Leaman was one of three students selected as Outstanding Graduate Students in the accounting program. Harnish was awarded the Federation of Schools of Accounting (FSA) Outstanding Masters Student award, an annual honor conferred at FSA full-membership schools to fifth-year students in master’s degree programs.

Leaman plans to sit for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam in July and begin working at Brown Edwards & Company, a Harrisonburg public accounting firm, as a CPA by the start of August.

Harnish too will be starting a job this summer. In July he moves to Baltimore, Maryland, where he will begin working at the Baltimore office of McGladrey as a tax associate. Harnish was one of 87 national FSA award recipients, according to the FSA website’s 2014 list of recipients, but each FSA member school establishes its own award criteria, making each award a unique honor. This year’s JMU FSA award recipient was selected for his promise as a future PhD-holder and possible faculty member.

In response to the award and his future plans for his education, Harnish said he expects to pursue a doctorate five to seven years from now, after working in public practice.

The JMU College of Business accounting program faculty selected the four accounting students for recognition at this spring’s graduation. Leaman, Harnish and the other two students received their awards in a pre-graduation ceremony on May 8.

Leaman and Harnish both graduated from JMU this past month with master’s of science degrees in accounting – Leaman with a concentration in taxation. Harnish graduated with a dual degree in and economics while Leaman was an accounting major and economics minor. By taking summer classes and full course loads for two semesters, they were able to complete the master’s degree program at JMU in just one year.

JOHN BUCKWALTER

John Buckwalter’s father owned a small car dealership in John’s hometown of Wellman, Iowa (pop. 1,100), plus another one in Washington, Iowa. “My friends at Iowa Mennonite School viewed me as a city slicker,” he recalls with amusement. He wasn’t, but he wanted to be. After acing the CPA exam at the end of his senior year at 91����Ƶ(in the 1980s, you could get a CPA without 150 hours of coursework), Buckwalter packed everything he owned into his Chevrolet Cavalier and headed to Phoenix, where his older sister was living. He started as a roofer in the broiling summer sun of Phoenix. His sister, who was a client of the accounting firm known as Deloitte, passed his résumé to the firm and, amazingly (he says, as he looks back on matters now), he was called in for an interview. Normally, a Big Four accounting firm would have finished its recruiting a year earlier and then from the so-called elite universities with undergraduate and graduate accounting programs. But one of Deloitte’s young recruits for the Phoenix office backed out on his commitment to arrive in the fall, suddenly leaving an opening. Buckwalter had straight As, but his grades were from an “unproven school.” To the surprise of Deloitte’s bigwigs, however, he had scored in the top three in Virginia on the CPA exam he took the previous May and soon would receive the Elijah Watts Sells Award, a highly prestigious national honor from the American Institute of CPAs (in 2011, it was conferred on 37 takers of the CPA exam out of 90,000 candidates). Buckwalter credits his then-EMC accounting professor,��Ronald Stoltzfus, for putting his students through “killer mid-terms” that lasted four hours, followed by equally arduous and long final exams. With such rigorous preparation, Buckwalter did not find the CPA exam to be unduly difficult. “Ron certainly influenced my career,” Buckwalter says. Buckwalter started as a “worker bee,” auditing financial statements, but quickly moved to taxes. The system demanded much of its lower-level accountants. “You are trying to make a lot of people happy while doing multi-tasking. It’s rough and tumble at the bottom,” says Buckwalter. As one rises in the firm, you shed the number of bosses you report to, Buckwalter explains, but ultimately it is a pyramid scheme, whereby more than 95% of those originally hired will have no chance to become a partner in the firm. “A lot go to beauty school,” he says wryly, “but few get chosen. Would I have been chosen? That’s one of the questions in my life that I’ll never have an answer to.” In 1998, Buckwalter got a call from a recruiter who told him that Starwood, a rapidly growing company in the hospitality space, would be interested in interviewing him. Today Buckwalter is Starwood’s vice president of corporate tax, overseeing 10 staffers and consulting with external lawyers and accountants. He estimates that he puts in 12 hours a day, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., organizing “defense” by managing IRS audits and “offense” by finding ways to reduce the taxes paid by Starwood. Of the $9 billion in assets held by Starwood,¹��Buckwalter has done “creative tax planning” – always within the law – to see that taxes do not have to be paid on all of the billions in asset transactions. “I would never want to take a position that would be embarrassing if discovered,” says Buckwalter. Buckwalter smiles at the recollection that some folks in Wellman wondered why he didn’t simply step into his father’s car business, as his brother did. “One of the things I am most proud of is that I came out here with nothing but what I learned from my parents and the education they supported me through,” he says. “I have earned everything here the hard way.” His father was influential, in teaching him how to handle people – by elevating them and not tearing them down, and treating customers fairly, Buckwalter says. “I believe good things will come my way if I build up my team,” he says. In his department, “we invest in each other and support each other,” in contrast to the counter-model in some parts of Corporate America, where blame is liberally assigned and people often are torn down. Buckwalter and his wife, Pam (a former schoolteacher), have an 11-year-old daughter, Kamryn, and an 8-year-old son, Jack. The family attends Scottsdale Bible Church in the eastern suburbs of Phoenix.

