Business Administration

Local student wins Lakehead Orillia’s prestigious Business Award

James Newlands, Lakehead University’s 2015 President’s Golf Tournament Business Award recipient.

April 28, 2015 – Orillia, ON

James Newlands of Ramara is about to graduate from Lakehead University’s Honours Bachelor of Commerce program and just received a huge boost to support his further education and career goals.

Newlands, a graduate of Patrick Fogarty Secondary School, is the recipient of Lakehead University’s President’s Golf Tournament Business Award – a $6,900 award that is presented annually to a fourth year student from Simcoe County enrolled in Lakehead Orillia’s business program.

“I really appreciated finding out about this scholarship and was thrilled to receive it,” said Newlands. “I am going on to graduate studies and this represents a year’s tuition paid, and a financial burden I won’t have to worry about.” Newlands was recently accepted into the Master of Science in Rural Planning and Development program at the University of Guelph.

The Business Award was funded through the University’s highly successful annual President’s Golf Tournament, which ran from 2009 to 2013.

“The Award represents a commitment from the local business community to support the business program at Lakehead Orillia and encourages students to pursue their education and career goals,” said Orillia Campus Dean & Vice-Provost Dr. Kim Fedderson.

Newlands received the award based on his student leadership within the campus; he was recently elected vice-president of the school’s Business Orillia Student Society (BOSS), as well as in the community, where he has acted as head referee for the Ramara Soccer Club.

“Marks don’t play a direct role,” explains Newlands, but without the marks, you can’t participate or perform well and won’t get a faculty recommendation for the Award.”

Newlands credits his success to the school’s small class sizes and extraordinary professors. “The profs know exactly who I am; you can’t get that at a big institution. “I especially enjoyed Dr. Herman van den Berg’s classes; which made me realize that I was interested in pursuing the area of finance.”

“James is an intelligent student with an engaging personality,” said Dr. van den Berg, Associate Professor with the Faculty of Business. “I’m sure he will do well as he pursues his graduate studies. We are proud to have such accomplished students representing Lakehead.

To learn more about Newlands and his experience at Lakehead, view the “Meet James Newlands” video interview online at Lakehead’s YouTube channel (LakeheadOrillia).

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MEDIA: For more information, please contact Communications Officer, Kathy Hunt, at 705-330-4008 ext. 2014 or kjhunt3@lakeheadu.ca.

In 2015, Lakehead University will celebrate 50 years of exceptional education. Guided by its Strategic Plan (2013-2018), Lakehead is known for providing an education focused on independent thinking, unconventional scholarship, and a close sense of community. About 9,700 full-time equivalent students and 2,000 faculty and staff learn and work in ten faculties at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university: home to Ontario’s newest Faculty of Law in 44 years, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, and faculties of Engineering, Business Administration, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Social Sciences & Humanities, Science & Environmental Studies, Natural Resources Management, Education, and Graduate Studies.

Maclean’s 2015 University Rankings places Lakehead University 2^nd in Ontario and among Canada’s Top 10 undergraduate universities, and 1^st among Ontario’s undergraduate universities for Total Research Dollars, Social Sciences & Humanities Grants, and Library Expenses. In 2014, Re$earch Infosource ranked Lakehead 2^nd in Ontario and 3^rd among Canada’s undergraduate universities.

Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.

Dr. Wing Him Yeung

Assistant Dean; Chair, Business Program Curriculum Years 3 and 4; Coordinator, International Dual Degree

Assistant Dean, Associate Professor

Business Administration

whyeung@lakeheadu.ca

+1 (807) 343-8010 ext. 8419

RB 1035

Research Areas:

Award-winning business student finds his stride at Lakehead

June 26, 2014

In real estate circles, experts often sing the praises of a property with three key words: location, location, location.

For Ryan Provost, that same principle applied to post-secondary education. The graduate of Eastview Secondary School in Barrie who dreamed of a career in business, but was keenly aware of the bottom line, wanted to limit costs by attending university close to home.

So, after taking a year off to work and save some money, he was thrilled when he was accepted into Lakehead University’s Honours Bachelor of Commerce program.

“To be honest, the main reason I came was the location,” said Provost, who graduates this year. “I really liked the idea of being able to live at home and I was amazed at the small class sizes.”

He was also amazed when he won Lakehead Orillia’s President’s Golf Tournament Business Award – a $5,000 award funded through the University’s highly successful annual golf tournament.

“When I found out I won the scholarship, I couldn’t believe it,” said Provost, who estimates he has accumulated about $20,000 in debt over his four years at Lakehead. “I’ve worked every summer to sustain myself but haven’t been able to pay down the debt, so this will really help.” Provost also managed to maintain his presence on the Dean’s list (over 80% average) each year.

