Toll graduated from the College of Business in June. She and co-founder Darren Marshall started BuyBott, a website that simplifies online shopping and enhances social interaction, while the pair were students at Oregon State.
They applied to the Venture Accelerator hoping to take the business to the next level.
“Thoughts were running through my head,” Toll remembered about the wait. “If we don’t get in, how are we going to carry this forward? Will we still have the same momentum? What are our next steps without the Venture Accelerator?”
“I remember being able to finally breath deep again,” Toll said. “It was a moment of giddy excitement and relief. I remember spamming friends, family and fans. It was a great moment and definitely a high point in our history.”
Joining BuyBott from the College of Business are Multicopter Northwest and PlayPulse.
OSU students Ryan Connolly, Andy Miller, Zack Anderson and Hannah Vincent developed PlayPulse. The startup measures engagement of video game players by using biometric sensors. Both Connolly and Vincent are from the College of Business, with Connolly also an intern with the Venture Accelerator before graduating from OSU this June.
It’s the type of student buy-in John Turner, an instructor at the College of Business and co-director of the Venture Accelerator, loves to see.
Launched earlier this year, the Venture Accelerator — part of the Oregon State Advantage initiative — is designed to provide support and guidance to businesses and technologies at Oregon State. The program brings together the resources and talents gathered across campus, with partners in the business community and Oregon State’s alumni network.
Ideas were solicited from four student-based entrepreneurship programs at Oregon State — the Austin Entrepreneurship Program’s Weatherford Garage, Startup Weekend, UPTIC and the Entrepreneurship Academy at the College of Pharmacy.
Turner said he was excited about the potential all the three projects, and is already encouraged by their development.
“They span a broad range of ideas and reflect the creativity, initiative and commitment of COB students,” Turner said. “Less than two months into the program we have seen good progress already in the development of their businesses.”
Each school year the Oregon State College of Business takes a lot of photos, and not all of them get used in publications, posted on the blog or put into galleries on Facebook. We try, really, but like we said, we take a lot of photos.
Summer gives us a chance to look back a bit, so we wanted to share some of our favorite photos that may have slipped under the radar a bit. Thanks to all the great students, staff and alumni pictured and who helped make the moments we captured so special.
Students prepare to use the photo booth at the Undergraduate Celebration in June.A guest looks through student work at the Graphic Design Senior Show in June.College of Business Dean Ilene Kleinsorge takes part in Dancing with the OSU Stars.School of Design and Human Environment students network during the annual SDHE Career Symposium in February.Jon DeVaan, corporate vice president of Windows Development for Microsoft, Speaks during his Dean’s Distinguished Lecture in January.Assistant Professor Bret Scott jokes with students at Convocation in January.Former Oregon Gov. Barbara Roberts holds up her Weatherford Award in February.Panda Express co-CEO Peggy Cherng high-fives Panda Express employees at the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture in October.OSU Outspoken sings at a reception for CH2M Hill CEO Lee McIntire after his Dean’s Distinguished Lecture in April.(right) Student Michael Williams explains his Multicopter Northwest business at the CEO Summit in Portland in May.MBA candidate Jonathan Truong gets creative during the annual MBA Business Plan Competition Elevator Pitch.Benny shows the way at the Austin Hall Construction launch in April.A backhoe moves on the future site of Austin Hall with Weatherford Hall in the background.Brian Holmes, center, reacts as a problem is fixed while Microsoft Developer Evangelist Bret Stateham (standing) and JB can Hecke (left) look on.
Each year College of Business Advisor Jayne Andersen tries to give incoming students a little something more than the basics of degree requirements and where the advising office is.
This year her presentation to incoming students includes a photo of Daniel Changkuon, a recent COB graduate, with a list of his accomplishments at Oregon State; president of multiple clubs, scholarship winner, Nike intern and much more.
“If we had you up here in four years, what would you want it to say about you?” Andersen asked a crowd of incoming freshmen and their parents Monday.
