of Police, the commis-sioner of motor vehicles will send to the chief a list of all suspended and revoked drivers in that jurisdiction.’ I high-lighted that section, thinking that it would be great to have while on patrol,” Garvey explained.

NY had made it a crime to drive with a suspended or revoked license. Having a list of drivers with those limita-tions would dramatically raise Garvey’s numbers of arrests for traffic violations. He approached his Chief with the request to get the list from the DMV and received permis-

sion to pursue the idea.

When he contacted the DMV he discovered that they did not have the capability to collect and share the data. This didn’t stop Garvey. After several trips to Albany and working with an assemblyman that he knew, he was shipped a two-foot high stack of 3.5” “floppy” discs. He uploaded the information to his computer, and just as he thought, his numbers for catching suspend-ed drivers skyrocketed.

“Every cop I worked with wanted the list,” Garvey said. “This was

not a private sector ‘for-profit’ endeavor, I was just using my entrepreneurial background to solve a problem for law enforcement purposes.” Soon, other police departments in NY could also download the list.

After the system’s success, Garvey felt the entrepreneurial itch again. He began calling bus companies, limo services, and pest control companies to see if they would be inter-ested in a similar product. The response was very positive and Garvey decided to go into business for himself. In 1999, with the Police Department’s permission, he officially founded License Monitor Inc., which would convert driver license suspension data into an effective, time-saving man-agement tool for business owners.

With the development of a strong business plan, License Monitor won the Grand Prize at Notre Dame University’s McCloskey National Business Plan Competition, and was the 2003 NY State Small Business Development Center “High Tech Company of the Year.” In 2012, he sold the company to Solera Holdings and currently serves as Managing Director.

Garvey, who lives in NY with his wife, Bonni and their three children, was inducted into the NYS Small Business hall of Fame for “Extraordinary Entrepreneurial Spirit” in 2006. In April, Garvey served as a judge at the Dolan School’s Business Plan Competition. “Michael has continuously applied entrepreneurial ideas to the problems that have confronted him in his work,” says Dean Donald Gibson. “He serves as a terrific example of how successful one can be by persistently pursuing interesting—and profitable—ideas.”

Michael Garvey, creator and founder of License Monitor served as a judge at the Dolan School’s 2nd Annual Business Plan Competition.

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The 2013 Business Plan CompetitionBy Meg McCaffrey

Student teams that designed an advanced health/ fit-ness monitor and a climate-controlled hat for cancer patients were the prizewinners of the 2nd annual

Business Plan Competition. A total of $20,000 was awarded at a standing-room-only gala final pitch session.

The “SenseFit” and “inCognito” teams—made up of stu-dents from the Dolan School of Business and the School of Engineering—took home $10,000 and $5,000 in start-up funds respectively, in the Venture and Social Enterprise cat-egories.

They had competed against 11 other student teams who entered the semi-finals with business plans populated by 35 students from across campus. Faculty judges in the semi-finals (held in late March) determined the six finalists.

Final judges were business leaders, entrepreneurs and faculty. Open to students university-wide, the eight-month competition is a part of the Dolan School’s growing Entrepreneurship Program and speaks to the widespread interest among students in becoming business owners or entrepreneurs. “This event is an example of how Fairfield University integrates stu-dents across campus,” said Dr. Donald Gibson, dean of the Dolan School. “In these winning projects, our business students brought their creative marketing and finance ideas to the technical ideas of engineer-ing students. What a great combination!”

Working with electrical engineering major Darren Mondezie ’14, business student Alex Boothe ’16, helped come up with the idea for inCognito Climate Controlled Hats after a fight with cancer. He’s now cancer free. “When you are in treatment, your body temperature can really fluctuate,” said Boothe, a freshman majoring in marketing and management. “These hats are personal heating and cooling systems that can keep you warm or cool.”

Fusing together their business and technical acumen, the inCognito team continues to work on a prototype of the $27 hat. They envision it as a big draw for cancer hospital gift shops, cancer organizations and even Fairfield University, complete with a Stag logo on it. James Dugan ’85 served as their mentor.

