J. K. Reaves ‘93 FIN, a Certified Financial Planner, Accredited Estate Planner of Kernersville, has qualified for the exclusive “Top of the Table” of the Million Dollar Round Table-the Premier Association of Financial Professionals. Reaves is a 12-year MDRT member, a four-time Court of the Table and a two-time Top of the Table qualifier.

Eric Clonch ‘97 MKT was recently recognized as the 4th quarter 2007 Sterling Performer for Financial Center Leaders in BB&T’s Western Region. This is his fifth consecutive year of quarterly or annual Sterling Performance recognition.

Steven Vincent ‘07 CIS recently accepted the position of Vice President at The Computer Guys, LLC located in North Augusta, SC. He has also recently earned his Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer certification.

Anne (Turnmyre) Moser ‘01 MGT was recently selected with 15 others from the U.S. to attend the Toyota Material Handling Dealership Leadership Forum, led by the CEO and President of Toyota Material Handling USA. The agenda will focus on the History of Toyota and the Principles of Executive Management and Leadership.

Brett Berrier ‘97 FIN, financial advisor with the Osborn-Berrier Group at Smith Barney, has received the honor of being selected to Smith Barney’s Presidents Council. The council recognizes the top Financial Advisors in the firm for their dedication, service and commitment to their clients.

Dan R. Eudy ‘74 ECO has joined Bermuda-based RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. as Senior Vice President of the Glencoe Group, which conducts the organization’s Individual Risk business. Eudy most recently served as CEO of Industrial Risk Insurers, which he joined in 1996 as Chief Underwriting Officer before being promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 2000 and CEO in 2001.

Dawn Medlin, who joined the faculty at Appalachian State in 1988, has been named chairperson of the Department of Computer Information Systems. She had served as interim chair of the department since July 2007.

“Dawn Medlin has done an excellent job as interim chair in the Department of Computer Information Systems,” said Dr. Randy Edwards, dean of the Walker College of Business. “I am confident that she will continue to do an excellent job as chair in that department.”

An associate professor in the department, Medlin has an Ed.D. from Virginia Tech and a master’s and bachelor’s degree from Appalachian.

She has worked at Appalachian since 1988, first as a lecturer in the Walker College of Business, then as director of multimedia services, assistant professor and associate professor in the Department of Computer and Information Systems.

Medlin’s teaching, research, and consulting activities have primarily been in the areas of security, health care information systems, Web page development and design, and the interaction between computers and people.

She has published her research in journals such as the Journal of Computer Information Systems, International Journal of Information Security and Privacy, Journal of Information Technology Research and Journal of Information Privacy and Security, as well as other national and international publications.

Medlin has served on the college’s undergraduate curriculum committee, assessment committee and honors advisory committee.

Western North Carolina’s economic activity remains weak, falling 0.2 percent in March and erasing earlier gains during the first two months of the year. That’s according to the monthly WNC Economic Index, compiled within the Walker College of Business at Appalachian State.

A full report is here.

“We had some positive movement during the first two months of the year, but that was wiped out by the losses in March,” said Todd Cherry, an author of the report. Cherry is a professor of economics at Appalachian.

“The regional economy continues to teeter on the edge of a recession, but the main story is the magnitude and persistence of the economic weaknesses,” he said. “Recessions are designed by negative growth. The actual growth rate reveals much more.”

Cherry says the region’s job losses are troubling. “Looking at the employment numbers from the first quarter, Western North Carolina is not holding up as well as the rest of the state,” he said. “The region lost nearly 3,000 jobs, or 0.5 percent of the workforce, during the first quarter of 2008. The state lost about 13,500 jobs, but that represents 0.3 percent of the statewide workforce.”

Seasonally adjusted employment for WNC fell 0.25 percent in March, and declined 0.50 percent in the first quarter of 2008.

Bobby Martin ‘92 ECO, co-founder of First Research, was honored on campus last week with the Appalachian Alumni Association’s Young Alumni Award. The award was presented April 25 during a banquet at the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center on campus.

Since its founding, First Research has evolved from a staff of five people in 1999 to a company of more than 40 today. It is headquartered in Raleigh with satellite offices in Charlotte and Wilmington.

The company has attracted more than 75,000 users, including ADP (Automatic Data Processing Inc.), Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Microsoft, Sprint and Wachovia.

Martin also has led strategic business development efforts at the company, resulting in relationships with Microsoft, Reuters, Sage Software, Salesforce.com and others.

In March, First Research was acquired by Dun & Bradstreet and now is part of Hoover’s, a Dun & Bradstreet company. Martin maintains his position as president at First Research and is actively involved in the stand-alone product as well as the integrated product with Hoover’s.

Martin and his wife, Gloria, have two children: Jayne Beth and Sanders.

Dr. Scott Hunsinger (left) and Matthew Saunders display second place trophy

For the second consecutive year, Appalachian State’s Association of Information Technology Professionals’ (AITP) student chapter won or placed at the AITP National Collegiate Conference. It was held last weekend in Memphis. Approximately 700 people attended the conference, including 13 ASU students and their faculty advisor, Dr. Scott Hunsinger.

Matthew Saunders, a senior Computer Information Systems major, won second place in the Undergraduate Papers competition. A record number of students entered the competition, and the judges said that the quality of the papers were the best they have seen since the conference began 13 years ago.

Last year, ASU AITP students Jessica Russ and Ashley Holt won both first and second place, respectively, in the papers competition at the national conference.

“It’s great to see our students competing for national championships at ASU in both athletics and academics,” said Hunsinger.

Two other ASU AITP students, John Keels and Paul Visentin, earned the Associate Computing Professional (ACP) certification at the conference. Only 17 students from a total of 74 schools earned this certification.

