This spring has been truly like no other. In light of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, students, faculty, and staff have stayed at home, and plans for on-campus events were canceled. Unfortunately, that also included all of our awards ceremonies and honor society inductions. Therefore, in an effort to make sure our students are still recognized for their achievements, we’ve been posting a series on our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts highlighting our students’ achievements. Feel free to peruse the list below and jump on the social media platform of your choice to join us in congratulating them all. 

The Center for Economic Education and Financial Literacy and UWG Student Employment announced that the 2020 UWG Student Assistant of the Year Award has been awarded to Richards College of Business student Henna Narang. Henna was nominated by Kim Holder. All 1,700 student employees at UWG are eligible for nomination. Henna’s nomination will be submitted at the regional and national award levels as well. CEEFL Director Kim Holder said Henna’s level of hard work, motivation, dedication, and thoughtfulness was what drove her to nominate her. “Henna is very soft spoken but a powerful communicator,” Hoder said. “She’s the one I can always depend on to get things done. She’s been a whiz at anything I’ve thrown her way. She would always bring to attention something I hadn’t thought of. As an international student, Henna has brought a tremendous amount of insight into our work environment. She is able to see varying points of view from her set of experiences here in the US as well as from her home in the Caribbean. This intercultural fluency has allowed her to seek ways to influence our curriculum. She's worked to translate our financial literacy brochures into Spanish so that they can be made available to a broader audience, both within our university setting as well as out in the community. She is always seeking out knowledge of other people and is highly respectful of their set of experiences and what they can contribute to our understanding of how our UWG community works. I feel like her intercultural experience and humility was integral to our success at the center.” 

Honors Day Awards

Bryce Cornicelli was awarded the Thomas Herndon Award in Economics in recognition of his scholarship, demonstrated leadership ability, development potential in the social sciences, and active involvement in extracurricular activities as prompted by the late Thomas A. Herndon Jr., a graduate of the class of 1939.

Lea Edwards was awarded the Outstanding Student of Marketing Award. This award is given in recognition of academic performance and extracurricular activities to a senior-level marketing major each year. Lea is to be commended on her outstanding achievement during her tenure here at the University of West Georgia. Lea has been an outstanding Marketing student who not only is majoring in Marketing but has also studied abroad in Greece with the Marketing Department. During her time at UWG, Lea has been a standout in her classes and has proven herself to be engaging, insightful, and enthusiastic about learning. 

Keisha Gilliam has been awarded the Outstanding Student of Real Estate Award. This award is given in recognition of academic performance and extracurricular activities to a senior-level real estate major each year. Keisha is to be commended on her outstanding achievement during her tenure here at the University of West Georgia. Keisha has maintained an impressive GPA throughout her academic career at UWG in the Real Estate Program and has done an outstanding job in her Real Estate courses. During her time here at UWG, she has shown herself to be an intelligent, sincere and hardworking individual, majoring in not only Real Estate but also Accounting. 

Both Lea and Keisha were awarded a certificate and $200 from the Marketing and Real Estate Department. 

The Academic Excellence awards in Accounting and Finance are determined by the Department of Accounting and Finance faculty, who factor in GPA and academic performance in students’ accounting and finance classes. This year’s winner of the Award for Academic Excellence in Accounting is Leslie Solano. This year’s winner of the Award for Academic Excellence in Finance is Emily Green. 

The Frank R. Hunsicker Award in Management was established by the Department of Management and endowed by family and friends in honor of Frank R. Hunsicker. Dr. Hunsicker provided outstanding service and leadership to that Department and the University of West Georgia for 21 years as a faculty member and chairman before retirement in 1996. The annual award is presented to a senior management major who has earned a cumulative GPA of at least 3.2 and who most exhibits the qualities of leadership, managerial ability, professional achievement, and integrity associated with the discipline exemplified by Dr. Hunsicker. The recipient receives a monetary award and an individual plaque. Additionally, the student’s name is engraved on a plaque located in the Department of Management. This year’s recipient, selected by the faculty in the Department of Management, is Ashton Johnston.

The MIS Award of Excellence is presented annually to the Management Information Systems student who has earned a cumulative GPA of at least 3.2 and who exhibits the qualities associated with the management information system's ideals. The candidate is selected by MIS faculty and is recognized for his or her achievements at the annual Honors Convocation. The recipient is presented with a plaque and certificate for their academic accomplishments. This year’s MIS Award of Excellence recipient is Justin Kyle Triggs. 