And that’s the idea behind the prestigious scholarship open to fourth-year students from Simcoe County enrolled in Lakehead’s business program.

“Our business award represents a commitment from the business community to support the business faculty at Lakehead Orillia and encourage students to pursue their education and career goals,” said Lakehead President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Brian Stevenson.

Provost volunteered at last summer’s tournament at the Barrie Country Club and met David French, the inaugural winner of the scholarship, prompting him to apply for the annual award.

While grateful for the scholarship, he is also thankful for the breadth of experience he had at Lakehead.

“I loved the small classrooms; it’s not like other big schools where 100 people swarm the professor after the class. Here, they know your name and it’s a much more personal experience,” said Provost, who was chosen as a research assistant by professor Kunle Akingbola. and helped conduct an employee engagement survey for non-profits in Canada.

“It was a great learning experience,” said Provost, who also enjoyed his time as a teaching assistant for a business mathematics course. “It felt really good to help students … to maybe provide a different pathway than a professor. It was rewarding.”

The strong academic student who was encouraged by his parents – neither of whom attended post-secondary education – to go to university, said he found his stride at Lakehead.

“I loved the academic environment. It’s nice to always be learning, to be constructive and progressive,” said Provost, who is contemplating pursuing a securities certificate so he can work in the banking industry and is pondering becoming a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA).

“[Associate professor of business] Herman van den Berg really sparked a lot of interest in me on the money side of things,” said Provost, who added he wants to do everything he can to build his resume and to separate himself from other potential rivals when it comes to landing a job.

“Anything you can do to get a leg up makes sense,” said Provost. “I don’t want to stop progressing. I could see myself maybe doing an MBA program some day.”

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Ryan Provost

Ryan Provost; winner of Lakehead Orillia’s President’s Golf Tournament Business Award

Real-world business project a fitting capstone to Lakehead students’ degree

A graduating business class taught by Dr. Herman van den Berg at Lakehead University’s Orillia campus recently conducted a business study for Orser Technical Services of Orillia. Orser General Manager Ray Gammon and President Tony Telford (seated l – r) attended the final class in April to receive the students’ final reports and presentations.

May 15, 2014 – Orillia, ON

The final class for a group of Lakehead business students last month was not your average end-of-term get-together. For the ten students who were completing their business degrees, they spent their last class making strategic business recommendations to the senior management team of Orser Technical Services, based in Orillia.

The capstone assignment was part two of a fourth-year Strategy Management course taught by associate professor of business, Dr. Herman van den Berg.

“This was the students’ opportunity to apply all that they had studied over the course of the program,” explained van den Berg. Students were required to analyze an existing organization and to submit a detailed report of their findings, analyses, and recommendations for the future. “I think it’s important to do this in a real world situation, rather than through a case study,” added van den Berg.

The students agreed.

“This was the most hands-on, practical experience we’ve had,” said student Andrew Palubiskie. “What made it interesting was the fact that it was a smaller business with restricted resources. Our textbook learning was primarily focused on larger corporations.”

“Being able to talk to a CEO was great,” added Brandon MacDonald. “It made it personal and we found out that these business leaders are just like us.”

Orser Technical Services president Tony Telford, along with general manager Ray Gammon, quickly agreed to be part of the project when approached by van den Berg. “We support the University and understand its value in our community,” said Telford. “As a member of the community, we are committed to helping build the synergy between the school and the business community – this is how we pay back.”

Both Telford and Gammon were impressed with the students’ presentations and recommendations.

“I was surprised at the parallel visions between the students and ourselves,” said Telford. “They were very observant and intuitive; some of their recommendations were things we’ve also discussed and have considered implementing. “We definitely have takeaways from each group,” added Gammon.

For student Cindy Karikari, the project brought her studies into focus. “It showed us what was really important in this degree and what is most useful to apply; and a great preparation for the real world.”

Lindsay Lewis said it was interesting to find that their textbook analysis had so many similarities to a real management team. “We were really on the same page,” she said. “It’s cool to see that our academic backgrounds are in line with where this company was at in terms of challenges and solutions.”

The value that the project brought to the students was what was most exciting to Telford. “The student reports, with their fresh perspectives, will be beneficial to our business, but we hope that what the students gain from the exercise will surpass what we get. Ultimately, it’s a win-win situation.” “That’s the intention,” added van den Berg.

The students will graduate with their Honours Bachelor of Commerce (HBComm), or in the case of transfer students, a Bachelor of Administration (BAdmin) degree at the University’s convocation ceremony this June.

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Keywords:

Learner-Centred Student Experience

Economic Development

Business Administration

Dr. Wing Him Yeung

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