“Boise State lost one of its own today,” said President Kustra on February 3. “A former Bronco tennis player who never forgot his alma mater, Steve graduated in business and went on to lead one of the nation’s premier companies and enrich in so many ways the community he called home. He played a critical role in transforming Boise State into a research university serving the tech economy of Idaho. I valued his friendship, his generous support, and especially the advice and counsel he provided me personally as we navigated our way through the recent recession. Our thoughts and prayers are with Dalynn, his children and his family as well as his colleagues at Micron.”

Steve Appleton came to Boise State University in 1978 on a tennis scholarship. He was captain of the tennis team his senior year and won the Big Sky doubles championship. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business management in 1982. In 2001, he received the university’s prestigious Silver Medallion award for his service to the university and in May 2007 he was awarded an honorary doctorate.

Appleton served as co-chair of the university’s most recent comprehensive fundraising campaign for scholarships, programs and buildings. He also was a Boise State University Foundation board member from 1995-2002 and was a lifetime Chaffee Guild member.

He was instrumental in the development of Boise State’s College of Engineering, which offered its first classes in 1996.  His support has been invaluable to both the College of Business and Economics and the College of Engineering.

Appleton Tennis Complex on the Boise State campus is named for him. He stayed active in college tennis and was honored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association at the Achievement Award Ceremony during the 2005 US Open.

In 1999, he established the Micron Foundation, which has led to several generous donations to Boise State programs and initiatives, including the Micron Business and Economics Building at the corner of University and Capitol, slated to open later this year, and doctoral programs in the departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The public memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, at Taco Bell Arena on the Boise State campus.

Memorial funds have been established in Appleton’s name with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Boise State University Foundation. The Micron Foundation has donated $25,000 to each of the funds in honor of Appleton.

For more information, visit www.micron.com.

Sympathy cards may be sent to the following address:

Micron Technology, Inc.
Attn: The Appleton Family
8000 S. Federal Way, MS 1-406
P.O. Box 6
Boise, ID 83707-0006

As part of the Mobile Learning Initiative, faculty and students will once again have an opportunity to experiment with groundbreaking uses of mobile technology as participants in the 2011-12 cohorts of mLearning Scholars. Faculty across campus submitted proposals describing specific plans to integrate mobile technology into their particular disciplines, with 13 proposals ultimately being accepted. Those accepted will experiment with integrating mobile technology into their teaching in one section of a course taught during Spring 2012.

From experimenting with how mobile devices can augment the interactions that take place in the classroom to using these devices to record and share videos, photos or other information from remote locations, the projects represent a wide variety of approaches to integrating mobile devices into the curriculum. Participants will document their experiences, which will not only build a growing community of innovators, but also directly inform decision-making and strategic planning efforts on campus.

As a part of Dr. Lincoln’s Marketing 301 Principles of Marketing  course, all students will use iPads. Dr Lincoln conducted a survey with his students during the first week of class, will do one a mid-semester and another at the end to track students’ experiences and feelings about using the iPads in the course. More details about Dr. Lincoln’s research questions are here: mLearning Scholars.

For more information, visit the Mobile Learning Initiative website at mobilelearning.boisestate.edu/mlearningscholars.

Pending approval from the State Board of Education, the newly designed programs will begin in fall 2012 when the new Micron Business and Economics Building opens. The fourth floor will be devoted exclusively to graduate business programs and includes new state-of-the-art classrooms, technology-enhanced team rooms and the Petersen-Hales Imagination Laboratory. Students may apply online now at http://cobe.boisestate.edu/graduate.

“A team of COBE faculty gathered information from the business community and prospective students and designed these new MBA programs,” said COBE Dean Patrick Shannon. “They will meet the needs of both employees in the local business community who want to complete an MBA by going part-time, and also recent, high-potential graduates from non-business undergraduate programs in the West who want to add an MBA to their resume by going full-time to Boise State University.”

“The updates to our program reflect the changing needs of the business community,” said Kirk Smith, associate dean for graduate business studies. “One MBA program cannot meet the needs of everyone looking for a business education today.”

