Ancell School of Business

Ancell Making an Impact

Business Alumnus finds recipe for business success at WCSU

Just down the road from Western Connecticut State University’s Midtown campus on White Street is a Danbury fixture known as the Holiday Diner… For the past dozen years, the diner has been run by George Psarofagis, an alumnus of Ancell School of Business… Psarofagis enrolled as a Finance major in WCSU’s AACSB-accredited Ancell School of Business. He graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance-Financial Investments and Markets. “At WCSU, I learned about business management, supply chain economics, financial forecasting, and more,” Psarofagis said. “I’ve also worked as a research analyst. Getting a proper education prepared me to take over the family business. Otherwise, I’d be guessing.”

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Master of Health Administration Student Honored For Mental Health Advocacy

Ancell School of Business student in the Master of Health Administration program Tracy Dolan was honored during Ability Beyond’s annual Autumn Mental Health Breakfast last week. Dolan, the manager of crisis intervention and mobile outreach services for Nuvance, works with other dedicated staff to keep the greater Danbury community strong and responsive to the diverse needs of people with mental and physical challenges… Once she started the MHA program, Dolan pushed herself to finish in two years. “After the first summer, I said, ‘Remind me not to take another summer class,’” she laughed. “And there I was the next summer, taking another summer class because I wanted to! The classes are so interesting, and it is a very rigorous program. Interim Dean of the Ancell School of Business and Professor of Healthcare and Operations Management Dr. Yaseen Hayajneh is a delight, and you get so much support.”

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Extending Impact Globally: Ancell’s Professor’s Fulbright Journey in Bahrain

Ancell’s Professor of Management, Dr. Mohinder Dugal, is the most recent member of the university community to receive the prestigious Fulbright for Research and Teaching Award from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Dugal, who directs Ancell’s Master of Health Administration Program and teaches the capstone Strategic Management course to both undergraduate and MBA students at Ancell School of Business, recently spent ten months at the University of Bahrain to study Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) in the Gulf region.

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Jean RobinsonBusiness Faculty Earns Board of Regents Award

Professor Jean K. Robinson, a member of Ancell’s Finance department faculty, received the system-wide BOR Adjunct Faculty Teaching Award…… Professor Robinson’s work demonstrates the value of attracting as teachers those people who have been extremely successful in private enterprise and wish to bring their experience and knowledge to our students,” said WCSU’s Interim President, Dr. Paul B. Beran. Robinson, an adjunct faculty member since 2016, teaches Corporate Finance and Personal Finance at WCSU’s Ancell School of Business. She is also the Chair of the Finance Department Advisory Board. “I am honored to have received this recognition from the Board of Regents,” Robinson said, adding, “Teaching at WCSU has given me the opportunity to share what I have learned over the course of my Finance career. Those ‘light bulb moments’ I see in students’ eyes have been very gratifying, and I continue to learn from students as well.” Robinson, a former corporate banker, has served as CFO, COO, and President at various companies during her 39-year career in finance and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.

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Daniel VincentErnst & Young opportunity awaits Ancell graduate Daniel Vincent

Daniel Vincent is a man with a twinkle in his eye and a quick smile. Growing up in Ansonia, he had limited opportunities and guidance, so he spent his middle school and high school years at a military academy in Virginia. Now, as he prepares to graduate from the Ancell School of Business with a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems – Information Security Management, the 25-year-old Dean’s List student looks forward to a job that begins this summer in Technology Risk at Ernst & Young in Stamford where he’ll oversee software security, account privileges and more.

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Dr. Lai Van VoAncell Faculty Article on Silicon Valley Bank Selected for Columbia Law School Blog

An article by our Finance faculty member, opens in a new windowLai Von Vo, titled “From Hero to Zero – The Case of Silicon Valley Bank,” has been chosen for submission to Columbia Law School’s esteemed blog on Finance and Economics. The selection of our faculty article for this prominent platform highlights the quality of work produced by the Ancell School of Business faculty. The Columbia Law School blog is a widely renowned publication.

