Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

IT crew is at your service

Student workers are made to feel right at home in the information services office.
Student workers are made to feel right at home in the information services office.

The College of Business’ information services staff wants to make one thing perfectly clear: Asking the helpdesk for assistance means never having to say you’re sorry.

“That’s what we’re here for,” said Doug Weir, operating systems and network analyst. “You’re not bothering us.”

Weir and six colleagues, including four student workers, took an hour during spring break to talk about keeping Austin Hall’s hardware and software functioning at peak performance.

Weir, Alan Sprague (engineer/systems administrator), Kirk Wydner (operating systems and network analyst) and Kyle Ribacchi (information technology consultant) all have specific areas they focus on – virtual desktop infrastructures, server site management, end-user computing, etc.

“But we all can cover for each other,” Sprague said.

The College of Business’ tech arsenal includes about 300 PCs and roughly five dozen servers, one of which is home to more than 1.3 million files.

The college’s move to Austin Hall meant relocating to possibly the most technologically integrated building on campus, Sprague said. Consider, for just one example, the electronic key card and reservation system that coordinates use of the project rooms; or for another, the rooftop and interior sensors that control the intensity of office lighting.

“There’s not a single space in Austin that doesn’t have some IT component,” he said.

The information services staff generally includes about 20 students who put in varying amounts of time. The students help close out helpdesk “tickets” – requests for tech support, of which there are typically around three dozen open – and do whatever else is needed to keep the college digitally functioning.

“They get invested in the college and what we do,” said Sprague, who along with his colleagues is proud and pleased to be able to help the student crew learn, grow and become job ready.

The main skill set stressed to the students working the helpdesk is customer service.

“It’s about getting the person on track, solving their problems,” said Paul Van Wagoner.

Fellow student worker Robbie Toombs pointed out that the No. 1 helpdesk priority is any ticket involving an instructional need “so students can actually get the full benefit of the classes they’re paying to take.”

Weir said student workers leave OSU with the skills to be junior-level system administrators at major corporations. Sprague said most receive multiple job offers.

“It’s a very giving and upbeat environment,” Mike Stuckart said.

Added Albert Le: “I’ve gained lots of knowledge I don’t think I could get anywhere else.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on

Accelerator cohort sharpens the focus

Refining the market, retooling the message, reshaping the strategy, reviewing the overall approach – those are the objectives every other Tuesday afternoon when the OSU Advantage Accelerator’s clients give presentations to each other and a group of volunteer mentors from the business community.

The winter 2015 cohort, its third, began its five-month course at the Accelerator the first week of January. Under the co-direction of John Turner and Mark Lieberman and with the assistance of student interns, the Accelerator works with entrepreneurs from Oregon State and the mid-Willamette Valley at large to commercialize their innovations; it focuses on high-growth, traded-sector startups and early-stage businesses.

On Feb. 17, the current cohort presented for the third time – on the way to a total of 10 – as the entrepreneurs tune up their plans and their pitches.

“This group is just getting rolling,” Turner said. “To really appreciate the progress they’ll make, you need to see the evolution over time. Inevitably, you want to compare this cohort to the last, but this one is doing well. They’re making good progress, as good or better progress as the last cohort.”

Six companies comprise the latest group: Beauty Leaf, Inc.; Bridgeway Wellness; Danio Discovery; E-MSion, Northwest Research Laboratories, Inc., and Pure Living.

Beauty Leaf deals with plant-based skin care products, and Bridgeway’s goal is to operate a clinic for tissue regenerative therapies. Danio’s technology involves using zebrafish for pharmaceutical toxicology assessments, E-MSion has come up with an add-on for mass spectrometers, and Northwest Research Laboratories has developed a cleaning-audit product for facilities such as hotels and hospitals. Pure Living’s idea is a website that collects data from different resources regarding the potentially toxic effects of certain chemical compounds on expectant mothers.

“Demo Day is the end point of the process we’re going through now,” Turner said, referring to a June 25 event at which the entrepreneurs will present to an audience at Corvallis’ Majestic Theatre. “We’ll talk about their pitches, work on their pitches, work with them individually, go through the pitch, provide feedback a little at a time, go through the whole process.”

The OSU Advantage Accelerator is part of the South Willamette Valley Regional Accelerator Network, known as RAIN, created by the Legislature in 2013. RAIN has locations in Corvallis and Eugene, and those cities, along with Albany and Springfield, are partners in the network as well.