Most traditional MBA programs require work experience for admission. However, the full-time Career Start MBA program is designed for recent graduates who may not have begun their careers. Classes will take place during the day and students will complete their degree in two years. Internships and real projects make it ideal for recent graduates who need business knowledge and experience in order to enter their desired career field.

All students accepted into the Career Start program will receive financial assistance. For more information about the program, contact Trisha Lamb at 426-1120, or trishastevenslamb@boisestate.edu.

The MBA track for working professionals is a sensibly paced evening program built around the theme of commercializing intellectual property. By attending night school over the course of 32 months, participants will gain the managerial skills needed to take their careers in a new direction.

The existing Executive MBA program rounds out the three offerings. Middle- to senior-level professionals gain the leadership, business, and innovation skills their organizations need on a schedule that minimizes work and personal life disruption. Boise State’s Executive MBA was launched in 2006 and focuses on creativity in the evaluation of business problems, an immediate link between class projects and work tasks, an integrated curriculum that takes into account a wide range of business units and a trade mission-style international experience in Vietnam.

Listeners can access the website featuring a series of faculty podcasts at BeyondtheBlue.BoiseState.edu or go directly to Napier’s presentation. Visitors can listen/watch podcasts directly on the site or link to iTunesU, where they can download all podcasts and subscribe to receive automatic downloads of new content whenever they open iTunes.

Napier’s book, “The Creative Discipline”(2008), examines diverse organizations — from theater to software to football — to identify common creative characteristics, while “Insight” (2010) shows how to encourage ‘aha’ moments, which help speed learning and problem solving. The high performing, highly creative organizations studied in this research are called “The Gang.” Members range from the Boise State football program and Trey McIntyre dance group to health information provider Healthwise and the Ada County (Idaho) Sheriff’s Office.

This podcast covers six important “Gang” rules that are crucial elements for organizations looking to incorporate creativity and innovation in their operations. The rules also will appear in a book that Napier is currently writing in conjunction with other members of the group.

The Beyond the Blue website has been developed to showcase the expertise and innovative spirit that exists in many fields at Boise State. Known for its unique blue turf and nationally ranked football program, Boise State is demonstrating creativity beyond the blue in faculty podcasts intended to introduce a variety of topics to casual listeners.

New faculty podcasts are being added on a regular basis, including:

• Scott Yenor, Marriage and Modern Thought
• Heidi Reeder, Attraction in Male-Female Friendship
• Michelle Sabick, Joint Replacement
• Jonathan Brendefur, Mathematical Minds
• Troy Rohn, Alzheimer’s Disease
• Gary Moncrief, Congressional Redistricting
• Evelyn Johnson, Learning Disabilities
• Will Hughes, DNA Nanotechnology
• John Gardner, Energy Efficiency
• Cheryl Jorcyk, Breast Cancer
• Mitch Wieland, Creative Writing
• Cindy Clark, Civility in Nursing
• John Freemuth, Public Lands
• Greg Hampikian, DNA Forensics
• Shelton Woods, Rise of China
• Jill Gill, Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Brian Greber, America’s Economic Policy

The website contains bonus video and editorial content about the university, including its growth, research initiatives and student life. A related collection of faculty interviews also is accessible from the Reader’s Corner radio show hosted by Boise State President Bob Kustra on Boise State Public Radio.

• Jeremy Evans- MBA
• Jared Musick- MSA
• Alex Yeggy- Accountancy
• Lauren Garrett- Economics
• Landon Barnes- Entrepreneurship Management
• Kori Gibbs- Accountancy-Finance; Finance Honoree
• Nikolina Dragicevic – Human Resource Management
• Beth Brune- General Business Management
• Susan Bogdanski- Information Technology Management
• Kylie Redkey- International Business
• Shandra Naegle- Marketing
• Joseph Dorey- Supply Chain Management

Vera Zdravkova, Bachelor of Arts in International Business, with a Minor in Entrepreneurship
Zdravkova worked a wealth of real experience into her time as an undergraduate at Boise State and that has helped her land a position with a Taiwanese manufacturing and trading company. After graduation, she will move to Taipei to work in marketing and product development. Her experience in the International Business program allowed her to complete a number of comprehensive marketing and export plans that Idaho companies used as the foundation of their marketing/exporting efforts. She also completed two internships with the Idaho Department of Commerce (one at the Idaho Trade Office in Guadalajara and one at the Idaho Trade Office in Taipei), an internship with the U.S. Department of State at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and one with the Idaho District Export Council. Zdravkova said the international business major offered her abundant opportunities to connect with the real business world.