KERMIT KAUFFMAN

On a farm in Kalispell, Montana, grew up five Kauffman brothers. All of them headed east for a year or more at either Eastern Mennonite High School or College. N. Leroy ’77 was first, followed by Kermit and Galen, both ’79 grads, and Marlin, class of ’88. Jerry attended the high school, graduating in 1981 and eventually marrying Mary Beth Yoder, a ’77 nursing grad. Only Marlin returned permanently to the family farm. Two of the brothers, Kermit and Leroy, chose financial careers, with Kermit passing the CPA exam and joining the accounting operation of Media General in Richmond, Virginia, and Leroy becoming an academic (MBA at U. of Montana, PhD at Ohio State), who now teaches accounting, finance and economics at Western Carolina University. Media General turned out to be a great place for Kermit Kauffman to go fast and far. By global standards, it was a medium-sized multi-media company controlled by the Bryan family of Virginia. From its base of two daily newspapers in Richmond, Media General acquired about 60 more newspapers. It also expanded into broadcast television, starting with WFLA-TV in Tampa, Florida, and growing to 18 TV stations, mostly in the southeast United States. In 1994, Media General embraced the Internet business, partnering first with Prodigy and then starting tbo.com, in Tampa. In 1986, seven years after joining Media General, Kauffman was named CFO of its chain of California weeklies. In 1990, Media General moved Kauffman from Anaheim, California, to Tampa, where he started as controller of The Tampa Tribune and progressed to vice president of administration, in charge of the finance and information technology functions for The Tampa Tribune, WFLA-Newschannel 8, and tbo.com, the online operation for the news outlets. “We were an industry leader with what we called convergence – online, broadcast and print operating as one,” Kauffman says. “We had one finance department and one IT department, and our news and advertising people worked closely together.” As anyone who has paid attention in the last decade knows, a workable financial model for delivering news in the Internet age has not yet been found. Kauffman found himself in a difficult position: “It was tough, especially in 2003 and 2004 when you could see that advertising wasn’t going to bounce back.” Automotive advertising was down, real estate advertising practically disappeared, and recruitment went totally to the web. “In the 90s, we had a downturn, but the economy and the advertising market came back,” he says. “In the early 2000s, the problems were more systemic.” Kauffman was part of implementing several rounds of layoffs at the Tribune. There was no choice – the company had to stay profitable – but the layoffs were troubling. Given the trend lines, Kauffman sold his Tribune stock and retired in 2007. “I was lucky enough to have that option, but it ended up being smart to do.”² Not ready to let him go, Media General asked Kauffman to work as a consultant in advance of Super Bowl XLIII, held in Tampa in 2009. Media General was a sponsor of the local host committee. Kauffman was put in charge of handling the local print and television interests for the NFL event. He chuckles at the recollection that he had 165 choice tickets to the Super Bowl in his office the weekend before the game, all destined to be used to enhance ties between Media General and its advertisers. Yet, “the best part of that gig was the fact that I was able to take one of my brothers and a nephew to the game.” Outside of his paid work, Kauffman served for 15 years on the board of a Tampa shelter for victims of domestic violence. When their CFO left unexpectedly, he filled in as its interim CFO for the last nine months of 2009. He remembers the experience as particularly eye-opening regarding the tenuousness of budgets that depend on government and private grants. “There were times when I wondered if we could make payroll or cover the electric bill. But we always managed to make it happen.” For fun, Kauffman and two friends formed an adult kickball league in 2010 for which they charged $65 per participant for an eight-week season plus a final tournament. When Kauffman extricated himself from this venture in January 2013, the league was attracting 600 players per season and its revenues were approaching $100,000 per year. “Your biggest challenges in that business are lighted fields and enough parking,” he says. (For more info, see ) Kauffman had other things he wanted to do with his time, like get ready for a half-marathon in New York City in March 2013. He’s done 11 full marathons, including ones in Boston, Berlin, Paris and New York. Recently Kauffman made what will likely be his last career move. He became CFO of GSP Retail (), a family-owned business in Tampa employing 380. The company is a specialty signage and technology company, producing signage for the convenience-store industry across the country. GSP also develops and markets software to help its customers manage their store layouts, merchandising and signage installation. “I’ve been asked if I got bored [being retired],” he says. “Not at all, but it just seemed like something I would enjoy.” Reflecting on his work life, Kauffman says: “I think I’ve gotten where I have because I had a good grounding in ethics early on. I learned from my parents that it’s important to do things right. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. “I have a strong sense of right and wrong. If you cut corners or bend the rules, it will come back to haunt you. You don’t want to regret what you’ve done; you need to feel good about doing things the way you did.”

