Three JU business students invited to present at prestigious national conference

Three Jacksonville University business students will take what they’ve been learning in the JU Davis College of Business to the outside world this summer as they present research papers in Kansas City, Mo., at the annual conference of the Mid-Continent Regional Science Association.

Patricia Tracey and Nicholas Clarke, current JU MBA students, and Mark Montez ’12, all took JU Finance Prof. Richard Cebula’s Research Methods Class. Their papers were accepted for presentation in June during the MCRSA Student Paper Competition, one of the more prestigious opportunities for student recognition among professional associations.

Their airfare, registration and hotel stay are being paid by the chair expense account held by Dr. Cebula, the Billy J. Walker/Wells Fargo Endowed Chair of Finance in JU’s Davis College of Business.

Tracey, who graduated summa cum laude with a BBA in accounting from JU in May, will present a paper preliminarily titled “An Inquiry into Determinants of Geographic Mobility.” Clarke, who graduated magna cum laude with a BBA in accounting from JU in May, will present on “Insights into Causes of Poverty.” Montez, who earned a BBA in finance and economics this December, will present his paper titled “Impact of Teacher Salaries on Student Performance.”

The papers are to be published in Proceedings of the Mid-Continent Regional Science Association.

“Each if these students is very bright, hardworking and in possession of highly useful technical skills,” Cebula said. “They are all very mature and very ambitious. They each have been given much one-on-one time to ensure they understand their projects and the techniques they have been taught in the research class (ACTG 480/FIN 480).”