The COB and the UALR Alumni Association will host a fall 2009 Graduation reception for its December graduates Wednesday, December 16 at 6:00 pm at the College of Business atrium. The Dean along with the faculty & staff will salute their accomplishments.
Please join the UALR chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma, the honor society for
collegiate schools of business with programs accredited by the International
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, as new members
are inducted on Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 5:20 p.m. in RBUS 103.Those bid to membership include:
Seniors
Alison Andrews
Samuelrika Bivens
Ashley Brite
Tara Bryce
Canderia Cash
Brandy Duvall
Annie Guest
Laura Haagenson
Mikayla Harrington
Angela McMiller
Kimberly Noesser
Angela Scarbrough
Stacey Shellnut
Abby Wicker
Masters
Alexandra Antoine
Charity Bennett
Stephen Butler
Rozanne De Mel
Christian Fiser
Drew Jensen
Garima Lall
Janet Schaefer
Michael Shepherd
Paul Thompson
Lars Powell, Ph.D., the Whitbeck-Beyer Chair of Insurance and Financial Services in UALR’s College of Business, has recently been asked to comment on his research in several venues related to pending healthcare reform legislation. Most recently, Insurance Networking News invited Dr. Powell to write an editorial about proposed changes to insurance antitrust legislation related to healthcare reform. Insurance Networking News reaches approximately 35,000 insurance professionals daily.
The invited editorial opportunity arose following Powell’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in October. The title of the hearing was “Prohibiting Price Fixing and Other Anticompetitive Conduct in the Health Insurance Industry.” Both opportunities were the direct result of his published research on insurance regulation and his frequent interaction with the industry.
Drawing from two of his papers published in the Journal of Insurance Regulation, Dr. Powell’s editorial, “Feds Challenge McCarran Ferguson … Again,” discusses the McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945 that provides insurers a narrow exemption from federal antitrust laws. Powell said the act “permits activities conducted by insurance companies that would otherwise be prohibited or subjected to scrutiny under the federal antitrust laws.” A significant consequence is that “it permits insurers to pool data through independent statistical agents, who produce advisory loss costs to aid insurers in the ratemaking process. It also allows standardization of risk classification and policy forms, and joint underwriting ventures. Each of these functions benefits consumers by promoting financial strength, efficiency and competition in insurance markets.”
Currently, the House and Senate are considering legislation to repeal McCarran, as some claim that insufficient oversight by state regulators allows insurers to collude in anticompetitive behavior. Powell argues that insurance markets are competitive and changing the law would only increase legal costs. This would lead to higher premiums for health and medical professional liability insurance.
To read Powell’s comments on this pending legislative change, visit Insurancenetworking.com.
Dr. Powell teaches courses related insurance and risk management in the College of Business. His primary research interests include insurer capitalization and the effects of regulation on insurance markets. He earned a Ph.D. in risk management and insurance from the University of Georgia.
Phyllis Poche, senior research specialist in the Institute for Economic Advancement’s Census State Data Center, received the Arkansas GIS (geographic information system) User’s Forum Lifetime Achievement Award in November at the Arkansas GIS Users Conference in Eureka Springs.
“This award recognized Phyllis for her outstanding contribution and long-standing commitment to the Arkansas geospatial community,” said IEA Director Jim Youngquist. “Additionally, she was given the award in recognition of her pioneering spirit and demonstrated dedication, which have greatly contributed to advancing GIS in Arkansas and beyond, serving as an inspiration to others.”
Brian Henderson was named director of student services for the College of Business. He most recently served as career development specialist at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville.
The Office of Student Services assists College of Business students with the admissions process, academic advising, tutoring, career guidance and job placement, Cooperative Education internships, and graduation checkout, as well as coordinates professional development workshops, networking events, and career fairs.
“I love the student services side of higher education and the opportunity to meet new students and help them grow professionally as they prepare for their career,” Henderson said. “With the College of Business I have the goal of partnering and building relationships with local, regional, and national employers as well as UALR alumni to connect each of our students to a company and work experience that best fits their talents, skills, education, and goals. I take pride in providing opportunities that help groom students into their professional career as well as helping them develop skills that will last a lifetime.”
