November 2025 Desk of the Dean

Atkinson Hall is full of energy as the semester gets into full swing! Our student organizations, honor societies, and clubs are busy hosting events, connecting with the community, and making a real impact both on and off campus. We also held our annual IT Career Fair, where students had the chance to meet with industry professionals and explore exciting internship and career opportunities in information systems and computer science. We saw a unique collaboration with a "pop-up shop" in Professor Kent Hill's Small Business Institute class, where students tie-dyed t-shirts on front campus as part of a fundraiser for the GCSU Women's Soccer Team. Dr. Mary Rickard’s Sales Management class and Professor Kendra Evans’ Advertising Class students are advising the students on media plans and creative treatments. We love seeing our faculty and students work together as they earn a profit and promote the Bobcat Spirit!

So many unique student experiences took place this fall. Our business fraternity, Delta Sigma Pi, had the unique opportunity to travel to Jacksonville for the organization's annual LEAD conference, where they networked with students across the region and explored leadership and professional development workshops and trainings. In another fun collaboration, our Data Science Big Data class is doing a project for Thiele Kaolin, and they recently took a tour of their plant. Our students seeing their projects in action makes for a great hands-on learning moment where they learn about industry challenges and apply classroom theory to the real world. The accounting fraternity, Beta Alpha Psi, held multiple events, including "What's the Scoop?" where upper classmen helped students prepare for registration and internships, an Interview Panel Discussion, CPA Exam Mechanics, and Excel Bootcamp. Beta Alpha Psi also inducted eight new members into the honor society.

We are especially proud to share that Georgia College alumna and Parrish Construction Group CFO Sara Murph (MBA ’11) was recently named to Georgia Trend’s “40 Under 40” list. Recognized for her leadership and community service, Murph has helped guide Parrish Construction Group through more than 300 projects and $2 billion in revenue. She credits her Georgia College experience for shaping her success as both a professional and a leader dedicated to giving back to her community. Read more about her story in FrontPage.

This month, we are highlighting the accomplishments of our Department of Economics & Finance, a department of the CoBT that is growing quickly and is quite busy. I invite you to join me in celebrating our college's recent successes.

Sincerely,

Dr. Faye McIntyre

Interim Dean

The Department of Economics & Finance offers two degree programs designed to prepare students for exciting careers in very high-demand fields: a B.S. in Economics and a B.S. in Finance, as well as three minors in Economics, Finance, and Business Administration. Our degree programs focus on developing analytical reasoning, quantitative skills and communication skills.

The Department of Economics & Finance is home to several student organizations, including the honor society, Omicron Delta Epsilon, as well as the Economics & Debate Club, Finance Club, and the Student Managed Investment Committee. Furthermore, the department employs 15 full-time faculty members, with diverse backgrounds and degrees from Clemson, George Washington University, Old Dominion, Florida International University, Georgia State, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Florida State, University of South Florida, Colorado State, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Economics major Sam Kinney is making waves in academic research. Alongside faculty mentors Dr. Brooke Conaway and Dr. Ward Risvold, Sam recently co-authored a paper that was accepted for publication in the Journal of Scholarly Publishing. The project began as Sam’s own idea, and he will appear as the paper’s first author.

Their study explores the growing role of artificial intelligence in scholarly publishing. The team analyzed 200 economics journal articles—half published before the release of ChatGPT and half after—to see how accurately AI detectors could identify AI-generated text. They found that detection tools vary widely in their accuracy, underscoring the challenges of identifying AI use in academic writing.

This exciting accomplishment not only highlights the quality of undergraduate research happening in the Department of Economics and Finance but also showcases the strong faculty mentorship that helps students turn their ideas into published work. Congratulations to Sam, Dr. Conaway, and Dr. Risvold on this achievement!