The presentation is part of Oregon State’s annual START orientation, advising and registration program for new students.
START gives students an introduction to life at OSU, leading them through their first advising appointments, signing up for their first classes and sharing the information they’ll need to succeed in September.
“It makes college more real,” Andersen said. “We plant the seeds for opportunities but also expectations.”
While the College of Business presentation lays out import things such as Professional School requirements and how to use the college Career Success Center, advisors also touch on clubs, study abroad and other opportunities.
“We’re always trying not to tell them too much info,” Andersen said. “We want to start to build that connection and community.”
Each session (advisors in the college will run around 15 START sessions in the summer for a total of around 500 freshmen and transfer students) includes a several tips to help students through their first year.
Andersen always reminds students to treat college like they would a job, including checking their ONID email every day.
She counsels students to think about what they want to get out of college and start making a plan now to make it a reality.
As part of that, students should also make sure and schedule an advising appointment each term. She suggests using Halloween as a good marker in the fall.
While students get a ton of information in these first few days at Oregon State, Andersen has seen it pay off once they officially become Beavers.
“My favorite thing is when they come in and say ‘I’m here for my Halloween appointment,’” she said.
The first class of the Oregon State Accountancy MBA at the Annual Business Plan Competition in April. Photo courtesy Jun Yang.
When the 2013 class of MBA candidates take the stage for the Oregon State MBA Graduation Ceremony Thursday, 10 students will represent a brand new component of the program.
This year the first class of OSU Accountancy MBA (A-MBA) students graduate, showing off an innovative new program that allows students with an undergraduate accounting degree to earn an MBA in one year.
“The idea behind this was that to become a CPA in Oregon and most states you need three things; to pass the CPA exam, experience working in an accounting firm and five years of college,” said OSU Professor Roger Graham, who headed up the new A-MBA. “This allows students to get that fifth year and have a masters when they leave.”
Victoria Uong received her undergraduate degree last year, and felt an MBA would better prepare her for her career than simply a masters of accounting or other options.
“I feel like although a masters of accounting is valuable, understanding the entirety of the business process is important,” said Uong, who will join Portland accounting firm Perkins & Co. after graduation.
Jun Yang said he enjoyed learning the principles of accounting and then being able to practice those in his MBA work.
“In the case studies there’s no black and white, no right and wrong answers,” Yang said. “You need to consider the substance of the transaction.”
In addition to their graduate coursework, the A-MBA students worked with OSU MBA students participating in the Integrated Business Project.
In the IBP, teams of four to five MBA students work to create a business plan for real products and technologies from OSU and outside companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Intel and others.
“It was a course in consulting,” Graham said. “For accounting students mostly focused on learning accounting procures, to explain to other people was fun for them to do.”
For Yang, the experience was another great way to put the skills he’d learned in the classroom into practice with real businesses plans.
“It’s really great because the IBP teams are like startup companies,” Yang said. “It’s learning how to deal with potential clients and explain it to clients without an accounting background.”
Uong said she also enjoyed working in a specialized program within the large Oregon State MBA program. That environment made it easier for her to get answers to questions and also form strong professional connections
“The A-MBA program is special because it’s small,” Uong said. “It’s interesting to go through that together. We’re definitely linked together though this program.”
Kelcie Annas din’t really know what to expect as she was preparing to show her work at the Oregon State Graphic Design Senior Show on Wednesday June 5.
Her table included a set of athletic-themed motivational shots, jars with vintage labels and a t-shirt with a hand-embroidered message. Still, Annas had spent so much time starring at her own work, she said it was hard to know what others might think.
“I was really nervous at first,” Annas said. “But people have been really nice and given some really good feedback.”
The event, held at the Memorial Union Ballroom, showed off the best of the full range of skills of the seniors in the OSU graphic design program, from small print pieces to posters, sculptures and full interactive displays.
Kelcie Annas taks about her work at the Graphic Design Senior Show.
