She conferred the degrees on those graduating from the Landon School and the School of Accounting; Tomislav Mandakovic<\/strong>, associate dean, Chapman Graduate School, handed the diplomas to those receiving their master\u2019s degrees or doctorates. Among the latter were four from the college\u2019s International Executive MBA (IEMBA) in Jamaica: Corine Bolton<\/strong>, Karen Gardener<\/strong>, Vivia Newman<\/strong>, and Jacqueline Simpson<\/strong>.<\/p>\n FIU Medallion winner underscores the sense of pride, with a dose of adaptability added to the mix.<\/em><\/p>\n Modesto A. Maidique<\/strong>, Florida International University president, and Ronald M. Berkman<\/strong>, executive vice president and provost, presented Timothy J. Ellington<\/strong> (MBA \u201977) the FIU Medallion as \u201cOutstanding Alumnus\u201d during the evening ceremony.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I got my master\u2019s degree and was fortunate enough to teach at the university for a couple years, it was a new school in an area that was not well developed. I have seen it grow into a major university that has experienced high growth. I am very proud of the school,\u201d said Ellington, a member of the college\u2019s Master of Science in Finance Advisory Board and currently a managing director\/principal with Bear Stearns, Inc., who will join JP Morgan Chase in a similar position post-merger.<\/p>\n Speaking from experience, both as a member of an army family and as a professional, he also touched on adaptability.<\/p>\n \u201cThe business environment today is more transitory and global than ever, and that trend will continue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Life after graduation proves value of MSMIS degree.<\/em><\/p>\n When Jimmy Plannett<\/strong> (MSMIS \u201906), senior business systems analyst, Norwegian Cruise Line, decided to pursue a graduate degree, he wanted a program \u201cfocused on IT, business, and management\u201d and opted for the Master of Science in Management Information Systems (MSMIS) in the college because the four other Florida universities he considered \u201cwere more specific to computer science, security or network administration.\u201d His said his decision has enriched him\u2014in knowledge and financially.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause I have an MIS degree from a business school, I can bridge the gap between business and IT better than others,\u201d said Plannett, noting that \u201cI can tell I have a different perspective because of my knowledge, and that really brings benefits to the table when I meet with different departments inside of IT, vendors, and especially, business owners.\u201d<\/p>\n Though a systems engineer when he began the program, he left shortly before completing it \u201cto pursue a more business-facing role\u201d and received a \u201csignificant salary increase.\u201d<\/p>\n Building on that powerful combination of IT expertise and business background at the core of the MSMIS program, Plannett is pursuing an MBA in the college through its joint degree program.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving either degree puts me ahead of the competition\u201d he said. \u201cI think having both degrees and my experience singles me out in a good way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spring Commencement took place on April 28, 2008. The ceremony for College of Business Administration\u2019s Chapman Graduate School and School of Accounting occurred in the afternoon, with undergraduates from the Landon School receiving their diplomas in the evening. Approximately 607 undergraduate students and 208 graduate students participated. [flv:http:\/\/business.fiu.edu\/newsletters\/BusinessNetworks\/2008\/05\/videos\/commhighlights384K.flv 500 334] Executive Dean of the college […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10,14],"tags":[470,489,1217,1302,1405,1448,1927,2578,2587,2645],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=872"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24154,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872\/revisions\/24154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n\n
\n \n ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/business.fiu.edu\/newsletters\/BusinessNetworks\/2008\/05\/images\/Jimmy-Plannett.jpg\")
\nJimmy Plannett<\/strong> (MSMIS \u201906)<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n