/news-archive/tag/joe-felan/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Thu, 23 Apr 2020 13:16:33 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /news-archive/2020/04/23/felan-faculty-excellence-business/ Thu, 23 Apr 2020 13:16:33 +0000 /news/?p=76751 ... Felan receives Faculty Excellence in Public Service award for College of Business]]> 鈥淒r. Felan’s service to the community and his profession have been exemplary,鈥� said Roger Dorsey, associate professor of accounting. 鈥淚n particular, his work with Junior Achievement of Arkansas, the Little Rock Diamond Foundation, the Arkansas College Teachers of Business and Economics, the Venture Center, and the Waters Edge Neighborhood Association has been distinguished and is a model for 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock faculty.鈥� Since joining 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock faculty in 2002, Felan has received two service awards and been named Who鈥檚 Who Among American Teachers. Felan has served on nine education-related committees and on six professional boards. The focus of Felan鈥檚 volunteer activity is on the education of young people. He has served with Junior Achievement of Arkansas since 2005 on its State Board of Directors, as chair of several board committees, and as a classroom volunteer. Thanks in part to Felan鈥檚 fundraising and leadership, Junior Achievement of Arkansas recently offered nearly 600 workforce readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship classes around the state to more than 13,000 students. 鈥淒r. Joe Felan has always shown great passion for our organization, mission, and students,鈥� said Tonya Villines, president of Junior Achievement of Arkansas. 鈥淯nder his leadership, our organization has seen amazing growth both financially and geographically. All of this is due to Dr. Joe Felan’s dedication, commitment, and leadership.鈥� Felan鈥檚 passion for teaching workforce readiness and financial literacy recently extended to a new partnership with James Bobo, Felan鈥檚 former Executive MBA student and president of the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Alumni Board of Directors. Bobo has founded the Little Rock Diamond Foundation, a nonprofit with a compassionate aim of making a positive difference in the lives of underserved youth in central Arkansas. 鈥淪ince I started the Little Rock Diamond Foundation, Joe has been behind us 100 percent,鈥� said Bobo. He stepped right in with great advice on moving our programs forward. He also volunteered to conduct a class for a group of young people ages 13-17, who participated in our 鈥楬uddle Up!鈥� program. The kids fell in love with Joe and had an awesome learning experience in financial management from Joe’s teaching technique.鈥� In 2017, Felan co-founded 鈥淭3鈥� (The Think Tank) with Dr. Joe Bell, associate professor of management, to facilitate discussion among distinguished business leaders and educators about a wide range of topics concerning the community, region, state, and world. T3 discussions at the Venture Center have considered issues such as employment opportunities, entrepreneurship and startups, health care, and community relations. Felan received a Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina, and M.B.A. and B.B.A. degrees from Baylor University.]]> /news-archive/2020/03/17/business-student-gives-back-through-internship/ Tue, 17 Mar 2020 13:30:46 +0000 /news/?p=76409 ... Business student gives back through internship at Junior Achievement of Arkansas]]> Smith, a wife and mother of two from Little Rock, had a productive 20-year career as a retail sales consultant with AT&T. Reflecting on a conversation she previously had with her older sister promising to obtain a college degree, she set out on a new path in August 2018. 鈥淚n May 2018, my sister unexpectedly passed away,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚鈥檓 the baby of three girls, and my sister made me promise I would go back to school. I was the only one of us three who didn鈥檛 have a college education.鈥� Smith took her sister鈥檚 death hard and took a leave of absence from work to reflect on life.聽 Smith first attended college at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, but left after her father became ill to help support the household. She decided it was time to invest in herself by completing her college education. 鈥淚 asked my husband if he could handle the household bills so I could go back to school,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚 really wanted to keep my promise to my sister. Now was the time to go back after 23 years.鈥� Now a senior business major at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, Smith says that college is a far cry from when she last attended decades ago. 鈥淲hen I went to school in the 1980s, everything was paper,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ow, everything is digital and classes are online. Being familiar with technology from my previous employer helped me keep up. I am a mom of two so I have to manage my time wisely, especially with a special needs son. My professors are amazing. They have been excellent resources in keeping me motivated in pursuing the end result, which is my degree.鈥� One of her professors, Dr. Joe Felan, associate professor of management, encouraged Smith to apply for an internship with Junior Achievement of Arkansas, a nonprofit organization that provides work readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy programs to young people in Arkansas. Felan, who serves as chair of the board of JA of Arkansas, said he thought Smith would be a perfect fit for the internship. 鈥淚 am very excited to have Antwanette working with Junior Achievement of Arkansas,鈥� Felan said. 鈥淪he is a delightful student to be around and is always engaged in the classroom. JA of Arkansas offers kindergarten through 12th grade students the ability to have hands-on experience in what it takes to start and maintain a business. Last year, we offered 591 classes to a total of 13,447 students in Arkansas. Antwanette can use her academic experiences to help the organization as well as young people around the state.鈥� After working with the organization since November 2019, Smith serves as a program coordinator. She oversees the Junior Achievement Student Company Program, which teaches students how to become entrepreneurs. 鈥淭he program takes students from start to finish in starting a business, writing a business plan, and providing a solution that addresses a consumer or community need,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淭he program ends with a pitch competition, where the students pitch their solution to a panel of three judges in a 鈥楽hark Tank鈥�-like situation.鈥� In addition to helping students build entrepreneurial skills, Smith connects professionals who talk about their entrepreneurial and career journeys with students in schools and after-school programs. 鈥淭he thing I like most about this internship is that I鈥檓 actually able to experience the immediate results of the programs we implement and put in place,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚鈥檝e worked some jobs where you don鈥檛 get to see your work in action. I鈥檓 very proud of the impact we make on kids鈥� lives.鈥� Smith plans to graduate from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock in December with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in business management. She鈥檚 also earning a graduate certificate in business analytics and would like to work in this field after graduation.]]>