Dr. Tim Bisping

The 51��¥ has announced Tim Bisping as the new dean of the UCA College of Business. Bisping will begin on July 1, 2025.

In this role, Bisping will oversee the College of Business, which offers a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs across four academic departments and three centers and serves as the home of the Arkansas Insurance Hall of Fame.

Bisping brings extensive leadership experience and a strong commitment to student success to this new role. He currently serves as the dean of the Nelson Rusche College of Business at Stephen F. Austin State University, where he has led initiatives to enhance academic excellence, foster faculty and staff development and support student achievement.

With more than 30 years of experience in higher education, Bisping has held key administrative and faculty positions at multiple institutions, including serving as interim dean and associate dean of graduate programs and research at Louisiana Tech University. Notably, he is returning to UCA, where he previously served as associate professor of economics and chair of the Department of Economics, Finance, and Insurance & Risk Management from 2006 to 2011.

Bisping’s research focuses on demographic issues in the labor market, particularly as they relate to monetary policy. His work has been published in leading academic journals, including Economic Inquiry, The Journal of Labor Research and The Journal of Economic Education.

“Dr. Bisping is an accomplished leader who brings a strong vision for business education and student success,” said UCA Executive Vice President and Provost Michael Hargis. “His extensive experience in higher education, coupled with his familiarity with UCA and the College of Business, makes him an excellent choice to lead the college into the future.”

Bisping earned a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Arts in economics from Wichita State University. He later earned a Doctor of Economics from Oklahoma State University.

Throughout his career, Bisping has been dedicated to academic and professional excellence, striving to support students in achieving their educational and career goals. He has also been actively involved in community service, having served as a board member of the Nacogdoches Rotary Club and board president of the Nacogdoches Area United Way.

Bisping is married to his wife, Michelle, an elementary school teacher. They have one son, Chandler, who resides in Alabama with his family.

The O’Malley School of Business hosts the for undergraduate students studying Business Analytics or related fields to test their knowledge and hone their skills. Competing teams engage in decision-making as well as practice their ability to draw business insight from a comprehensive analysis of relevant data.

The group arrived at the Manhattan College campus on Monday, May 20, to begin the first phase of the competition. That afternoon, students presented their poster multiple times to a revolving set of judges. Tuesday morning marked the beginning of the second phase of the competition, when they were given an additional analysis to perform using the same dataset, challenged to submit their results as a slide deck before 9pm that evening for the next day’s presentation. On Wednesday morning, they presented their Phase 2 results to industry judges.

This excellent opportunity gives students a wealth of practical business knowledge and feedback before the enter the workforce. The students on the team included:

• Houston Baber – May 2024 graduate, BS Cybersecurity Management
• Abby Bounds – Senior BS Information Systems major
• Linda Galeano Midence – Senior BBA Finance major/Data Analytics minor
• Ben Scallion – May 2024 graduate, BBA Computer Information Systems

Mrs. Susan Shaw, Lecturer of CISA, was the primary faculty advisor and led the project course in spring 2024, and Dr. Mike Ellis, Associate Professor of CISA, served as co-advisor. Both mentored the students and accompanied them to Manhattan for the competition.

Related: CISA Lecturer Susan Shaw Offers Data Project Course in Spring 2024, Plans to Take Students to Competition Again

To create its list, Best Value Schools calculates each graduate tuition rate by the academic semester year with an academic year defined as two semesters. The rates reflected as shown are the latest available findings by the in-state tuition rate and separate from school fees. All the data gathered is pulled from the Google Search engine and is also listed from each school’s website. Where applicable, the tuition and acceptance rate data is sourced from the specific campus described in the list over the parent school. The tuition rate and acceptance rate are the two areas scored per school. Best Value Schools scored the schools first by graduate tuition followed by acceptance rate and then added the two scores for each school with a 2/3 emphasis on graduate tuition cost over the acceptance rate to get the final rankings shown above.

“Don’t be scared to approach your professors. They are there for you and want you to succeed,” said Silue. “Everyone was supportive which boosted my learning experience.”

