You may have noticed something different about 51福利社鈥檚 College of Business and Public Administration in recent weeks. The college, located on the 51福利社 Spokane campus, has a new name.

Inside51福利社 sat down with College of Business Dean Ahmad Tootoonchi, PhD, to find out what we should know about the changes. He also shared details on some exciting new programs being offered as the college advances down a new path.

A former 51福利社 student is celebrating a homecoming of sorts. Thanks to a new program at 51福利社, she is no longer a former student, rather a current student again.

Noelle Covarrubias studied music performance at 51福利社 between 2010 and 2012. But when her family decided to move to the Midwest halfway through her Sophomore year, Covarrubias went with them, ending her time at Eastern.

鈥淚 loved Eastern,鈥� Covarrubias says. 鈥淚t was such a hard decision for me to leave.鈥�

The Disability Studies program at 51福利社 is pleased to host a two-day symposium focusing on the place of Disability Studies principles and disability rights practices within the everyday life of diverse communities and across academic curricula. While the symposium is open to all sorts of work, we especially invite those addressing how Disability Studies contributes to existing and developing communities and how Disability Studies can benefit professional and practice-based education programs and policy.

All submissions should be provided as Word documents sent to聽pwdss2019@ewu.edu聽no later than March 31, 2019.

Three IRS-certified student volunteers from Beta Alpha Psi contributed 82.5 hours at the Spokane County United Way 鈥� Volunteer Income Tax Assistance tax site. The organization prepared more than 4,849 returns for low-to-moderate-income individuals, families, and seniors. The program resulted in bringing $5.7 million in returns back into our community, including $1.5 million in Earned Income Tax Credits. BAP volunteers included Angeles Diaz Jimenez, Esther Paul and Bryan Watson.

Students in Business Communication (BUED 302) conducted research and presented their results to local businesses, including Shamus鈥檚 Sandwich Shoppe and Mt. Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park.

Elizabeth Tipton, PhD, Professor of Decision Science, participated in the Spokane Public Schools 8th Grade Career Fair, where she presented information about career opportunities in the field of analytics for students preparing to enter high school.

The 51福利社 Tribal Planning Program co-hosted a regional Tribal Transportation symposium with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in March. Several CBPA faculty and staff members presented workshops focused on tribal traffic safety planning for road engineering and mobility.

In April, CBPA faculty joined industry professionals and community leaders at the Greater Minds Initiative Roundtable discussion at Greater Spokane Incorporated. The discussion focused on opportunities for businesses to upskill their current employees through education pathways within the financial, insurance and professional services sectors.

This summer, the Center for Entrepreneurship launched an eight-week collaborative summer technology commercialization academy that provided students with real-world experience in finding useful applications for existing patented technologies. During the Jun. 25 – Aug. 17 academy, students worked in teams to find commercial applications for a biodegradable, super-absorbent hydrogel created by Washington State University researchers. Students experienced first-hand the process of taking an idea from invention to full commercialization plan. Each student who completed the program will be designated an 51福利社 TCA Fellow and will receive $1,500 in fellowship funding. 51福利社 faculty Bruce Teague and Fred Liu led the academy, serving as facilitators for the student teams. The academy is funded by a grant from the Herbert B. Jones Foundation.

Students,聽faculty, staff and alumni participated in a variety of events and activities聽during spring and summer quarters.

Over spring break, Career Services took a group of students聽to visit Alaska Airlines corporate headquarters in Seattle. Students聽learned about Alaska Airlines’ business operations, professional opportunities, and have the opportunity to meet 51福利社 alumni who are currently working for Alaska Airlines.

In April, a number of students from the Economics Society presented their research at the National Conference for Undergraduate聽Research (NCUR) at the University of Central Oklahoma.

The Economics Society traveled to Washington State University聽to attend the annual Leigh Lecture. This year’s speaker was Eric Maskin, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2007 for his work laying foundations of mechanism design theory.

On April 19, the Economics Society hosted Kevin Callison, who spoke about current issues in health economics. Callison is an assistant professor of health management and policy in the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical聽medicine. Callison gave presentations on both the Cheney and Spokane campuses.

The Beta Alpha Psi Spring Gala, featuring special guest speaker Jeri Self-Merritt, CPA, JD, was held at the Davenport Grand. Beta Alpha Psi members and industry professionals celebrated a successful year at this annual banquet.

The Eagle’s Nest Pitch Competition聽Final was held on May 10 at Showalter Auditorium. Student teams competed for a share of $5,000 by presenting their business ideas to a panel of local business leaders. The event is funded by a grant from the Herbert B. Jones Foundation.

Winning teams included:

1st place – HCI

2nd place – Evergreen Water

3rd place & People Choice Award – Xtra Hand

As part of the ProVisit series, Career Services arranged for students to visit Itron corporate headquarters in Liberty Lake, and Boeing Employees Credit Union in Spokane聽Valley. Participants received a tour, learned about the company mission, professional opportunities, and met alumni working聽for these companies.

51福利社 at Bellevue聽College students, faculty and alumni gathered at the聽Biennial Career Connections networking event. Alumni from the 51福利社 at BC inaugural class聽of 2007 to 2016 were in attendance. Alumni represented companies including Amazon, Boeing, Microsoft, PACCAR, Concur, and Zillow.

CBPA faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members聽participated in the聽annual Drive for Excellence Golf Classic fundraiser at MeadowWood Golf Course. Proceeds from the event fund the Dean’s Leadership Scholarship.

On Aug. 28, 2018, the Center for Entrepreneurship hosted Grow Your Sales With E-Commerce, featuring speakers from Amazon and the Washington Small Business Development聽Center. The free event聽was sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Amazon, and provided small business owners and entrepreneurs with an聽opportunity to hear from experts and local small business owners who shared successes and lessons learned from expanding into the online marketplace.

Two groups of our undergraduate analytics students presented their research papers, and several MIS students demonstrated the PiLAb Security Simulation Projects from Atsushi Inoue’s Information Security Management class. Student presenters included Peter Matson, Molly Mueller, Mason Krupp and Christian Montel.