October 12, 2007

Business students to benefit from new technology

by Sun Min

CARBONDALE, Ill. — When David Hartley, a 1991 Southern Illinois University Carbondale graduate, attended the College of Business and Administration, there was no such thing as video conferencing over the web and there was no such thing as oovoo.com.

Fast-forward to October 2007, Hartley will be the first executive to speak to an SIUC business class using oovoo.com, a free real time video conferencing service.

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Media Advisory

Reporters, camera crews and photographers are welcome to attend the class on Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 2 p.m. in Rehn Hall Room 108. To schedule an interview, contact Marcus D. Odom, director of the School of Accountancy, at 618/453-1408.

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Hartley will be the featured virtual guest during accounting Professor Marcus D. Odom's internal auditing class on Oct. 16. "This is a great way for the School of Accountancy to bring in high-profile guest speakers to present to the students. The technology will also allow students to interact with the speakers since they will be live video conferences. I cannot wait to make this happen," said Odom.

Through oovoo.com, Hartley will speak to SIUC students without leaving his Missouri office. "I believe that in-person interaction is best but I want to work with the college to unleash the potential of this technology," said Hartley, director of the St. Louis office of Protiviti, a leading provider of independent risk consulting and internal audit services. "This is just the beginning. I will encourage my colleagues in Hong Kong and fellow College of Business alumni worldwide to make contact with SIU students using this service."

The SIUC College of Business and Administration has invested more than $1 million in technology for students and faculty in the last five years. The school is ranked among the top 100 public business colleges nationwide by U.S. News & World Report.