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Ancell’s American Marketing Association chapter excels at annual conference; named Top Small Collegiate ChWestern Marketing Association photo, 2023apter in North America

… Thirteen marketing students and two faculty advisers returned from the International Collegiate Conference of the American Marketing Association (AMA) held earlier this month in New Orleans with a multitude of accolades and awards, including being named the Top Small Collegiate Chapter in North America for 2022-23… The students were accompanied to New Orleans by faculty advisers Donna Coelho, AMA Collegiate Council Member, and Dr. Ronald Drozdenko, WCSU Marketing Department chair at Ancell School of Business.

Read more about the Western Marketing Association’s conference wins

Headshot of Renan Max F. HamoyThe choice to pay it forward came easily to Finance alumnus Renan Max F. Hamoy

… Another of his interests was computing. Hamoy designed websites on his own from home. So, when a student employee position opened in the university’s Information Technology & Innovation (ITI) office assisting the WCSU Webmaster, Hamoy applied and received the job. Two years as a student worker were followed by a year as a University Assistant, and after graduating in 2012 with a B.B.A. in Finance from the Ancell School of Business, Hamoy was offered a full-time position in ITI as a Web Content Specialist.

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WCSU Moot Court team after advancing to nationals

Ancell JLA Moot Court Team Advances to Nationals

Four Western Connecticut State University two-student teams participated in the American Moot Court Association Elm City Regional held at Yale University last weekend and performed so well that one team will advance to the nationals in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in January. It’s a Cinderella story in the making. Moot Court Adviser and Associate Professor of Justice and Law Administration Thomas A. Miller said, “Eight of our finest students went toe-to-toe with some of the most elite schools in the country at Yale this past weekend, and they were more than up to the challenge.

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Headshot of Dr. Casey JordanAncell Professor Casey Jordan on the Today Show and TMZ

NBC’s TODAY Show … Ancell professor Casey Jordan shares her perspective on the murder of four University of Idaho students … NBC’s Gadi Schwartz reports for TODAY and criminologist Casey Jordan shares insight into the investigation.

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Alycia HamiltonFrom Ancell to Chicago’s Wacker Drive: Focus on Values Directs Alumna’s Interactive Marketing Career

“At WCSU, I felt like I had more of a one-on-one experience,” Alycia Hamilton said. “Prior to WCSU, I was one student in a lecture hall with 250 other students. At WCSU’s Ancell School of Business, I had a specialized program that felt tailored to my interests. My degree — a B.B.A. in Direct/Interactive Marketing — is specifically what led me to the career I wanted. I also got to pursue my passion areas — I took a handful of photography classes in addition to my marketing classes, so I was able to stretch both sides of my brain.”

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Scott Morrison and familyScott Morrison uses Finance Studies to Fill Hearts and Stomachs by Setting a Place at the Table for Everyone

Imagine taking finance classes and turning them into a thriving business that fills the stomachs, hearts and souls of its customers and staff. That’s what former Western Connecticut State University Ancell School of Business student Scott Morrison has accomplished, while enjoying three decades of exponential growth, legions of devoted customers and a very positive public presence in his community and beyond.

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siblings Antonio and George FernandesDivergent paths lead to Juris Doctors for siblings Antonio and George Fernandes

The Ancell School of Business prepares students to attend law school, whether it be through the JLA division or other degree programs offered. A case in point are the Fernandes brothers, who both graduated from WCSU and earned Juris Doctor degrees to become attorneys even though they had different majors at Ancell School of Business. Antonio “Tony” Fernandes, who graduated cum laude a semester early in 2009, was a Business Administration major. His brother George graduated from the JLA legal studies program in 2012 and also went on to law school.

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Chriss SariRoutines, Self-reliance Led to Job at Goldman Sachs for Recent Management Graduate

Chriss Sari likes routines. As a student, the Danbury native would get up at 5 a.m., go to the gym, eat breakfast, go to work at Union Savings Bank, and then take evening classes as he worked toward his Bachelor of Business Administration in Supervisory Management at Western Connecticut State University. “I enjoyed the routine,” Sari said. “It taught me discipline and kept me in check.”… He saw the Goldman Sachs opportunity on Handshake in the fall of his senior year and submitted applications for three positions: in New York, Madrid and Dubai. “What was the worst that could happen? They could say ‘no’ and I would be in the same position I was in before. So, I went for it,” Sari explained.