The “SenseFit” team included three engineering students

who play for Fairfield University varsity and club teams. “We wanted to combine the skills we’ve learned in engineer-ing with our passion for sports,” said Elizabeth Cortez ’13, who is captain of the women’s rugby team and a mechanical engineering major. She was part of a group that designed a wristwatch-type device that uses compact, wireless sensors to read and record heart rate, pulse ox, and muscle activ-ity using conventional Bluetooth technology and an easy to use smartphone application. Estimated to cost about $250, it’s targeted for everyone from NCAA athletes in training to baby boomers trying to stay fit to active senior citizens. The team also included Nicole Stark ’13, a mechanical engineering major; Stephanie Cruz ’13, a software engineering major; and Bernardo Navarro ’14, an accounting and economics major.

As a member of the volleyball team, Cruz knows a lot about how teamwork and countless hours of practice can pay off. “I believe that even if we did not win a monetary award, this was a meaningful experience that will help me in my future career,” said Cruz, who added she was grateful to mentors Mark Willkehr, an entrepreneur, and Dr. Shahrokh Etemad, associate professor and chair of mechanical engineering.

The competition was made possible by the generous dona-tions of Mary Lincoln Campbell, ’72; Joseph Bronson, ’70; Hugh Davis, ’95; and Chris Stephens. Co-chairing the compe-tition were Dolan School faculty members Drs. Chris Huntley and Mukesh Sud.

SenseFit, venture track winners, present their final pitch.

Page 2: inCognito, social track winners, celebrate after being presented with their prize money.

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Kagdis chose the MBA program with a focus on manage-ment. “I wanted to focus on entrepreneurship,” he explained. “And the MBA was broad. I wouldn’t just be learning man-agement, but accounting, finance–everything. I liked the expansiveness of the courses and the reputation of the MBA program was strong.”

Valuable courses for him have included management and finance classes. “Every class I’ve taken with [management professor] Dr. Lisa Mainero has been great,” he said. He has also gotten value out of the finance course, “Shareholder Value.” “The simulations for that class were really good,” he explained. “Not only are you learning from the professor, but the students in your group.”

Kagdis’ duties in the admission office include outreach to and coordination of alumni to cover college fairs; travel to college fairs in his territories, which include Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Indiana, Ohio, and Missouri; event planning; and, of course, reading prospective student applications. In addition, Kagdis has been involved in mission and service trips through the University’s Campus Ministry Office. Dr. Mark Ligas, associate dean in the Dolan School and direc-tor of Graduate Programs, said, “What I really like about Dan, beyond the fact that he has a great personality, is that he truly continues to live the mission of our Jesuit educa-tion. His service activities are quite impressive. What stands out to me is how Dan is able to balance the huge pressures of working in admissions, while also completing the MBA degree and leading so many service opportunities.”

Just three courses away from graduating, Kagdis is consider-ing a Ph.D. program in educational leadership, which should combine well with his MBA studies. “I like working in high-er education,” he said. “And I think it’s important for people in this career to also have a business background.”

A master in business administration (MBA) can be applied to all types of careers, including positions in higher education at colleges and universities. That’s

what Daniel Kagdis ’10 figured when he decided to pursue an MBA while working as assistant director of undergradu-ate admission at Fairfield University.

After graduating with a major in communication from Fairfield’s College of Arts and Sciences and a minor in management from the Dolan School of Business, Kagdis was considering post-grad service positions when Karen Pelligrino, Dean of Enrollment at Fairfield University, offered him a job in the Admission office.

“It was a nice continuous formation,” Kagdis said about his path to a career in undergraduate admission. Before he worked at Fairfield’s Admission office, his experience began while he was studying abroad in Brisbane, Australia.

“While I was in Australia, I took four classes, surfed a ton, and worked in the admission office at Australian Catholic University (ACU),” he said. The experience was a positive one for him (he still keeps in touch with his advisor at ACU) and when he returned to the states, he applied for a sum-mer tour guide position at Fairfield. From there, his involve-ment increased and culminated in a job offer. He started the position soon after he graduated from Fairfield and imme-diately began considering graduate programs to further his educational acumen.

Shannee Griffith ’13 always knew that she would study abroad in Senegal, Africa to experience firsthand its culture, language, and people. “I’ve taken French

since high school and one story we had to read was from a Senegalese author who wrote about her culture. That put it in my mind and I never even considered studying in any other place,” she said.

The marketing major described her time in Senegal as won-derful and unforgettable but admitted that she was com-pletely unprepared for how different life ended up being, both from what she knew from her home and Fairfield University. In addition, Griffith discovered that Senegal was not at all like the “stereotypical Africa” that she assumed; she quickly discovered the differences.

Griffith took courses in French, Wolof (the native language), environmental sciences (focused on the West-African Sahara Desert), the Atlantic Slave Trade, and a Senegalese culture and society course. In addition, she did an internship at HMC Services, a marketing agency.

