Tabor College Business Department Journal

It’s a new semester here at Tabor College and business classes are back in session. A variety of courses are being offered this spring, teaching students ethics, international business, auditing, and other important business concepts.

Professor Norm Hope’s class, Business Policy and Ethics, is learning through Chip Ingram’s videos titled “How to Find the Job of Your Dreams.” These videos teach the students that they are all ministers called to a person (Jesus), a purpose (being conformed to His likeness), a people (the body of Christ), a process (impacting and influencing for the cause of Christ), and a place (the location where we carry out the process).  Ingram encourages students to work as if working for the Lord, thinking of Jesus as their boss, and doing their best to please Him.

The Intermediate Accounting class has been working on the concept of debt transactions and is beginning to learn about equity. They previously covered stockholder’s equity and are now considering accounting for convertible securities, stock compensation plans, and earnings per share. Another accounting course, Auditing, has been looking at the nature of audits as well as how to plan an audit.

In the Management Information Systems course, Tabor professor Norm Hope is teaching students the nature of hardware and software systems, factors to consider in selecting such systems, overviewed database management systems, and database management.

Dr. Jayakar Dalavai’s Production and Operations Management class is developing a new project plan to widen the 13-mile road county road by using project management software and viewing videos on project management at Arnold Palmer’s hospital. Another class of Dr. Dalavai’s, Microeconomics, is currently discussing externalities, the positive and negative actions made through personal or public decisions that impact the society.

The Banking and Financial Markets class is learning how banks operate as well as studying major components of DOW Jones Industries and NASDAQ. The Introduction to International Business class is learning the business practices of multinational corporations in changing global markets as well as their strategies to successfully maneuver through the undercurrents of those markets.

The Business Club will hold an event for students at the end of the month to discuss club activities. The event will be February 26^th at 7:00 PM in the Wohlgemuth Building Lobby where a guest speaker will share with students over a pizza dinner.

Jesse Schumacher submitted his resignation from Tabor in June, believing that God was calling his family elsewhere. God did just that. Through much prayer and time spent in devotions, Jesse and Andrea felt that they were being called  to the Basque region of Spain.

While attending a church conference in Fort Wayne this summer the Schumachers ran into a director for their denominational conference and decided to meet and discuss possibilities. There were some long-term denominational employees at the conference that would be home on American assignment from January through early August and there was a need for someone to fill in while they were gone. While meeting with the director and talking about different things happening around the world, Jesse said the conversation always came back to the Basque region. They then knew that God was calling them there. The denominational director invited Jesse to join him in Spain for two weeks. The only problem was that Jesse had only two weeks to obtain a passport before they were scheduled to leave. Fortunately, he found a way to get a passport in one day and everything was set for Jesse to go to Europe for the first time.

Jesse’s time in Basque country confirmed God’s call for his family to move there. God showed him how they would fit into the community and how he had prepared them for service in this new season of their lives.

Now Jesse and his family are preparing for their move to Spain. They are raising funds this fall to make their trip possible. In February they will move to Donostia (San Sebastian), Spain and will return at the very end of July. The entire family is excited about the move. Jesse said that this trip will give them the opportunity to try it out before committing to a 3-year term—the normal commitment for missionaries in the conference.

More detailed information about Jesse Schumacher’s journey can be found in Jesse’s blog, http://www.fiveshoe.com.

Lily Arthur says that for her, teaching is a ministry. Lily has taught at Tabor for six years and currently teaches Financial Accounting and Managerial Accounting. She works at Adams Brown Beran and Ball, the CPA Firm in Hillsboro. Though she once lived in Minneapolis, KS, Lily graduated from Tabor in 1996 and received her master’s from TC Wichita. She believes that teaching is her ministry because she has the opportunity to reach and relate to students that others may not be able to. Lily is very involved elsewhere on campus as she keeps the stats for the baseball team, makes all the theatre costumes, is a mentor for women’s mentoring and is  the Yearbook Advisor. At first Lily wasn’t sure that being a teacher was in line with her personality but she saw God weaving it into her life as a way for her to bless others. Her top five strengths on StrengthsQuest are Individualization, Responsibility, Discipline, Arranger, and Relator. These strengths are wonderful for a teacher to have because they show that Lily cares about her students individually and really wants to see them understand and succeed. The basic accounting equation is still “assets = liability + equity,” but this year Lily is experimenting new ways to teach accounting ethics in her classroom. She wants to try specific issue debates to show students real ethical questions that they may come into contact with in life. When asked about her favorite part of teaching, Lily said, “Tabor was special for me…I want to give back, do for Tabor what it did for me.” We are very blessed to have Lily working with our department.