KEITH J. YODER

“Growing up on a dairy farm, I learned that hard work and working as a team brought success,” said Keith J. Yoder ’77, thinking about the 350-plus acres on which his great-grandfather settled in west-central Ohio. By the mid-1920s, that land had been sub-divided into three farms for his children, one of which was eventually farmed by Yoder’s father and mother for more than 50 years outside the town of West Liberty. “Ultimately, I thought there were options that suited me better than working on the farm, but what I learned about hard work and teamwork would be integral to success in any career,” Yoder recalls. He headed to Hesston College in Kansas for two years, and then transferred to 91����Ƶ. As a business administration major, Yoder thought the health-care arena “could provide value” and would fit well with his Mennonite background. On a return visit to 91����Ƶ he met and later married Mary Claire, a graduate of James Madison University (JMU) whom he met when she managed 91����Ƶ’s public radio station, WEMC. Mary Claire was from the Tidewater area, so the couple felt a tug towards eastern Virginia. After earning an MBA from JMU (and having taken most if not all the accounting courses 91����Ƶ offered), Yoder got an entry-level accounting job at Richmond Memorial Hospital. By 1981, Yoder had passed his CPA exam, and was director of finance for the Long Term division of Sentara Healthcare Inc. in Norfolk, a large not-for-profit healthcare system. “The skilled nursing side was growing. We had five or six nursing facilities at that time.” In 1992, Yoder accepted an offer to be CFO and vice president of Evergreen Healthcare Inc., headquartered in Indianapolis. “By late 1994 [when he was managing a financial staff of 55], we knew we had to get really big or merge with somebody else. At the time, we had 73 nursing homes and $200 million in revenues.” Evergreen merged with GranCare – with Yoder aboard as treasurer and controller – yielding a system of 230 facilities and $650-$700 million in revenues. “I was doing a lot of traveling to many locations, including Wall Street in New York, to raise capital. It could give you a false sense of importance because the reality was you could be one transaction from merging yourself out of a job,” Yoder says. “It was an environment which required us to keep completing transactions – keep growing or selling – to maintain your stock price and to keep your investors happy.” This was the late 1990s, Yoder notes, when the market demanded “growth or get out.” “It was an interesting time, especially for someone from my background.” After a pause, he adds, “You could get pushed to places you didn’t want to be, but my background provided the understanding to do things the right way.” Over an eight-year period, Yoder played a leading role in enabling the companies in which he was involved to grow their revenues from $100 million to $1 billion, derived from nursing homes, assisted living facilities, institutional pharmacy and home-health operations. From 2003 to 2011, Yoder was based in Atlanta and Columbus, Ohio, working as CFO for Atrium Centers LLC, which he helped grow from 13 to 43 nursing care facilities, with $220 million in revenues. Family and friend considerations, along with a start-up opportunity, weighed heavily in a decision by Keith and Mary Claire to settle in Atlanta in 2011– where they had lived as a family from 1995 to 2007 (when he worked for GranCare and then as executive vice president of a dental and vision insurance company, with $240 million in revenues). This is where two of their adult children had settled, and where Keith and Mary Claire felt most at home. Today, Yoder is a consultant bringing to the table his extensive experience with financial reporting, regulatory compliance, risk management, mergers and acquisitions, investor presentations, systems conversions and integrations, and operational and capital budgeting. “When I left EMC and JMU, I never had any idea that I would have the opportunities that I’ve had,” he says. “I was often in the right place at the right time and utilized those opportunities to share what I had learned along the way, beginning with what my parents showed me – hard work and teamwork – on the farm. I have enjoyed the experience of growing companies, getting the right systems in place, and building great teams. That [team building] has turned out to be one of my strengths.” — Bonnie Price Lofton, MA ’04 1.��Starwood is the largest luxury hotel owner and manager in the world, with hotels operating under the Sheraton, Le Méridien, Westin, W, and St. Regis brands, among others. Rivaled only by the Marriott Corporation, Starwood owns or manages 1,100 hotels in 100 countries, with 170,000 employees, yielding $6 billion in annual revenues. 2.��When Warren Buffet announced in May 2012 that he was paying��$142 million in cash to acquire most of Media General’s daily newspapers, he declined to include��The Tampa Tribune��in his group of 25 acquisitions.

If you want to understand��the passion of Ronald L. Stoltzfus for accounting – notably getting the numbers right, providing complete and transparent information, and putting the public good first – you need only look as far as the accountant he respects the most in the national arena: Lynn E. Turner.

As chief accountant for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from 1998 to 2001, Turner was a leading advocate of auditor independence rules and international accounting and auditing standards.

“He’s one of my heroes,” says Stoltzfus, who heads 91����Ƶ’s program in the department. “He understands that accounting information helps investors, creditors and other users make good decisions. This is why accurate, transparent financial information is a ‘public good.’”

Stoltzfus admires the way Turner speaks to accounting conventions, “asking the hard questions that need to be asked,“ says Stoltzfus. Turner, for example, has publicly questioned why the investigative budget of the SEC was drastically cut in 2007, hamstringing an agency responsible for enforcing the laws regulating the nation’s banks. (This was at a period when JPMorgan Chase, Citicorp, and Bank of America were implicated in the global financial meltdown.)

Unlike Turner, Stoltzfus is not famous – at least not beyond certain university circles – but he shares Turner’s moral outrage at financial reporting practices that harm the public good.

This is why Stoltzfus is spending his 2012-13 sabbatical examining the way state governments report on the pension benefits they have promised to their employees. “Most state pension plans were fully funded seven years ago,” he says. “Now they aren’t.”

“Instead of following the recommendations of actuaries, many state legislatures have reduced the percentage of funds set aside for the pensions.”

In Pennsylvania, for example, Stoltzfus found that the state workers’ pension fund was underfunded by $14.7 billion as of 2011, partly the result of 10 years of sub-par investment returns and partly as a result of the state legislature cutting the set-aside money from 26% to 11% of payroll. (Stoltzfus cites “State Employees Retirement System, Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,” 06/30/11, p.72.)

Unfortunately, many states report similar patterns, he says: “Why are they [the legislatures] messing with the pension funds? Is this a short-sighted effort to balance the state budget at the expense of state workers?”

Stoltzfus hopes to publish his findings as soon as he wraps up his research. This is not a dry academic exercise; underfunded pensions funds will impact tens of thousands of public employees in the state of Pennsylvania alone.

For Stoltzfus, accounting is a high calling – right up there with being a skilled physician or a wise pastor. “To run a business, non-profit or a government agency, you must have properly trained people who know how to collect the right data and present it understandably, giving accurate answers to a host of questions.”

“Good CPAs [Certified Public Accountants] are problem-solvers for their clients,” he enthuses. “And auditors are like forensic investigators – they have to be very bright and very astute. Behind every major business reporting failure, there was an audit failure.”

Stoltzfus says a flaw in the U.S. audit system is the fact that the auditor is paid by the company being audited. He points to the way Arthur Andersen – one of the “Big Five” accounting firms until 2002 – was getting a million dollars a week from Enron at time when it was fraudulently reporting its financial position, deluding its investors. (Enron filed for bankruptcy in 2001.)

In addition to being a CPA and an 91����Ƶ alum, Stoltzfus holds a PhD in accounting from Virginia Commonwealth University, a master’s in accounting from James Madison University, and a master of business administration from Shippensburg University.