Read more baout Chriss Sari’s journey to Goldman Sachs

Campus ‘neighbor’ fulfills dream to attend WCSU

Headshot of Adamaris LojaAdamaris Loja went to Danbury High School, where she excelled at her studies with a 3.8 GPA and discovered her love of computers. When she graduated, she decided to fulfill her general education requirements at Naugatuck Valley Community College in order to continue to save money from her two part-time jobs to eventually transfer to WCSU… “I had already applied to WCSU as a opens in a new windowManagement Information Systems major and was going to try to make it work without the scholarship, but when they called me over the summer to tell me I had won, I was crying with excitement,” Loja said. “Most of the students at Danbury High School apply because so many are immigrants or first-generation students, so there was a lot of competition.”

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Headshot of Dr. Mohinder DugalDr. Mohinder Dugal, Ancell’s Latest Fulbright Award Recipient, Heads to Bahrain

Western Connecticut State University Professor of Management Dr. Mohinder Dugal is the latest member of the university community to receive the prestigious Fulbright for Research and Teaching Award from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, for the 2022-23 academic year. Dugal, who teaches the capstone Strategic Management course to both undergraduate and MBA students in the university’s Ancell School of Business, will spend nine months in Bahrain to study Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) in the Gulf region.

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How a WCSU alumnus ended up leading Google’s Cloud Security sales team: ‘Differentiate Yourself’ and build a life beyond your dreams Jeff DiStasio Jeff DiStasio As a high school student in the mid-1990s, Jeff DiStasio looked at colleges with an eye toward biology/pre-med, and a future career in medicine. Since he would be paying part of his way through school, he chose to attend Western Connecticut State University, took some small student loans and sought an on-campus student job to keep his costs down. That work-study job ultimately led to a change of his major, a complete 360 in his future career and a positive return on investment. Speaking from his home during a break from crisscrossing the country for his job as director of Cloud security sales for Google Cloud, DiStasio reminisced about his time at WCSU. “As I was working my student job checking people in at the Westside Computer Lab, I thought, ‘I know a little about computers; I could do a lot more than this,’ DiStasio said. So, when WCSU’s IT Director at the time walked into the lab, he asked if there were any more challenging opportunities. Soon, DiStasio was assisting the university’s network manager — first as a student worker and then as a university assistant — gaining hands-on experience designing the ethernet network for a new residence hall on campus. The knowledge and hands-on exposure to networking that he gained led DiStasio to switch his major from pre-med to MIS-Cybersecurity. “Professor of Management Information Systems Dr. Marie Wright started WCSU’s program in Information Security Management,” DiStasio said. “She pioneered it when cybersecurity had just started to come into the conversation, and brought in guest lecturers like Mike Jacobs, the deputy director of Information Systems Security for the National Security Agency.” DiStasio’s future was about to change course thanks to his new passion: cybersecurity. Upon graduating in 2000, he got his first job at NASDAQ as a network engineer. “Those years of hands-on, real-world experience that I acquired as a student worker at WCSU were a huge springboard,” DiStasio explained. “It helped me differentiate myself.” From NASDAQ, DiStasio did a stint in network engineering at hedge fund Andor Capital Management before going to Extreme Networks as a pre-sales engineer — coupling his technology background with a sales focus. It’s often difficult to bridge the divide between technology and business in going from pre-sales engineering to sales, DiStasio said, but it enabled him to set himself apart as someone with both skill sets, and he became a successful salesperson at Extreme Networks, even luring business away from Cisco. This caught Cisco’s attention, and DiStasio ended up as a sales account manager with Cisco for more than 14 years, climbing the ranks while managing larger accounts, and leading larger teams and organizations. DiStasio had moved to a leadership role at Salesforce when the opportunity with Google arose. “Google had an early stage project, and they needed am Americas sales leader,” DiStasio explained. “The responsibility was to build out a new Google endeavor aimed at providing cloud security solutions to the enterprise market for Google Cloud.” In the year+ since taking on his director role at Google, DiStasio has tripled the size of his team and is planning for “hypergrowth” as they provide Cloud security services for the market under the Google Cloud umbrella. DiStasio started at Google in the middle of the pandemic. Despite that, he has spent a lot of time on the road meeting his sales team and connecting with potential customers. “Google builds such an incredible experiential place to be that employees want to go to work and not work from home,” DiStasio said. “I also learned about myself during the pandemic that I thrive on being with people and not working remotely behind a video screen.” The personal connection to people is a large part of the memories he holds about his time at WCSU, and how those interactions contributed to the life he lives now. “I feel like the university was a more intimate setting, where you could get to know your fellow students and professors better,” DiStasio recalled. “Many of my closest, lifelong friends I met at WCSU, either through Tau Kappa Epsilon, the Newman Center or my work at campus IT. I met my wife of 21 years, Laurie, who was a Nursing student a few years ahead of me. I stay in touch with several of my professors, and I don’t think I would have made these kinds of connections at a larger school elsewhere. At WCSU, it was easier to not get lost in the crowd and find your niche of people.” In addition to his friendships and connections, his employment path was also greatly affected by his decision to come to WCSU. “The biggest thing I always go back to in my career is to differentiate yourself as early as you can,” DiStasio said. “Take any opportunity you’re given and do something with it. WCSU gave me the opportunity because it was a smaller, more accessible school.” As for DiStasio’s prior dream of a career in medicine? That has continued, too — just in a slightly different way. He and his wife currently are volunteer EMTs in their hometown. Asked what advice he would give a current high school student considering where to pursue their higher education, DiStasio said, “College is not just an opportunity to educate yourself, it’s an opportunity to acquire experiences and differentiate yourself. Since I partially paid for my education myself, the value I got back was very important to me — and this path I took at WCSU has worked out pretty well.”How a WCSU alumnus ended up leading Google’s Cloud Security sales team: ‘Differentiate Yourself’ and build a life beyond your dreams