Henderson, who grew up in Berryville, holds a master of education degree from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La., and a bachelor’s degree in physical education from the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville.
He previously worked for Ticketmaster and the City of St. Petersburg in Florida.
U.S. Bank has presented Dr. Anthony F. Chelte, dean of UALR’s College of Business, a gift of $10,000 to help enhance the College’s high quality educational programs and economic development initiatives. 
Michael Shelley, president of U.S. Bank, presented Chelte a check for the College of Business’ Dean’s Fund as a source of support for a wide range of activities that support the college’s vision as a catalyst for high quality business education and economic development in Arkansas.
“At U.S. Bank we recognize that UALR and the College of Business are vital to the Central Arkansas area,” Shelley said. “They are strategically located in the governmental, financial services and health care center of Arkansas and are in position to aid each of these important economic drivers for the state. UALR has great potential for partnership in such areas as economic development, medical research and many specific industries, including financial services.”
The Dean’s Fund supports continuous improvement efforts across the College of Business including: student initiatives and scholarships, faculty research and professional development, educational programming, and outreach efforts by the College.
Shelley said U.S. Bank relies on the College of Business to generate well-prepared graduates for its hiring needs and also looks to the UALR master of business administration program to further train several of its high-potential bankers.
“Chancellor Joel E. Anderson has clear vision of where he wants to see UALR go in the future,” Shelley said. “Enhancing the College of Business is a part of that vision. I am very impressed with Dean Chelte and his plans for the UALR College of Business and wanted to show our support in a tangible fashion. I felt a contribution to the Dean’s Discretionary Fund would enable Dean Chelte to determine how best to utilize the funds.”
U.S. Bank currently serves as a sponsor and partner for the UALR College of Business Sales Center and its regional commercial banking manager, Scott Teague, has served on the college’s advisory board for nearly five years. The bank also was a sponsor for the 2009 College of Business Alumni of the Year Awards Luncheon.
“U.S. Bank’s generosity will significantly help our efforts to successfully realize the College’s vision and greatly benefit students through programs that help prepare students for productive careers and lives,” Chelte said. “This type of giving enhances the college’s ability to develop partnerships with the business and broader communities that positively impact the overall quality of life in our community.”
Ten inaugural members of Advancing Management Education (AME), a giving circle for the College of Business, awarded its first grants totaling $5,000 and held its first celebration Oct 29. at Vieux Carre restaurant in Little Rock.
Four $500 scholarships for the Field Study in Mexico will be awarded for the spring 2010 trip. Faculty teaching international business courses will choose the winners based on financial need and potential success in the international business profession.
Two marketing department scholarships at $1,000 each will be awarded in March for use during the 2011 academic year. The department’s faculty will choose the winners based on scholastic achievement and potential success in the marketing profession.
Assistance for the College of Business Green Jobs Fair was also approved by AME, allocating $1,000 for the event that took place on campus in October.
Charter members of the giving circle include: Ethel Cook, Cynthia Daily, Brenda Fulkerson, Lyn Haralson, Susan Parke, Janet Roderick, Susan Rogers, Elizabeth Small, Cynthia Taylor, and Jane Wayland. AME members meet four times a year and hear speakers recognized for business knowledge and philanthropy. Once a year, members review and vote on College of Business grant opportunities and award them at an annual celebration.
The Executive Level for UALR alumni and friends of the College of Business is $1,000. The Leadership Level for recent graduates (five years) and university affiliates is $500. For more information on joining AME, contact Will Elliott at 501.569.3208 or jwelliott@ualr.edu.
Walter “Walt” Pavlo Jr., former MCI WorldCom executive who was imprisoned for white-collar crime, addresses more than 100 College of Business students, faculty, and alumni, as well as business leaders at the first Dean’s Forum Oct. 26 at the Arkansas Arts Center.The business ethics forum was in partnership with the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce and Arkansas Business Publishing Group. Additional event sponsors were PDC Companies, Arkansas Capital Corporation Group, and Thoma Thoma. 