“Its very unusual for a university this size to have somebody with a PhD teaching accounting, “ says Spencer Cowles, PhD, chair of 91����Ƶ’s business and economics department. “It’s also unusual to find someone with a CPA and a PhD in accounting who also has an MBA. Ron doesn’t just have a narrow technical perspective – he understands how accounting fits into business.”

PhD-holding scholars of accounting like Stoltzfus are in short supply nationally, according to the American Accounting Association. This may explain the salaries they can command on the academic market. New hires as full professors of accounting received a mean salary of $169,200 in 2009, according to a 2009-2010 salary survey conducted by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

“The highest salary you can get as an accounting professor at 91����Ƶ is probably half what you could get at a major university with a full-fledged graduate program in accounting,” says Cowles. Yet Stoltzfus, long-time treasurer of his Park View Mennonite Church, has stayed put at 91����Ƶ since arriving here in 1984, after a decade of being a controller in the private sector. His motivations clearly are beyond money.

“I believe in the mission of 91����Ƶ. I think we make a difference in young people’s lives,” he says. No accounting student “gets lost here…. I know if you aren’t prepared and if you’re not in class.”

The exams that Stoltzfus puts his students through are intended to prepare them for the multi-day exam marathons that they will need to endure to pass their CPA exams. In short, 91����Ƶ’s accounting exams are really tough. But, as dozens of accounting graduates have told Crossroads, the pay-off is success in graduate school and in getting the coveted CPA license with relative ease.

Stoltzfus also stays put because “I have great colleagues. Our department really values teaching in a liberal arts context where clear thinking and clear writing are very important,” he says. “And so are relationships and understanding the broader context of business and society. It’s not just about accounting.” — Bonnie Price Lofton, MA ’04

91����Ƶ was recognized for its solar array on the roof of the . At the time of installation in fall 2010, it was the largest array in the state of Virginia. It has exceeded its performance goals for the period of January through June 2012 by 118 percent and is the first in Virginia to exceed 100 kilowatts in capacity, in fall 2012.

The array provides about 2.5 percent of the energy the Harrisonburg campus and its approximately 1,500 students consume.

The 126,000 kilowatt-hours the system produces is equivalent to 1.26 million 100-watt light bulbs burning for one hour, according to , an assistant professor of at 91����Ƶ and CEO of the company that owns the solar array, , in a story published by the Daily News Record on Sept. 6, 2012.

The Shenandoah Valley Technology Council is a nonprofit membership organization serving the greater Shenandoah Valley of Virginia by helping technology businesses in the area succeed and grow. They host Tech Nite once a year to highlight the successes of technology firms, organizations and programs in the region and the entrepreneurs, innovators, leaders and educators behind those successes, according to its website.

91����Ƶ’s candidates passed the sections at a 72.2 percent rate, according to the 2011 NASBA Data and Trends Report, issued in 2012. The University of Virginia (UVa) had an 84.7 percent pass rate in the category of candidates without an advanced degree.

Close behind 91����Ƶ were the students of James Madison University, with a 70.2 percent pass rate, and the University of Richmond with a 68.8 percent pass rate. Nationally, first-time candidates pass the sections at 49.8 percent. The average pass rate for all bachelor-degree-holding students in Virginia was 53.9 percent.

NASBA also reported that 91����Ƶ ranks 18th in the nation in the “Very Small” category. This category includes 239 institutions with five to nine candidates taking the exam.

The accounting program at 91����Ƶ is headed by , who holds a PhD in accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He has overseen the program since 1984. Other faculty members teaching accounting are , an 91����Ƶ grad who holds a CPA and MBA, and , with a CPA and an MS in accounting.

One-on-one attention

“The five graduates from 91����Ƶ who took this exam in 2011 were a small group of test-takers compared to the test-groups of accounting graduates from much-larger universities in the state, such as Virginia Tech, James Madison, and William & Mary,” noted Stoltzfus. “But I don’t think our small size diminishes our achievement. In fact, it may point to the advantages of the one-on-one attention that our students get.”

In a mark of accomplishment in 2012, a four-student 91����Ƶ team competed against accounting teams from university programs around the United States in a contest sponsored by the . 91����Ƶ made it into the final round of 20, from which three winners were chosen. AICPA judges ranked the 91����Ƶ team, along with the other finalists, on its ability to present solutions in 1,000 words or less to the difficulties this nation faces with Social Security, the national deficit and taxes.

Vying with UVa

In the fall of 2010, 91����Ƶ accounting majors also proved themselves in a regional competition. The 91����Ƶ team tied for fourth place in the final round of competition with a team from UVa in the ninth annual Goodman & Company Accounting Challenge.

The team – consisting of Brittany S. Snyder, Raphine, Va.; Heidi A. Boese, Hesston, Kan.; Eric B. Yoder, Narvon, Pa.; and Jason D. Ropp, Iowa City, Iowa – was one of 33 teams from colleges and universities from Virginia and Maryland. To advance to the final round, the 91����Ƶ team completed two sets of grueling six-hour business exams.

Another team from UVa finished first in the contest, followed by teams from William & Mary and James Madison.

Pipeline to JMU grad program

To become licensed as a CPA, state licensing bodies typically require 150 hours of coursework. 91����Ƶ graduates aiming for a CPA typically gain this coursework by enrolling in a master’s program. Over the last 10 years, their favorite next step has been James Madison University’s highly ranked MS program in accounting, but some students have enrolled in similar programs at Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Notre Dame and Indiana University-South Bend, among others.

“My supervisors and division chief have taken time to bring me on board with projects that I am interested in,” said Harnish, a senior at 91����Ƶ (91����Ƶ). “I have had the opportunity to work on projects ranging from preparing reports and presentations to compiling and vetting data for a database.”

Competitive from 91����Ƶ

“One of my big fears when I put in my deposit at 91����Ƶ was that I would not have access to the same opportunities students at some of the larger and more well-known universities do,” said Harnish. “My acceptance into this fellowship calmed that fear as well as reaffirming the fact that 91����Ƶ has prepared me to enter my field.”