• Alumna Michaeline Schmeelk, a Credit Analyst with Bank of America, returned to campus to speak to the Student Managed Investments Committee on Thursday, October 16th.
• Dr. Donghun Kim’s paper, "Information Asymmetry and Debt Structure: Evidence from Bond IPO" was presented at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Financial Management Association (FMA) in Vancouver, Canada.
• Dr. John Swinton, was recently featured in FrontPage discussing a Shrimp & Economics Course.

Dr. Brooke Conaway has a gift for showing students that economics is anything but boring. In her classes, like Sex, Drugs, and Economics and Controversial Economic Issues, she connects economic theory to real-world topics such as kidney transplants, drug bans, and capital punishment. Her goal is simple: to help students see that economic thinking applies to almost everything.

A proud Georgia College alumna, Dr. Conaway graduated in 2003 with degrees in economics and political science before earning her master’s and Ph.D. in applied economics from Clemson University. She returned to her alma mater in 2010 and has been inspiring students ever since. Her engaging approach to teaching has earned her several awards, including the 2021 Excellence in Teaching Award and induction into the University System of Georgia’s Felton Jenkins Jr. Faculty Hall of Fame in 2022.

Since 2019, Dr. Conaway has mentored more than 130 senior thesis projects on topics ranging from rent control and marijuana laws to whether using hormonal contraceptives affects risky behavior. She often collaborates with students on published research and recently completed her term as president of the Academy of Economics and Finance. Her own studies cover a variety of topics, including divorce waiting periods, artificial intelligence, and how to attract and teach future economics majors.

Outside the classroom, Dr. Conaway stays deeply involved in campus life. She serves on university committees, advises student clubs, and even brings her dog to class to help students relax during exams. Whether she’s leading a discussion on controversial policy issues or helping students design their first research project, she always brings energy, humor, and compassion to her work.

Through her creativity and dedication, Dr. Conaway continues to make economics meaningful and approachable for every student she meets.

Morgan Stallings’ journey from Georgia College to leading strategy and marketing for global brands is anything but ordinary. A 2003 economics graduate of GCSU, Morgan has built a career that spans consulting, healthcare, agriculture, and construction. Each step of his career is marked by curiosity, adaptability, and a knack for solving complex problems.

From Intern to Industry Leader

After earning his master’s in financial economics from American University, Morgan began his career at Booz Allen Hamilton, one of the world’s largest management consulting firms. What started as a graduate internship turned into a decade-long role, where he tackled everything from cost-benefit analysis to corporate strategy.

One of his proudest accomplishments came during his time at AGCO Corporation. Morgan led the North American expansion of the Fendt brand, growing it from 300 million to nearly 900 million in annual revenue in just four years. Today, he serves as Head of Marketing and Dealer Development at HD Hyundai Infracore, a leader in heavy construction equipment manufacturing.

A Campus Experience That Sparked Confidence Through Economics in Action

Before launching into his career, Morgan was a student deeply engaged in campus life. He met his wife at Georgia College, ran cross country, and served as a docent at the Old Governor’s Mansion. He helped catalog furniture and gave tours during its restoration. “It was a unique experience,” he recalls. “It helped build my confidence in public speaking and gave me a different perspective on history and presentation.”

He also participated in the GEM mentoring program, which paired him with a lawyer and sparked early career exploration. “I thought I might become a lawyer,” he laughs. “But that exposure helped me realize how much I enjoyed solving business problems.” Morgan credits his economics background for shaping his analytical approach to marketing. “Economics is a social science. It’s about understanding behavior. Marketing is the same. You’re positioning products to influence decisions.”

His Advice for Students? Be Open to New Opportunities
“Get involved. Build your network. And don’t be afraid to explore different industries. Economics gives you the flexibility to do that. Just because you’re an econ major doesn’t mean you’ll spend your life plotting supply and demand curves. You can apply those concepts to a whole host of problems across industries.”

• Dr. Nicholas Creel was featured in Forbes in an article on crisis communications. He also visited Baldwin County High School's Marketing and Entrepreneurship Class to coach students on their business ideas.

• Dr. Whitney Ginder led a field trip with 23 fashion merchandising students to AmericasMart in Atlanta for the wholesale apparel market.