Silue graduated from the UCA College of Business in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems and a minor in Computer Science. Why students should take note of her prudent advice? One might say Silue was successful student with her accomplishments and awards including:

• Summa Cum Laude graduate
• First generation college graduate
• International student, English as a second language
• 2020 Information Systems Student of the Year
• 2020��Business & Information Technology (BIT) Club Officer of the Year
• Career Services Merit Fellow
• Undergraduate Scholar

Looking back on her time in the College of Business, Silue said she enjoyed working on IT projects, being a part of the Business Information Technology (BIT) Club, which allowed her to learn and get to know several companies, and growing close to faculty.

“I want to create an organization or foundation to help promote IT education in my hometown and other places across the world,” said Silue. “There are places with little access to technology. I grew up in a place like that and I want to change it.”

She added, “My professors were very kind and helpful. My advisor and other professors impacted me in a way they couldn’t imagine. Dr. [Jeff] Hill has always been available and has given me advice after graduation. I will always be grateful for all his help.”

Silue is now pursuing a Master of Information Systems at Walton College of Business (University of Arkansas Fayetteville) and serves as a graduate assistant for their Blockchain Center of Excellence.

Although she has moved on from UCA, she remembers her time fondly saying, “I am an alumna of UCA, but 51��¥ is a family to me and will remain in my heart!”

She says she definitely recommends the College of Business to new, returning, and prospective students because the faculty are experts as well as supportive.

Beginning this fall three new Applied Data Analytics programs will be available: a Bachelor of Science, a Master of Science, and a technical certificate. These new programs follow the successful addition of both an undergraduate minor and a graduate-level technical certificate in data analytics two years ago.

“I chose to get this graduate certificate because I believe data analytics is the future. As technology is evolving, businesses are using analytics to make informed decisions, solve problems, help reduce risks, and increase return on their investments,” said who is working to earn a Master of Business Administration concurrent with a Data Analytics graduate certificate.

The Department of Computer Information Systems and Analytics (CISA), located within the UCA College of Business, combines highly desired technical skills with sound business principles. The department’s name was changed in July 2021 from “Management Information Systems” to better reflect what the department now offers.

“One of our commitments to students is to continuously improve our curriculum. These new programs will deliver high-quality curriculum and hands-on experiences for students in our computer information systems and analytics degree programs,” said Dr. Michael Hargis, Dean of the UCA College of Business. “We look forward to seeing more CISA students benefit from their experience here and succeed as leaders in the business community.”

The effective management of data has become increasingly important in organizations, as companies gather more and more data and use it for strategic purposes. Data analytics includes areas such as data collection and preparation, descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics, and data mining. Analytics skills are useful in almost every area of business, including accounting, management, marketing, economics, insurance risk management, and finance.

“Businesses demand a very different skill set from potential employees when compared to even five or ten years ago. We felt it was appropriate to demonstrate our continuing commitment to analytics by including it in the name of the department,” said Dr. Geoffrey Hill, CISA Department Chair.

With the added three programs this fall, the UCA College of Business now offers 20 degrees and certificates for undergraduates and graduates to equip current and future business professionals to successfully meet the changing business environment.

To learn more about the UCA College of business and these new degrees and certificates, visit www.uca.edu/cisa.

Dr. Haibo (Stephen) Yao

Dr. Haibo (Stephen) Yao was recently featured as an expert contributor in articles by WalletHub. While the articles are geared toward college students, these are questions many people may have.

In his first article about the best credit cards for college students, he addresses , the college students can make with credit cards, and for students who use credit cards.

In this second article, he answers questions about, including why and how they are used.

Dr. Yao is an Assistant Professor of Insurance & Risk Management in the Department of Economics, Finance, Insurance & Risk Management for the UCA College of Business.

 earned a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) focusing on Logistics and Supply Chain Management and a  (MBA). Gutierrez now serves as an ABA Recruitment Specialist at .

 earned a Bachelor’s degree in Health Services Administration and an focusing in Healthcare Administration. Rains now serves as the Executive Director of .

earned a BBA focusing on Logistics and Supply Chain Management, is currently earning her at UCA, and has served in several roles as a Project Manager.

Each year, reviews over 300 nominations of young, accomplished individuals showing much potential to be a leader in business, nonprofits, or politics.

Congratulations to these promising alumni for this achievement. We look forward to their full features in the September issue of Arkansas Business.