Gracie Bingham, Honors College, Bachelor of Science in Political Science and Bachelor of Arts in History, with a Minor in French

Bingham, who is this year’s student speaker, has taken advantage of many internship opportunities while a student at Boise State. This past summer, she served as a Press Office intern with the United States Embassy in Tokyo, Japan. She also interned with the Idaho State Historical Museum, worked with the Idaho Statesman’s Intern Fellows program and spent an additional summer as an intern with the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. She has been active with ASBSU, served as a mentor and translator for the Francophone Refugee Mentoring Program and served as a teaching assistant in both history and French. “I could not have asked for better academic opportunities than I was offered during my time at Boise State,” she said. She is graduating with honors from the Honors College.

Jackie Nelson, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Art and Art Education

As president of the Idaho Art Education Association and a cancer survivor, Nelson is a non-traditional student in the truest sense. She began her career with a cosmetology degree from a beauty school in Maine and briefly pursued a degree in human resource management and business administration at a school in New Hampshire. She then moved her family west in search of a drier climate that wouldn’t aggravate her daughter’s severe asthma. She took classes at the University of Nevada, Reno, before finally making her way to Boise State in 2006. While here, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Determined not to miss school, Nelson scheduled all of her treatments around classes and tests. She has been on the dean’s list with honors every year since 2007 and will graduate with a degree in art education and visual arts. She is hoping to become a full-time art teacher once she completes her student teaching at a local district.

Terry Caster, Bachelor of Applied Science with a Minor in Information Technology and Supply Chain Management

Having been laid off as an engineer with a Boise company after 16 years of work, Caster knew he had to go back to school to improve upon his associate’s degree. He felt a bachelor of applied science degree would make him more competitive in the job market, but at age 50, he had some mixed emotions about going back to school with a much younger population, including his son who also is a Boise State student. After more than two years of coursework, which includes a minor in information technology, Caster is now graduating and hoping to rejoin his old employer or another firm in Boise. The bachelor of applied science degree provides students with an associate’s degree the opportunity to combine their technical course work with academic core and upper-division coursework to earn a bachelor’s degree.

Noelle Lovern, Bachelor of Arts in Communication, with a Public Relations Emphasis

Lovern, a non-traditional student, came to Boise State after escaping an abusive marriage. Her story of seeking shelter from her abuse, moving through the public relations program and going on to complete her degree is an example of the type of commitment and determination that should be emulated. Boise State became part of rebuilding Lovern’s life. She threw herself into school and committed herself to bettering both her own life and to helping others succeed. She has given back to the program through her time, becoming the Blue House Public Relations executive director, serving as a teaching assistant and spending countless hours mentoring others. Because she understands the financial struggle students can face, she helped develop the very successful $20.11 campaign to fund SSPA student scholarships.

“Lovern is not one to look around to see what she is supposed to be doing or learning simply to prepare for an exam or paper,” said Mary Frances Casper, assistant professor or communication. “Learning matters to her, not only as a student in our classes, but as a citizen and as a person.”

Craig Laudicina, Bachelor of Science in Psychology

One of the most impressive things about Laudicina is his background. He’s been a disc jockey, a nightclub manager and security head, and a graphic artist. But the thread that runs through his life, no matter what he had to do employment-wise to make ends meet, is an incredible devotion to helping others. Laudicina has volunteered with Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Boys and Girls Club, Planned Parenthood and English as a second language agencies. He has been a caregiver, a behavioral technician and a community outreach assistant.

