Recent News
Faculty Accomplishments
Student Accomplishments
COBA in London / Summer of 2008
2009 COBA Alumnus of the Year
COBA Activities
Advisory Board
Faculty Accomplishments
The COBA faculty members are dedicated to serving our students both in and out of the classroom. To improve their teaching in the classroom, the COBA faculty members are involved in faculty development to enrich the classroom experience for their students. Many are leaders in the community through various organizations. All are involved in serving at their local church congregations with many in the roles of teachers, deacons, or elders. The following section lists many of the academic achievements of the COBA faculty over this period.
New Faculty/Staff:
We hired two new faculty members who began in August 2008. In addition, we moved the degree completion program under the direction of COBA which included three people.
Rich Brown was hired as an Associate Professor in Marketing. He came to us from Freed Hardeman University where he has taught for 12 years. He received his Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University, his M.S. in Marketing from Texas A&M, and his B.B.A. degree in marketing from Harding. He is technically a replacement of a faculty member who left at the end of 2007.
Ken Moran was hired as an Assistant Professor in Finance. He also came to us from Freed Hardeman University where he had taught for 4 years and was directing their finance program. Prior to Freed, he worked 18 years in the banking industry. He completed his M.B.A. and M.A. in finance from the College of William and Mary. He is a Ph.D. candidate from Northcentral University. As part of our new finance degree this year, Ken was hired as our finance teacher to direct this new program.
Glen Metheny was hired as the Director of our newly established "Center for Business Professional Studies." This center runs our MBA program and our degree completion program. Glen previously directed the degree completion program as it was under the direction of the College of Education. Glen ran this program for one year and has ten years previous experience in the admissions office of Harding University. Glen has his MBA from Harding University.
Naomi Valentine was hired as the Administrative Assistant to the Center for Business Professional Studies. She reports directly to Glen Metheny and supports the activities of both programs. Naomi came to us from First Security Bank in Searcy. She has her B.B.A. degree from Harding University.
This was our first year to have two visiting guest faculty members on our campus from China. As part of our agreement with the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in Guangzhou, China, we can receive one visiting faculty member from their university for every 10 students that come to Harding. The two visiting faculty members were Dr. Dong Junwu and Dr. Porter Chan. Dr. Dong was on our campus for 3 months in the spring semester and Dr. Porter was on our campus for 40 days. They audited classes, gave special presentations, and performed research while on our campus.
The COBA Teacher Achievement Award (TAA) was presented to Dr. Allen Frazier. Although we have awarded a teacher of the year award in COBA for many years, this was our second year under this new university program. The COBA faculty nominated faculty members to be considered for this award. This included: Allen Frazier, Lori Sloan, Reet Cronk, Randy McLeod, and George Oliver. A committee was then formed to review more detailed supporting information to select the COBA TAA. This award with a $5,000 cash gift was presented at the University Faculty/Staff dinner in April.
Some of the accomplishments of Dr. Allen Frazier include:
- Excellent in the classroom with one of the highest teacher evaluations in COBA
- Faculty sponsor of the 2009 SAM Case Team who placed 1st this year
- Faculty co-sponsor of numerous Governor's Cup Business Plan teams over the last several years. This includes 3rd place in 2008, 1st place in 2007, and 1st place in 2006, 2nd place in 2005.
- Faculty sponsor of the SAM business club
- Directs our Leadership Seminar each year
- Chair of our Management Program in COBA
- Co-leading our COBA London program this coming summer ‘09
- Scholarly presentations at the annual SAM Conference for the last three years
- Involved in business consultation in the Searcy business community with a focus on financial services
- Faculty co-sponsor of the Harding University Student Association
- Deacon at the College church of Christ where he teaches a Wednesday night bible study for the youth group and co-teaches a Sunday morning bible class for college students, as well as leads singing in church on a regular basis
Student Accomplishments:
Phi Beta Lambda (PBL):
Members of Harding University’s chapter of Phi Beta Lambda, a national intercollegiate business organization, won awards in their respective events in the annual Phi Beta Lambda Competition in Hot Springs in May 2009. COBA had a strong year with seven students finishing in the top three places in nine areas as follows:
Jason Hodges – Business Law
Matt Mauney – Information Management / Cyber Security
Taylor Box – Financial Analysis and Decision Making / Economic Analysis and Decision Making
John Pounders – Microeconomics
Erica Greers – Marketing Concepts
Allen Henry – Computer Concepts
Michael Kruse – Macroeconomics
These students traveled to Anaheim, CA to compete in the national competition on June 21. Matt Mauney won 2nd place at this national competition in the area of Information Management.