The Harlem, N.Y., native quickly adapted to speaking French all the time. “At first I couldn’t even communicate with my host mom very well,” she said. But being immersed in the language quickly helped her advance her skills. “I lived in a small family because of my allergies,” Griffith explained. “Usually families are much larger, but my host

Daniel Kagdis applies business degree to higher education

Study Abroad in Senegal, Africamom, who was a retired nurse, only lived with her daughter. But they had lots of family members who lived very close by.” In addition, the family had a maid, Fatu, who Griffith said became like a sister to her. Meals were always commu-nal and shared while sitting around a large bowl filled with rice with fish or lamb.

Griffith noted that while a lot of the cultural norms were very different for her (bargaining while shopping, politics, and transportation) her sense of pace fit in perfectly. “I’m never on time, so those differences worked out perfectly for me. Everything is laid back and takes time, but I didn’t mind that. It was so relaxed and I loved it.”

Griffith also appreciated the strong sense of community among the Senegalese. “Africa has a lot of stereotypes and when you think of it you often think of impoverished families. I went into the villages, and I can’t speak for other countries, but in the Senegalese villages they take care of each other.” She described a mentality where people say, “When I eat, you’re going to eat. No one will be left behind.”

Shannee Griffith ’13 (center) traveled to Senegal, Africa for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Griffith noted that meals were always communal (and always delicious) while she lived with her host family.

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Dan Kagdis, assistant director of undergraduate admission at Fairfield University, chose to pursue an MBA in management at the Dolan School.

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“The MBA was broad. I wouldn’t just be

learning management, but accounting,

finance—everything. I liked the

expansiveness of the courses and the

reputation of the MBA program was strong.”

“In the Senegalese villages they take care

of each other. She described a mentality

where people say, “When I eat, you’re going

to eat. No one will be left behind.”

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Accounting students gain professional experienceBy Allison McCourt ’13

“Accounting is making sure that all the numbers make sense and there is nothing out of the ordinary,” stated Capaldo. “Being able to look at real bank statements and a real busi-ness’ financials will provide me with a head start for when I secure a future job as an accountant. Mr. Vance is very knowledgeable and helps me look harder at information to understand what belongs and what doesn’t.”

Iryna Mohylnytska ’13, a fellow accounting major, is also taking advantage of this enriching opportunity. Interning at an individual CPA firm in Westport, Conn., Mohylnytska has gained experience working with bookkeeping services, payroll taxes, individual returns, and internal management.

“In the classroom I learned the basics and a little bit of everything. This internship has given me the opportunity to develop my skills and bring together what I have learned with actual scenarios,” said Mohylnytska. “There are no lon-ger hypothetical examples, but real people who I see come and thank us for the refund that we were able to get them.”

The Dolan School of Business provides students with the opportunity to gain professional experience while also receiving academic credit through its internship

program. The program, offered to upperclassmen of high academic standing, also allows students to form relation-ships with potential future employers and business partners.

“The internship program is very helpful and every business student should take advantage of it,” said accounting major Kyle Capaldo ’13. “I get a lot of experience at my internship that I wouldn’t get in a classroom, such as working with accounting software and dealing with real companies. In order to get a job, especially the one you actually want, you need experience. Recruiters are going to pick the people that have worked in areas related to their company.”

Capaldo graduated in May with a full semester’s experi-ence interning at Robert A. Vance, CPA, LLC. This privately owned accounting firm, located in Fairfield, Conn., provides basic accounting services to companies and individuals mostly in the Fairfield County area.

Dr. Katsiaryna Salavei Bardos, associate professor of finance

Dr. Bardos teaches finance courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and has developed and taught the seminar in Real Estate. Her current research examines the implications of the low quality of financial

information for the cost of capital and the importance of litigation risk in determining market reactions to restate-ments. She is also currently working on analyzing the impli-cations of an option to redevelop for the pricing of com-mercial and residential real estate.

Dr. Ahmed Ebrahim, associate professor of accounting

Dr. Ebrahim has taught accounting courses on both graduate and undergraduate levels, including Financial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Cost Accounting, Auditing,

Individual Taxation, and Corporate Taxation. His cur-rent research projects are in the areas of financial report-ing incentives and the compliance and enforcement of

Dolan School faculty promotionsInternational Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), espe-cially in the emerging markets.

