During the 2019 G.A. Sywassink Day of Excellence, four Appalachian State University business professors earned the first-ever Dean's Club Research Prize. The prizes, established by the Walker College of Business in 2019, recognize and reward the most innovative business research at Appalachian, reflecting the college's mission, vision and values and aligning with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
An interdisciplinary committee, including industry representation from the college's Business Advisory Council, helped select the winners from sixteen submitted works. Walker College of Business Dean Heather Norris and Dr. Sandra Vannoy, Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and Research, presented the awards.
The $5,000 prize was awarded to Professor of Sustainable Business Management Rajat Panwar for his study Does the Business Case Matter? The Effect of a Perceived Business Case on Small Firms' Social Engagement. This study on the motivations of small firms to be more socially responsible found that small businesses are driven by different factors than their larger counterparts, factors like their image within the community.
Dr. Rachel Shinnar accepted the award on behalf of Dr. Panwar, who was unable to attend the event.
The first of the two $2,500 prizes was awarded to Marketing Professors David Shows and Pia Albinsson for their project, Technology Over-Consumption: Helping Students Find Balance in a World of Alluring Distractions. The study, about how the use of technology and social media in the classroom impacts student learning, employed a psychological testing method and found that multitasking using technology limits the ability to effectively learn.
"An extension of this study could suggest that multi-tasking in the workplace is also a problem," said Vannoy.
The second $2,500 prize was awarded to Economics Professor David Dickinson for his study, Insufficient Sleep Reduces Voting and Other Prosocial Behaviors. His research found that insufficient sleep reduces the likelihood of voting, donating to good causes, or signing petitions.
"The problem of a sleepy society goes beyond the known health risks previously studied in past and current research," said Vannoy. "In the classroom and in the workplace, lack of sleep negatively affects our society."
The awards are funded by the Walker College of Business Dean's Club.
About Faculty Research in the Walker College of Business
Walker College of Business faculty produce and disseminate extensive research through both academic and professional communities. In the last five years, faculty members have published approximately 400 peer-reviewed academic journal articles, 130 conference proceedings and made more than 400 conference and professional presentations in 170 different venues. In total, the faculty has produced more than 700 individual intellectual contributions in basic discovery research, more than 400 contributions in applied or integrative research and 240 contributions in teaching and learning research. For more information, visit business.appstate.edu/faculty/research.
About the Dean's Club
The Walker College Dean's Club is an annual giving society designed to benefit our students and faculty while enhancing our academic programs. Contributions from Dean's Club members provide unrestricted support each year for critical needs in the college such as: student scholarships, travel funds for faculty and students to attend course-related conferences and/or visits to corporations, seed money for new programs or opportunities within the college, and resources to bring guest lecturers, such as leaders in business and government, to the classroom. Become a member, or learn more online, business.appstate.edu/give.
Walker College announces inaugural recipients of Dean's Club Research Prize
Dean's Club Awards