Pavlo was a senior manager at MCI Telecommunications where he was responsible for the billing and collection of nearly $1 billion in monthly revenue for MCI’s carrier finance division. He, a member of his staff, and a business associate outside of MCI began to perpetrate a fraud involving a few MCI customers. Pavlo consorts with a rogue MCI customer in a scheme to siphon $6 million of company cash to the Cayman Islands. In January 2001, Pavlo pled guilty to wire fraud and money laundering, agreed to cooperate with the federal investigation, and was sentenced to two years in federal prison.
Pavlo has addressed more than 100 of the country’s leading business schools, has been invited to speak at many Fortune 500 firms, and is a frequent speaker at Wal-Mart’s training facility in Arkansas.
Dr. Judyth Swingen, accounting professor at UALR, chaired the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ (AICPA) Tax Reform Task Force, which submitted federal tax reform recommendations in a report to President Obama’s tax reform panel this week.
AICPA is the national professional association of certified public accountants and has a long history of assisting lawmakers with tax policy matters and advocating sound tax policy. The AICPA Tax Division acknowledged the work done on the report, “Tax Reform Alternatives for the 21st Century,” by its five-member Tax Reform Task Force led by Dr. Swingen and the AICPA Tax Legislation and Policy Committee, of which Swingen is a member.
“I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with some very experienced tax professionals on this project,” said Swingen. “My task force included the former national taxpayer advocate and the former head of the AICPA’s Tax Division.” 
In March, Obama called for the formation of a task force to review the current income tax system and suggest ways to simplify it and improve compliance and to reform the corporate tax. With the continued focus on the need and desire to improve the current tax system by the administration and congressional leaders, the AICPA produced the report to serve as a resource to those engaged in the current tax reform debate. The committee’s objectives were to provide policymakers with a clear understanding of the issues and alternatives involved in federal tax reform and to foster informed discussion by providing unbiased information and analysis.
“Tax Reform Alternatives for the 21st Century” outlines efforts to improve the current system without changing its fundamental character. These include wide-ranging simplification efforts, increasing fairness, reducing revenue lost from tax evasion (known as the tax gap), and broadening the tax base. These proposals address economic growth by improving economic efficiency through greater neutrality, creating incentives for capital formation, accelerating depreciation, eliminating double taxation of corporate profits, simplifying and increasing tax-preferred savings options, and reforming counterproductive characteristics of the tax system as applied to domestic corporations and international businesses.
The report describes the nature of the issues leading to a tax reform debate, suggests a balanced approach for analyzing tax reform proposals, and summarizes key issues to be addressed whether taxing income or consumption or both.
“We are very pleased with Judyth’s efforts in leading this task force in this difficult but crucial work,” said Dr. Robert R. Oliva, chair of the Department of Accounting in UALR’s College of Business.
Tax reform will by necessity be influenced by issues currently facing the country including:
Congress faces some tough choices in the coming months. The annual budget deficit is now at a record level. Health care reform will be expensive. Medicare and Social Security payments this year will exceed the taxes collected for these programs. The AICPA Tax Reform study did not advocate a particular solution for the government’s fiscal problem. Instead, it identified several possible alternatives and discussed the pros and cons of each.
The College of Business honored two at its Alumni of the Year awards ceremony Friday, Oct. 16, at The Peabody Little Rock.
Bill Roehrenbeck was recognized as the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. He graduated from UALR with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1992. Roehrenbeck is president and CEO of Arvest Mortgage and Central Mortgage Company. He has served 37 years in Arkansas’ mortgage banking industry. Roehrenbeck is a member of the Little Rock Chamber’s Fifty for the Future and the UALR Foundation Fund Board.
Anthony Black was awarded with the Young Alumnus of the Year. He graduated from UALR’s Executive MBA program in 2008. A public sector attorney, Black serves as general counsel for the Arkansas Department of Information Systems. His civic activities include the Arkansas Bar Association Law School Committee and the UALR Alumni Association Board of Directors.
Sponsors of the event include U.S. Bank, Dillard’s, and Arvest Bank.
Previous winners for Distinguished Business Alum are Carl Hunter, 1998; Robert Birch, 1999; Jerry Maulden, 2000; Frank Whitbeck, 2001; John Schlereth, 2002; and Elizabeth Small, 2002. Drew Higginbothom received the Young Business Alum award in 2008.