2020 has been quite a year. We have had to pivot, innovate, and create like never before. Yet, in the midst of an unsettling year, the Kelley School of Business at IUPUI’s faculty, staff and students have shown their tenacity, bravery, and innovation in inspiring ways.
Here, we share twenty of our favorite highlights from 2020.
1. Virtual Commencement
This year, due to social distancing and safety precautions, we couldn’t have our annual commencement ceremony. However, our department chairs, faculty, staff and students worked together and were able to celebrate our graduates’ accomplishments via a virtual ceremony.
2. Physician MBAs serve on frontline of pandemic
This year, we were blown away by the dedication of our Physician MBAs. These healthcare heroes served on the frontlines of the pandemic, while studying the business of healthcare. We were able to share some of their personal experience and stories on how they used their MBA to lead their teams during COVID-19.
3. EMBA success stories
For many people, this was a rough year. Business owners had to make tough decision and employees struggled with work-life balance. We were motivated by the encouraging stories of our Kelley Evening MBA Program students and graduates who led and took on new challenges in this business landscape.
4. The Kelley Commons
Earlier this year, Idalene “Idie” Kesner, dean of the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, announced the next step in a broad initiative to creating thoughtful conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion. “The Commons” is an effort to foster better understanding through meaningful engagement and dialogue. Each month, Kesner announces a selection for students, faculty and staff to read, watch or listen to on their own. At the end of each month, she hosts a panel discussion about it with special guests.
5. Delta Sigma Pi wins Outstanding Development Award and Chapter Advisor of the Year
Students from all kinds of student organizations found themselves having to find new ways to connect while we were away from campus. The Kappa Sigma Chapter of Delta Sigma Pi at IUPUI was awarded the 2020 Regional Outstanding Development Award for a Collegiate Chapter. In addition, they were named a Chapter of Excellence for the fifth year. Judy Wright, chapter advisor, was named Chapter Advisor of the Year.
6. Kelley 2021 Economic Business Outlook
Since 1972, the Kelley School of Business has presented its national, state and local forecasts around Indiana. This year the tour continued virtually, and replays are now available. The Indiana Business Review published the findings and analysis from our Kelley faculty’s 2021 economic forecast. In addition, Associate Dean and Economist Phil Powell and Kyle Anderson, professor of business economics, sat down with The ROI Podcast to discuss the findings.
7. Manufacturing survey
In partnership with Katz, Sapper Miller and the Indiana Manufacturers Association, Kelley faculty took place in the 2020 Indiana Manufacturing Survey: COVID-19 Special Edition. The study surveyed more than 100 Indiana-based companies and reviewed their thoughts, priorities and expectations moving into 2021.
8. Master of Science in Accounting success stories
This year saw accounting students Jonathan Jared, BS’19, MSA’22 and Shelby Pake, BS’19, MSA’21, encourage us with stories on how they were able to begin the pursuit of their MSA degrees as undergraduates. They are just two examples of students falling in love with accounting and finance and using these degrees to propel their career.
9. Real estate co-major now offered
The Indiana University Kelley School of Business expanded its real estate offerings by offering a new real estate co-major for students in the Indianapolis Undergraduate Program. Sara Coers joined the Kelley faculty as associate director of the IU Center for Real Estate Studies, and leads the IU real estate program’s efforts at IUPUI.
10. HealthBiz webinar series translates business theory for healthcare professionals
This series was created to help translate business theory into practical tips for all healthcare employees. The first HealthBiz webinar took place in November and focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, recession and the election and how these events may influence the economic forecast for 2021. The next webinar in the series will take place January 13, 2020 and focus on innovation in healthcare.
11. Kelley Heroes Physician MBA webinar series
This year, our Physician MBA faculty and guest experts worked on a series of free webinars aimed specifically at helping physician leaders during the pandemic. The Kelley Heroes webinar series includes best practices and practical advice for healthcare professionals managing the COVID-19 pandemic. The series included eight webinars that are available here.