The knowledge and hands-on exposure to networking that he gained led DiStasio to switch his major from pre-med to MIS – Cybersecurity. “Professor of Management Information Systems Dr. Marie Wright started WCSU’s program in Information Security Management,” DiStasio said. “She pioneered it when cybersecurity had just started to come into the conversation and brought in guest lecturers like Mike Jacobs, the deputy director of Information Systems Security for the National Security Agency.” DiStasio’s future was about to change course thanks to his new passion: cybersecurity.

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Managerial Accounting degree builds foundation for successful project accounting career WCSU alumnus Luke Holden WCSU alumnus Luke Holden Luke Holden stepped out onto the rooftop balcony of his Midtown Manhattan apartment near Grand Central Terminal recently, and pointed toward the sun as it set behind the Empire State Building. “WCSU gave me the tools to come down here and succeed,” he said. “I love living in New York City.” A little more than a decade earlier, as a student at Joel Barlow High School in Redding, Holden knew that after his June 2011 graduation, he wanted to go to WCSU. He enrolled as a Managerial Accounting major and settled into Litchfield Hall his freshman year, eager to begin his WCSU journey. Once on campus, he became actively involved in “the full college experience,” even joining the football team as a walk-on for two years. “My time with the team created close friendships that I still have to this day,” Holden said, sharing that he recently was a groomsman in a former teammate’s wedding. Reflecting on the first business class he took in the Westside Classroom Building, Holden said, “First, it’s daunting just to figure out how to get around the building; then it’s challenging to get the degree.” The challenge was mitigated by faculty members like Professor of Accounting Thomas Monks, Holden’s Ancell School of Business adviser. “He busted my chops a lot, but got me ready for the real world,” Holden said. “Another thing that separated me from other job candidates upon graduation was my ability to adapt, because at the Ancell School I learned accounting, fraud, business development and marketing as part of my Managerial Accounting degree.” Holden also took full advantage of WCSU’s Career Success Center, attending Career Fairs and making as many industry connections as he could. After graduation, he worked at a sales company in White Plains developing his business communication skills and building contacts in the construction industry in Manhattan. When he applied for an assistant project accountant position at AECOM Tishman, one of the leading construction management firms in the United States and the largest in New York City, he got the job. “The wide spectrum of business courses I took at WCSU helped my overall, broad business knowledge, and led to my hiring as a project assistant for the World Trade Center construction,” Holden said. Within two years, he was running the project in a senior accounting role responsible for cost reports, budgets and more. Now, six years after becoming a WCSU alumnus, he has joined Pavarini McGovern, another prominent New York-based construction management firm, as a project accountant. “I have coworkers who walk around in their Columbia and Cornell polo shirts, and I am just as proud to be from WCSU and the Ancell School of Business,” Holden said. “WCSU may not be an Ivy League school, but it prepares you in such a way that you have the ability to succeed. As a student, I worked two jobs and often took evening classes. I loved the flexibility and the ability to meet older students in night classes. You obtain the knowledge and the work ethic at WCSU, and apply it in the real world. “All of my experiences at WCSU were so great, and the quality of education that you get is so much better than what you pay for ,” Holden continued. “Many of my coworkers have debt, and I don’t. In addition to the cost-effectiveness of my degree, there are also the lifelong friendships and connections that I made.” Stopping for a moment to appreciate his view, Holden added, “I didn’t do this alone. It feels like there were a million people behind me at WCSU, helping me succeed.”Managerial Accounting Propels Redding Native Luke Holden to Achieve Business Success