Dr. Mukesh Sud, associate professor of management

Dr. Sud teaches business strategy and entre-preneurship in the Management Department at the undergraduate and graduate levels. His research is focused on entrepreneurship, particularly entrepreneurial failure. Another

stream of research is in the area of social entrepreneurship models and critique, which he has published in the Journal of Business Ethics.

Dr. Vishnu Vinekar, associate professor of information systems and operations management

Dr. Vinekar teaches courses on information systems, systems design, and international issues in information systems. His current research interests include the business value of

technology, team project management and agile development, and information and technology for the underprivileged.

professor of finance, manage approximately $230K of the University’s endowment. In 2012, the SMIF portfolio returned 17.42% after fees as compared to their benchmark, the MSCI All-Country World Index, which returned 16.80%. As members of SMIF, motivated students learn about and practice institutional portfolio management.

Institutional investor 2012-13

Two students from the Dolan School, John DeNave and Markus Buchem, not only competed in the Inaugural All-America Student Analyst Competition, sponsored by Institutional Investor Magazine, but placed as top perform-ers. The contest is open to undergraduate and graduates students in finance to compete against each other to develop the best simulated stock portfolios. All action related to the competition, which ran from September 2012 through January 2013, was done online.

The new competition is a collaboration between Institutional Investor and Mark My Media, a Stamford, Connecticut-based firm that built the software platform to track portfolios. Nearly 700 students from 34 U.S. colleges and universities participated. The rankings were compiled across seven industry sectors and one general category. The general category considered net benchmark outperformance, volatility, net exposure impact, gross exposure impact, long alpha and short alpha. The industry sectors included: Basic Materials, Capital Goods/Industrials, Consumer, Energy, Financial Institutions, Healthcare and Technology, and Media & Telecommunications.

Dolan School sponsors mock business dinner

The Dolan School continued its tradition of inviting stu-dents to attend a formal “Etiquette Diner” that will help give them a competitive edge in business. Led by Ann Marie Sabath, president and founder of At Ease Inc., “Etiquette Dinner” puts students through the paces of a mock profes-sional dinner. Topics covered included: how to introduce two people whose names you cannot remember, how to display confidence during a meal, and the most commonly made table manner faux pas. This event is part of the Dolan School Professional Development Series, seeking to develop students’ career readiness.

RISE 2013

Six members of the Dolan School of Business Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) attended the RISE 2013 conference, an internationally renowned investment confer-ence. 1,000 finance students from around the world attend-ed the conference at the University of Dayton on April 4 and 5. The SMIF students in attendance were Conlisk Scholar Brian Devenney (M.S. Finance) and finance majors of the Class of 2014, Allie Cavalea, Gina Hawley, Sarah Marcoux, Gary Stetz, and Michael Zappulla. On the first day of the conference, the students heard from two Federal Reserve Bank presidents and leaders in the finance industry and media on the world economy, markets, and the future of the finance profession.

The members of the Student Managed Investment Fund, under the guidance of Dr. John McDermott, associate

Dolan School snapshots

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RISE 2013

Competitive Edge Dinner

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DSB in the newsDr. Gregory Koutmos, professor of finance, presented the paper, “Hedge Funds: Market Timing and the Dynamics of Systematic Risk” at the 75th International Atlantic Economic Conference in Vienna Austria (3-6 April, 2013). The paper was co-authored with Drs. J. Knif and D. Koutmos.

Dr. Lisa Mainiero, professor of manage-ment, was interviewed on CBS Radio in May on successful work practices for women. The show, titled “GPS Your Career: A Woman’s Guide to Success,” was hosted by Bonnie Marcus, founder and principal of Women’s Success Coaching. Dr. Mainiero, an expert in executive women’s careers, discussed office romances and how social media affects office romances.

Dr. Debra Strauss, associate profes-sor of business law, published the arti-cle, “Liability for Genetically Modified Food: Are GMOs a Tort Waiting to Happen?” in The SciTech Lawyer, Vol. 9, Issue 2, Fall 2012. Dr. Strauss was also invited to write a chapter on “Food Security,” which she contributed to the

book by K. Ludlow, S.J. Smyth and J. Falck-Zepeda (Eds.), Socio-economic Considerations in Biotechnology Regulation, Springer Publishing (forthcoming 2013). This book is a global collaborative effort to explore the methodologies of

socio-economic considerations as part of developing regu-latory frameworks for agricultural biotech that will be a component of the deliberations in several upcoming inter-national conferences and in national policy making. Dr. Strauss was also interviewed and quoted in an article for the News-Press (Fort Myers, FL) about the new food safety regu-lations: “Standards aim to strengthen food safety,” in April.