For more information, visit http://advantage.oregonstate.edu/advantage-accelerator.

Posted on

Finance student doubles as dog trainer

Wrangler and Kenzie enjoy a break at Trader Bing's Cafe at Austin Hall.
Wrangler and Kenzie enjoy a break at Trader Bing’s Cafe at Austin Hall.

Animals have always been a big part of Kenzie Young’s life, so it’s only natural they’re a key component of her education at Oregon State – including one particular creature who’s become a fixture at Austin Hall.

That would be Wrangler, the 9-year-old dog Young is training to be a service animal.

“He goes everywhere with me,” said Young, who’s majoring in finance with a minor in animal science.

Young has had Wrangler, a border collie/McNab shepherd cross, since adopting him at six weeks old when her family lived in a rural setting in Yelm, Wash.

“He played Frisbee, herded horses,” she said. “He’s pretty much done everything.”

And now he’s learning to be a service dog for people battling depression and anxiety, specifically for a relative of Young’s who suffers from anxiety.

“Depression and anxiety kind of run in my family,” she said.

Wrangler’s training began a year and a half ago in classes attended by him and Young’s mother. At this stage, Young brings him with her as she goes about her daily life and rewards him with a treat every time he responds positively toward someone who looks sad.

Wrangler will conclude his training at the end of the school year, at which point he’ll be evaluated for two weeks by a representative of the United States Service Dog Registry. If he passes his evaluation, he’ll be officially certified, which gives him a formal stamp of legitimacy should anyone challenge his presence anywhere – for example, on a commercial airliner.

Working with Wrangler is part of a jam-packed schedule that Young deals with via “good time management skills” and a “lack of sleep.”

Supplementing her coursework, she’s interning for Linn County, doing auditing in the county’s general services department. She also works weekends as a cashier at Kmart, barrel races for the OSU rodeo team and serves as a brand ambassador for Bootights.

In addition, she’s partnering with College of Business online fashion magazine DAMchic to organize a Mom’s Weekend event that honors women role models on campus.

Career-wise, Young is “leaning toward being a financial analyst.”

“But I went to a Travel Friday to different investment banking firms,” she said. “And that was exciting, too.”

Posted on

Raise a cup to OSU Food Drive

food drive coffee feb 3 eviteThe College of Business is making it easy and fun, for faculty, staff, students and visitors to Austin Hall to play a key role in the 2015 OSU Food Drive.

The college is helping to kick off the drive with free coffee and tea from 8 a.m. to noon in the Austin Hall Marketplace. While enjoying your refreshments, you can make a donation of money or non-perishable food, buy a 50-50 raffle ticket or sign up to make monthly payroll contributions. Raffle tickets are $5 each or three for $10, with half of all ticket revenue going to the raffle winner and the other half to Linn-Benton Food Share.

Each February, the university’s annual food drive accounts for about one-quarter of Food Share’s buying power for an entire year; last year, Oregon State’s efforts equated to more than a half-million pounds of food.

So let’s make sure the College of Business does its part. Have some coffee or tea, and then help others in our community make sure they have the nutrition they need. If you are unable to attend the event, you can still give via cash, check or food item (there will be donation boxes at the event, Trader Bing’s, 302 Austin Hall, 384 Austin Hall and 228 Milam Hall. Payroll deduction forms can be obtained in Austin 384.

Make a point to start your day, month and year off with a beverage on us, and with a spirit of generosity that benefits our entire community.

For more information about the Tuesday event at Austin Hall or the food drive itself, contact Krista Klinkhammer at krista.klinkhammer@oregonstate.edu.

Posted on

Austin Hall’s Abacus: Numbers in time

abacus oneOne of the first aspects of Austin Hall, the new home of the OSU College of Business, that visitors can’t help but notice is the artistic array of stainless steel spheres suspended by cables above the building’s central staircase.

To the science oriented, the display might seem molecular in nature, but it’s really mathematical. The artwork by Ray King is called Abacus, named after the ancient tool for counting and calculating.

King lives in Philadelphia and his philosophy is to create “dynamic sculptures that interact with the sun by reflecting light into shadow and refracting light into colors.” He’s exhibited his work internationally since 1976 and has done site-specific artwork throughout the U.S.

