Author: klinkhak

The Oregon State College of Business spent Tuesday evening in Portland for OSU Night – a college fair designed for high-achieving high school students. To help all the bright and motivated students in attendance decide what to do in the fall, here are the top 5 reasons to choose the Oregon State College of Business:

1. More majors. We offer more business majors than any other university in the state of Oregon. From accounting to marketing and everything in between, the College of Business provides students with a thorough and comprehensive understanding of their chosen major. The college also includes four design majors to choose from.
2. Experiential Learning. A hands-on learning approach is integral to the College of Business education, and includes opportunities with the Austin Entrepreneurship Program, Austin Family Business Program, Close to the Customer Project and Advantage Accelerator. The College of Business has 19 student organizations that align with business and design majors, providing leadership and networking experience.
3. Career Success Center. As the only college-specific career center on campus, the Career Success Center provides students with the resources to conduct a successful job and internship search through one-on-one consulting, resume review, networking events and workshops.
4. International Exchange. The Arthur Stonehill International Exchange Program is one of the biggest of its kind in Oregon, offering 13 different exchange opportunities around the globe for business students. Additionally, design students can choose from a number of study-abroad programs and tours.
5. Austin Hall. The College of Business’ new, 100-000-square-foot, state-of-the-art home has made a huge impact on student learning and experience at Oregon State. Austin Hall includes a 250-seat auditorium, café, event space and plenty of project rooms and computer seats.

To conclude the series of opening events for Austin Hall, donors were invited for a dinner and celebration on Nov. 14th.  The Jon Masterson Family Marketplace and the Bailey Family classroom were transformed to seat more than 200 donors, alumni and friends for a dinner and evening program.

Austin Hall was funded by  $30+ million in private gifts plus $20 million in state bonds, with $10 million donated by Ken Austin and his late wife Joan; and $6 million donated by the Al and Pat Reser family. More than 450 additional gifts were made to fund the new home for the College of Business.

On Friday, October 31, the College of Business hosted the public opening of Austin Hall, as part of the Campaign for OSU Celebration and Homecoming weekend.

A program was held in the Stirek Auditorium at 1:30 pm, and an open house ran throughout the day with “trick or treating” from 2-2:30 p.m.

As the year comes to a close, we are reflecting on all the exciting events of 2014. The College of Business celebrated a historic fall term with the opening of Austin Hall and many corresponding events.

The Austin Hall Opening Bash was the first of the Austin Hall celebrations, where College of Business faculty, staff and their guests gathered Friday, September 26 for a cocktail party with live music by B2K and the Delicious Spoon – a band comprised of College of Business faculty.

The following slideshow shows the highlights of the Opening Bash:

By Cody Stover

It was a trip around the world one day, an elementary school lesson the next, and then a weekend featuring a fashion show and a Hogwarts dinner. The Austin Entrepreneurship Program’s BA 160 class’ ability to give students a variety of hands-on project management experiences was on full display in Week 9 as they hosted four events they spent fall term planning.

The week kicked off Sunday, Nov. 16, with An International Affair, hosted on various floors of Weatherford Hall. Each of the four involved floors represented a different country (Saudi Arabia, Uganda, Indonesia and China), and BA 160 students invited peers to learn about international cuisine and culture. The event’s purpose was to increase intercultural understanding and appreciation.

Things boomeranged back to a more local scale the following Friday when another set of students taught financial literacy at Pioneer School in Lebanon. These AEP students gave lessons on the importance of saving, managing money and finance terminology. Pioneer School offers education to students from kindergarten through eighth grade, so the college students could use their teaching skills with a variety of age groups.

That same evening, a third group of BA 160 students hosted the beYOUtiful Fashion Show in the auditorium of brand-new Austin Hall. The show was designed to break down fashion industry stereotypes and emphasized building positive self-images for people of all shapes, sizes, ethnicities and styles.

An extra busy week in Weatherford Hall concluded with a hint of magic as a fourth group of BA 160 students put on a Hogwarts Thanksgiving celebration. Weatherford was transformed into the four houses of Hogwarts — Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw  and Hufflepuff — and Harry Potter-themed events and food filled the hallways. The event, free to all Weatherford residents, was a magical transition into the holiday season.

Those final projects concluded fall term for the BA 160 students, but this quarter was simply a warm-up. In next term’s BA 161 course, students will be required to form their own start-up venture to raise money for entrepreneurs in Nicaragua in the form of microloans. So while fall 2014 represented a great quarter of project planning, the best is yet to come.

As a student-led organization that actively manages a $1.6 million equity portfolio, the Oregon State Investment Group (OSIG) has a substantial undertaking that provides an unprecedented experiential learning opportunity. In addition to the value of hands-on experience, members of OSIG now have more accolades to add to their already-impressive resumes.

OSIG took first place in the annual D.A. Davidson & Co. Student Investment Program competition that ran from Sept. 1, 2013 –Aug. 31, 2014. Student teams were provided with $50,000 to invest, and the top-performing teams received a check on behalf of their college. With a gain of 38% and ending portfolio value of $69,014.35, OSIG finished above the 20 other university teams competing. In a ceremony that took place in Austin Hall Friday, Oct. 3, OSIG was awarded more than $8,000 from D.A. Davidson & Co.

On September 5, 2014, 10 members of OSIG, accompanied by Assistant Professor of Finance Inga Chira, went to Wall Street in New York City  and were directly immersed in the world of finance.

“The annual New York trip is one of the most valuable experiences for the students in OSIG. The opportunity to witness firsthand the environment and culture of the Wall Street firms is something that cannot simply be taught in the classroom,” said Blake Hendricks, DADCO Portfolio Manager.

The group learned the value of networking, and spent time with OSU alumni at influential firms such as PIMCO, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, BIDS and Fortress. Among those they met was Wesley Edens, a College of Business graduate. Edens is co-chairman of the board of directors of Fortress, and co-owner of the Milwaukie Bucks.

“Because of this trip, I was able to gain several in-person interviews for a summer internship which ultimately led to a summer internship with PIMCO and a full time position after graduation,” said Jessica Kim, OSIG President. “I believe very strongly that none of this would have been achievable without the Annual New York trip.”

The College of Business hosted a popcorn social Thursday, September 25 for new students, which included a student organization fair for business clubs. Despite the rain, more than 200 students attended the gathering to make a popcorn “sundae,” listen to music, talk with advisors, faculty and the dean, and learn about the College of Business student organizations.

The College of Business offers twenty different student organizations that span the various business and design disciplines. Learn more about each student organization here.