2024 Scholars Forum

The Department of Finance and Economics is very pleased that numerous students participated in the nineteenth annual Scholars Forum, held at the IUP KCAC on April 10, 2024.

We wish to thank volunteer judges, faculty mentors, and the Scholars Forum planning committee who organized this event and gave their own time and talent to afford our students this exceptional opportunity to participate in a professional conference atmosphere.

FIEC students developed their own original research and scholarly discovery through business case studies, oral presentations, and poster presentations.  Scholars Forum presentations reflect the outgrowth of projects completed across multiple economics classes, Student Managed Investment Portfolio, and Justice Research Fellowship activities.

Under the direction of faculty mentor Yaya Sissoko, students taking either ECON 634 Economics for Managers and Engineers or ECON 338 Poverty in Africa participated in the Business Case Study Showcase and other oral presentation sessions.

• James Walubengo Mukaisi (Supply Chain Management, MBA) presented “Factors Affecting the Average Wage: Challenges for Business Firms”
• Angel Flores (BA, Economics/Honors) presented “Measuring Government Corruption and Wealth Disparities as Main Contributors to Kenyan Poverty”
• Ian Wallace (BS, Management/General) presented “The Rise of the Sahel States: Bridging the Gap through Agricultural and Industrial Policy”
• Chloe Stoner (BS, Finance with Economics double major) presented “Increasing Economic Diversification as a Means to Reduce Poverty in Cote d’Ivoire”
• Erik Moyer (BS, Marketing) presented “The Effectiveness of Cameroon’s Social Safety Nets and Public Financial Management to Reduce Poverty and Improve the Economy”
• Ryan Hornickel (BS, Finance) and Alexander Myers (BS, Marketing) presented “CPR”
• Ronald Appleby (BS, Management Information Systems/Information Technology ) presented “Environmental Issues and African Poverty in Madagascar”
• Daevon Thompson (BA, Economics) presented “Globalization and African Poverty in Senegal.
• Tyler Swanson (BA, Psychology with BS, Public Health dual degree) presented “Evaluating Tanzania Economic Plan”
• Alexandra St Rose (BS, Marketing with Economics double major) presented “The History of South Africa, Its People, Plants & Animals, Education, Healthcare, Primary Cause of Poverty, and Its Economy”
• Adam Houser (BS, Finance) and Daniel Deabner (BS, Finance with Economics double major) presented “Combating Poverty in Libya: A Comprehensive Economic and Social Analysis”

Under the direction of faculty member Brandon Vick, students taking ECON 360 Health Economics presented in an oral presentation session. Their presentation was an outgrowth of work conducted as part of the Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative (formerly known as the Appalachian Teaching Project).

• Ella Zhou (BA, Anthropology with Philosophy, Politics, Economics (PPE) double major), Joseph Madia (BA, Economics), Carlos Chimal Rodriguez (BA, Economics), Rachel Kopicko (BS, Human Resource Management with Economics double major), and Noah Gentle (BS, Management/General) presented “Barriers to Recreational Park Access and Usage”

Under the direction of faculty member James Jozefowicz, students completing research as part of the ECON 356 Introduction to Econometric and ECON 456 Advanced Econometrics courses participated in an oral presentation session.

• Nick Ryan (BS, Finance with Economics double major) and Ethan Duguid (BS, Finance with Accounting double major) presented “Examining the Determinants of Property Crime in the 58 California Counties”
• Samuel Bigham (BA, History with Political Science double major) presented “My Body, My Vote: Determining the Impact of Abortion Rights and Extremism on the 2022 Midterm Elections”
• Jacob Holes (BA, Economics/Honors with Supply Chain Management double major) and Nathaniel Zik (BS, Accounting with Economics double major) presented “Analyzing Determinants of Major League Baseball Game Attendance”
• John Sieber (BA, Economics) and Myca Torreance (BS, Finance with Economics double major) presented “Shooting for Success: An Econometric Analysis of Factors Influencing NBA Salaries”
• Shagufta Haque (BA, Economics with Finance double major) and Caleb Johnson (BS, Finance with Economics double major) presented “Determinants and Trends of the Female Labor Force Participation Rate in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan”

Poster Presentations:

• Under the direction of faculty member Todd Potts and as an outgrowth of activities pursued by members of the Student Managed Investment Portfolio, Austin Moore (BS, Finance) and Victor River (BS, Finance with Economics double major) presented “Sector Analysis of Stock Market Volatility”
• Under the direction of faculty members Christian Vaccaro and Brandon Vick and as part of the Justice Research Fellowship program, Micaela Jebitsch (BS, Math/Actuarial Science & Statistics with BA, Economics dual degree) presented “Recidivism and its Costs for Indiana County”
• Under the direction of faculty member Yaya Sissoko, Vicente Arriagada (MBA) presented “Wage Analysis Based on Skills and Requirements”
• Under the direction of faculty member Daniel Widzowski, Catherine Martsolf (BS, Biology/Pre-med with Economics double major) presented “The Efficacy of Bupropion and Naltrexone in Treating Methamphetamine Addiction”; under the direction of IRMC Resident Physician Mohit Chhatpar, Martsolf also presented “Evaluating Tobacco Use Among United States Air Force Military Trainees”
• Under the direction of faculty members Rick Adkins and Yu-Ju Kuo, Alexander Tseng (BS, Math/Actuarial Science and BA, Economics dual degree) presented “Predicting Insurance Fraud in Order to Reduce Losses”
• Under the direction of faculty member Yu-Ju Kuo, Angel Alcantara (MS, Applied Mathematics; BA, Economics/Honors ’23) co-presented “Utilization of Optimization and Machine Learning in Poverty Reduction: A Study of Pennsylvania Counties”