12. Kelley Evening MBA is the top-ranked part-time MBA program in Indiana
Along with celebrating the success of our students, we were able to once again celebrate the Kelley School of Business at IUPUI’s Evening MBA Program being listed in the top-ten part-time MBA programs in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, 2021. The Kelley Evening MBA Program is an innovative MBA program designed for working professionals.
13. 7 Kelley students recognized as part of IUPUI’s Top 100
Each year, the IUPUI Office of Alumni Relations honors 100 outstanding undergraduate students who demonstrate excellence in three categories – academic excellence, campus leadership and community engagement. We were thrilled to celebrate 7 Kelley IUPUI students named Top 100 undergraduates in 2020.
14. Kelley student is commencement speaker
Throughout the year, we were touched by stories of how Kelley students were balancing work, school, the pandemic, family, and many other obligations. One inspiring moment and story was told when Lore’al Avery, BS’20, gave the 2020 IUPUI Commencement speech. While her journey didn’t go as expected, Avery is now a proud graduate of IUPUI, and an inspiration to other Kelley and IUPUI students.
15. Physician MBAs recognized
Another encouraging moment is when Sara Jo Grethlein, MD, MBA’20, was named Poets and Quants Best & Brightest Executive MBAs. You’ll also see Dr. Grethlein on our Physician MBA tribute page. In addition, twenty of our Physician MBAs were named Top Doctor 2020 in Indianapolis Monthly. These are just a few of the examples of the recognition earned by these outstanding healthcare professionals.
16. Students supporting one another while moving to remote work
This year, faculty had to turn in person classes into remote learning courses. During this, the Kelley IUPUI students shone, supporting one another by sharing advice through video and blog posts, recording day in the life videos and taking over our social media. Sophomore Unnati Nayak, BS’22, gave a virtual tour of campus from her hometown in Dubai. Kelley Indianapolis Career Peers gave job searching advice through 30-minute virtual webinars. The creativity and kindness of our students was a shining moment in a turbulent year.
17. Kelley faculty: recognition and research
The Kelley IUPUI faculty were handed big challenge after big challenge in 2020. On top of motivating students and converting in-person lectures to online courses, the faculty went above and beyond to contribute to the economic success of Indianapolis and beyond. Some highlights from our faculty members were include their participation in a $70 million research grant group, a global virtual forum for supply chain organizations, and the Rapid Response Hub, a partnership with Indy Chamber aimed to help Indianapolis business owners affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We also named new Faculty Chairs for both the Graduate Accounting Program and Undergraduate Program.
18. The ROI Podcast surpassed 57,000 downloads in 2020
This year, The ROI Podcast continued to build on its momentum, offering business and leadership advice to help businesses make better decisions. The podcast can now be found on every major podcast streaming platform, and you can ask Siri or Alexa to “play The ROI Podcast” on your device.
19. Stickers/gifs now available and TikTok
Kelleys looking for a bit of reprieve will be happy to learn that Kelley IUPUI now offers stickers and gifs available on Giphy. To use on social media, search for “Kelley IUPUI” or “Kelley School.” Check us out on our newest social media platform – Kelley IUPUI joined TikTok this year, and is working to bring more fun, short videos to you in 2021.
20. Celebrating our 100th Anniversary
2020 was the year The Kelley School of Business celebrated 100 years of innovation. We celebrated 100 years of taking moment to momentum, and looked towards what the next 100 years will be as we build the next generation of business leaders.
This list is only a short glimpse into the hard work, perseverance, creativity and grit possessed by our Kelley IUPUI community. To everyone in our community that made 2020 a great year, thank you. We’re looking forward to more inspiring stories in 2021.
For more highlights and to stay up to date on all the latest Kelley news, make sure to check out The ROI Podcast, make sure you’re subscribed to the blog, visit our website and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and TikTok.
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