He enrolled as a Managerial Accounting major and settled into Litchfield Hall during his freshman year, eager to begin his WCSU journey. Once on campus, he became actively involved in “the full college experience,” even joining the football team as a walk-on for two years… The challenge was mitigated by faculty members like Professor of Accounting Thomas Monks, Holden’s Ancell School of Business adviser. “He busted my chops a lot, but got me ready for the real world,” Holden said. “Another thing that separated me from other job candidates upon graduation was my ability to adapt, because at the Ancell School I learned accounting, fraud, business development and marketing as part of my Managerial Accounting degree.”

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A.M. "Hupp" HuppmannManagement Alumnus Sets out to Sea to Raise Awareness of Veteran PTSD and Suicide

“Honestly, it’s a great metaphor for an anti-suicide campaign because you want people to keep pushing every day, no matter how hard it gets,” Huppmann said. It also relates to his time in the Management program at WCSU. “Professor of Management Dr. Pauline Assenza in the Ancell School of Business was just an absolutely influential professional when I was there wrapping up,” Huppmann said. “She still crosses my mind often because she was so inspirational about going forward on your journey in life and being willing and able to realize your own dream.”

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Oscar Oldbury-Swift, international exchange student from ‘across the pond’ breaks swimming records at WCSU Oscar Oldbury-Swift Oscar Oldbury-Swift Oscar Oldbury-Swift, a 22-year-old international exchange student from Manchester, England, came to Western Connecticut State University through the International Exchange Student Program (ISEP) to study business — and ended up breaking collegiate and personal best swimming records as a member of the WestConn Men’s Swimming & Diving Team. Before coming to Danbury, Oldbury-Swift majored in International Business Management at University of Chester, which, like WCSU, originated as a teacher’s college before becoming a public university. He chose to undertake his international college experience at WCSU because of its proximity to New York City and the fact that he could continue his business management studies at WCSU’s Ancell School of Business. Considered a senior at WCSU, Oldbury-Swift will have one more year of study when he returns home to finish his degree because this year abroad is considered a “sandwich year.” Oldbury-Swift previously swam at the national level in the U.K at age16. He had not competed much since then, and decided to get involved again once he arrived at WCSU. “When I came here, I thought I’d give it a go and if nothing else, it would be another group of friends here for me,” he said. “Looking back now as we have reached the end of the season, it has been one of the best things I ever did,” he added. In February, Oldbury-Swift shattered the school record in the 200-yard individual medley relay to lead the WestConn men’s and women’s swim teams on the second day of the Little East Conference championships in Boston. The men also broke school records in the team 200 freestyle and 400 medley relays. Upon returning to campus from the LEC competition in Boston, Oldbury-Swift emailed ISEP Coordinator Donna Warner to share his good news. Warner is the primary liaison for the ISEP exchange students and helps them acclimate to the campus community and being in the United States. “Personally, I was over the moon with my swims, breaking my own 200m IM record by a further 8 seconds, breaking the 400m IM record by 13 seconds and my own 200m breaststroke record by a further 9 seconds,” he wrote. “As a men’s team, we broke three relay records, bringing my total to six university records! On top of this I made six final events and had two podium finishes.” In addition to well-deserved bragging rights, Oldbury-Swift’s