Dr. Chris Martin, Dean of Louisiana Tech University’s College of Business, recently announced the “Just Business” grant award recipients for 2021.

“Our committee members were impressed by the quality and number of applications received this year, and I’m confident the projects funded this cycle fully support the College’s mission to connect business with technology and innovation,” Martin said. “With membership in this leadership giving society more than doubling over the past year, I’m grateful to our alumni and friends for their collective support that allowed us to fund seven worthwhile projects.”

“Just Business” is a giving circle comprised of College of Business alumni and friends who pool financial resources, then jointly decide how the funds will be invested. The group awards grants for student, staff, and faculty projects that advance the mission of the College of Business.

Projects funded include:

• Research for effective ways of implementing gamification tactics (leaderboard, quests and badges) to increase student engagement within Computer Information Systems courses
• BoardEx, a global database with 1.5 million executives across two million organizations, used for research projects, publications, speaking engagements, and development work
• Top Pup Competition prize money for first-year College of Business students in all sections of BUSN 110 to promote entrepreneurship and provide early exposure to entrepreneurial thinking
• Purchase of certificate study materials for the National Association of Black Accountants, a new student organization in the College
• Subscription renewal for IMPLAN software used in the Regional Economic Analysis (ECON 425) course to simulate economic impacts at the state, parish, and municipal levels
• Production of podcast affiliated with the College and the Center for Information Assurance that will translate academic information regarding security and privacy into a form that is accessible and useful to the general public
• Allows the Investment Society, a new student organization focused on increasing knowledge and skills in investment, to begin a hedge fund simulation and investment research

For more information or to become involved with the “Just Business” giving circle, contact Executive Director of Development Mary Susan Britt at marysusan@latechalumni.org.