• Second Web Analytics Competition Set to Kick Off
• BYU’s Center for eBusiness Helps Give Education to the World
• Newest Advisory Board Member is Up to the Challenge
• Putting Names to Faces

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Rachel Finley
574 TNRB
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602
(801) 422-3598
prspecialist@byu.edu

Putting Names to Faces

The mission of the Rollins Center for eBusiness is to prepare students to lead in a networked and digitized world by connecting them with skilled faculty and accomplished professionals. One of the best ways we can accomplish this mission is by giving students opportunities to work side-by-side with faculty, the center’s directors, and professionals. These students who work with the center come from varying backgrounds and give us the opportunity to learn to better cater to an increasingly diverse and sophisticated student body. To view the following staff and volunteers, visit ebusiness.byu.edu/team.

Assistant Program Manager and Lecture Series Teaching Assistant pictured on the right.

When Nicole Swain isn’t working with Program Manager Happy Larsen to organize all eBusiness Center events or with Managing Director John Richards to coordinate the Lecture Series, she’s working toward her degree in accountancy.

“My biggest goal is to receive a first-rate education that will help me better serve in life,” she says. “The center helps me reach my goals through my responsibilities and the opportunities that are afforded me.” She also enjoys the friendly, team-oriented atmosphere at the center.

In her spare time, Swain, from Orem, Utah, focuses on her “grandma hobbies.” She sews blankets, crochets, makes leprosy bandages, and does family history.

“Even my dad makes fun of me,” she says.

Web master

This last summer was an eventful one for Jason Malwitz, from Chicago, who maintains and updates the center’s web site. He started his own business during the summer break from his information systems classes.

His work with the center has encouraged him to develop online ventures in the future, to keep up with current trends in the business world, and has given him the opportunity to work with and meet many role models.

“It is exciting to see the goals and strategies of the center and to contribute to the center’s success,” Malwitz says. “I learn more every day as I try to meet the needs of the e-business web site.”

Videographer

Liz Jesclard is used to carrying a lot of gear. When she’s on the clock, she’s hauling camera equipment to record a lecture for the eBusiness and Entrepreneurial lecture series.

“It makes me laugh when I’m taking the elevator up,” she says. “People always ask me if I’m going on a trip. There’s never enough room for me and my stuff so I have to take the stairs.”

Off the clock, Jesclard, from Anchorage, Alaska, has spent time hauling gear to and from glaciers where she helped scientists collect data for their studies. It took more than elevators to move that gear. “We had to use helicopters for that,” she says.

Now as an aspiring business management student, Jesclard enjoys her work with the center, the enthusiastic people she works with, and all she has learned about cameras, software, and “life’s lessons.”

Student Lead–Marketing

Mitch Murdock spends his time spreading the word within the center and about it as the student marketing specialist.

“I work with faculty, students, and businesses to create awareness and develop support for the center,” he says. “I also develop relations with the five committees within the center so I can provide marketing and generate publicity for their projects.”

A finance student from Pocatello, Idaho, Murdock enjoys the hands-on work he has in marketing and the emphasis on student involvement in the center as much as he enjoys his hands-on hemp bracelet-making pastime.

“I worked on the eCandle project last year, and I was impressed with how much responsibility was given to the students,” he says. “I also appreciated the faculty and professional involvement. I have learned a lot about how I can use my business skills to provide meaningful service.”

Student Lead–e-Competitions

Jeff Ehlers works with the center to organize e-business competitions. Ehlers, a first-year MAcc student, has previously worked with Omniture to organize the Web Analytics Competition—a competition allowing groups of students from all majors to be trained on and then compete with Omniture software—and is looking forward to working with the MoreGoodFoundation to broaden the scope of the competition. He also serves on the Marriott School Business Plan Competition committee.

From Shelley, Idaho, Ehlers is looking to start a career in managerial accounting and work his way into management. In the next ten to fifteen years, he hopes take over his family’s business.

“The eBusiness Center gives me leadership opportunities and experiences with professionals,” he says. “It’s a great way to network, refine my leadership skills, and prepare myself for a future in business. The tools I’ve gained will have an incredible impact on my advantage in the workplace.”

Student Assistant

When Matt Olsen worked at a bank three years ago, he was held up at gunpoint. Luckily, working as assistant program manager, Olsen, from Fargo, North Dakota, is much safer. He works closely with the center’s program manager, Happy Larsen. As a psychology major, Olsen is looking to take the experience he has gained at the center to enter the field of human resource management.

“The center has given me great opportunities to interact with leading professionals in the tech industry,” he says. “I’ve been mentored by the program manager and gained valuable experience in project management and group leadership.”

Teaching Assistant

Derrick Davis has worked two years as the teaching assistant for the e-Business Lecture Series. His responsibilities include not only welcoming guest lecturers, updating grades, and assisting students, but also extend to other center programs. Davis helped plan last year’s Web Analytics Competition.

“After three extremely stressful weeks of planning the competition, the day of the event finally arrived,” says the Roseville, California, native. But for all the planning, some things just remained outside his immediate control. “During one of the presentations, the fire alarm went off and everybody had to evacuate the building for fifteen minutes,” he says.

An accounting major, Davis enjoys the opportunities he has had to develop leadership, network with professionals, learn from successful business leaders, and work with other student employees.