CBE faculty receive outstanding awards

Three College of Business and Economics faculty members, who cited their interaction with students as the best part of their jobs, received certificates in recognition of their outstanding performance in advising, teaching and research.

This is CBE Advisor Ellen Schultz’s second time receiving the Outstanding Advisor award, having previously won it in 2004. Schultz was surprised by getting the award because she did not know she could receive it again, but she was also very touched.

Schultz has been at UW-River Falls for 15 years, and she advises 375 to 400 students. Schultz said her style of advising is more developmental than prescriptive.

“I help the students explore the options and resources available to them, set goals and give them the proper tools they need to find answers, but I want the decisions to be their own, so that they are more aware of possible repercussions with their decisions,” Schultz said.

The most important piece of advice Schultz tells all advisees is that college is a full-time job.

“[College] is a 40 hour or more commitment. Daily studying and time management will pay off way more than cramming,” Schultz said.

Schultz’s favorite part of being an advisor is seeing the enthusiasm and hard work of students. Schultz also likes the great campus environment, the people at UWRF, the fact that her job is different everyday and that she gets to continue to learn new things all the time.

Assistant Professor of Marketing and Management and Director of the MBA Program Claire Kilian received the Outstanding Faculty award. Kilian has been at UWRF since 2000 and teaches human resources, ethical leadership and social management courses. Kilian is also the MBA Director where she recruits students, deals with marketing strategies, schedules courses, works with advising practicums and is on the faculty graduate committee that looks at changes to the program for the future.

Kilian was very surprised and pleased to receive the award.

“Since the award is voted on by students, it is nice to know and get feedback from the students that what you are teaching them is worthwhile. This award is meaningful because it shows the students are getting something of value and that they appreciate it,” Kilian said.

Kilian’s favorite part about teaching is the interaction with students and getting them to engage in conversation. Kilian said that human resources is a very dynamic and real field. Kilian has a current style of teaching, which means that she asks her students what is going on in the news today to show connections to how concepts taught in her classes are relevant to the present real world.

CBE Professor Stacy Vollmers won the Outstanding Research Award.

“I feel very honored to receive this award. Faculty at UWRF are very active with research so this is a big honor,” Vollmers said.

Vollmers has been at UWRF since 2006, teaching and having her research published. Vollmers has authored several articles on branding, international marketing and ethics. These articles have appeared in the Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Journal of Asia Pacific Business and the Journal of Hospital Marketing and Public Relations. Vollmers has also published in case journals, using consulting projects as a basis for the cases, such as Annual Advances in Business Cases and the Journal of Critical Incidents.

Vollmer’s upcoming research projects include looking at education logos and doing an experiment that looks at the differences in recall.

Vollmers favorite part of teaching is the students.

“UWRF has a real culture of value regarding its students and its teachers.”