Dr. Horpedahl won the prize for his policy and data analysis on pandemic-related economic topics such as coronavirus precautions, tolls and trends, vaccination development and distribution, unemployment, as well as local, national, and worldwide financial impacts.

“Part of what motivated me was simply to understand the pandemic better myself, and I was glad to help others navigate the same questions that I had about the state of the world,” said Dr. Horpedahl.

Horpedahl was also a co-recipient of another award from the Mercatus Center for the blog , where he is a weekly contributor.

“Dr. Horpedahl’s efforts to communicate complex topics in a more approachable way has helped inform ���Ի���educate others about economic policy. This is important work during an already confusing and stressful time, and we are proud of his effort and impact,” added Dr. Michael Hargis, Dean of the UCA College of Business.

Almost daily, Horpedahl continues to release his analysis through local and national newspaper articles, podcasts, panel discussions, online blogs, and social media posts.

George Mason University’s Mercatus Center launched the awards initiative through its Emergent Ventures program in March 2020 for entrepreneurs and innovators who work to improve society in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Awards from the program range between $50,000 to $100,000.

Dr. Horpedahl is an associate professor of economics at the UCA College of Business and a scholar with the Arkansas Center for Research in Economics. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University in 2009, concentrating on public choice, public finance, and economic history. His research, policy briefs, and op-eds have been widely published in regional and national publications.

For more information about Dr. Horpedahl’s work and the UCA College of Business, visit .

Outstanding students are those who take advantage of educational opportunities and show exemplary academic performance through internships, professional development and experiential education, volunteerism, and participation in clubs and activities.

The following students were awarded an outstanding status, chosen from over 1600 undergraduate and graduate students:

• Ashley Phipps, Outstanding General Business Student
• Bethany Arnold, Outstanding Insurance & Risk Management Student
• Brandon Scott Phipps, Outstanding Master of Business Student
• Claire DeBusk, Outstanding Accounting Student
• Daryl Adopo, Outstanding Finance Student
• Devin Gilbert, Outstanding Master of Accountancy Student
• Elsa Mattson, Outstanding College of Business Student ���Ի���Outstanding Economic Student
• Emma McKnight, Outstanding Marketing Student
• Jack Bornhoft, Outstanding Logistics & Supply Chain Management Student
• Kayla Dean, Outstanding Management Information Systems Student
• Lucas Southard, Outstanding Management Student
• Laura Lane, Outstanding Marketing Student
• Logan Tribble, Outstanding Innovation & Entrepreneurship Student
• Rohan Saxena, Outstanding Information Systems Student

ABOUT THE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

The UCA College of Business includes:

• Over 1600 Majors and Graduate Students
• 62 Total Faculty
• 15 Undergraduate Degree Programs
• 3 Graduate Degree Programs (MBA, MAcc, and Graduate Certificate in Data Analytics)

The goal of the UCA College of Business����s to provide a hands-on, experience driven, education that prepares graduates to take on global issues. Through our diverse programs of study and distinguished faculty and staff, we take creative, engaged students and give them the tools to succeed when they earn their degrees. Our students travel the world, start their own innovative businesses, and join established businesses across the country.  Whatever their next step, our students are ready to make a positive impact.

Learn more about our programs of study and distinguished faculty and staff.

The list recognized the top 244 on-campus MBA programs around the country and was based on survey data from more than 17,800 students and school administrators.

“What makes our Best Business Schools list unique is that we factor in data from our surveys of students attending the schools about their campus and classroom experiences,” said Rob Franek, editor-in-chief of ­The Princeton Review.

Student respondents identified cost, diversity, high academic standards, job prospects upon graduation and accessible, knowledgeable faculty as attributes that separated the UCA MBA program from others.

“It has been our goal over the last few years to grow our program and provide a high-quality, affordable and flexible graduate program that our students could use to advance their careers,” said Mark McMurtrey, Ph.D., director of the UCA MBA program. “Our continued inclusion in this ranking of top MBA programs in the country shows our students find value in our program and the concentrations we now offer.”

The UCA MBA program has more than 150 students — up from 89 in 2016 — and offers concentrations in finance, health care administration and information management, as well as an option to embed a graduate certificate in data analytics. It is accredited through the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.