Microsoft in-kind gift to WVU business school tops $245,000 - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

Microsoft in-kind gift to WVU business school tops $245,000

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Microsoft Corporation will present the West Virginia University College of Business and Economics with an in-kind gift valued at more than $245,000, the university recently announced.

The gift was given through the Microsoft Dynamics Academic Alliance program and consists of two kinds of accounting software plus annual support for that software, according to the university's news release.

"This generous gift from Microsoft will be very beneficial for the continued advancement of B&E's accounting program," Jose Sartarelli, Milan Puskar Dean said in the news release. "Our business school has a great reputation in the area of accounting, and this software will be instrumental in the continued high level of preparation for students in the program."

The Microsoft Dynamics Academic Alliance is a global program that provides no-cost licenses to educational institutions that want to use Microsoft Dynamics software for teaching or research purposes.

The contribution was made in conjunction with A State of Minds: The Campaign for West Virginia's University

The $750 million campaign is conducted by the WVU Foundation on behalf of the university and it runs through December 2015.

Dr. Richard Dull, associate professor of accounting  said the software will first be used in accounting systems courses.

But he says it doesn't stop there.

He added that the Management Information Systems Department has expressed interest in using the software in the classroom as well.

 "Students will have multi-semester exposure to the enterprise system, and will also have the capability to use the software for learning concepts related to internal controls, fraud and error detection," Dull said.

"The software will help us teach more than just the theoretical side of accounting ... The software helps provide the information you need to manage an organization in areas such as financial management, manufacturing and operations," Dull added. "It also has extensive data analysis capabilities. It's software we can use to help our students learn to manage an entire enterprise."