Author: Farkas, Jeremy M.

When COVID-19 forced Towson University to turn to remote teaching, Mariana Lebrón, associate professor of leadership and management, encouraged her students in a YouTube video to think of the new learning space as a creative challenge.

“Since we last saw each other, things have changed quite dramatically,” said Lebrón in the video. “The theme for the rest of the semester will be re-imagining teams in our new virtual world. It will take the ability to think outside the box.”

Lebrón has implemented gamification projects into her recent curriculum. Not only do the projects teach students to work in a team, the final products will help organizations and companies strengthen teams in the workplace.

“With the changing multigenerational workforce, gamification is growing as a unique leadership strategy to engage employees more effectively in recruitment, training, and retention,” said Lebrón.

Lebrón designed the project with the help of Rebekah Swab, assistant professor of management, and industry partner Ryan Bruns, a board game executive, to represent key characteristics of effective teams in common board game elements.

Last fall, Lebrón had just 12 students involved in the project. This spring, she has 70. But the recent challenges posed by social distancing measures have not discouraged the 16 teams from making games. In fact, the circumstances forced the students to create inside a unique modality, and they rose to the occasion.

One of the teams from the Spring 2020 term created a game titled “Treasures of Carias,” in which four archaeologists search for ancient Greek artifacts. It involves the use of unique software to create a virtual playing platform.

“I have a background in e-sports and `tech, so when COVID-19 posed a challenge, I stepped up to transition the game from physical to virtual,” says Joshua Finkelstein, a business management student graduating this year, and “Treasures of Carias” co-creator.

“One of the biggest challenges for everyone on my team was getting from the conceptualization stage to implementation,” he says.

Many of the students’ games facilitate team building by creating roles for the players, in which each has a certain part to play to progress to different stages. Others, like “Emergency Landing,” require participants to communicate actively in order to escape the secluded island.

“The game reflects the way our team worked together to create the final product. It required honesty and feedback, and it would not be the same without all five of us working on it,” says Taylor Sigur, a business administration major with concentrations in leadership and management, and who is graduating fall 2020.

“Creating this game taught me valuable lessons about myself,” says Sigur, who helped design “Emergency Landing.” “I realized that I have qualities of a leader, and team members value my opinions and feedback.”

Additional contributors include students in the business administration/management and leadership major who co-created:

“Treasures of Carias:” Giovanna Barbaro, Julia Atayi, Brian McKenna, Anthony Vendettim

“Emergency Landing:” Thomas Vondersmith, James Pine, Payal Patel, and Victor Batista.

by Jenna Harrity ‘20

For six years, the Strategic Sales Competition has provided students an opportunity to gain valuable sales experience and the chance to network with local sales professionals from top companies. This year, though taking a new virtual format, proved no different.

Five students won scholarship money in the sixth annual Strategic Sales Competition on Friday, Oct. 23.

Three of the student winners, Charlie Gilbert, Anya Lacey, and Brady Bayles, will represent TU at the National Shore Sales Competition in March. The other scholarship winners were Michael Carter and Lauren Fluck.

Prior to this year’s competition, contestants received product information to prepare for a 20-minute, one-on-one sales meeting with a potential “buyer.” The contestants present the “need” for the product, propose a solution to the buyer’s need, address the buyer’s concerns, and potentially make a sale. The meeting is recorded and streamed to several judges who score each student’s execution of the stages of sales process.

This year, all 24 judges and six “buyers” were sales managers and recruiters from 14 companies in the area, including McCormick, Stanley Black and Decker, and Sherwin Williams.

“The feedback from the sales professionals in attendance was very positive,” says Plamen Peev, associate professor of marketing. “According to them, the virtual format of this year’s competition reflects the current realities their companies face and may well be a big part of the future of the sales profession going forward.”

by Jenna Harrity ‘20

CBE professor of management, Joseph Zuccaro and over 130 CBE students are being recognized state-wide by the Regional Manufacturing Institute (RMI) for one of two “People’s Choice Awards” as “Champions of Maryland Manufacturing.”

RMI awarded both Zuccaro and the students in his management and leadership principles course for their research in Maryland manufacturing, surpassing 17 other organizations nominated. The recognized project required students to work in teams to study and interview various manufacturing companies.

“The purpose of this project is to learn about the individual companies and manufacturing in the state, but secondary objectives include learning to use the business resources in Cook Library, navigating LinkedIn, and networking,” Zuccaro says.

Zucarro’s course gave students the opportunity to learn more about the local manufacturing industry as well as network with RMI members who lead various Maryland manufacturing companies.

