June 25, 2012

Jarvis earns research fellow reappointment

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Cheryl Burke Jarvis, an associate professor and interim chair of the marketing department in Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s College of Business, recently earned appointment as a Faculty Research Fellow for the Center for Services Leadership.

Jarvis received a three-year reappointment with the center, which is based in Phoenix at Arizona State University.  The center is “the premier joint academic-business research center in the world, focused on creating knowledge about how to compete strategically through the profitable use of services,” she said.

Jarvis first attained the fellowship in 2000, and the title of research fellow recognizes her research work in the area of services.  The fellowship provides access to and partnership with large companies and businesses for research purposes, and her previous work involves companies that include Ford Motor Co., the Mayo Clinic, and Lenscrafters/Luxottica Group.  She mentors SIU Carbondale graduate students pursuing a research specialty in services science, and provides companies that are Center for Services Leadership (CSL) members with executive education opportunities.  

Earlier this year, Jarvis, along with academic leaders and top business executives from around the world, attended the CSL annual academic and board meeting. The organization’s focus is “service science,” with a goal of creating and distributing knowledge regarding strategic competition through the profitable use of services.  Essentially, the organization bridges the transition between academics and practitioners.  Members of the academic community present their news and research to business practitioners, who in turn share information about challenges that affect them.  These issues can then become the basis for further research.

“It’s a symbiotic relationship,” Jarvis said.  

Major companies participating in the 2012 meeting included Abbott Medical Optics Inc., Agilent Technologies, Cardinal Health, Charles Schwab, Cisco Systems, CVS Caremark, DuPont, Edward Jones, Honeywell Aerospace, IBM, Intel Corp., Siemens Industry, Inc., and Westinghouse Electric Co.

Jarvis joined the faculty at SIU Carbondale in 2009 as an associate professor of marketing.  She became interim marketing chair this spring.  She previously held faculty positions at Arizona State University and Indiana University along with marketing, public relations and publishing/editorial positions for companies in Texas and Colorado.

She earned her doctorate in business (marketing) in 1999 at Indiana University.  She also holds a master’s degree in marketing (1995) and a bachelor’s degree in agricultural journalism (1986) from Texas A&M University.   She has a variety of presentations and numerous publications in the field of customer services to her credit. 

Jarvis teaches several marketing courses at SIU Carbondale, including a services marketing course for students interested in careers in the service industries.  The University is among a very few worldwide offering a services marketing course for undergraduates.