Issue 01 Spring 2020
Dear Colleagues, Students, Alumni and Friends of the Romain College of Business,
USI recently made the difficult decision to move its coursework online for the remainder of the Spring 2020 semester, and to require its faculty and most of its staff to work remotely from their homes until at least April 30. We do this as part of our role in slowing the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus. Our faculty are working hard to convert their course content to an online format. Many have never taught online before, and many of our students never wanted to learn online. Yet everyone has risen to the challenge! While our physical campus is largely vacant, we want to make sure everyone recognizes that we are still open. We are answering our phones and email. We are conducting classes and interacting with our students. We are working behind the scenes to ensure the best learning experience that we can provide under the circumstances.
It won’t be long until summer comes calling. Will it beckon you to kneel in the garden? Pick up a paint brush? Visit distant places? For a half-dozen faculty members at Romain College of Business, summer will give them time to press the bounds of knowledge.
At the mention of “economist,” what image comes to mind? Someone in trousers, perhaps? It’s high time to abandon such stereotypes. Increasingly, women are making a mark in the gender-lopsided field of economics. And Romain College of Business is helping to blaze that trail.
Did you ever wonder how university life in Germany and the U.S. might compare? Dag Grothe, University of Osnabrück, and William Elfreich, USI, recently completed courses at each other’s school, thousands of miles from home. What they think about their experiences may surprise you.
Inside These Halls. Inside Our Hearts.
No individuals are more crucial to the mission of Romain College of Business than professors. When one of them reaches the end of their teaching career, it gives our academic community pause. What did their time at the College mean to them? What retrospection might they share?
Perhaps you’ve wondered: What might an MBA mean to my career? Will it help me achieve my goals? Can I balance it with all the other demands on my time, such as work and family? Here’s what one recent graduate thinks.
Bill Theby, CEO, Lensing Building Specialties, brings common sense and savvy gained from decades of sales and management experience. A career in his family’s business has shaped a leadership style that values every individual in the organization and is mindful of their perspectives.