Harnish’s BEA internship was part of a junior fellowship from the Joint Program of Survey Methodology at the University of Maryland.

“I knew I did not want to return to throwing mulch again this summer and immediately looked into the program,” said Harnish. “The fellowship program matches each fellow with a bureau and I was fortunate enough to end up in an economics agency.”

The fellowship program placed undergrads in federal statistical agencies and hosted field visits and seminars on survey methodology. Weekly seminars were held on the University of Maryland campus.

“I’ve had the opportunity to meet with the Chief Statistician of the United States and tour many of the other bureaus, including the ,” said Harnish.

Beyond theory

In addition, Harnish found the fellowship program was a way to move “beyond theory and explore math.”

“While I enjoyed my course in survey methodology, I was more interested in the possibility of working for one of the federal economics agencies. I saw this program as a good way to move beyond theory and explore the math.”

In his internship, Harnish said he got hands-on experience using concepts taught by Chris Gingrich, professor of , and , associate professor of business and economics. In addition, “Chris (Gingrich) and Jim (Leaman) pushed me to develop my communication skills, both written and verbal, which was very helpful.”

91����Ƶ’s three graduates joined seven others for two years of service in Colombia under the SEED program of .

According to – headed for the last 25 years by social worker Sharon Hostetler ’80 – Colombia has the largest refugee population in the world.

“More than 5.2 million Colombians have been internally displaced by right-wing paramilitaries often working in conjunction with Colombia’s U.S. funded and trained military, left-wing insurgents, indiscriminate aerial fumigations, large-scale extractive industries and agro-fuel production,” says the Witness for Peace website.

“At every turn, U.S. corporations have benefited from the violence and mass displacement, most notably Coca Cola, Chiquita, Dole and Drummond Coal.”

A variety of peace-and-justice groups, including Justapaz of the Colombian Mennonite churches, are helping with the recovery effort at the grassroots level.

“These are amazing 91����Ƶ graduates, doing great work,” said 91����Ƶ professor and chair of the MCC U.S. Board of Directors, , who visited Sarriot, Zehr and Morris earlier this summer. “They are accompanying churches and villages displaced by the violence of the last 10 to12 years.”

Hershberger, who has an oversight role with MCC, was in Colombia as part of an MCC study tour. In the spring of 2013, she and her husband Jim will be leading a couple of dozen 91����Ƶ students to Colombia for an accredited cross-cultural experience.

The SEED participants in Colombia are expected to gain understanding of the economic, political, cultural, and religious factors feeding violence and poverty. Living among the general population, they work for peace, justice, equality, and livelihoods.

Sarriot, a U.S. citizen who has lived on three continents, is based in Medellin, the country’s second largest city and birthplace of the drug cartels. A major, Sarriot works with the Sanctuary Peace Church Network of Antioquia, which is comprised of 12 evangelical churches and organizations. One of them is an Anabaptist/Mennonite congregation that supports a group of war victims through community-building and workshops on trauma healing.

Sarriot is also running 12 workshops in a men’s prison under the auspices of the Prison Fellowship. Likely some of her students were members of paramilitaries, perhaps even soldiers who victimized those in need of trauma healing.

“One of the things I’ve realized living in such a violent and complicated urban environment,” said Sarriot, “is how important it is as Christians to understand Jesus’ call to nonviolence in all aspects of our lives.”

She added that Jesus’ teachings tend to “conflict with what our culture, media and government tell us.”

Morris, a major from Charlottesville, Va., is assigned to the city of El Carmen de Bolivar, where he works for a local church and a regional food cooperative. In both cases he is helping displaced farmers organize projects related to food security and general economic development, such as a newly opened farmers’ market. He is also leading youth Bible studies with a focus on life planning and career callings.

Many of the farmers Morris works with were driven out of their farms in the surrounding mountains during the civil war. Morris is involved with community land purchasing for small farmers.

Zehr, from Pittsburgh, works in the remote mountainous community of Berruguita, which got caught in the struggle for territory between paramilitaries and guerillas in 2000. Most of the residents fled the area but many of them have gradually returned.

“My work is accompanying the community as they attempt to organize both to demand their rights as citizens and as victims of the armed conflict,” said Zehr, who (like Sarriot) majored in peacebuilding and development. As an example, Zehr cited their pursuit of improvements to the community’s rutted access road. Also, in the spirit of the government’s land-reform program, the community is fighting for their right to collective land ownership.

Zehr also helps supervise a small-loan program for local farmers and helps supply produce to the farmers’ market that Morris helped launch. In addition, she works with a group of local mediators who are developing another way of dealing with conflict.

“If we aren’t careful and if we don’t take care of our security,” she explained, “the violence could begin all over again.”

The new faculty, announced by , provost, and , vice president and undergraduate academic dean, are:

Adriana Rojas Campbell, Instructor of Spanish

Adriana earned a BA in Latin American studies and Spanish and literature from American University and an MA in Spanish at the University of Virginia. Adriana is currently working towards her doctorate in Spanish at the University of Virginia. She brings teaching experience in all levels of Spanish language and literature.

Hailson Prabu Bose, Assistant Professor of Nursing

Prabu earned a BBA in finance and history at Wisconsin Lutheran College, an MBA at Concordia and a JD from Hamline University School of Law. In addition, Prabu earned a BSN at George Mason University and anticipates completing a MSN at Marymount University in 2012. Prabu brings business and legal experience as well as nursing experience to the department.

Timothy Emerick, Instructor of Mathematics

Tim earned a BS in mathematics at California Polytechnic State University and an MS in mathematics at the University of Virginia. Timothy is currently pursuing a PhD in mathematics at the University of Virginia. Timothy brings experience in teaching mathematics at the collegiate level with a particular expertise in calculus.

