Scott Ballantyne appears to have more than 24 hours in each of his days.
The associate professor of business at Alvernia has a full teaching schedule, serves as faculty advisor for the risk management and fishing clubs, and previously owned a financial planning business and an ice cream store. He also frequently posts on his YouTube channel, Bikes Boats Bivouacs, which spotlights motorcycles, boats, camps and camping, and travel destinations.
The Fleetwood resident has a long history with the university.
“I graduated with a business/accounting degree in 1986 and began work as an accountant/controller for a mechanical contractor,” he said. “This segued into working with a number of local school districts on school construction projects, ultimately positioning me for a career in school business management.”
While continuing his financial planning business, Ballantyne taught at Alvernia, helping to facilitate the addition of a graduate program in business. He is the recipient of Alvernia’s 2015 Teaching Excellence Award (nominated by the students) and a Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching. A rich body of practical business expertise informs his teaching.
“Most of our business faculty have practical experience and it weighs heavily on providing students’ understanding of where theory meets practice,” Ballantyne said. “We teach them about actionable items. They study what the book says and then discuss how it is implemented in the real world.”
To keep these future businesspeople successful when they enter the professional world, nearly every course has a professional organization associated with a field of expertise, each with a series of ethical guidelines. These are strictly adhered to in Alvernia’s teaching.
“We are proud of Alvernia’s three-tier approach to educating our students,” he said. “Sophomores go out to shadow someone in their field. Juniors indicate their interest and get two to three weeks of immersion into their chosen field. Finally, seniors are immersed with 75 hours of internship that often leads to a job offer.”
Several years ago, Ballantyne found it difficult to successfully run his financial planning business and teach at the same time.
Teaching is paramount for him, so when an interesting situation involving a former student presented itself, Ballantyne was quick to jump at the opportunity.
“Conor Delaney '07 was a student/athlete when I taught him and coached him on Alvernia’s ice hockey team,” he said. “He was strong, had drive and overcame a lot of adversity since his father died suddenly at the beginning of his freshman year. He was very interested in the financial planning business. He married a fellow student/athlete and they settled down in Reading, and later Conor and his partners bought my business. Today his company bills $20 to $30 million and has offices across the country. My previous clients couldn’t be in better hands.”
