Business major is finalist in the West Virginia Collegiate Business Plan Competition
William James Renner, a business administration major from Purcellville, Virginia, is a finalist in the West Virginia Collegiate Business Plan Competition in the STEM category with his business, Loudoun Aerial Solutions, LLC. The company provides photography, orthomosaic mapping, 3-D modeling, and inspection services through the use of drones. Renner started the business in his hometown, but is moving it to Shepherdstown. Currently he has a fleet of seven drones. To prepare for the finals in the business competition, he has to submit a business plan of about 40 pages.
The West Virginia Collegiate Business Plan Competition is hosted by the West Virginia University College of Business and Economics BrickStreet Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The finals will take place April 12 at the High Technology Consortium in Fairmont.
Collins receives Gilman Scholarship to study in Spain
Aleigha Collins will spend the spring semester studying in Spain thanks in part to a $3,000 Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. A business major and Spanish minor from Morgantown, Collins will attend La Universitat de Barcelona, where she will take classes that will help her complete her minor and contribute to her major.
The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. It is an undergraduate program for U.S. citizens of limited financial means to enable them to study abroad.
Murtagh earns degree through partnership with the University of the West of Scotland
Sean Murtagh is the first Shepherd student to earn a master’s degree through a new University of the West of Scotland (UWS)/Shepherd University partnership. The program makes it possible for any student who has completed the Appalachian Studies Graduate Certificate to add an additional semester of study abroad and receive the UWS master’s degree in media studies. Murtagh received his diploma from UWS after completing a media project over the summer.
Murtagh (c.) displays his degree from the University of the West of Scotland while wearing a kilt made of his family’s plaid. Pictured with Murtagh are President Mary J.C. Hendrix (l.) and Dr. Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt, coordinator, Appalachian Studies Program.
Students, faculty member present at international conference
Eric Sloper (l.), Kyle Maxon (r.), and Dr. Chiquita Howard-Bostic, chair of the Department of Sociology and Geography, presented research at the Social Changes, Cultures, and Education International Conference in Washington, D.C., on December 11. The student participants were funded by the Samuel O. Legreid Student Research Presentation Fund. Sloper presented “Political Affiliation and Gun Policy”; Maxson presented “Poverty, Parenting, and the Likelihood of Abusing Opiates”; and Howard-Bostic presented “Closing the Revolving Door of Social Problems: No Band-Aid Approach.”