RMI says recognizing “Champions of Maryland Manufacturing” is a key part of the group’s image campaign to put a face on the next generation of manufacturing.

As a part of the integrative program, management and leadership principles students analyzed manufacturing companies from sectors prevalent in Maryland, including chemical & petroleum, electronics, fabricated metal, food &
beverage, leather products, machinery, nonmetallic minerals, paper & packaging, plastics & rubber, primary & metal, printing, textiles & apparel, and transportation.

The hands-on program was designed to benefit both the manufacturing ecosystem and the aspiring business leaders, says Zuccaro.

“Since a majority of TU students are from Maryland and remain in the state upon graduation, it benefits them to know about the major industries present in the state and the career opportunities they offer,” Zuccaro says.

“It also makes sense to promote these industries and make employers aware of the local, motivated talent available for their workforce.”

In addition, Zuccaro’s course enabled the students to ask industry professionals how they handle a variety of relevant issues including COVID-19, technology, and diversity. Students are learning how to navigate virtual networking, which is an increasingly essential skill.

“Students are working hard to use virtual networking tools like LinkedIn to identify managers at the selected companies,” Zucarro says. “It can be very challenging to get through to people, especially during the pandemic”

RMI says Zucarro is changing the next generation of business leaders. Students in Zuccaro’s class will take away a broad understanding of the importance of manufacturing to both the State of Maryland as well as the nation, while planting a seed that a manufacturing career can be rewarding in many ways.

by Jenna Harrity ‘20

Towson University alumnus Fran Soistman Jr. ’79 has been a proud Tiger for more than 40 years. In 2015 he received an honorary doctorate degree from TU that read, in part, “He approaches complex issues with the university’s best interests at heart—unfailingly thoughtful, inclusive and focused on the ultimate goal.”

With a recent $5.4 million gift—the largest from an alumnus/a in TU history— Soistman, a nationally recognized expert and top executive in the health care management sector, has continued to demonstrate his boundless affection for his alma mater. His first gift to TU in the late 1980s was followed by many additional contributions totaling more than $600,000 in support of projects and initiatives across the institution.

“Over the past 30 years, I have had the pleasure of establishing multiple endowments and supporting a number of important initiatives at TU. Given the university’s strong momentum and significant opportunities to advance its ambitious vision, I thought that it was the right time to make a substantial commitment to TU’s future,” he says. “I hope it inspires others to support the university. My goal is that a fellow alum will quickly follow my gift with an even larger gift.”

President Kim Schatzel thanked Soistman for his generosity.

“Dr. Soistman’s gift is a remarkable extension of his legacy of generosity towards his alma mater. With this gift, Fran will help ensure that the university continues to attract talented students and provides enhanced resources to faculty and staff to support outstanding world-class research, teaching, and student success,” President Kim Schatzel said. “His gift is historic, and Fran’s leadership over the years has been extraordinary. And this gift further demonstrates that — as the largest gift ever given to Towson University by an alum.”

Soistman is the Founder and President of Healthcare Management & Transformation Advisory Services LLC. He retired as CVS Health-Aetna’s executive vice president and president of government services in 2019 after serving as Executive Vice President at Coventry Health Care and President and CEO at HealthAmerica.

Throughout his career, Soistman has remained strongly connected to TU. He has served on the Towson University Board of Visitors (BOV) since 2002 and as chair from 2016-18. He also served as a director on the TU Foundation – one of his earliest volunteer roles with the university.

His $5.4 million gift to TU will benefit athletics, the College of Health Professions, the College of Business & Economics and programming to advance equity, diversity and inclusion.

A “healthy” gift for future leaders in healthcare and business

After spending most of his career in executive leadership positions in healthcare, it is appropriate that a portion of his gift will also support the construction of a new building for the College of Health Professions—a $173 million, 229,000 square foot home that will prepare students to become future health care leaders in Maryland and beyond.

“With the graying of America—the needs are only getting greater,” he says. “The pandemic pointed out our vulnerability as a nation and woke us up to the importance of health professionals as frontline and essential workers. Our CHP students have been scattered over a 2-mile radius for decades. It’s important that we bring them all under one roof.”

Soistman’s gift will also fully endow a wide range of scholarships in the College of Business & Economics, where he received his bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance, thus ensuring TU business students will reap the benefits of Soistman’s generosity annually.

“Business is the economic engine for Baltimore, the state of Maryland, and the entire region,” Soistman notes. “We produce many talented graduates. We need to continue to invest in this area.”

(from the Towson University newsroom)