Delta Mu Delta:
The Delta Mu Delta Honor Society in Business Administration provides academic recognition to our top performers in the classroom. Invitations are sent to the top 20% of our juniors, seniors, and graduate students from the College of Business. We had 51 students who accepted this invitation and were inducted based on their academic performance. Following our Induction Ceremony dinner, Scott Finley of Farmers Insurance provided a keynote address to our students. Scott is one of the top .5% of their agents in the United States.
One of our students, Leslie Wilkinson, won a $1,000 scholarship from Delta Mu Delta in the summer of 2008. This was announced at the national convention in New Orleans. She was one of 16 students from across the nation who was selected through the application for this national scholarship. Leslie is from Bentonville, AR and is a senior accounting major.
Society for the Advancement of Management (SAM):
The Harding SAM team won first place in the 2009 International Conference and Case Competition in Las Vegas, NV in March 2009! This was the highest placing in this competition in many years. The SAM team competed against over twenty other universities in the undergraduate division of the case competition. In their division was Villanova (3rd place) and Flagler College (2nd place) who had won 5 of the last 6 years. Our entry was comprised of a written strategic plan accompanied by an oral presentation in front of a panel of judges. The team members presented the trophy to the Harding University president in chapel.
The team members were: Catie Burleson, Nicole McNalty, Brice Priestly, Beranguelly Pagoada, and Paige Parkey.
Business Plan Competition:
Harding business students have developed a strong reputation for their entrepreneurship in the Arkansas Capital Corporation Business Plan Competition. In this year's competition (9th annual), over 30 business plans were submitted from students in universities all over the state. Two of our undergraduate teams made the top 12 in the state (semi-finalist category). One of these teams was a finalist in the innovation category. Although we have placed in prior years, we did not have a team place in the top three this year. The awards luncheon was held in the Little Rock Convention Center with Governor Mike Beebe. The event chairman was Karl Kennedy, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer for Riceland Foods. The keynote speaker was Richard Greubel, Jr., Group Vice President and International President of Tyson Foods. The Harding recipients for this year were as follows:
Semi-finalist and Innovation Finalist: Light Foot
Team members: Austen Grate, Jessica Khoury, Keenan Kitchen, Jordan Pence
Sponsors: Allen Frazier and Mike Emerson
"Light Foot will offer money conscientious drivers a cost efficient alternative to maximizing fuel efficiency in a world of volatile gas prices. The company will continue to research and develop more ways of maximizing vehicle fuel efficiency according to anticipated industrial and consumer needs."
Semi-finalist team: Lights Out
Team members: Stephen Etchison, Nicole McNalty, Matt Slagter, Becky Townsend
Sponsors: Allen Frazier and Mike Emerson
"Lights Out will utilize today's technology to develop tomorrow's new home electrical systems. The quality alternative systems will provide a substantial, value-added feature to new homes and will provide energy savings to the homeowner through electrical efficiency.
Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE):
The Harding SIFE team is involved in projects and activities throughout the year that culminates in a report and presentation in the regional competition. This group is many times referred to as our Economics Team. SIFE is an international non-profit organization active on over 1,800. Our team was heavily involved in numerous projects all year long. They worked with businesses in town, presented several lessons on free enterprise to local schools, hosted various seminars on campus, and held several panels on topics such as resumes and success planning. They competed in the Regional Students In Free Enterprise Competition held in Bentonville, AR. They placed third in this regional competition. Although this was a great success, this did not qualify them to compete at the national competition.