In April, Dr. Michael Tucker, professor of finance, was quoted in a Hartford Business Journal article on the SEC’s announcement that companies may share key information with the public via digital platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Dr. Tucker said, “while the SEC’s announce-ment opens another outlet to inform investors, it is only a ‘big deal’ if companies actually use it. Not everyone accesses social media. It is a closed environment. What makes it moot is that there will be plenty of people out there willing to pass along anything divulged on social media to the gen-eral public.”

PricewaterhouseCoopers awarded the University $10,000 for a curriculum development project called “Accounting Ethics Education: Resources for Meeting Cross-National Needs.” Funds will enable

project directors Drs. Joan Van Hise and Dawn Massey, both accounting professors, to develop instructional materi-als to better prepare students to exercise professional judg-ment and act in an ethical manner in the public interest.

Message from the DeanFriends,

Spring is a time of new growth and change. This Update reflects on a spring that has seen both at the Dolan School of Business. In a very competitive environment, we continue to attract undergraduate students: our entering freshman class (of 2016) was up 24.5% from last year (273 to 340), and

applications for the class of 2017 were also up 10.7% (from 2,399 to 2,656), suggesting another large incoming class. We are also experiencing growth in our MS Finance and MS Accounting programs. While this growth challenges our faculty—and facilities—to accommodate many new faces, it is also a strong indicator of regard for our academic programs and our commitment to preparing students for exciting professional careers.

Indicators of change also include our exciting inclusion in Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s “Best Undergraduate B-Schools” for the first time. This ranking reflects our students’ assessment of our programs—including how challenging they think their courses are and the quality of faculty advising—combined with recruiters’ assessments and objective measures of student success, like SAT scores and student-faculty ratio.

This ranking is an important recognition of what the Charles F. Dolan School seeks to be: an innovative leader

in Jesuit business education. The word is getting out on the productivity of our faculty (see page 10), our high-achieving alumni (page 4), our strong internship program (page 9), and our entrepreneurial spirit (page 5).The successful promotion of four of our faculty members to the associate professor level is a testament to their scholarly contributions as well as their dynamic engagement with students in the classroom (page 9).

Another change is that I am taking the reins as Dean of the DSB after serving as interim dean for two years. It has been an active time, and I look forward to further accomplishments in the years to come. I am working with the faculty and the DSB Advisory Council—comprised of prominent business leaders—to refine a strategic plan to chart the Dolan School’s future. I have a lofty vision: that we engage students in a vibrant and caring learning community and seek to cultivate ethical business leaders to ensure a successful global future. No small feat! Please join me in the quest.

Sincerely,

Donald E. Gibson, Ph.D. Dean and Professor Dolan School of Business

Howard Saffan, The president of the Bridgeport, Conn., hockey team, the Sound Tigers, and the Webster Bank Arena, visited the Dolan School in March to talk to students about the business of sports. Saffan spoke to students about many topics including how he got started working in sports. “Sports were my life, especially soccer,” he explained, “But when I realized I wasn’t going to be the next Pelé, I buckled down in school.”

Following time in several career avenues, including law, sports agency, and real estate, Saffan began to make his mark in sports and recreation. The business of sports,

The Business of SportsSaffan noted, is incredibly competitive, especially consider-ing the changing social climate. “Have you ever attended a Super Bowl?” he asked his audience. “It’s boring. You’re there for hours before the game even starts.” Today, he explained, younger audiences are used to engaging with many forms of entertainment at once, and he and his employees are constantly looking for new and exciting ways to keep their audience engaged during a game.

In addition to audience engagement, Saffan said that cus-tomer service was the most important part of his job. “The business of sports,” he explained, “is about being a part of

your community. It’s relationship management.”

His talk with students continued after his presentation with an informal and fun Q&A session where Saffan bantered back and forth with students. “How many of you brought your resumes with you tonight?” he asked. After gently teas-ing those who hadn’t, he collected the resumes of students who did bring them and said he would follow up with inter-views for internships. He concluded by saying that, when hiring, he looked for hard workers, a trait he had learned from his own parents, and of course, a love of sports.

Credit: Christoher Pasatieri

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There are 3 key steps to CPA Certification: Education, Exam, and Experience. Fairfield’s MSA helps you with all of them. www.fairfield,edu/msa