record-breaking performance earned him a feature story on the WestConn Athletics web site, and a little notoriety around campus. When he’s not in business classes or the O’Neill Center pool, Oldbury-Swift enjoys going away on weekends to see more of the U.S. while he’s here. He’s visited Vermont, New Mexico and California so far, with upcoming trips to Chicago, Las Vegas and Arizona. Oldbury-Swift also enjoys participating in Program Activities Council (PAC) events on campus such as Bonfire Night, ice skating and his favorite PAC event: BINGO, which he hopes to win at least once before he returns to the U.K. ISEP Coordinator Warner said that Oldbury-Swift likes to collect t-shirts when he attends campus events, and they’ll undoubtedly make good souvenirs when he returns home. Warner said the best part of her job is making the international exchange students feel welcome on campus. “I enjoy meeting students from different countries,” she said. “People showed such kindness to me when I studied abroad, and I want to pay it forward to the students studying abroad here at WCSU.” The kindness is appreciated. “All the staff members at WCSU have been super nice and accommodating to make sure I have the best experience during my one year abroad,” Oldbury-Swift said. “I will always think of the memories I created at WCSU and hope to return from time to time as a proud alumnus to see old friends.”An International Exchange Business Student from ‘Across the Pond,’ Breaks Swimming Records at WCSU

Oscar Oldbury-Swift, a 22-year-old international exchange student from Manchester, England, came to Western Connecticut State University through the International Exchange Student Program (ISEP) to study business —  and broke collegiate and personal best swimming records as a member of the WestConn Men’s Swimming & Diving Team. He chose to undertake his international college experience at WCSU because of its proximity to New York City and because he could continue his business Management studies at WCSU’s Ancell School of Business.

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opens in a new windowHeadshot of Sheila MedinaA debt-free Double-major Leads Business Student Sheila Medina to her Dream Job at Deloitte

My accounting professor told me about WCSU and that my NCC credits would transfer there … I spoke to Dr. Richard Montague, chair of WCSU’s MIS department, who told me I wouldn’t have to do a major and minor — I could do a double major in MIS and Accounting. Not only that, but everything was in one place in WCSU’s Ancell School of Business. This changed my whole idea of what I could accomplish!

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Headshot of Dr. Casey JordanAncell Professor Casey Jordan on CNN

CNN … Experts say there is a term for this kind of attraction. “Sometimes referred to in our culture as ‘Bad Boy Syndrome,’ hybristophilia is the attraction to and/or sexual interest in those who commit crimes, particularly heinous and violent crimes such as rape and murder,” said Dr. Casey Jordan, Criminologist and Professor of Justice and Law Administration at Western Connecticut State University. “Vicky White surely believes she’s in love with Casey White, because he gives her a feeling of being alive after decades of feeling staid, safe and ‘reliable,’ ” Jordan added.

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Headshot of Dr. Pauline AssenzaWalletHub Interviews Ancell Professor Pauline Assenza on Best & Worst Small Cities to Start a Business

WalletHub – Any new business needs to research the resources available in the local “entrepreneurial ecosystem”. Depending on the industry, access to support services may be critical and smaller cities may not have the breadth of support needed, i.e. power and transportation infrastructure, broadband access, adequate healthcare facilities. However, a smaller city has the advantage of a focused network of social support where the smaller “voices” may have more opportunities to be heard.