Presentations & Conferences

• Dr. Sandria Stephenson was invited to present an Ed Talk entitled “Using Learning Inventories to Promote Success in Accounting Courses” at the 2026 MAS Midyear Meeting Teaching Symposium.
• Dr. Karim Feroz presented "West Meets East: The Cultural Aspects of Pedagogy at the Higher-Education Level” to our faculty learning community.
• Dr. Aric Wilhau and Dr. Stephanie Austin will attend the Southern Management Association conference in Greenville, SC. Dr. Wilhau will also participate in a consortium focused on post-tenure faculty careers.

• Dr. Faye McIntyre attended the AACSB Dean's Conference in Ontario, Canada.

• Dr. Tanya Goette attended the IIMA Conference in Palm Springs, California, and moderated a panel on research funding.

• Several faculty members participated in the WebMBA workshop at St. Simons Island.

• Dr. Yi (Cathy) Liu presented "Sentiment Analysis on U.S. Politics with BERT Models" at the CCSC: NW.

• Dr. Brad Fowler presented "A New Way to Teach Programming Using Generative AI and Modular Mastery Threshold Pedagogy (MMTP)" at the 65th AIACIS conference with Dr. Bryan Marshall. The work-in-progress paper is co-authored with Dr. Jaclyn Queen and Alison Shepherd from GCSU's Center for Teaching and Learning.

• Dr. Daniel Wu presented at the 65th IACIS Annual Conference, the CCSC Annual Eastern Conference 2025, and authored "A data science framework for AI-driven innovation within organizations" in Issues in Information Systems.

Research, Publications & Awards

• Dr. Emuesiri Oduaran's paper, "Responsible AI: Applications and Ethical Considerations" was accepted by the IIMA conference. He presented the paper at the IIMA Conference with his daughter, Skye.

• Dr. Whitney Ginder published “Facing the fear: leading global brands’ social media communication in times of crisis” in the A-ranked Journal of Product and Brand Management.

• Dr. Joy Godin represented GCSU and the SAP Next-Gen Lab at the Middle Georgia Manufacturing Expo, showcasing AI and VR applications. She also presented on integrating SAP and ERPSim into MIS Courses at the National Academic Conference for SAP University Alliance.

• Drs. Daniel Wu, Jenq-Foung Yao and Jeannie Pridmore, co-authored "Challenges and adaptations in data science education for the AI era", to be published in the Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges.

• Drs. Jenq-Foung Yao, John Huang, Troy Strader, and Tsu-Meng Chang published "Using machine learning to analyze factors influencing grades in upper-level information technology courses", in Issues in Information Systems.

• Dr. Daniel Wu received an Academic Affairs Small Grant (Community Based Engaged Learning Grant) funded by the Office of the Provost.

This past month, we hosted many businesses and individuals on our beautiful campus. We appreciate these visits as they provide invaluable real-life learning opportunities for our students. Some who have joined us in October are:

• Julia Hann, CoBT Board Member
• Lillian Smith, owner of The Smith Agency

• Lisa Rackley, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC)

• Chuck Hardt, Sr. Director of Software Engineering at Vecima Networks

• Matt Bausch, Cintas Recruiter

• Eddie Jones, Systems Administrator, Peraton

• Nicole Rubin, Chick-Fil-A

• Lauren Janis, Focus Brands
• Alex Gregory, YKK
• Pettigrew & Pettigrew
• CB Smith & Associates
• Becker CPA Exam Review
• Grant Thornton
• Mauldin & Jenkins
• Draffin Tucker
• Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts
• Bennet Thrasher
• Frazier Deeter
• Howard Moore McDuffie
• Wipfli
• FORVIS/Mazars

The MBA at Georgia College & State University offers professionals the opportunity to earn an AACSB accredited online MBA degree without interruption to their work and personal lives. The affordable program ($23,000 total) has been established since 2001. The accelerated format allows you to finish in 20 months. Apply today!