Faculty and students in Arcadia’s School of Global Business attended the 2025 Association for Business Simulations & Experiential Learning (ABSEL) Conference, held March 12-14 in Orlando, Fla.

Dr. Raghu Kurthakoti, associate professor and chair of the School of Global Business; Dr. Annette Halpin, assistant professor of Business Administration; Dr. N H Manzur E Maula, assistant professor of Economics; and Laura Fitzwater, an adjunct professor of English, as well as Charli Rissmiller ’25, a Public Health major and Marketing minor, and Karrynne Henry ’25, an International Business and Culture major–who were the only students to present at this year’s conference–represented the University. Dr. Meg Nolan, an assistant professor of Global Business, served as a Track Chair, but could not attend as she was away for Preview The World.

Halpin, who also served as the 2025 conference chair, and Fitzwater teamed up to present the session “Using Generative AI to Create Class Assignments in Business Writing, Human Resources, and Strategy Courses,” along with Dr. Deborah Good of the University of Pittsburgh. During the workshop, the instructors walked participants through the necessary steps to take in order to create university-level assignments across several business courses.

Kurthakoti, Rissmiller, and Henry conducted a hands-on workshop entitled “Leveraging AI to Create Lesson Plans in a Student Centric Flipped Class.” The workshop helped attendees envision a flipped classroom that is entirely designed and led by the students. They also discussed how generative artificial intelligence can be a useful tool for students, not only when developing a lesson plan, but also when building their prompting and working skills with AI tools. Kurthakoti also served as a panelist for the keynote discussion, “The AI Transformation: Reshaping Business Education for the Modern Era.”

“Dr. Kurthakoti, Karynne, and I worked very closely together to make this a very engaging presentation,” Rissmiller said. “Although Karynne and I were the only students at the conference, we were treated with respect and our insights were valued. We received lots of positive feedback from the attendees and many follow-up questions that led to even more interesting discussions.”

For Henry, the opportunity to present at ABSEL was a bit intimidating, but extremely beneficial.

“I was so proud to be presenting and collaborating with Raghu and Charli. It built my confidence to know that I could do something that was challenging, and that I was a good enough student and academic to have been invited to the conference,” she said. “Going forward, I now have a sense of being at and presenting at an academic conference, networking, and being in a new professional setting.”

Rissmiller agreed.

“Although it was a little nerve-wracking, I’ve learned how to carry myself and have discussions with others professionally,” she said. “After college, I will be working in medical device marketing and sales, so presenting at conferences is something I will encounter frequently. I am thankful that the Arcadia School of Global Business and Dr. Kurthakoti gives students like myself these opportunities that actually prepare us for the future.”

Maula presented his research, “A Distressed Bank’s Crisis Resolution: An Experiential Learning Approach in the Principles of Macroeconomics Class.” In the paper, Maula shares an experiential learning exercise designed to simulate a distressed bank scenario in a Principles of Macroeconomics course at the undergraduate level. The exercise offers students a unique opportunity to engage with critical macroeconomic concepts, including bank failures, liquidity crises, systemic risk, central bank interventions, and government bailouts. 

In addition to the workshops and presentations, Kurthakoti was recognized as an ABSEL Fellow, becoming the third member of Arcadia’s School of Global Business to have the honor bestowed upon them, after Halpin (2011) and Dr. William Biggs, a professor emeritus (1988). Fellows are selected based on their significant contributions to the organization. Throughout the years, Kurthakoti has served in multiple roles for ABSEL, including several positions on the Board of Directors, culminating in a year as president in 2023.

“I was deeply honored to learn that the Board of Fellows thought my contributions to the organization over the years were meaningful,” he said. “ABSEL has given me so much over the years–a group of research collaborators who share similar interests, numerous innovative ideas to teach my classes, and, above all, a group of wonderful friends in academia who are as passionate about education as I am.”