welcome to the nelson rusche college of business

Nicole Phifer
Five-Year BBA/MPA Program graduate student

Nicole Phifer, a graduate student in accountancy at the Rusche College of Business, recently received an important windfall – a $10,000 scholarship from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a nonprofit established through the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to oversee the audits of public companies.

The agency’s scholarships are funded through fines assessed on accounting firms across the world. For Phifer, a 21-year-old graduate student from Rusk, the scholarship means she can focus on maintaining her 4.0 GPA, finishing out her coursework, and ramping up her CPA prep this spring. Considering that the CPA cycle can cost in excess of $3,000 – in addition to fall and spring tuition – the scholarship is not just an accolade, but an essential, enabling element of Phifer’s five-year Bachelor of Business Administration/Master of Professional Accountancy program at SFA.

Read more about her accomplishments.

Sarah Bone
Marketing Minor

Sarah Bone, a graphic design major with a minor in marketing from the Rusche College of Business, received a $5,000 Skyline Displays of Houston Graphic Arts Education Scholarship for the 2020 fall semester through the Advertising Education Foundation of Houston. The nonprofit awards scholarships to those working on undergraduate or post-graduate degrees in advertising, communications, interactive marketing, journalism, radio/TV, commercial art, public relations or related fields. Bone also competed on SFA’s team for the National Student Advertising Competition with Adobe as the client, and was on the first-place team at AAF Houston’s ad competition last year. Bone is a senior from Richmond.

Read more about her accomplishments.

McKenna Maxwell
Economics Major
Class of 2015

McKenna Maxwell recently paid a visit to SFA’s campus to meet with current students and impart career wisdom while touting the college’s impact on her education.

“I got a great education from SFA because of professors who are invested with their students and where they go from there,” Maxwell said. “They keep in contact with graduates after they leave, they’re always willing to help, and they gave me an education that is comparable or better than what I would’ve gotten anywhere else. Being able to count on a close, personal relationship with professors gives SFA students a leg up compared to some of the bigger schools in Texas.”

Economics professor makes economics fun through experiential learning

A few years ago, a group of SFA students coined the term “Scanlanomics” in recognition of one of their favorite economics professors, Dr. Mark Scanlan.

Through an online prediction game, Fredcast, developed by the Federal Reserve Bank, students predict key economic variables. Scanlan designates a day each month for students to discuss their predictions and research. Scanlan has been a member of the SFA faculty since 2005. His goal is to make the material “meaningful, interesting and relevant for students.” He invites banking guest lecturers to visit his class and discuss different topics the students have learned in his money and banking course.

Michael Bieler
Class of 1980

Michael Bieler travels the world conducting business as vice president of French IT company Capgemini. While at Capgemini, Bieler has worked with industry leaders such as Coca-Cola, Microsoft, GM, Walmart and Sony and is a member of the Rusche College of Business Executive Advisory Board. During a recent visit to the college, Bieler gave a presentation to SFA students on the current state of international business.