Bissett Insider

2015 ATB Investor Services Investment Challenge Winners

Stock Market Competition Winners 2015

Winners of the 2015 ATB Investor Services Investment Challenge, otherwise known as the Bissett Stockmarket Competition, were treated to a lunch with representatives of ATB on September 30. Pictured here are ATB Senior Manager Dan Smith with first place team winners Ken Ambrose and Aaron Harrington. Ken and Aaron and their partner Jordan Lazic managed to post a 34% annualized return in the six month competition which ran from September to March in the last academic year. It was the 10th edition of the annual competition, which has cash prizes for the members of the top three teams. The 11th edition of the competition got underway last week.

Bissett School of Business congratulates BBA student Cassie Doucette, recipient of this year’s Export Development Canada Scholarship

Cassie Doucette, BBA-Supply Chain and International Business student is one of this year’s EDC (Export Development Canada) scholarship recipients.  Cassie was selected from hundreds of applicants in Canada. EDC’s International Business scholarship is the most prestigious scholarship an International Business student can receive.

This is the second time that an MRU-Bissett student has received this award. This award is a testament to both the students’ hard work and the caliber of The Bissett School’s International Business program. To see the recipients and to find out more about this prestigious scholarship, please follow the link.

http://www.edc.ca/EN/About-Us/News-Room/News-Releases/Pages/IBS-winners-2015.aspx

Mount Royal Students Brewing Success

The Well Brewing Company, a member based brewing company is the brainchild of Mount Royal students, Bryton Udon and Quinn Wilton. Using an entrepreneurship class as the impetus, the duo, tired of brand beers, decided to capitalize on the craft beer niche within the Calgary market. Not being able to afford the start up costs of their own brewery, they came up with the idea to “develop beer within a community”. Offering different tiers of memberships, and the ability to vote on the beers brewed is proving to be a novel approach in the craft beer industry.

Their success has caught the attention of Olds College and a “school to school” partnership is in the works. To read more of their story, follow the link:

http://www.metronews.ca/news/calgary/2015/08/25/calgarians-wanted-to-hop-on-community-brewing-project.html

Curtis Lefthand, Bissett student – a voice in the aboriginal cultural scene in Calgary.

Screen-Shot-2015-09-14-at-11-26-46-AMCurtis Lefthand is studying Business Administration-General Management at Mount Royal University.

Lefthand, 23, of Blackfoot/Sioux descent, sees a lack of understanding of aboriginal issues.for Canadians in general. “It’s kind of embarrassing for people to be unaware of issues right in their backyard. These issues aren’t well presented in the media and not many people are willing to learn and study First Nations culture and its history,” he says.

Read the full article here: LIFE AS A FIRST NATIONS PERSON IN CALGARY’S HARDCORE PUNK SCENE

Dustin Paisley Joins Institute for Community Prosperity

Dustin Paisley has joined our team as the Social Innovation Animator at the Institute for Community Prosperity.  In this role, reporting also to the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, he is working to develop a social innovation hub (co-working and incubation space).

Dustin is a recent graduate from Mount Royal University where he focused on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, with a particular interest in Social Innovation. While in University, Dustin spent 3 years with Enactus Mount Royal where he worked on community development projects and learned how to use the positive power of business to change lives. Dustin is an advocate for social innovation and plays an active role in the greater social impact community.

Enactus National Competition

Our Enactus Team competed this week in the National Competition in Toronto.  The competition started with 58 teams and our students made it to the semi-final pool where they competed against some of the largest teams in the country including Memorial, Ryerson, and Windsor.
Our team did not advance, but performed very well and we are all very proud of them.
All of these students are winners in terms of the impact they have had with their projects and we are fortunate to be able to work with them.
Many thanks to Wendelin and all of the others who have supported these students over the last year.

We Are Not Them (WANT) Event – March 23-27

Titled the We Are Not Them (WANT) Movement, the event, which runs from March 23 to 27, will feature a number of workshops and seminars educating students about the stark differences between the Islamic faith, and those who have taken it hostage under a banner of violence.

Events occurring as part of the WANT Movement include mobile quizzes on myths surrounding the Muslim community, alongside opportunities to view “peace screenings” featuring poetry and literature from prominent Muslim scholars and leaders.

While the physical aspect of WANT Movement will wrap up this Friday, organizers hope it continues to educate students continuously, as information being released through the program is also being posted online.

Updates from HR Faculty

The annual HR student networking event was held on March 3rd.  This was another successful initiative with 37 students and 20 industry representatives participating.  A wonderful opportunity for students to connect with practitioners, learn more about HR management, and practice networking skills.  Plans are already underway for next year’s event scheduled for March 15, 2016.  Many thanks to the Human Resources Institute of Alberta for their ongoing sponsorship of this event.
The Bissett School of Business was proud to host the second annual HRC West – an annual human resources case competition designed to showcase students’ skills through an academic competition among post-secondary institutions across Western Canada.   Bissett’s HR student team (Ravi Chung, Miranda Mountain, and Jenna Price) placed second and made our school very proud.  

 

Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute Research Challenge

The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute Research Challenge took place on March 7, 2015. Cathy Roy-Heaton’s team of Alfred Chow, Davinder Jhutty, Riley Rodewold,and Ben Scott represented the Bissett School of Business this year in the CFA Institute Research Challenge (Canadian Prairies) competition. This is the fifth consecutive year that we have entered a team in the competition. In keeping with a growing history of strong performances from MRU teams, this year’s team made a strong presentation that had any Mount Royal observer beaming with pride. In a field of contestants that has been growing in size, and where only one winner can be chosen, the team once again demonstrated that not only do we have a right to be there, we can give everyone a run for their money.

Much appreciation goes out to the team for the hours they have spent over two semesters preparing their report and their presentation. Many thanks to Cathy, whose leadership in this makes it possible for us to compete, and to our industry mentor Stephen Paget, who gives many hours to our team in the months leading up to the competition.  This year’s competition was on Big Rock Brewery; students submit a written report in advance of the competition in addition to their presentation.  The group has once again set the bar high for the next team that follows in their footsteps.

Western Region Canadian Institute of Financial Planners Case Competition

On Saturday, March 14th MRU hosted the The Western Region Canadian Institute of Financial Planners Case Competition for the 2nd year in a row. We also had a team in the competition comprised of Hervin Pesa, Danni Richardson, and John Santiago who won the Silver Medal in what was an extremely close race. The team had spent much time in practice scenarios in the weeks leading up to the event, and their efforts paid off. Much thanks goes to Sean Bjorklund, who instructs two of our FNCE courses, and who volunteered much time to coach and mentor our team. Apart from their medals, our students receive significant cash prizes towards the completion of their CFP capstone courses and exams.
Throughout the event it was mentioned from executives of the CIFP from Toronto and Sunlife, who sponsored the competition in whole, how impressed they were for the second year in a row with the organization of the event, including the wonderful banquet at Heritage Village on Saturday night. They repeatedly made reference to the work done by Callista who made the whole thing happen without a hitch, and with class. If you see our contestants, Sean, or Callista, please be sure to pass on your congratulations on a job well done.