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Headshot of Dr. Yaseen HayajnehWhy healthcare costs are rising in the U.S. more than anywhere else

CNBC – … One of the causes of high spending is the fragmented nature of the U.S. system. Some Americans have comprehensive and affordable health insurance coverage while others have little to no coverage. “The way the system is structured now, it is a cure-driven system, not a prevention-driven system,” said Yaseen Hayajneh, associate professor of health administration at Western Connecticut State University.

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Headshot of Dr. Yaseen HayajnehHow Americans can save money when choosing a health insurance plan

CNBC – Most Americans struggle to figure out which health insurance plan will save them money. A study of almost 24,000 employees at a major Fortune 100 company found that 61% of them chose the wrong plan for their needs. The researchers at Carnegie Mellon University who conducted the study estimated that the average employee could have saved $372 per year by choosing a different plan.

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Headshot of Dr. Cindy ChuangSupply Chain Lessons from the Pandemic

This October, Gro Intelligence’s SVP of Agribusiness James Heneghan was invited by Professor Dr. Cindy Chuang and Dean Dr. David Martin to speak at Western Connecticut State University’s Ancell Dean’s Speaker Series. Heneghan joined Odyssey Logistics & Technology’s Cosmo Alberico to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global agricultural supply chain.

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Headshot of Dr. Pauline Assenza‘It’s been a nightmare’: Local Restaurant Owner Struggles Through Pandemic with Labor Shortages, High Food Prices, and No Federal Aid

NewsTime – … Pauline Assenza, a Management professor at the Ancell School of Business at Western Connecticut State University, noticed the same trend. “There has not been an uptick but there hasn’t been a downturn either,” she said of new startups. Still, the impact is there. In March of 2020, the state was home to more than 8,000 restaurants that employed around 160,000 residents, according to the Connecticut Restaurant Relief Fund. After the shutdown, over 600 restaurants went out of business.

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Headshot of Dr. Yaseen HayajnehDoctor tired of ‘Band-Aid’ solutions opens Ridgefield health care facility to tailor treatments to individual patients

NewsTime – …Precision medicine is an “emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle,” according to SpringerLink research. Yaseen Hayajneh – Western Connecticut State University associate professor of Management and coordinator of the college’s master of health administration program – said that precision medicine and traditional medicine are methods healthcare providers use to treat patients. The difference is that traditional medicine applies a “standardized, one-size-fits-all” treatment plan while precision medicine employs “patient-specific information” to tailor treatment to the individual’s unique circumstances, Hayajneh explained.

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Ancell’s MBA program honored for excellence and admissions policy

The Western Connecticut State University Master of Business Administration program has received recognition in a recent survey citing M.B.A. programs across the nation that offer academic excellence and flexible admissions policies providing a balanced and holistic profile to predict student success.

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Headshot of Dr. Yaseen Hayajneh

Danbury’s outdoor hospital could treat variety of patients

NewsTime – … This includes treating patients with or without coronavirus or using it to triage patients elsewhere to the main hospital, he said. “We’re looking at the entire system,” Cassavechia said. “We service such a large area. We’re preparing for an assortment of a variety of patients that may present to our hospital.” Dr. Yaseen Hayajneh, a professor at Western Connecticut State University who has helped set up two regular hospitals in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, said figuring out how the facility will be used needs to be done first.

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Headshot of Dr. Cindy ChuangWest Conn-Taiwan university partnership grows

NewsTime – On Monday morning, a group of college students and professors from Taiwan got a first-hand look at an American business with a tour of Ethan Allen. … The partnership started about three years ago. Cindy Chuang, an associate professor of Management at Western’s Ancell School of Business, had been teaching at Soochow over the summer while visiting family. When she learned that Soochow was trying to connect with more sister schools in the states, she brought the idea to her dean.

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Headshot of Dr. Alex Galli-DebicellaWCSU Management Students Explore International Business in Taiwan

Patch – Eight Management students and alumni of the Western Connecticut State University Ancell School of Business gained an invaluable lesson in the international network of trade, commerce, supply chains, and logistics that holds the global economy together during a recent WCSU international program in Taiwan … Galli-Debicella observed Taiwan offered an especially attractive location for the WCSU students to gain a deeper understanding of global trade and investment relationships. “Taiwan maintains extensive trading relationships with both China and the United States,” she said. “When the United States does something, it will have a positive or negative effect on Taiwan and the rest of the world. Intellectually, our students understood this, but now they understand how these actions have a ripple effect in daily practice.”

