Robert T. Sumichrast, Dean

Along with the New Year, the E. J. Ourso College of Business is celebrating yet another accolade. Much like the Flores MBA Program’s finish in the Top 10 of The Wall Street Journal last September, this most recent accomplishment brings with it national attention.

For a third consecutive year, an accounting team from the business college was a Top Five finalist in the PricewaterhouseCoopers xACT Competition and traveled to New York on the 18 th and 19 th of this month to compete. Congratulations to team members Heidi Giles, Wade Giles, Glenn Penton, Stephanie Smith and Mycah Perry on their outstanding achievement.

Just as the number of accolades the E. J. Ourso College receives is increasing, so too is our popularity among students and employers. Last fall we changed our admission procedure to reflect that as the state’s flagship school our focus should center on quality. More than 1,200 students applied for the 150 seats available in our first freshman class, and the students selected proved to be academically gifted and highly motivated. In addition to the compliments and success stories about this group that faculty have related to me, 15% of our freshmen earned a perfect 4.0 grade point average in their initial semester and over 40% of the freshmen earned a 3.75 or higher. We have already received over 400 applications for the Class of 2011, which will be admitted this fall.

Word is spreading about our top-notch faculty, curriculum and programs. Our faculty and the business community continue to work together to ensure that our offerings are relevant. Several courses have been revised, and we are working on a new entrepreneurship minor that will include new and revised courses from several different departments. As we assure that students have the opportunity to learn from successful entrepreneurs, we will also continue to incorporate experiences such as those in our business incubator, the Louisiana Business and Technology Center, to enhance their knowledge. Additionally, we have developed a systems audit program to compliment our award-winning internal audit program. This new feature was facilitated by our decision to elevate the Center for Internal Audit from a departmental unit to a college-wide center.

As our initiatives to improve our curriculum continue, so too does our quest for a new building for the college. To date, we have received more than $11 million in donations and written pledges from the private sector to match anticipated state funding of $30 million. The State Architectural Selection Committee did not select an architect for the project at its December meeting as planned due to technical errors found on some of the applications. Consequently, the project was re-advertised. Although very disappointed by the delay, we recognize that in the long run the business college will be better off because of such a stringent and careful selection process.

If you have any exciting news to share or require information about any of the college’s departments or programs, do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Robert T. Sumichrast, Dean
E. J. Ourso College of Business