The club looks forward to attending next year’s conference in Oklahoma City.

Bryan Toney, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, is one of six individuals who will be honored this fall with the W.H. Plemmons Leadership Medallion. The award recognizes “recipients’ contributions to the betterment of students’ lives outside the classroom.”

Toney has been an instructor in the Walker College of Business for 10 years. He has provided significant assistance to many students who want to start a business when they graduate. He also has led a number of study abroad trips, which has broadened students’ experiences relating to other cultures and enhanced their knowledge of international business.

“Bryan seems to be an endless source of ideas on developing new projects and programs that will benefit students and motivate them to take their learning further,” a nominator wrote.

The medallions will be presented during Convocation Sept. 4.

Walker College professor Dr. Richard E. Crandall and his son, UNC Pembroke business professor Dr. William “Rick” Crandall, have co-written a new book, “New Methods of Competing in the Global Marketplace: Critical Success Factors from Service and Manufacturing.” The book focuses on business trends in the service and manufacturing sectors, with an emphasis on “the need for organizations to change.”

The ASU News Bureau has more details.

The result of this changing business environment is an interesting phenomenon. Manufacturing companies are looking more like service companies and service companies are utilizing more tools from manufacturing. To prove his point, Crandall cites the example of IBM. “Originally, IBM was a manufacturing company. Today, they look more like a service company,” he said.

The book is available at amazon.com.

Emphasizing the similarities between the two components, the book vividly describes this vanishing boundary and shows how the techniques used in one field can be adapted for effective use in the other. It describes how management and manufacturing programs can be personalized to fit individual needs and can be successfully implemented through technology innovations, infrastructure realignments, and cultural adjustments.

The authors describe the steps necessary to build an integrated supply chain. They present a novel business input-transformation-output (ITO) model that depicts the basic elements of service operations management and explains how managers use a variety of paths to aid them in the decision making and management of their companies. As a manager, you will find a wealth of practical insight that applies to your business. Stressing the need for knowledge management, this book shows that change is necessary for the future success of all types of organizations.

Appalachian State University’s Walker College of Business has maintained its accreditation of its undergraduate and graduate business programs with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). The Walker College of Business has held AACSB accreditation since 1976.

All AACSB accredited schools must conduct a peer review every five years in order to maintain their accreditation.

“Accreditation by AACSB International is only granted to high-quality business programs in the United States and around the world,” said Walker College of Education Dean Randy Edwards. “This is a great accomplishment for the Walker College of Business and certainly reflects the high quality of the Walker College faculty, staff, and students.”

The reaffirmation of accreditation process included a rigorous internal review and evaluation, during which the college developed and implemented a plan to meet the 21 AACSB standards requiring a high quality teaching environment, a commitment to continuous improvement, and curricula responsive to the needs of business.

Business programs must satisfy the expectations of a wide range of quality standards relating to strategic management of resources, interactions of faculty and students in the educational process, and achievement of learning goals in degree programs. These standards are mission-linked.

During the re-accreditation process, the Walker College of Business was visited and evaluated by business school deans with detailed knowledge of management education, applying accreditation standards that are widely accepted in the educational community.

AACSB International is an association of more than 1,100 educational institutions, businesses and other organizations in 70 countries that are dedicated to the advancement of business education worldwide.

AACSB International is the longest serving and largest global accrediting body for business schools that offer undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degrees in business and accounting. The association also is the business education community’s professional development organization, conducting a wide array of conference and seminar programs at various locations around the world.

For more information, visit www.aacsb.edu.

During the recent Harlen E. Boyles CEO Lecture, the Walker College of Business announced the inauguration of a new professorship. The Duane D. Daggett Endowed Professorship was established thanks to a gift from M. Lee Barnes, Jr. ‘90, a former student of the one-time COB management professor (1986-2000).

Along with the professorship, Room 4018 in Raley Hall has been named the Duane D. Daggett classroom. A plaque with Dr. Dagget’s likeness will hang in the room.

More details here.

During his time at Appalachian, Dr. Daggett was well known for his dynamic personality inside and outside of the classroom. Often leading full study abroad trips to England, Scotland, Norway, Denmark and Italy, Dr. Daggett was constantly involved in student development. He was a faculty sponsor for Delta Chi Fraternity and received the Outstanding Professor Award from the Student Government Association in 1990, 1991 and 1994 through 1997.

Prior to joining the College, Dr. Daggett was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Service Systems Corporation, previously an R.J. Reynolds Industry, and served on the Board of Directors for Southwestern Investment Company, Peter Eckrich & Sons, Security Savings and Loan, Martha White Foods and Tindle Mills. Dr. Daggett received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Iowa and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa.

Spring commencement for the Walker College of Business is scheduled for Sunday, May 11, at 4 p.m. at the Holmes Convocation Center. The featured speaker is Austin Adams ‘65 BS MGT, ‘66 MBA, former executive vice president and corporate CIO of JP Morgan Chase.

Here is the full schedule of Appalachian State University’s spring commencements.

Austin Adams is a 35-year banking veteran. The Boone native spent most of his career overseeing technology and operations during dramatic consolidation in the industry. At JPMorgan Chase, Adams was responsible for technology and operations, managing almost 28,000 employees and a multi-billion dollar budget. Prior to joining JPMorgan Chase, he was executive vice president and CIO of Bank One.

Prior to joining Bank One in 2001, he was CIO at First Union Corporation, now Wachovia Corporation. Adams became the head of technology and operations at First Union in 1985, following the merger with Northwestern Financial Corporation, which he joined in 1973.