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Headshot of Dr. Pauline AssenzaYoung entrepreneur: Chamber of Commerce announces 2018 scholarship finalist

The Ridgefield Chamber of Commerce Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) announced the winner of its Saunders Scholars local Investor Panel competition…Their five-minute presentations included extensive market research, financial analysis, sales projections and an investment request from the judging panel. The judging panel was comprised of the following local professionals: Management Professor Pauline Assenza of Western Connecticut State University, Mary Kate Gobleck of Reliance Merchant Services, Scott Johnson of Mack Media and Heather Neumann Salaga of The Tutoring Club.

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AACSB Accredited LogoAncell School of Business receives AACSB accreditation

The designation places Ancell School of Business among the top 5 percent of business schools in the world. Ancell joins Connecticut business schools with the accreditation including Yale, the University of Connecticut, Fairfield University, Sacred Heart University, Quinnipiac University, University of New Haven, University of Hartford, the Coast Guard Academy, and Central Connecticut State University.

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Headshot of Dr. Dan WeltmannAt Northwest firms with ESOPs, employees act like they own the place

The Seattle Time – Employee stock-ownership plans can be complex to set up. But at local companies, an ESOP gives workers a financial and psychological stake in the enterprise’s success. Some studies show that employees at ESOP companies tend to be more loyal, more collaborative and more hardworking, said Dan Weltmann, who was part of a team that examined hundreds of private companies to see whether ESOP conversions affect survival rates. The study found that those companies were much less likely to disappear than their non-ESOP counterparts. They also posted much higher job and revenue growth after making the switch.

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Headshot of George MehriAncell Graduate Announced as the New Chief Financial Officer of Lakeview Health

George Merhi brings more than 25 years of finance leadership experience in both public and private corporations with revenues ranging from $5 million to $500 million. He has worked in a variety of industries and has been successful in building, strengthening and leading the corporate finance function for companies in various start-up, stable and growth situations. A graduate of the Western Connecticut State University’s Ancell School of Business, Merhi has held several key executive positions in the industries of healthcare, retail and franchise finance and contract food and beverage.

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Headshot of Dr. Pauline AssenzaMom & pop retailers endure and adapt amid industry upheaval

Pauline Assenza, an associate professor of Management and small-business entrepreneurship at Western Connecticut State University’s Ancell School of Business, said the continued presence of these smaller stores contradicted a long-held assumption that governed the retail industry. “It was a myth that when Walmart comes to town, the Main Street businesses will die,” she said. “That’s not necessarily true. The smaller retailers have been around long enough to understand the needs of people who walk by their stores.”

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Rachel Karp, Helen Christie Roberts, and Dr. Pauline AssenzaAncell Students earned the Best Oral Presentation Award for their pitch of Karp’s product innovation

Western Connecticut State University students Rachael Karp and Helen Christie Roberts earned the Best Oral Presentation Award for their pitch of Karp’s product innovation, “On Board,” at the Connecticut Business Plan Competition held on April 22, 2016, in New Haven. Dr. Pauline Assenza, associate professor of management and adviser to the Entrepreneurship, Research and Innovation Center (ERIC) student club at WCSU, served as faculty mentor to Karp and Roberts for the competition. Karp is the current president of ERIC, founded last year to seek out entrepreneurial and other creative opportunities for WCSU students and facilitate partnerships between students and local business mentors.

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Ross Rizzo and MaryJean RebeiroNY-CONN head excels in a male-dominated industry

“I am very proud to be a part of the school that gave me an excellent education,” MaryJean Rebeiro said. “I obtained the stepping stones needed to navigate in the business world from my professors at the Ancell School of Business. I often catch myself quoting one of my professors, and it is then that I realize what a strong foundation I was given and the impact my teachers had on me then and now.”

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