Thursday night the College of Business showed it could hang with the top movers and shakers at Oregon State, with three participants in the third annual Dancing with the OSU Stars.
The COB connections included MBA candidate Wenmin Wang, School of Design and Human Environment student and President of Kappa Kappa Gamma Lauren Greenlees and College of Business Dean Ilene Kleinsorge. The event was also organized by a College of Business project management class.
Congratulations to everyone involved, it was a great night for Oregon State and the College of Business.
Wenmin Wang and partner are introduced.
Lauren Greenlees is introduced to the audience.
College of Business Dean Ilene Kleinsorge dancing a waltz to “So This is Love.”
College of Business Dean Ilene Kleinsorge dancing a waltz to “So This is Love.”
College of Business Dean Ilene Kleinsorge dancing a waltz to “So This is Love.”
College of Business Dean Ilene Kleinsorge dancing a waltz to “So This is Love.”
College of Business Dean Ilene Kleinsorge dancing a waltz to “So This is Love.”
College of Business Dean Ilene Kleinsorge awaits the judges.
Wenmin Wang dancing West Coast Swing to “Mad.”
Lauren Greenlees dancing the rumba to “Lady in Red.”
Lauren Greenlees dancing the rumba to “Lady in Red.”
Run With Color particapants throw color in front of the MU. The event, run by a team of College of Business students, raised nearly $4,500 for Family Tree.
This fall Oregon State management student Kayla Pearce thought she had made one phone call too many.
The senior was working on organizing the Corvallis Run With Color, a fundraiser for the Family Tree Relief Nursery, but also her final for her Management Field Practicum class.
She called Oregon State Risk Management to check on the state of their request for the 5K they wanted to run through campus. The call drew attention to the request, which the office said wouldn’t work because they were just involved with a class, not an official club or organization.
“It was a month and a half away from the event,” Pearce remembered. “That was a tearful phone call to my mom.”
The group rallied, though. They got backing from Family Tree for insurance, put on the run as planned and raised nearly $4,500 for the organization.
It’s a typical story for the class, run by College of Business Professor Erik Larson, that provides not only experiential learning for students but has benefited dozens of charities since starting in 2006.
“Five little beehives”
Larson said he came up with the concept for the course while on sabbatical in 2005.
“Originally I taught classes that were very experiential, but because the project management methodology didn’t really fit that I didn’t think it was possible,” Larson said. “But [Austin Entrepreneurship Program Director] Sandy Neubaum said yeah, you can do it in a quarter, it’s possible.”
At the beginning of the term students bring ideas for possible events, which are whittled down to around 5-7 teams, each with around five students.
While Larson lectures briefly at the start of class and provides assistance when needed, students are left to define and execute the project themselves.
Outside of assignments to get the projects started — a formal proposal, risk management plan and milestone goals — the event is the main focus.
“The way I look at it, there’s a series of gates,” Larson said. “You look at it in your own mind, talk to someone else about it, work up a proposal and get approval by me.”
With only 10 weeks and a goal of raising $1,000 the pace moves quickly for each team as they try to arrange dates, venues, volunteers and everything else that goes into a successful fundraiser.
The classes have raised $76,700 since 2006, with some terms bringing in more than a combined $10,000.
“I like walking into a classroom and feeling the energy in the room,” Larson said. “It’s not students waiting to take notes. When it’s going good it’s like five little beehives.”
Learning from challenges
While most of the projects work out, Larson noted some groups have done well (and learned some key lessons) with events that didn’t turn out as expected.
He remembers one that built a cardboard city in the Memorial Union Quad to raise money to assist the homeless and awareness of the issues facing those without shelter in Corvallis.
Instead many — including the Corvallis Gazette-Times newspaper — criticized the group for what they saw as making light of a serious problem.
“But what the writer didn’t know was that they went homeless for three nights,” said Larson, who still has a clipping of the article on his bulletin board. “It was neat, even though it didn’t work.”