King’s Austin Hall creation is actually 24 abaci, each representing an important year in College of Business history — ranging from the 1858 creation of Corvallis Academy, to which Oregon State traces its history, to the 2014 opening of Austin Hall.

A plaque (shown below) on the east-facing wall near the northeast corner of Abacus explains why each date significant and also provides instruction on how to read an abacus. Basically, the columns of spheres stand for thousands, hundreds, tens and ones, with spheres below the abacus’ horizontal rod assigned a value of one each, and spheres above the rod having a value of 10 each.

It’s pretty easy once you get the hang of it — though if it takes you a few minutes to do that, don’t feel alone.

For more on Abacus, see http://www.designboom.com/art/ray-king-abacus-sculpture-spheres-stainless-steel-austin-hall-oregon-state-university-01-18-2015/

abacus plaque

 

 

Posted on

Allow us to quench your curiosity

Drinking fountain meter
Drinking fountain meter
The third-floor fountain at Austin Hall has already dispensed the equivalent of 6,683 12-ounce bottles.

Likely you’ve satisfied your thirst at an Austin Hall water fountain, so now allow us to quench your curiosity as well.

You’ve probably noticed that each of the College of Business’ four Elkay-brand EZH2O fountains – one per floor – is equipped with a meter that gives a running tally of how many disposable plastic bottles it’s helped eliminate waste from. Those cumulative numbers are nice, but what do they translate to on a level the average Austin Hall water drinker could more readily relate to?

We’re glad you asked, and here’s what we learned:

In a one-week period – in this case from 8 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 8, to 8 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 15 – the fountains provided enough water to fill 2,528 12-ounce bottles, or 237 gallons. How do we know the bottles referred to are 12 ounces? Experimentation. And in case you were wondering, the meter records water dispensed via the conventional lever in addition to from the bottle-filling sensor.

Here are a few other water fountain fun facts from our informal research project:

—  The second-floor fountain is by far the building’s busiest, having already flowed out water equaling 13,875 bottles in the short history of Austin Hall. During our one-week study period, the number was 1,223, only 72 fewer than the other floors combined.

—  The fourth floor is apparently way less thirsty than the rest. Bottle count to date: 4,516.

—  The third floor has pumped out 6,667 bottles so far.

—  With 7,828 bottles, the first floor combines with the second floor to basically double the joint output of the top two floors.

So ponder all of that the next time you tend to your hydration needs, and reduce your carbon footprint, at an Austin Hall drinking fountain.

Posted on

Austin Hall Donor Dinner and Celebration

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.

 

Posted on

Year in Review: Austin Hall Public Opening

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.

Posted on

Year in Review: Austin Hall Opening Bash

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:

Posted on

Ten steps toward the right career path

Bart Cleveland
Bart Cleveland has developed branding for a broad range of companies.

Fall term is a good time to begin thinking about a summer internship and researching what needs to be done to be competitive. One way to do that is to attend presentations by professionals.

During most weeks of the term, the Career Success Center offers the opportunity to meet with professionals, learn about their industry and get tips about how to prepare for internship and job searches.

 

This fall, Bart Cleveland was one of the first professionals to meet with students in Austin Hall’s Stirek Auditorium. Throughout his career, Cleveland has developed branding for a broad range of brands including Coca-Cola, The Ritz-Carlton and CNN. As the founder of Job Propulsion Lab, he now helps young professionals navigate marketing and advertising careers more successfully.

In a room full of College of Business students, including design, entrepreneurship, marketing and management majors, Cleveland talked about the Ten Steps to the Right Advertising or Digital Careers.

Drawing from his award-winning career as a creative director and through his success mentoring dozens of young professionals and guiding them to careers at top-tier agencies like Wieden+Kennedy, Goodby Silverstein and Mother NY, Cleveland developed the following 10 steps:

Bart Cleveland delivers his presentation.
Cleveland told the students in the audience at Austin Hall’s Stirek Auditorium to become their own brand.
  1. Get help.
  2. Plot your course.
  3. Build the right portfolio.
  4. Market yourself.
  5. Become a brand
  6. Stalk. Quietly.
  7. Talk. Loudly.
  8. Look like a pro.
  9. Act like a pro.
  10. Don’t blow the interview.

For the complete presentation, you can see his presentation slides via slideshare: Ten Steps to the Right Advertising or Digital Careers.