Internal Updates: November 2025

A Message from Faculty Senate President William Trapani......

🥫Student Food Insecurities

Colleagues,

With the holidays on the horizon and the rising price of groceries it's a good time to remember that many students lack the resources to ensure their adequate nutritional needs. At the BOG meeting in Tampa this week the concern was discussed and a working group was launched with the goal of assessing best practices to ensure that no student goes hungry and that every student has access to food resources, including fresh produce and perishable items.

But you can act locally, today! As a reminder, FAU's Dean of Student's office has a "Beyond Food Program" which accepts both shelf-stable pantry items and personal hygiene items for students. A list of suggested items follows at the end of this email. You can drop items off at FAU's main campus at the Dean of Students office during regular business hours (building 8 - second floor of the Breezeway above the Food Court).

I appreciate those faculty that have inquired about options for support for these efforts. I also want to appreciate the work of Past President Kim Dunn, who did tremendous work in this space. I hope to work with the Dean of Students and Student Government to ensure we are doing all we can to facilitate your generous support to students in need.

Food Items

Most beneficial and requested items: shelf stable proteins and carbohydrates that are easy for a college student to prepare. These include: Peanut Butter/Nut Butter/Seed Butter; Pasta; Canned tuna/canned chicken; Mac & Cheese/Easy Mac; Rice/microwaveable rice cups; Oatmeal; Canned beans (kidney, pinto, black beans); Sandwich crackers (the kind with peanut butter or shelf stable cheese between crackers); Pouches/cans of nuts or trail mix

Non-Food Items

Most requested items: Shampoo & Conditioner (small/travel sized bottles); Toothpaste; Deodorant; Razors; Bars of soap

Best, Bill Trapani

🎓Graduation Ceremony Schedule

The Fall 2025 ceremonies for the College of Business will be held on Thursday, December 11. The Commencement Ceremony will last approximately two hours.

Date: Thursday, December 11

Times:

• 9:00 AM COB Bachelor's Degrees
• 1:00 PM COB Master's and Doctoral Degrees

Sending on Behalf of Lacey Taylor...

🍾Graduation Celebration

Dean Gropper invites you to celebrate our students' amazing graduation accomplishment at the Fall 2025 College of Business Graduation Celebration! Come by the College of Business Sean Stein Pavilion in between the two designated College of Business commencement ceremonies to give a "congrats" to our grads!

Name: Fall 2025 College of Business Graduation Celebration

Date: Thursday, December 11

Time: 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

• Graduates attending the 9:00 AM Commencement Ceremony will attend afterward
• Graduates attending the 1:00 PM Commencement Ceremony will attend beforehand
• Commencement details are found here

Location: College of Business, Sean Stein Pavilion

Please click here to RSVP by Friday, December 5.

If you have any questions, please contact Lacey Taylor, laceytaylor@fau.edu.

Thank you!

As the holiday season is upon us, we are excited to get into the spirit! 

We invite you and a guest to join us for

❄️Dean Gropper’s Annual College of Business Holiday Party! 

• Location: Owl’s Nest in the Schmidt Family Complex (FAU Boca Raton campus) 
• Date: Monday, December 15^th
• Time: 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM
• RSVP: Click here to RSVP by Monday, December 8^th

Department Chairs and Directors- Please forward this invitation to any adjunct professors, student workers, or OPS team members within your department who might not be on this mailing list.

🎁 Participate in the Christmas Feast Toy Drive!

This year we are again partnering with Boca Helping Hands & Town Center Mall at Boca Raton for their 10^th Annual Christmas Feast Toy Drive! This annual event provides a holiday meal, entertainment and a gift to over 500 underserved families in our South Florida community. The event is made possible by the Town Center Mall, Boca Helping Hands, several local businesses, and of course donations from community members like you. We encourage you to participate by donating a toy to a child in need!

Toy donation guidelines:

• Geared towards children ages 5-16 years old
• Unwrapped gifts
• No gift cards
• Gift Ideas: Sports balls, games, books, clothes, make-up, costume jewelry, stuffed animals, art supplies, toys, musical instruments, Legos, Play-Doh, dolls, etc.
• There is no monetary value set per gift, but you can use $15- $25 per gift as a guideline

Last year the College of Business donated an impressive 179 gifts! Can we beat it this year?!

Bring your donated gift to the College of Business Dean’s Office front desk and place it under the tree. When you drop it off, please fill out your name on the raffle ticket and place it in the bowl (will be on the table next to the tree).

Each toy donation = 1 raffle entry, so feel free to donate as many gifts as you would like. The raffle drawing will take place at the Holiday Party on Monday, December 15.

Gift donations can be dropped off to the Dean’s Office 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM between Monday, November 10 and Friday, December 12.

🎄Let’s Get Festive!

We can’t wait to see all your creative workstation decorations this season.

The Holiday Cheer Committee will be making their way around the college the week prior to the party from December 8 – December 12 to check out your decor.

The Holiday Cheer Committee will decide on who has the most impressive decor and the winner will be announced at the Holiday Party.

Email Lacey Taylor if you plan on decorating to ensure they stop by your workstation - Good Luck!

If you have any questions, please contact Lacey Taylor. Happy Holidays!

Congratulations to the 2025 Warren Lloyd Holtzman Award Recipients!

Please join us in congratulating this year’s recipients of the Warren Lloyd Holtzman Awards (2025), recognizing outstanding contributions across research, teaching, and service in the FAU College of Business - Department of Marketing.

Peer-Reviewed Research

Anna Agapova, Professor, Finance, with co-authors have had their paper, "Positive versus negative ESG portfolio screening and investors' preferences," published in The European Journal of Finance.

Anil Bilgihan, Max Ostinelli, Ye Zhang, and Melanie Lorenz, Marketing Department and Marketing department - Hospitality Management, have had their paper titled, "Artificial intelligence (AI) agents and the future of customer loyalty," published in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.

Ye Zhang, Associate Professor, Marketing department - Hospitality Management, with co-authors, have had their papers published in the following journals:

• "Happiness blooms from within: how mindset shapes consumer happiness after experiential consumption," published in the Journal of Service Management.
• "Sustainable food consumption in commensality: perspective of time orientation," published in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism.
• "Gain frame appeals more to loyal customers," published in the Annals of Tourism Research.
• "Transforming Hospitality Workforces Through Adaptive Human Resource Management," published in the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research. 

Public Scholarship Research

Steven Carnovale, Associate Professor, ITOM - Logistics Managers' Index

-FAU-