David Evans, PhD, Assistant Professor of History, Mission and Interfaith Studies

David earned a BA in Christian Ministries at Spring Arbor College and an master of theological studies in the history of Christianity at Wesley Theological Seminary. David has also earned a master of philosophy in historical studies at Drew University and completed a PhD in history of U.S. religion at Drew. David brings pastoral experience as well as having served as a community development resource coordinator with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).

Julia Halterman, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biomedicine

Julia earned a BS in biology at Texas A&M University and an MS in biological and physical sciences at the University of Virginia. Julie completed her PhD in pharmacology at the University of Virginia. Julia brings experience in molecular biology concepts and laboratory techniques as well as in teaching and mentoring students.

Judith Hiett, Instructor of Nursing

Judith earned a BS in nursing at 91����Ƶ and an MSN in nursing education at James Madison University. Judith brings extensive staff nursing experience to the nursing department as well as teaching experience in the clinical collegiate classroom.

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Andrew Miller, Instructor of Business and Economics

Andrew (Andy) earned a BA in international agriculture from 91����Ƶ and an MS in agricultural economics from Iowa State University. Andy also completed an MDiv from Eastern Mennonite Seminary and previously served as a faculty member in the 91����Ƶ business and economics department while completing his seminary degree. Andy also served on the campus ministries team during his time at 91����Ƶ and EMS. Andy brings experience as an MCC administrator having recently served as the Southeast Asia area co-representative.

Marcia Benner-Pusey, Instructor of Nursing

Marcia earned her BS in nursing at 91����Ƶ and an MS in nursing at the University of Virginia. Marcia brings nursing experience both in psychiatric and critical care in the hospital setting. Marcia has served as an adjunct instructor in 91����Ƶ’s nursing department.

Ann Schaeffer, Instructor of Nursing

Ann earned a BA in psychology at JMU and an MEd in counseling psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In addition, Ann earned a BSN at the University of Virginia and recently completed an MSN at Frontier Nursing University. Ann also is a certified nurse-midwife in midwifery and family nursing. Ann brings experience as an adjunct instructor in 91����Ƶ’s nursing department.

��John Wallbaum, PhD, Assistant Professor of Mathematics

John earned a BS in mathematics at Wheaton College and an MS and PhD in mathematics from the University of Notre Dame. John brings mathematical teaching experience on the collegiate level and a research interest in mathematical logic.

Gnagey went to work to find answers, spending two years in research, culminating in a . The award is based on Gnagey’s work as a graduate student at The Ohio State University for his paper, “A Semi-Parametric Analysis of Land Developer Costs and Development Timing.”

“My current research goal is to study changes in rural land use, specifically conversion of agriculture land to residential housing,” said Gnagey. “Greater understanding of development patterns and regulatory policies generate ways to better plan communities while also achieving more efficient economic outcomes.”

Gnagey used a statistical technique that relies less on economic assumptions-and more on incorporating geographical features in environmentally sensitive areas-to analyze land developer’s decisions of the timing and location of subdivisions in a rural Maryland county, close to the Chesapeake Bay.

“The goal of this research is to model changes in land use, particularly the conversion of agricultural land to residential housing,” said Gnagey. “Policies have been implemented to control fragmentation and potential damages to the ecosystem, but they are understudied. If we can understand how communities have grown in the past we can encourage economic growth and preserve the environment and natural resources for the future.”

Gnagey hopes the data he collects will show where land developers subdivide land and the characteristics that lead to those decisions. “I will include variables such as the characteristics of developers, land and the surrounding land while using new spatial statistical techniques to further explain development patters better than prior research has been able to.”

, professor of at 91����Ƶ, said Gnagey’s work at 91����Ƶ and time with helped him further understand land development issues. “His work in Indonesia following the 2004 tsunami undoubtedly helped him understand the economics of daily household decisions amidst challenging circumstances.”

Gnagey, who praised his adviser and fellow graduate students for their support on this research, emphasized his work is far from over.

“My manuscript still needs improvements before it can contribute to academic journals, but this award confirms that I am on the right track,” sad Gnagey.

Following the completion of his PhD, Gnagey envisions applying for jobs at liberal arts universities.

“Liberal arts schools often require professors to undertake a significant teaching load, but many of my professors at 91����Ƶ demonstrated balance between a full-time teaching load and quality academic research, something I aspire to.”

More information on the Business and economics department can be found at .

To view an interview with Chris Gingrich visit .

Alan Hostetler, current CPA and 2001 91����Ƶ business grad, was honored in May 2010 as one of the ‘Top 5 Under 35′ by the Virginia Society of CPAs (VSCPA).

The award, new in 2010, recognizes young professionals who show particular promise in professional achievement, VSCPA or local VSCPA chapter accomplishment, community contribution or dedication to the CPA profession.

Hostetler was honored at the 2010 Leaders’ Summit on May 14.

Honing leadership skills

Currently serving as chapter president, Hostetler, who majored in accounting while at 91����Ƶ, began his first term on the board of his local chapter in 2006. He’s devoted his time and talents to the chapter ever since.

“He’s spent hours revitalizing our chapter and keeping it going,” said Thomas C. Stott, CPA, the managing partner at Hostetler’s firm, Thomas C. Stott, CPA, PC, in Charlottesville.

Leading the chapter has presented ample opportunity for Hostetler to fine tune his leadership skills, which have translated to his work at the firm, where he specializes in auditing as well as in business and individual taxation.

Hostetler has nine years of experience in nonprofit auditing and informational return reporting and has been recognized for his outstanding work in the field: he was selected as a Virginia Business Super CPA in both 2006 and 2007.

Job variety within accounting was a draw

Ironically, this top-notch CPA was almost not a CPA at all.

