The Department of Business at Montana Technological University has named a scholarship in honor of longtime Associate Professor Rita Spear. Spear retired from 15 years of dedicated instruction last year. Demonstrating her continued commitment, she returned this semester to teach Project Management and collaborate with Business and Information Technology (BIT) faculty on courses in Data Analytics, Business Modeling, and Enterprise Systems and Industry Software.
“Rita is an innovative and inspiring instructor dedicated to the success of our students while they are at Montana Tech and on into their chosen careers,” College of Letters, Sciences and Professional Studies Dean Michele Hardy said. “She brought a wealth of industry experience to the program that has helped guide the curriculum to provide students with market-ready skills in business information technology. This scholarship is awarded to students with interest in pursuing careers in the world of business as it applies to multiple industry settings. We are honored to have established the scholarship in Rita’s name."
“A scholarship honoring Rita Spear just made sense as her contributions to the department have advanced our degree programs to the present day and positioned them to adapt to whatever the future brings to business education,” Department of Business Head Tim Kober said. “These first five scholarship recipients are a direct testament to the impact Rita has had on all of our business students.
This year the Department of Business awarded five $1,000 Spear Business Excellence Awards to Dillon MacIlwraith, Cassie Cooper, Leah Hamilton, Brady Drummond, and Nicholas Pasquarello.
“I am honored and humbled by the scholarship carrying my name,” Spear said. “The entire BIT faculty and students join me in thanking Dean Michele Hardy for her support of our department. It is imperative to stay on top of new technologies so that our students are prepared for their careers. The backing and encouragement of Dean Hardy enables us to provide business students with courses and innovative classroom experiences that differentiate them from other business students.”
The scholarship is making a difference in the lives of students like Cassie Cooper. Cooper is a veteran who served 11 years in the Air Force in a competitive working space where she was on a bomb squad and IED defusal team. She said after she left the military she knew exactly what kind of career she wanted next.
“I want to sit at a desk,” Cooper said. “I love putting things into spreadsheets. I want an office job where I have a set schedule. I just got burnt out on traveling.”
She said her time at Montana Tech has set her on a path to achieve that goal. Montana Tech is the only university offering SAP courses in the state and is also home to one of only 13 SAP Collegiate Labs in the nation. The lab and the SAP classes offer students access to a number of SAP proprietary software applications. Students learn how to configure systems, execute end user processes, and utilize the SAP Analytics Cloud for data analysis.
Cooper and her fellow scholarship recipients participated in the SAP ERPsim North America Competition this year where they competed against top universities including the University of Michigan, Durham College, San Diego State University, and Missouri University of Science & Technology.
“I enjoyed the competition because it gave you an example of working as a team,” Cooper said. “We all were locked into our duties and focused on how to communicate with others on the team.”
Cooper says she’s able to connect business concepts in class to real-life business problems because of how Spear teaches.
“Don’t let Rita retire,” Cooper said. “Make her stay forever. She knows when to break it down and explain things to me. She knows the time and place to do each topic and she’s just a wealth of knowledge. She’s fun. She’s got a good attitude and she wants her students to do well. There’s grades, but she also wants you to understand what you are doing.”
The Montana Tech Department of Business offers Bachelor of Science (B.S.) options in Accounting and Management of Information, Bachelor of Applied Sciences (BAS) options in Construction Management, Management, and Accounting. It also offers a minor in Business Administration and an SAP Student Recognition certificate. To learn more about scholarships or programs, click here. To make a contribution to the Spear Business Excellence Award visit https://foundation.mtech.edu/ or call 406-496-4276.