USCA's School of Business Administration Hosts Business Advisory Council Meeting

Aiken, SC (10/04/2021) — The University of South Carolina Aiken's (USCA) School of Business Administration (SOBA) hosted a Business Advisory Council meeting on Wednesday, September 29. The meeting's agenda included the induction of a new council member, SOBA faculty updates, and information on student achievements.

The council inducted one new member at the meeting, Norman Dunagan.

Three new SOBA faculty members were introduced: Dr. Paul Goodchild, Brent Hoover, and Terry Whittington. Dr. Goodchild joins the SOBA faculty as an assistant professor of accounting. Hoover is an interim instructor, a business consultant for the Aiken area SC Small Business Development Center, and a semi-retired filmmaker and composer. Dr. Whittington is an assistant professor of management and comes to SOBA from the University of South Alabama in Mobile.

John Engel has been promoted to senior instructor of management. He has been with SOBA for seven years and has over 20 years of university-level teaching experience. Dr. Ravi Naryanaswamy has been promoted to full professor of management. He holds professional certifications in cybersecurity, data analytics, and online teaching effectiveness. Dr. Frank Tian Xie has been promoted to full professor of marketing. Before joining SOBA, Dr. Xie was a professor of marketing at Drexel University.

For the Fall 2021 semester, 39 SOBA students received scholarships for a total of $17,450.

Outstanding Student Awards for the 2020-2021 academic year went to Blessing A. Oladipo, accounting; Sean McQuillan, finance; Julie Reibsome, management; Skydasia K. Luchie, marketing; and Brittany S. Temples.

SOBA student Brittany Temples presented her research at a recent USCA Scholar Showcase Program. Her research centered on a post-COVID business loan proposal for a small-town gym. Hoover served as her project mentor.