Our Economics team has a strong competition history with 25 past regional victories, six national first place trophies, and six other first runner-up trophies since 1975. In the past 25 years, the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, PA has presented the Harding Economics program 16 awards in the categories of private enterprise education, advertising and public affairs, non-profit publications and platform address.
This year's team members were: Ryan Moody (Co-Captain), Claire Dunnagan (Co-Captain), Jessie Sears, Michael Crouch, Beth Featherstone, Estafany Estrada, Marcy Hammons, Sam Cofer, Brian Inloes, and Derek Glover.
American Marketing Association (AMA):
The Harding AMA Case Team earned a semi-finalist position in the national AMA competition held in New Orleans. This was the second year in a row for our team to earn this position. There were 41 schools involved in this competition with University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) winning first. This is a tremendous accomplishment for our students.
The student members of the case team were: Diego Alvarado, Chris Miller, Jarrod Turbeville, Laura Walker, Lina Ramirez, Shane O'Conner, Greg Moore, Bethany Smith and Lucy Velasquez. The team sponsor was Rees Jones who is an adjunct faculty member who works at Simmons First BAnk in Searcy. Four of these students traveled to New Orleans with Jones and Sloan for the national conference to be part of the convention and to receive our certificate.
COBA in London / Summer of 2008
COBA in London Summer Program: We had 14 students spend 4 weeks in London in the summer of 2008 and then enjoy two weeks of free travel. Utilizing business faculty, the curriculum, activities, and travel focus primarily on our global view of business in London, the world's financial and commercial center. Mike Emerson directed this program. Bob Reely was our other faculty sponsor for this year.
This trip included numerous field trips through our various contacts and alumni connections. The agenda included business trips to Tate and Lyle, Wimbledon, Conoco/Phillips, Asda, and British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The cultural events included Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, Museum of London, Dover Castle, British Museum, Windsor Castle, Tower of London, and Buckingham Palace. The students also had free time in London for additional sightseeing events. The majority of students used their two-week Eurail pass to travel across Europe at the conclusion of the London stay.
COBA in London - Fall Semester. We have been hosting a summer program for many years. Harding has been hosting a fall London program in the "odd" numbered years. As such, COBA saw an opportunity and a demand to run our COBA in London program for a full semester beginning in Fall 2008. Dr. Jim Shelton agreed to sponsor this new program. The new program followed the typical full-semester format, but incorporated more business activities, tours, and discussions. The students recruited for this first program were sophomores and juniors. We did not require the students to be business majors so several other disciplines joined the group.
Application: Application of admission to COBA at HUE must be made through the International Programs Office under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey T. Hopper. Applicants must be students in COBA with a minimum of 2.0 GPA on 27 semester hours. There is a $300 non-refundable application fee.
Further Information: Contact any of the COBA faculty or the International Programs Office at (501) 279-4529, HU Box 10754, located in the Sears Honor Center on the Harding University campus.Harding University
College of Business Administration
915 E. Market Street
HU Box 10774
Searcy, AR 72149-0774
COBA Chapel. As part of the university daily chapel programs, the chapel committee selected the spring semester for three departmental chapel programs. The students and faculty of the College of Business met in the Administration Auditorium on three separate occasions. The chapel programs were as follows:
February 2009: Lynn Wright, Executive VP at Regions Bank in Little Rock, AR to talk about the current economic crisis.
March 2009: Economic Development concentration with Harding Character Initiative.
April 2009: Gentry Tomlinson, top loan officer for Regions Bank in 16 state region.
Meet the Firms. This was our second year for our "Meet the Firms" event. In September 2008, our accounting department in conjunction with our university Career Center hosted an accounting job fair for our students. We expanded into another room this year to extend interviews to information technology majors. Hosted in the Cone Chapel, seventeen different accounting firms and private companies from five different states set up tables and visited with our accounting majors during an afternoon session. Several firms set up interviews for our students either on campus or in their office. This event was a tremendous success for our program. Dr. Phil Brown, Chair of Accounting, was the primary driver for this event.