Jennifer Berry, a dancer with the OSU Ballroom dance club and Utah Ballroom Dance Company, pitched the Dancing with the Stars event. Typically run by the OSU Ballroom Dance club, Berry offered to run the event through the class.
While many aspects of the DWTS show are familiar — in addition to her experience at OSU, Berry travels the country with the Utah Company putting on shows — running one has been a different experience.
“I worked barely in the ones in the past, not like how I am now,” Berry said. “It’s a lengthy process to do everything. It’s taken up a lot of my time this term.”
The group picked stars by going through each member’s personal network and contacts, including one all the business students knew, College of Business Dean Ilene Kleinsorge.
“Once we got the stars confirmed I felt like I could breathe a little bit and we could just start marketing the event,” Berry said
The biggest issue so far has been a star dropping out the day posters for the event were going to be printed. Berry sprinted to Oregon State Printing and Mailing the morning of, finding that luckily the job hadn’t gone to press and was able to be changed.
Berry said so far the class has driven home the importance of managing time and the skills of the people she gets to work with.
“There is so much to do in this project, you have to learn how to delegate things and mange time with your other classes,” she said. “And also working with people and figuring out how to use their strengths to help your project.”
Running the show
For Pearce, her 10 weeks organizing the Run With Color this fall taught her about the importance of dedication and taking initiative in a project.
Not only did she get the chance to work through real-life issues on a project, but also she saw the benefits for Family Tree.
Pearce said the experience is something she takes with her now as she plans her job search after graduation.
“Cramming for a midterm and reading a textbook and dumping it into a midterm doesn’t teach you anything,” Pearce said. “This was so hands on and practical, it’s something I talk about in my interview, it’s on my resume.”
“You’re your own boss,” she said. “The success of the event depends on you and your teammates.”
Spring 2013 Projects
Suns Out Guns Out “SOGO” Outdoor Volleyball Tournament
A strange object appeared this year at the first day of the Oregon State University spring football practice. Or more accurately, it appeared above it.
For the first time, the Beavers used an aerial camera to document its practices. The person responsible for the copter was Oregon State sophomore Michael Williams, part of the Austin Entrepreneurship Program in the College of Business.
Williams said he’d always been interested in creating his own flying machines, starting with radio-controlled airplanes.
“Throughout middle school and high school I kept building bigger stuff,” said Williams. “Right around when I came to college I got involved with multicopters.”
Multicopters, so named for the multiple blades configured around the copter body, have become popular over the past few years as a way to do aerial photography.
When Williams started, the technology he had access to wasn’t advanced enough to lift a high quality camera, but advances in both photography and flight since then have made it possible.
Last year he started tests with a small camera, and immediately got a huge reaction from friends.
“It was an instant success,” he said. “Eventually my friends would say, ‘Oh, you’re the multicopter kid.’”
Michael Williams (right) explains his Multicopter Northwest business at the Oregon CEO Summit May 7 in Portland.
Williams started Multicopter Northwest, selling kits so others could build their own copters. But a chance meeting sent the project in another direction.
Originally an engineering major, this fall Williams transferred to business on a friend’s recommendation and got involved with the Austin Entrepreneurship Program. From there he also joined the Weatherford Garage, which provides resources to help students start their own businesses.
“This past fall I fell into the hands of Sandy Neubaum, [Weatherford GTA] Dale McCauley and Bob Mayes,” Williams said. “It transformed from selling a couple of kits to friends to something bigger.”
During the fall Oregon State head football coach Mike Riley spoke at an entrepreneurship class and Mayes, a former Oregon State quarterback, pushed Williams to approach and share his business plan.
It turned out the Riley was looking for a better way to get photos and videos of offensive lineman, often packed too close together to see well from the sidelines.
“I got the opportunity to do a mini pitch and he was instantly interested,” Williams said. “He invited me to come to spring practices and do some demos.”
Williams showed up on day one and went to work. The system records video but also sends it to a video unit on the ground, so coaches can watch in real-time.