“I started out thinking about going into engineering, but calculus scared me away from that,” Hostetler laughs. “The more I started looking into career planning, the variety of things you could do within the accounting profession and the job availability at the time were really attractive.”

When he’s not working, Hostetler is outdoors. He belongs to a hiking group and leads hikes in the Charlottesville area. He’s also into vegetable gardening, traveling, local music and local activities.

Hostetler’s advice

His advice to other aspiring CPAs? “Study hard. Don’t ever assume that you know enough. Learn from the people around you. Don’t ever pass up opportunities to learn something new.”

Learn more

Study business and accounting at 91����Ƶ

Reprinted with permission from the Virginia Society of CPAs.

An 91����Ƶ alumnus will become the new vice president for finance at his alma mater, beginning Apr. 15, 2010.

Daryl W. Bert, currently of Pflugerville, Tex., will succeed Ronald E. Piper, who is retiring after serving 24 years in the role at 91����Ƶ. Bert is a 1997 91����Ƶ graduate with a BS degree in accounting.

The appointment, a president’s cabinet-level position, was announced by Dr. Fred Kniss, 91����Ƶ provost.

“Daryl brings strong management, finance and accounting experience to this position,” Dr. Kniss said. “He is deeply committed to the mission and vision of 91����Ƶ and has demonstrated those values in church and community service in Austin. We believe he will be a strong member of 91����Ƶ’s leadership team,” he added.

The vice president for finance is the chief financial officer responsible for the development and final preparation of the annual operating and capital budgets, assures financial compliance, establishes internal control policies and procedures, provides strategic information concerning finances and represents the institution in external business transactions.

He oversees and is responsible for the business, human resources, physical plant, financial assistance and auxiliary services departments.

Bert brings more than 10 years of accounting and finance experience to his new position at 91����Ƶ. He has more than seven years tenure in roles of growing responsibility with Dell Computer Corporation, most recently as finance senior consultant, where he provided pricing consultation and approvals for large corporate accounts in the Central Region, representing some $500 million in annual revenue.

While at 91����Ƶ he was a standout on the 91����Ƶ men’s volleyball team, 1994-97, setting several school records in the sport, and was inducted into the Hall of Honor in 1998.

After graduating from 91����Ƶ, Bert earned a certified public accountant (CPA) license and completed a master of business administration degree with a concentration in finance from McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.

He served as treasurer and board member of the Ten Thousand Villages’ Austin location from its inception until 2008. He is treasurer of Austin Mennonite Church, where he is a member.

Bert is married to Carrie Stambaugh Bert, a 1997 91����Ƶ alumna. She does after-school tutoring and supervises student teachers at the University of Texas. The couple has three children – Evan, 6; Davis, 3; and Maren, 6 months.

Ashley Hevener and Matt Ropp saw this deficiency, and wanted to link all the levels of students together. Hevener and Ropp thought a student-run Business Club would be a great way to do this.

Students network and form an idea

They began by networking with fellow students and found that many had an interest. Informative meetings brought together students from all years who wanted to be a part of this organization.

After SGA approved the petition, Economic and Business Innovators of Tomorrow (EBIT) became recognized as an official group on campus, with Professor Walt Surratt as the faculty supervisor.

The group started meeting every Thursday to organize the group and planned a large kickoff event in Common Grounds, the 91����Ƶ coffee shop. All business and economics students were invited for pizza, T-shirts and information about the organization.

Club board of directors

Members of EBIT wanted the club to always feel student-directed, so they created a Board of Directors.

The Board consists of 13 juniors and seniors who must be admitted to the Department. The Board discusses ideas that members of the club have proposed and plan main events for the club.

EBIT events

EBIT will organize and plan a variety of events that are fun and educational. The kickoff event was just the start.

The next event featured an evening with local entrepreneurs sharing their stories of business success and strife. EBIT also plans to take the whole department out for bowling after the annual picnic.

Club membership

The club currently consists of 40 members and would be happy if the whole department joined. The club wants to be an organization where business students feel excited to share their ideas and thoughts and also a place where peers can help each other with resumes and classes.

The Board wants EBIT to be a place where all year levels can come together and have a common thread.

More info

Contact the business and economics department office coordinator Patty Eckard for more info at 540-432-4150.

Few business programs encourage students to use Facebook and Wikispaces to develop collaborative team strategies outside the classroom. But then, the Steward-Leadership Masters in Business Administration at 91����Ƶ is no ordinary MBA program.

MBA students in a summer class on “Stewardship, Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship” interact with rangers at Big Meadows in Shenandoah National Park.

“Given its history of increasing leadership strengths, building management skills, and developing stewardship strategies, 91����Ƶ’s MBA program is uniquely positioned to serve the needs of today’s demanding work-place and regional employers, as greater emphasis is now placed on ethics, stewardship of natural and human resources and effective collaborative strategies for a fast-changing global marketplace,” said Anthony E. (Tony) Smith, MBA co-director. “These very qualities lie at the heart of 91����Ƶ’s institutional core values.”

Innovative course includes live projects

Dr. Smith has been teaching a summer course in the MBA program “Stewardship, Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship,” that engaged students in systems approaches to stewardship and innovation and involved them in live projects with local corporations and non-profit organizations.

The clients included:

• Shenandoah National Park
• Rosetta Stone
• American Shakespeare Center
• Staunton Creative Community Fund (SCCF)

“I’m very impressed by the amount of research on a complicated topic, in a short period of time that the MBA students have achieved.” said Tim Taglauer, assistant chief of interpretation and education for Shenandoah National Park, after MBA students gave a presentation on business strategies for increasing the “sustainable advantage” for the Park.

Their recommendations included repositioning the park as a center for increasing eco-literacy and for the park to develop and strengthen strategic partnerships with local communities and schools.

