Courses in accounting and finance can be challenging to teach, but Finance Lecturer Geoffrey Hoover and Accounting Professor Parunchana Pacharn make it seem easy.

The pair recently received the Goodman School of Business’ student-voted teaching awards for their ability to connect with classes and make these subjects engaging.

Goodman Dean Barry Wright presents Accounting Professor Parunchana Pacharn the graduate student-voted teaching award.

Hoover and Pacharn received the undergraduate and graduate teaching awards, respectively, at the annual Goodman Student Success Celebration held in the Goodman Atrium on Tuesday, April 4.

Hoover was humbled to accept the award for the seventh time, noting that the Faculty has several strong professors who also deserve the recognition. For him, teaching goes beyond the material in his lecture slides.

“I remember what it was like to be a student,” he said. “The course material is important, but even more so is the person the student becomes during their time at university. Those habits and routines stick with them, and I try to shape that.”

The Goodman Student Success Celebration also highlighted the significant accomplishments of Goodman’s student leaders and case competition teams. Faculty and staff were acknowledged at the event for the guidance, insight and expertise they’ve provided to Goodman teams this year.

Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies Narongsak (Tek) Thongpapanl said case competitions provide students the opportunity to engage in teamwork, analyze real-world business situations and apply their creativity.

“We all know that engaged students are more likely to succeed academically and professionally,” he said. “But engagement isn’t just about attending class and completing assignments. It’s about being actively involved in the learning process, asking questions, seeking out opportunities for growth and collaborating with peers.”

Highlights of Goodman’s competition success this year include the School’s first-ever MBA Games title from the largest graduate business competition in Canada and a first place finish at the World Trade Centre of Buffalo Niagara’s annual case competition.

Undergraduate students excelled this year at the ACE Canada competition, bringing home 35 medals from the national competition, and JDC Central, finishing fourth overall and bringing home five trophies.

This year also marked the first time the business school sent a team to the Goodman School of Mines at Laurentian University in Sudbury for the Goodman Gold competition. With both schools carrying the Goodman name, the competition gave Brock students the chance to learn more about the extractive sector with team member Thomas Barnes being named best speaker.