The next step for Williams is getting funding for better equipment while continuing to develop the business.
No matter where the idea takes him, so far he’s happy with the decision to jump into his own business.
“I walked into Weatherford [Hall] not knowing what to expect,” Williams said. “Now I spend hours on hours in that building.
Behind every successful university and college student stands a community of people who have stepped forward to help and make that success possible. On Friday the School of Design and Human Environment at Oregon State said thank you to a special group of individuals who have helped support their students this year, and honored those students who excelled with the opportunity at its Celebration of Academic Excellence. The event recognized the top students in each discipline and also those receiving scholarships, as well as giving thanks to those who have made the scholarships possible. In all, 25 students received scholar awards and more than 30 were recognized as scholarship awardees.
Associate Dean of the School of Design and Human Environment Minjeong Kim introduces the event.
Leslie Burns introduces Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Alexandra Howell.
The Outstanding Graphic Design students show off their certificates.
Kim presents flowers to retiring professor Carmen Steggell.
School of Design and Human Environment Scholar Awards
College of Business seniors Josh Gilardi and Kayla Pearce unveil the sign for the Austin Hall construction site.
Friday afternoon, with a late bit of sun peaking through after early morning clouds, the Oregon State University College of Business community took a moment to celebrate the construction launch of Austin Hall, the new home for the College of Business that will open in Fall 2014.
That community included not just current students and faculty but alumni, friends, family and those invested in Oregon and its continued economic growth – and it was a capacity crowd with more than 300 people in attendance.
“The dream and this journey to Austin Hall has been a vision of so many alumni and donors for many years and I have had the privilege of carrying this dream and sharing the story of the College, of Bexell Hall, of the people and the programs,” College of Business Dean Ilene Kleinsorge told the crowd assembled on 26th Street to see the official launch.
The lead gifts came from two storied OSU families, those of Ken and Joan Austin and the Al and Pat Reser. Together they pledged a combined $16 million — $10 from the Austin’s themselves — to kick off the campaign.
Then Friday Kleinsorge announced that 1965 College of Business graduate and E*TRADE co-founder Bernie Newcomb raised his already substantial gift of $250,000 to $1 million, becoming the sixth to pledge at least $1 million.
Benny the Beaver holds a thank you to College of Business alumnus and Austin Hall donor Bernie Newcomb.
Newcomb has been a strong supporter of the College of Business for many years.
Friday Newcomb’s partner Gerry Marshall was in attendance at the construction launch. She also took time to visit with COB faculty and staff picked as Newcomb Fellows and the students supported by the Newcomb Family Scholarship.
Newcomb’s gift pushed the campaign past its original $30 million philanthropic goal, a major milestone as the campaign continues toward the Fall 2014 completion of Austin Hall.
Throughout the afternoon different members of community took turns to share their thanks and what the new building will mean to them.
Oregon State University President Ed Ray addressed the gathering, and noted that while many buildings at OSU have names on them, Austin Hall will be a fitting tribute for a great OSU family.
“I can’t think of a name other than Austin we could be prouder of being on this building,” Ray said.
College of Business student Connor Deeks after the Austin Hall construction launch ceremony Friday April 19, 2013.
College of Business student Connor Deeks shared testimonials from his fellow students, from bringing together students, alumni and faculty into a single space to the creation of a landmark students could point to as a point of pride.
“Austin Hall will propel students to achieve their highest potential,” Deeks said. “I take great honor in saying thank you.”
Representing the state of Oregon, state Treasuer Ted Wheeler pointed out that while Austin Hall was a great moment for OSU, it would pay dividends for the entire state economy by helping to better prepare graduates to contribute in the workforce.
“[Austin Hall] is the kind of thing we need to invest in now to continue the economic development of our state,” Wheeler said.
You can continue to follow the progress of Austin Hall by going to business.oregonstate.edu and clicking on the live webcam, where you can watch the construction as it happens
Joan Austin (left) speaks after the Austin Hall construction launch Friday APril 19, 2013.