Accounting Senior Blessing. For the past several years, our accounting faculty have held a separate event for our graduating accounting students and their families. Held prior to the COBA graduation reception the night before graduation, our accounting faculty read specific blessings from the scriptures for each of our graduates and a prayer for their future. This has proved to be a special time for our students, their families, and our faculty.
VITA Program: Under the direction of David Allen, our Acct 306 (Tax II) class worked in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA). These students prepare tax returns in a professional atmosphere for "real clients." These students prepared over 200 tax returns for people in the White County area. In order to assist others they had to spend many hours in learning and preparation.
Leadership Seminar:
We had 24 senior business majors attend this seminar held at Big Cedar Lodge near Branson, MO (approximately 180 miles north of Searcy). The agenda included speakers, discussions, presentations, and other exciting activities. Allen Frazier directed this seminar. Our speakers this year were as follows:
Joan Bell, Vice President of First Federal Bank in Harrison, AR
Nancy Roberson, Vice President of American Fidelity Insurance, Inc.
Paul Carter, former president of Wal-Mart Realty
Steve Hunter, Wal-Mart BenefitsDoug Walker, Senior VP for UDR
Dr. David Burks, President of Harding University
Jeff Hearn, Entrepreneur and Owner of several companies
Bryan Burks, Dean of COBAGeorge Oliver, Professor of Management
Allen Frazier, Chair of Management ProgramBryan Burks, Dean of COBA
George Oliver, Management Professor
Al Frazier, Director of Leadership Seminar and Chair of Management Program
2008 COBA Alumnus of the Year:
Steve Clary
Presented at the Black and Gold Banquet on homecoming weekend in October 2008, COBA honored Steve Clary as our 2008 COBA Alumnus of the Year. Steve is the Owner and CEO of Clary Development Corporation in Little Rock, AR. For more than 20 years, he has been involved in the ownership, development, leasing, management, and syndication of real estate having an aggregate value in excess of $600 million. He is a founding partner in Clary Holdings, LLP, and a founding member of Evest Group, LLC. He also serves as chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer for Tipaz, Inc. He is a member of the board of directors for SkyPort International Inc. and Virtual Applications Partners, LLC. and is on the board of trustees for Central Arkansas Christian Schools. Additionally, he has served on the Harding University Board of Trustees since 2004 and is a member of the University Builder's Circle and President's Council. He is a graduate from 1974. He and his wife, Cindy, are members of Pleasant Valley Church of Christ where he serves as an elder and teaches Bible class.
Business Club Cookout:
This annual event kicks off the year by providing opportunities for our students to get involved in our business clubs. We had a tremendous turnout by our students and excellent presentations by our business clubs.
Senior Ethics Seminar. One of our goals for the year was to reinstate our traditional senior ethics seminar under the format from many years ago. This included cancelling classes for one day and having all of our senior business majors attend a special seminar dedicated to them. We met in February this year at Camp Wyldewood. Our focus was on making a difference through economic development opportunities. Ethics is about making the right choices, so we challenged our students to think internationally about their future career choices and opportunities to get involved with the talents with which God has blessed them. Our keynote speakers were Brett Raymond and Clint Davis. Brett has been heavily involved in the work in Tibet, China and Clint has been heavily involved in service in Jinja, Africa. In addition to their keynote presentations, the seminar included a breakfast, lunch, and door prizes. A committee was formed in the prior year to plan this event and they will continue their plans for the coming year.
COBA Celebration Awards Banquet. Dinner guests included the award recipients and their families, business club officers, members of our various competition teams, business mission students, faculty and staff with their spouses, and a few special guests of COBA. A year-in-review presentation was made by Dean Burks highlighting our activities and accomplishments of the academic year to date. Steve Clary, owner and CEO of Clary Development Corporation in Little Rock, AR, provided our keynote address. Steve and his wife, Cindy, are members of Pleasant Valley Church of Christ where he serves as an elder and teaches bible class. Clary is a 1974 graduate of COBA and received our alumni of the year award in 2008.
Business Etiquette Dinner:
Lori Sloan has been holding an etiquette dinner for her ethics course (BUS 435) for several years. This was our second year to expand this dinner for the COBA student body. Approximately 70 students attended the dinner at Ann's Bridal in Searcy. As the students ate, they were provided instructions and guidelines for proper business etiquette. They also received written materials.
