UT Tyler Office of Marketing and Communications

UT Tyler Named Worldwide ‘i2i Challenge’ Grant Recipient

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May 7, 2012

Media Contact:  Hannah Buchanan
Editor/Writer–Strategic Communications & Media Relations
Marketing and Communications
The University of Texas at Tyler
903.539.7196 (cell)

May 7, 2012

The University of Texas at Tyler is one of 12 entities worldwide awarded a grant from the Graduate Management Admission Council, Dr. Michael Odell, associate vice president for sponsored research and director of federal relations, announced.

In the Ideas to Innovation Challenge, the council awarded Dr. Gus Gordon, UT Tyler associate professor of accounting, a grant totaling nearly $35,000 for his proposal, “Enhancing Relevance in the Graduate Business Curriculum through Factory Videos.”

His proposal was one of 25 finalists from seven countries. Other grantees include business schools and organizations in the U.S., Canada, Spain, Italy, India and Botswana.

Gordon will use the grant to create a virtual manufacturing environment using video feeds from his existing factory in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. The feeds will illustrate concepts taught in graduate management coursework. The six-month project will begin in August and immerse students in the factory’s operations, increase the relevance of classroom concepts and personalize the experience by introducing factory staff.

“Videos of factory operations will be narrated and linked to text and lecture material to illustrate the application of concepts discussed in the textbook. This is an opportunity for UT Tyler to once again be innovative in the classroom and make classes more relevant for students. I am very pleased that both UT Tyler and GMAC are supporting this initiative,” Gordon said.

A UT Tyler faculty member since 2008, Gordon holds a D.B.A. in accounting from Louisiana Tech University. He owns the Mexico-based wardrobe manufacturing company Ganso Azul.

The i2i Challenge was created and managed by the GMAC’s Management Education for Tomorrow Fund, a $10 million initiative to advance business education nationwide. It focuses on innovation in management education and attracts ideas from students, faculty, schools and businesses.

“The foundation of the MET Fund has been that GMAC should be investing in and giving back to management education and its institutions. And not just giving back, but giving back in order to move management education forward,” said David A. Wilson, president and CEO of GMAC. “The power of these grants is in the implementation of ideas that can reshape and revitalize management education worldwide, and that acknowledge the critical role that management education plays in training and developing business leaders who can have global impact.”

The Graduate Management Admission Council® is a nonprofit education organization of leading graduate business schools and owner of the Graduate Management Admission Test, used by more than 5,400 graduate business and management programs worldwide. GMAC is based in Reston, Va., and has regional offices in London, New Delhi and Hong Kong. For more information, visit GMAC.

One of the 15 campuses of the UT System, UT Tyler offers excellence in teaching, research, artistic performance and community service. More than 80 undergraduate and graduate degree programs are available at UT Tyler, which has an enrollment of almost 7,000 high-ability students at its campuses in Tyler, Longview and Palestine.