College of Business and Economics professor Nancy Napier has been awarded Vietnam’s highest award for contributions to education in the Southeast Asian country.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training conferred the Medal of Honor on Napier during a special ceremony Nov. 18 in Hanoi, Vietnam, honoring her long-time work there, particularly at the National Economics University (NEU).

From 1994-2003, Napier led Boise State’s $8.5 million capacity building project at NEU, which involved delivering Boise State’s MBA to 84 participants, supporting more than 20 Vietnamese faculty members in other master’s and doctoral programs around the world, and helping to establish Vietnam’s first international standard business school in 1997.

“Many years ago, Nancy Napier had the inspiration to form a partnership between the College of Business and Economics and the country of Vietnam that would help that country begin to reshape its economy,” said Patrick Shannon, dean of Boise State’s College of Business and Economics. “What started out as an MBA opportunity for Vietnamese students has turned into a 20-year relationship with the country’s leaders. We are very proud of Nancy for her leadership and are thrilled that Vietnam has chosen to recognize her with this wonderful honor.”

Many Boise State Vietnam MBA graduates have become leaders in Vietnam’s business and government organizations, as well as within education. With Boise State’s support, the NEU started its own MBA programs in English and Vietnamese, and increased its other academic and outreach offerings. To date, the NEU Business School has trained more than 1,500 managers in its graduate and training programs that focus on doing business in a global economy.

The nine-year project involved more than 25 Boise State faculty members and administrators, more than 50 other faculty members from various countries around the world, and brought more than 100 Vietnamese to Boise to learn about education and doing business in a market economy. Many of them did internships at Boise organizations, including Boise Cascade, Hewlett-Packard, Nelson Construction, ECCO, the YMCA and the Idaho Statesman.

Boise State began the project before the United States and Vietnam re-established diplomatic relations in 1995 and continued long after. The project, funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (1993-2000) and USAID (2000-2003), represented USAID’s largest aid project in Vietnam at the time. It was featured on the front page of the Asian Wall Street Journal, in The New York Times and on NPR radio.

Since the project’s ending, when the NEU Business School was fully functional, Napier has continued to return periodically to Hanoi, where she teaches at the NEU, works with several business organizations started by Boise State MBAs and conducts research. The College of Business and Economics Executive MBA program does its international residency in Hanoi, which is organized by former Boise State MBAs who are now business leaders in Vietnam. In addition, several other Boise State College of Business and Economics professors continue their links with the National Economics University through teaching and research.

Napier has published several articles, many with colleagues who were Boise MBA graduates, and a book (“Managing in Transition Economies,” 2005) that draw from her experiences in Vietnam. Her most recent book, “Insight: Encouraging Aha Moments for Organizational Success,” has been translated into Vietnamese.

More at: http://www.vietnamica.net/vietnam-moet-honored-american-professors-for-significant-contribution/

Jared Bauer and Jenni Herberg, who will receive their Executive MBA degrees in May 2012, have formed the Idaho Business Council. They have gathered a good deal of support — from legislators from all parties, community and business leaders and universities — are fund-raising for the organization and plan to present their ideas to the Idaho Legislature in the upcoming session.

Their goal is to develop a comprehensive list of business and community leaders in Idaho, survey those leaders annually on issues they are facing doing business in Idaho. Then students at Boise State, University of Idaho and Idaho State University would participate in extensive research on the problem areas and their findings would be used to target solutions. The research results would be made available to both state decision makers and the public.

“This is the first such project of its kind in Idaho, and possibly anywhere in the U.S.,” Bauer said. “It will bring together the three universities on important research and assures that the outcome of that research will be applied to real problems in the state.”

Patrick Shannon, dean of Boise State’s College of Business and Economics, said the council holds promise for bringing together a broad coalition of people to focus on key issues and push for positive changes.

“It’s a good opportunity for our students, particularly our graduate students, to do research that serves the community, the state and the region,” Shannon said, adding that the research could involve students from other disciplines in addition to business.

For more details, visit www.idahobusinesscouncil.org.

Lamb received her MBA from Boise State in 2008.