COBA/ASI co-sponsored Presentation of Truett Cathy. Senior business students were invited to a reception and the dinner prior to the presentation in the Benson Auditorium. Truett Cathy founded Chick-fil-A, a company built on Christian values. The company is known for their college education program for their employees, other charitable donations to the community, and being closed on Sunday so their employees can attend church services. His presentation was a tremendous success and numerous books that he had published were sold at discounted
COBA Graduation Receptions:
COBA hosts a reception for our graduating seniors and their families every May and December. The December reception was held in our lobby while the May reception was moved to the 2nd floor of the American Heritage Center. This was a wonderful opportunity to spend a few more moments with our students and meet their families before they left Harding University.
Advisory Board:
COBA established our advisory board in the fall semester of 2003. The purpose of this group is a purely advisory role to assist the COBA executive committee in directing the future of COBA. In addition, the advisory board members will assist in locating firms to recruit COBA students (both full-time and internships), promote the name of Harding and specifically COBA, and assist in providing feedback for our programs. We had seven alumni accept this responsibility for our first advisory board and we are excited about their future service to COBA and our students.
The current ten advisory board members are as follows:
Ryan Blickenstaff ’88 alumnus Nashville, TN
Corporate Controller, Homeland Security CorporationPersonal Bio: Ryan’s previous work experience included 11 years at Nortel Networks located in Nashville, TN. He progressed from senior financial analyst of consolidations, to controller of processing services, to liaison of Perot Systems, an outsource arm of Nortel’s four computing platforms with the challenge of reducing overall platform costs. Ryan’s initial work experience was at Ernst & Young in Little Rock upon graduation from Harding University. Following E&Y, Ryan graduated from Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University where he obtained his MBA in finance and graduated in the top 15% of his class. Ryan, his wife Beth, their two children, Baylor and Belle, attend the Brentwood Hills church of Christ.
Brant Bryan ’77 alumnus Dallas, TX
Private Investor, CRESA Partners
Personal Bio: Brant is a founding leader of CRESA Partners, specialist in creative and efficient financing of facilities through leasing, purchases, joint ventures and other financial structures. His previous experience was at The Staubach Company where he provided both financial and real estate leadership for projects of major corporations throughout the country, including Phillips, Sun Microsystems, Cisco Systems, CVS Drugstores, Chiron, Genentech, Texas Instruments and 7-11. After graduating from Harding University, Brant was Harding’s first student to graduate with an MBA from Harvard University. Brant and his wife, Melita (’79), attend the Richardson East church of Christ. They have five children of which 2 are current students at Harding (Jonathan and Lauren). See story below Brant Bryan Adjunct Lecturer.
Brooks Davis ’89 alumnus, Searcy, AR
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President of Simmons First Bank of Searcy
Personal Bio: Brooks Davis was named president and CEO of Simmons First Bank of Searcy in 2001. Davis joined Simmons Bank of Searcy in 1995 after working five years for First National Bank and Trust (now Arvest) in Rogers, AR. He has been heavily involved in the Searcy community over the years through his roles in Kiwanis Club, Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of Searcy Leadership Institute, White County United Way Board, Harding President’s Council, past-president of Harding Bison Booster Club, and past-president of Downtown Searcy Association. Davis and his wife Jill (Smith) have three children, Jace, Trey, and Ally. He is a member of the College church of Christ where he serves as deacon of prayer ministry, as well as an adult bible class teacher.
Dave Finley '87 alumnus Highland Village, TX
CEO, LeadsOnline, LLC.Personal Bio: Dave Finley is the president and CEO of LeadsOnline, a web-based investigation system enabling law enforcement investigators to solve crimes. The company is currently the nation's largest online investigative system currently being used by law enforcement agencies to solve crimes involving property - from burglary to homicide, arson, identity theft and narcotics crimes. Dave received his Bachelor's degree in Business from Harding University and went on to get his Masters in Management from the University of Dallas and his MBA in Finance from Texas A&M University. Before joining LeadsOnline, Dave helped lead a publicly traded company in the Silicon Valley to 60,000 subscribers and 350 employees. The organization exceeded Wall Street's estimates and was purchased by DIRECTV in 2001. Dave also supports the CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) program as an advocate for children who find themselves in the court system through no fault of their own. Dave and his wife, Deb, have two children. They live in Dallas, Texas.
