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Four KU students, alumni awarded Fulbrights
LAWRENCE — Four University of Kansas students and alumni have received prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Awards to study, conduct research and teach English abroad for the 2023-2024 academic year. An additional student was named as an alternate. The KU recipients include a graduate from Pittsburg.
Reasons for talent gap in procurement field examined in new business analysis
LAWRENCE — A new article from a University of Kansas School of Business faculty member looks at why there is a talent gap in the procurement industry, which can be traced to what future supply chain managers and procurement professionals are learning in college. The work appears in the Journal of Supply Chain Management, Logistics and Procurement.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Christine Metz Howard, International Affairs, [email protected], @KUintlaffairs
Four KU students, alumni awarded Fulbrights
LAWRENCE — Four University of Kansas students and alumni have received prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Awards to study, conduct research and teach English abroad for the 2023-2024 academic year. One additional KU student was named as an alternate Fulbright recipient.
The year’s Fulbright grantees come from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and the Schools of Education & Human Sciences and Music. Melissa Terrall will travel to Mexico to conduct research in piano, and Kate Crnkovich, Maya McDaniel and Chloe VanBecelaere will teach English in Armenia, Spain and Colombia, respectively.
The Fulbright program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between Americans and people of other countries. The U.S. Student Fulbright program operates in more than 160 countries worldwide.
Since the program’s inception in 1946, KU has had 492 students, including this year’s recipients, selected for Fulbright awards. KU International Affairs coordinates the applications for Fulbright grants.
Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected based on academic or professional achievement, as well as their record of service and demonstrated leadership in their respective fields. Fulbright grants provide funding for round-trip travel, maintenance for one academic year, health and accident insurance and, where relevant, tuition.
“Each of these students and alumni developed an outstanding proposal to contribute to the Fulbright mission of cultural exchange through their teaching and research,” said Rachel Sherman Johnson, director of internationalization and partnerships at KU International Affairs. “Their planned projects exemplify citizen diplomacy and will strengthen the relationships between the United States and their respective host countries.”
The 2023-2024 Fulbright recipients and alternate:
1. Kate Crnkovich was selected for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Armenia. From Watertown, Wisconsin, Crnkovich will graduate in May with a master’s degree in Slavic languages & literatures, which she earned her bachelor’s degree in two years ago. Her parents are Wes and Julie Crnkovich.
2. Maya McDaniel was selected for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Spain. From Denver, McDaniel will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in secondary history and government education. Her parents are Derren and Carol McDaniel.
3. Melissa Terrall will travel to Mexico to study and conduct research in piano. She will study piano at Conservatorio Nacional in Mexico City. Her research will focus on Mexican classical piano repertoire as she works to publish an anthology of music from this era. While abroad Terrall will also perform recitals featuring the work of Mexican and American composers. From Portland, Oregon, Terrall graduated in 2022 with a master’s degree in piano performance. Her parents are Jeffrey and Valerie Terrall.
4. Chloe VanBecelaere was selected for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Colombia. From Pittsburg, VanBecelaere graduated in 2022 with bachelor’s degrees in global & international studies and Spanish. Her parent is Diane VanBecelaere.
5. Yasmine Adrian was selected as an alternate. She had proposed to travel to Germany to pursue a master’s degree in international affairs at the Hertie School in Berlin. Her research would have focused on the integration of Turkish immigrants into Germany and how Turkish and German perspectives of immigration in Germany shape the integration experience. From Arlington, Virginia, she graduated in 2022 with bachelor’s degrees in global & international studies and German studies. Her parents are Steve and Allyson Adrian.
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Contact: Jon Niccum, KU News Service, 785-864-7633, [email protected]
Reasons for talent gap in procurement field examined in new business analysis
LAWRENCE — Everybody is a student of “procurement,” whether they realize it or not.
“It’s really what we do every day,” said Joe Walden, associate teaching professor of business at the University of Kansas.
“When you go to the grocery store, you’re there to do procurement. You’re finding suppliers, negotiating with them on quality terms and delivery price, then receiving and paying for it.”
Walden’s new article “What are we teaching our procurement students?” looks at why there is a talent gap in the industry, which can be traced to what future supply chain managers and procurement professionals are learning in college. The paper analyzes what these professionals are expected to know and what hiring officials are seeking, then offers recommendations for how this can be addressed by academic programs. It’s published in the Journal of Supply Chain Management, Logistics and Procurement.
The Institute of Supply Management (ISM) defines procurement as “the identification, acquisition, access, positioning, management of resources and related capabilities an organization needs or potentially needs in the attainment of strategic objectives.”
While the definition of this subset of supply chain is pretty well-acknowledged among professionals, Walden said there are still key areas that are undervalued within the career field.
“One of the most important parts of procurement is understanding quality,” he said. “We’ve learned through so many experiences that the lowest price doesn’t guarantee the best quality. Sometimes lowest price equals lowest quality, which is really why a lot of companies have gotten away from going to the lowest bidder and finding what they’ve started to call the ‘best supplier.’”
Ethics is another aspect that Walden said is critical to not overlook.
“Dealing with ethical suppliers. Dealing ethically with the suppliers. Going through the process of finding quality vendors with quality products that can deliver it when you need it — that combination of quality and ethics are probably the two most important pieces,” he said.
Walden said one of the fundamental misunderstandings about the field is that it’s easy. Simple, even.
“People assume, ‘We all buy stuff, so we all understand procurement.’ But it’s extremely difficult. You’ve got to locate the suppliers, especially if it’s a new product. You’ve got to go find people who actually have those materials you need. And you’ve got to make sure it comes when you want it. Plus, it needs to be the right quality at the right price,” he said.
Those who viewed procurement as easy may have experienced a change of attitude after the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the byproducts of the event, Walden said, is it forced individuals to realize products didn’t just magically appear. The so-called “Amazon effect,” in which a purchase is expected to show up two days later, often proved no longer reliable or stable.
“Everyone expects that if you buy an item, it will be there on your doorstep. Well, if the procurement guy didn’t forecast to buy enough, it’s not there. I can throw all the money I want at it, but it’s not going to make stuff get to you faster,” he said. “The beauty of the pandemic is it forced folks to look at supply chain and procurement through a magnifying glass.”
Raised in North Carolina, Walden spent 26 years in the U.S. Army, with an additional five working as a contractor. There, he developed his expertise in warehousing and distribution, which included designing a 4.2 million-square-foot distribution center in Kuwait for Operation Iraqi Freedom. He retired as a colonel.
He said he hoped his assessment of the procurement talent gap would convince those in supply chain academia to reexamine their curriculum.
“Even the top schools with the top supply chain programs in the world aren’t necessarily teaching all the critical skills,” Walden said.
“So if students want to go into the procurement field when they get out, I want to make sure they’re taught ethics, negotiation, supplier selection and supplier evaluations — things that aren’t always being taught right now. We need to get academia to realize what they need to start doing so that our students are more competitive.”
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