Deans Council of Student Leaders

Each year, one student from each department and each Richards College of Business student organization is nominated by the department chairs and faculty sponsors to sit on the Dean’s Council of Student Leaders. The Council meets each month during the fall and spring semesters and serves as an advisory council to the Dean. This year’s Dean’s Council of Student Leaders were: Avery Anderson, Aaron Ashton, Kyle Awbrey, Tequann Butler, Ashton Casey, Sofia Dawed, Erin Ellis, Michael Intriago, Ashley Mallari, Dannielle Render, Carrie Tarpley, Tristan Thompson, Ashley Todd, and Mark Alexander Wells.

Accounting Honor Society Inductees

The Scholarships and Awards Committee of the Department of Accounting and Finance recently released the names of the following students who qualify for induction in the University of West Georgia Accounting Honor Society: Cyrus Addison, Ruth Bastien, Brooke Benefield, William Bioust, Jada Brimidge, Garrett Foster, Kyle Galusha, Keisha Gilliam, Jacob Johnson, Hunter Marchbanks, Greggie Leah Murphy, Henna Narang, Ethan Powers, Aaron Roberts, Heather Rooks, Chandler Scott, Leslie Solano, Natalie White, and Hannah Williams. The criteria for induction are membership in the UWG Accounting Club, an overall GPA of 3.0 or better, and a GPA of 3.2 or better in at least three accounting courses, including Financial Reporting I. Membership in the Accounting Honor Society is intended to recognize students for their high academic achievement in the field of accounting.

Economics Honor Society Inductees

Omicron Delta Epsilon honors academic achievement in the field of Economics. To be inducted, students must be economics majors or minors who complete 12 semester hours of economics courses, attain at least a B average in economics courses, an overall B average in all classes, and be in the upper 1/3 of their classes. The UWG chapter welcomed 12 new members during the 2019-2020 academic year. This year’s inductees are Victor Adenipekun, Josh Beck, Blake Burgess, Lindsey Dorson, Mason Evans, John Gaiter, Nayanne Medeiros, Jordan Norbraten, Euna Oh, Marisela Pulido, Danielle Render, and Jake Walbert.

Beta Gamma Sigma Inductees

The invitation for membership in Beta Gamma Sigma is extended only to the academically highest 10% of second-semester juniors, 10% of seniors, and 20% of masters students. It is the highest honor the Richards College of Business can bestow. Founded in 1913, Beta Gamma Sigma is the international business honor society for AACSB-accredited schools, which are the top 5% of business school programs around the world. Students receive a lifetime membership when they are inducted. 

This year’s inductees are: Monica Agudelo, Laura Beasley, Caroline Bekken, Brooke Benefield, Emani Brinson, Landon Bryant, Colton Campbell, Kristi Chastain, Lindsey Dorson, Amani Edwards, Michaela Edwards, Layne Fehring, Christopher Fick, Caleb Garrison, Keisha Gilliam, Jiaowei Gong, Emily Green, Jessica Howe, Clifton Johnson, Ashton Johnson, Kevin Johnston, Aubrey Lee, Hao Liu, Alyssa Loesch, Daylee McGraw, Joseph Mckown, Nayanne Medeiros, Logan Morris, Ashley Neil, Tosan Okome, Matthew Paintin, MacKenzie Parks, Sadie Perkins, Sholeh Rezaee, Alexis Richards, Aaron Roberts, Emily Scoggins, Chandler Scott, Laxmi Sedhai Giri, Margaret Sharman, Brandon Stuckenschneider, Gina Tabone, Ruigi Tan, Sarah Thompson, Jans Tingen, Ashley Todd, Jake Walbert, Jennifer Wallace, Jacob Watson, Hannah Williams, and Taylor Yearta.

Each year our Beta Gamma Sigma students get to vote for the Beta Gamma Sigma Professor of the Year. This year, when our 51 Beta Gamma Sigma inductees voted, it resulted in a tie. Congratulations to Professors Dr. Erich Bergiel and Michael Hopper!

Conversely, BGS faculty and staff also vote for the Richards College of Business 2020 Beta Gamma Sigma Student of Excellence. This year’s award goes to Keisha Gilliam.

Congratulations to all of these students!