Meghan Williamson, executive director of SCCF, found that the MBA students had developed an innovative “business to environment” model that could strengthen the success of their small business clients and outlined innovative financing methods to support SCCF’s programs.

The course ended Aug. 4 with MBA business strategy presentations to Rosetta Stone and to the American Shakespeare Center.

Linda Manka, naturalist ranger at Shenandoah National Park, discusses stewardship design principles and their application to real-life business situations as MBA students Kim Shipe (l.) and Juanita Zban listen.

“This course is but one example of how the 91����Ƶ’s Steward-Leadership MBA program offers a distinctive approach to preparing business leaders for the challenges of an increasingly uncertain business environment,” Smith stated. “The program works with the busy schedules of full-time working professionals who are seeking to strengthen their careers.”

For more information about the Steward-Leadership MBA program, contact Smith at anthony.smith@emu.edu or visit the website at www.emu.edu/mba or the MBA Facebook page, entitled “Steward Leadership MBA at 91����Ƶ.”

Questions/additional comments: Dr. Tony Smith, 432-4095

In a recently-formed investment club at 91����Ƶ, students are learning to invest in their own future by learning the strategies and logistics of investing wisely through all seasons of their lives.

Darrell Miller, Sam Buck and Matt Gehman, students in 91����Ƶ’s investment club, study the market for opportunities.

“With the state of Social Security and the current economy’s affect on pension funds, students today will need to accumulate a significant amount of savings for their retirement,” said James M. (Jim) Leaman, assistant professor of business and economics, “and my hope is that students in this club will know they must invest and leave knowing how to successfully do so.”

The idea for the investment club originated from an assignment in one of Leaman’s classes, principles of macroeconomics.

Having trouble getting the students to connect with the macro economy, he decided to create an assignment that would involve them in the markets. He gave students the task of creating their own mock portfolio. Students researched investment opportunities, individually created their own stock portfolio and are following its value through the semester.

“I found it to be a success,” said Leaman, adding, “Students became competitive and took pride in their portfolios, following them very closely.” With the success of the portfolio assignment, Leaman began investigating in the business department about the feasibility of creating an investment club.

His proposal to create the club was approved and became reality in the fall of 2008. The 13 students invested an initial $10,000 in the stock market. The investment club is a one-credit pass/fail course, designated as a independent study. Leaman leads the group, which meets once a week for an hour, focusing on investment strategies and the logistics of actually investing.

Though the current state of the economy is problematic for many investors, it’s been a valuable learning experience for the students, according to Leaman, giving them a healthy perspective of market cycles and preventing future overconfidence.

“It’s been really interesting to track our stocks and have real money invested in the market,” said senior business major Sam Buck. “I’ve learned the importance of investing and after I graduate I definitely plan on using what I’ve learned.”

After tracking stocks last semester, students chose where to invest the $10,000, buying stock in companies such as Ford and McDonalds.

So realistic, in fact, that Ashley Hevener, Kaleb Wyse and Joel Kratzer were selected as the top team for their presentation made at the annual convention of Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) held Nov. 6-9, 2008, in Columbus, Ohio.

91����Ƶ junior business students (l. to r.) Joel Kratzer, Kaleb Wyse and Ashley Hevener were selected as top presenters of a business case simulation at the recent MEDA convention. Photo by Jim Bishop

All three are junior accounting and business administration majors at 91����Ƶ. Ms. Hevener is from Hutchinson, Kan.; Wyse from Wayland, Iowa; and Kratzer from Kidron, Ohio.

Two 91����Ƶ teams were among five – three from Goshen (Ind.) College – who worked on the same business scenario and recommended solutions to the problem. The other team of 91����Ƶ business students in the competition were seniors Sam Buck, Woodburn, Ore.; Matt Gehman, Parkesburg, Pa.; and Ben Moyer, Doylestown, Pa.

The business case focused on a child care facility in Toledo, Ohio, that was struggling to stay afloat fiscally while also wanting to achieve greater visibility in the community, the students explained.

The students were given the problem prior to attending the convention, but weren’t permitted to seek counsel from any 91����Ƶ business professor.

“Our challenge was to study the business, determine what the obstacles and barriers were and come up with a feasible solution to the day care facility’s dilemma,” Wyse said.

“Being accounting majors, we focused on budget issues and crunched figures,” said Ms. Hevener. “We reworked the program’s budget, adding health coverage and recommending continuing education for staff,” she added.

The students also addressed the issue of “branding” – helping the facility sharpen its image – by creating public relations materials that outlined goals and services.

Each team had about 20 minutes to make its presentation and then entertain questions from the audience. The sessions were open to everyone attending the MEDA convention.

The students believe their presentation received top honors “because the marketing materials we developed made us stand out.”

All three students felt the experience was “invaluable.”

“This exercise involved some presenting techniques that I otherwise probably wouldn’t have learned,” Hevener said.

“Presenting in this venue is different than doing so in a college classroom,” Wyse said. “The observers are already in the work world.”

“I feel like I gained a new sense of differing ways to address a business problem and work at a practical solution,” Wyse added.

Not only that, but each student received $100 for being named the top presenters.

“Competitions like these are extremely valuable by providing students with problems like those they’ll face upon leaving the university,” said Walter W. (Walt) Surratt, assistant professor of business at 91����Ƶ. “They learn the value of critical thinking and exercise the tools they have learned in the classroom environment. They also learn to present their ideas and defend their positions before people they don’t know, building confidence and self-assurance in remarkable ways,” he added.

MEDA, founded in 1953, has a dual thrust of promoting business-oriented solutions to poverty and encouraging a Christian witness in business. It is a global leader in microfinance, village-level agriculture and investment fund development, improving livelihoods for hundreds of thousands of impoverished people every year.