Jeff Hearn ’82 alumnus Harrison, AR
Owner/Manager of several H&R Block Financial Services and Radio Shacks
Personal Bio: Graduating from Harding in 1982 with an accounting degree, Jeff has demonstrated his entrepreneurial spirit through his numerous business endeavors over the years. He purchased his first H & R Block office in December 1985 in Harrison and has since opened seven additional HRB offices in Arkansas, Missouri, and Colorado. He is Chairman of the Board of The North Star Companies, a diversified holding company of 12 different franchises. He has developed real estate for residential subdivisions and has a controlling interest in a large U-Haul franchise, owns three Radio Shack franchises, A Plus Computers Inc., and is a Tom’s Foods franchise owner serving 10 counties in AR and MO. He is an avid investor of commercial and residential real estate including a number of apartment buildings, and has purchased over 700 storage units in AR. He also owns an aircraft leasing company in northwest Arkansas. He and his wife, Cyndie, have two children, Rebekah and Hannah, and are members of the Northside church of Christ where he has served as deacon for many years.
Jim House ’66 alumnus Searcy, AR
President, CEO of USAble Life
Personal Bio: Jim has held the title of President and Chief Executive Officer since 1985. Prior to that, Jim had a distinguished career with Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield as a sales representative beginning in 1967. He received promotions through his career to Regional Sales Manager, General Sales Manager, Vice President of Marketing, and later Executive Vice President. Jim serves on the Board of Directors for numerous organizations such as Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce, Junior Achievement of Arkansas, and Arkansans for Drug Free Youth. Jim has served as an adjunct professor for Harding on numerous occasions over the last 15 years. Jim was award the COBA Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1991. Jim and his wife, Sue (’70), attend Downtown church of Christ where he serves as a deacon. They have three children, Matthew, Ashley, and Jordan, all graduates of Harding University.
Paul Maynard ’87 alumnus Minneapolis, MN
Partner, Deloitte Touche
Personal Bio: Paul resides in Woodbury, Minnesota with his wife, Robin (Ross and HU class of '87) and three children Allie (10), Matthew (4), Jacob (2). Paul is a partner at Deloitte and Touche where he is the national account leader for several companies including Cargill, General Mills and Land O' Lakes. The Maynards are active in the Woodbury Church of Christ where Paul is a deacon, small group leader, bible class teacher and worship/song leader. Paul is involved with community organizations such as Flaming Pine Youth Camp (a non-profit summer youth camp) and Friends of FANA, Minnesota (adoption and orphanage support). Paul is active in politics at the national level as a part of President Bush's national fundraising team and at the local level where he served as the grass-roots coordinator for the Bush Campaign in Woodbury and as a part of the fundraising team for Congressman Mark Kennedy.
Todd McCullough ’84 alumnus, Franklin, TN
Managing Director and CFO of Doblin, Chicago, IL
Personal Bio: coming soon...
Donnie Miller ’71 alumnus, Searcy, AR
President of Regions Bank of Searcy
Personal Bio: coming soon...
Mona Plyler ’77 alumnus Tuscaloosa, AL
Advertising and Sales Promotions Manager, Phifer Wire Products, Inc
Personal Bio: As a Public Relations major from Harding, Mona has taken her high energy and enthusiasm to work for Phifer, an international industrial textile manufacturer with locations in Korea, Italy, California, and Florida. She has been heavily involved in her community through the Tuscaloosa League of Business and Professional Women, West End Christian High School Alumni Association, Guatemala Partners of America, Tuscaloosa Ad Club, American Heart Association, Alabama and Tuscaloosa CattleWomen Association, Alabama Girl State Counselor, and United Way. She has also been heavily involved at Central church of Christ where she and her husband, Mark, attend.