Another year has come and gone and there are changes a foot in the Tabor College Business Department.  Last Spring, Dave Kroeker was given the opportunity to move to the athletic department full time.  He is now the track and field coach full time.  Additionally, former business department member Dr. Linda Cantwell left her position as VP of Enrollment Management to accept a similar position at Southern Nazarene University.  Lastly, Professor Jesse Schumacher submitted his resignation during June.  Jesse indicated that he and his family believed that their season at Tabor and in Hillsboro had ended and that God was leading them elsewhere.  This leaves Dr. Jay Dalavai and myself still holding down the fort.  We have asked Lily Arthur and Bruce Bostic to help us out in the meantime this fall.  Jesse had already planned to be gone on a sabbatical leave, so he was not scheduled to teach this fall.  We will be starting a search process to replace Jesse this fall in hopes that we will have a replacement either by January or next fall.  The administration is still in discussion regarding David’s former position.  They have asked us to do a study to see if the position should stay half time or be moved to full time.  If you or anyone you know of know of have interest in coming and joining us as faculty in the program, please send a resume and associated materials to Dr. Frank Johnson, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Tabor College, 400 S. Jefferson Street, Hillsboro, KS 67063.

The Tabor College accounting students were visited by the Kansas Society of Public Accountants on March 30. A panel of Certified Public Accountants came to give students a feel for real life examples of how each become a CPA and describe their current jobs. The panel was a mixed group consisting of people from Wichita and McPherson, from small firms and large, and from audit to financial reporting side of accounting. Students also heard about taking the licensure test for a CPA and how to begin studying for this highly specialized test.  Senior ShaRae Wadel said, “I got the opportunity to hear first hand from people in the accounting field in their current jobs and how being a CPA could advance my career.”

On April 14th, the business club heard from the etiquette guru himself. Pat Pasci, director of restaurant management at Kansas State University came to Tabor campus and led a meal presentation in proper etiquette technique. The students were served food and Pasci walk the students through the procedures of dining properly from start to finish.  He answered many tough questions that students throw at him along the way and challenged the students to take dinning seriously.  “People don’t sit down at meals like they used to when I was a kid. I practiced etiquette every night. Many students now need to be trained in how to dine.” When the meal was finished students had a full stomach and confidence in how to handle their next business lunch or dinner interview.

The upperclassmen are going to get feed well this spring. The annual junior pancake breakfast will be on April 26th this year. Junior’s get to wake up early and have their professors cook for them! I’m sure it will be yummy! The seniors have their luncheon on May 4th. They will be celebrating in the blue gold room and it will be catered by Mary Bostic from the Tabor Cafeteria.

Students are getting back into the swing of things with two weeks of class finished and most of the snow melted from our 20 inch accumulation over the 8th and 9th of February.   Students got to take the 9th off from classes and many helped the community shovel driveways as part of a campus shoveling drive.

Back in the classroom, the business professors are bringing in many speakers this semester to help give students a fresh perspective in today’s business world. These speakers are from a variety of backgrounds and have different focuses.

Dr. Jayakar Dalavai is having speaker Tom Paulson come to his international class on February 22nd. Paulson comes from an engineering background and has had the opportunity to work on several international projects.  This is great because students get  to hear first hand about the global market.

The accounting students will hear from the Kansas Society of Public Accountants: The Up and Coming Professionals on March 30th in the Wohlgemuth Lobby at 7:00 PM.  Students will learn from the 2011 leadership class their experience with becoming a certified public accountant and about the process of taking the test to get certified. This is a great opportunity for students to hear first hand from their peers on what is needed to become a professional in the field of accounting.

Business Seniors will hear from Daryl Nikkel in their Business Policy and Ethics Class. Nikkel is the director of recruitment and selection services  from Farm Credit Services. He will focus his presentations on the present labor market and the agriculture sector,  specifically in relation to Farm Credit Services.

Tabor business professor, Norm Hope will be responding to the keynote at a Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) event on March 26th at Prairie View in Newton, Kansas. Leading the Sessions is David B. Miller of the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS). Miller’s topic is how business leaders and pastors can connect meaningfully with each other to jointly contribute to “God-Activity” both in and out of the congregation. Several others will be speaking including: Heidi Regier Kreider of  Bethel College Mennonite Church), Lee Schmucker of Schmucer Training and Consulting,  Tim Penner of Harper Industries, and Terry Shue of Mennonite Church USA.

Tabor Business students took a trip to the Wichita Zoo on October 21st. This trip let students not only see the zoo first hand, but also go behind the sense to see how the daily operations of a zoo come together.  Students split up in two groups to tour areas normally not open to the public. These areas included the vet hospital where animals get medical attention, a containment area for new animals brought to the zoo, and commissary where the food is prepared for the animals.  After the tours, Vickie Moore the Chief Financial Officer addressed the Tabor Students. She explained the business structure of the Sedgwick County Zoo and budgeting for the zoo.  Business Professor David Kroeker said, “There are many different types of organizations for students to apply their business knowledge, the zoo is one of those organizations that you don’t traditionally about.”

For those of you who are into geocaching, see if you can find the hidden treasure on the Tabor campus.

This cache was hidden by the Tabor College Business Studies department for your enjoyment.

N 38° 20.968 W 097° 11.938

38.34946  -97.19897

N 38° 20′ 58.0560″ W 97° 11′ 56.2920″

Jesse Schumacher’s MIS class launched another weather balloon this time from the soccer field.  The winds kept the balloon hovering over the Marion Resevor and in sight of faculty and students on campus.  The group even had the experience of witnessing the balloon popping overhead.  Attached are pictures from the flight.

Here is the projected flight path represented by the purple line and the black and white squares represent the actual path.