Congratulations to the following College of Business faculty and staff members who were recognized for their contributions to the college in the areas of coaching, creativity & innovation, and culture of caring:
2023 Award Recipients
Coaching Award: Kristy Lauver
The Coaching Award, is presented to a College of Business faculty or staff member who improved the performance of students, faculty, and staff through effective guidance, advising, or mentoring.
This year’s winner was Dr. Kristy Lauver, department chair and professor of management and leadership programs
One nominator called Kristy Lauver an “exemplary leader of the Management and Leadership Programs Department.” She uses her institutional knowledge and experience to coach and support faculty so that they can achieve success. She created an advisor training program for all members of the COB, and successfully helped faculty/staff navigate the complex procedures involved in transitioning empases to majors.
She played a pivotal role in the reinstatement of Foundations of Success in Business (BSAD 180), showcasing her dedication to academic excellence. Her strategic guidance extended across diverse domains, proving invaluable during and after the complex reorganization of the COB.
Lauver's nomination was summed up this way, "By modeling exemplary organizational citizenship behaviors, Kristy truly inspires those around her to become more involved in the COB and the University."
Culture of Caring Award: Rebecca Wyland
The Culture of Caring Award, is presented to an individual who consistently demonstrated outstanding personal and professional service to COB employees, students, and/or their parents. Simply put, this individual made the College of Business a more inviting place to work, learn, or visit.
"I consider Rebecca Wyland a mentor whom I can go to with questions/concerns, and someone with whom I get to celebrate accomplishments." That is what one nominator said about this year’s winner of the Culture of Caring Award, Dr. Rebecca Wyland, professor of management and leadership programs.
Wyland expresses her caring through service: the curriculum committee, points committee, and the committee to develop a new faculty evaluation form. She has provided feedback during the college's reorganization efforts, preparations for the AACSB reaccreditation visit, and strategic planning efforts as well as the recent review of the BUSCORE.
She also expresses caring through collaboration. She provides advice, helps with research, invites others onto projects, provides constructive feedback, and connects others to her network and resources. She “made me feel not only included, but also as if I belonged,” said a nominator.
She cares for students through innovative methods of connecting with, teaching, and serving them in the classroom. She also shows interest in and support of students outside of the classroom, most recently working on a faculty-student research collaboration that was accepted and presented at NCUR.
One nominator summed it up this way, Rebecca “wants what is best for college, which is active and invested students and colleagues.”
Creativity & Innovation Award: Longzhu Dong
The Creativity & Innovation Award is presented to a College of Business individual who generated novel and valuable ideas and used these ideas to develop new or improved processes, methods, systems, programs, or services. The award recognizes creative ideas that improved the college and made UW-Eau Claire a better place for students, faculty, or staff.
Dr. Longzhu Dong, assistant professor of management and leadership programs, is this year’s recipient of the Creativity & Innovation Award.
One nominator said of Longzhu Dong “he is a very creative scholar, … his innovative ideas and ways of doing research, both quantitatively and qualitatively, have always inspired and impressed me.”
All nominations cited his implementation of the X-Culture project in which students work together on virtual teams, comprised of members from multiple countries. Teams problem-solve and develop creative solutions to clients' real-world problems. Dong then aligns his research by using the findings from the project to produce a strong research stream. Finally, completing the loop, he uses the research results to improve the X-Culture project.
In his leadership role with the International Business program, he responded creatively to keep the international business program going in a very difficult time for anything international. When faculty-led immersion experiences to India and China were on hold, he began work on a program to provide an experiential learning experience in Thailand.
Additionally, Dong has made positive changes to improve the productivity of both the Advisory Board and the IB Committee. He has worked with the IBSP student group to develop additional activities and connections, helping the group to become active and grow.
Congratulations to this year's award recipients!
