World Campus student, accounting professor team up on research project

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — For the past two years, Penn State online learner Olivia Bolinsky has conducted research into white-collar crimes with Renee Flasher, an associate professor of accounting at Penn State Harrisburg. Bolinsky recently presented an academic paper on their research at a conference, where she said she gained valuable experience for her career development. 

Bolinsky is studying accounting through Penn State World Campus. She and Flasher are exploring the relationship between the number of agencies involved in crimes against financial institutions and the results of the prosecutions.  

The two co-wrote a paper, “From Investigation to Incarceration: Beyond a Single Agency Prosecuting Financial Institution-Related Crimes,” and Bolinsky presented it at the 54th Annual Conference of the Northeast Decision Sciences Institute, which was held in March in Hershey.  

“I wanted to make the most out of my college experience as an online learner,” said Bolinsky, who lives in New Hampshire. “I’m just really proud of myself for putting myself out there to have this incredible opportunity.” 

Undergraduate research is one of the ways Penn State World Campus learners can enrich their experience through the same kinds of opportunities available to students attending Penn State’s residential campuses. Students can seek research projects individually with faculty members or through a handful of labs.  

Seeking out an individualized research project 

Bolinsky said she wanted to get involved in research as soon as she began her studies and started working with Flasher after connecting with her through a recommendation from her academic adviser. Flasher teaches and advises accounting students at the Harrisburg campus and coordinates the graduate certificate in accounting and master of professional accounting degree through World Campus. Her research interests are in ethics, standard-setting, fraud enforcement resources and data breaches/privacy. 

Hoping to go to law school after she graduates with her bachelor of science in accounting next year, Bolinsky said she wanted to find a research project that would combine her academic interests. 

This kind of experience is valuable for both students and faculty, Flasher said. 

“It increases both of our knowledge bases and further grows our curiosity,” Flasher said. “It’s been shown in prior research that if students have more engagement in the academic journey, like research, they’re more likely to complete their degree.” 

Getting experience in the research process 

Bolinsky found a public data set of federal white-collar crime prosecutions from the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. She and Flasher decided to look deeper into the prosecutions of crimes like fraud and embezzlement against banks and other financial institutions.  

Bolinsky collected publicly available data from press releases and local news reports to find out more about the cases, such as whether the defendant was a senior executive in the company, which criminal codes were violated and if the person was convicted. In the paper, the researchers explored patterns of interagency cooperation to investigate and support the prosecution of white-collar crimes. They found that criminal penalties such as incarceration, probation or supervised release were more likely to occur in cases where multiple agencies worked together.  

Bolinsky spoke about her research as part of a panel. Flasher said the presentation generated both questions and feedback that they will use to revise the paper before submitting it for publication consideration in a peer-reviewed journal. 

“It landed fairly positively with the audience,” Flasher said. “We created some discussions and questions, and people were engaged.” 

How to pursue research opportunities as an undergraduate online learner 

Students interested in finding individualized research projects can reach out to faculty who teach online to see what opportunities are available. Penn State World Campus is an integral part of the fabric of Penn State, and its faculty members teach in a wide variety of undergraduate disciplines, including business, technology, engineering, nursing and health care, the liberal arts and communications. 

For example, students have worked with Penn State faculty in criminal justice and business administration on research projects that resulted in published academic articles. 

In addition, Penn State faculty have created two dedicated labs for online learners. 

The Online Students of Psychology Research Laboratory was established by Anthony Nelson, an associate teaching professor and director of the psychology programs available through Penn State World Campus. Nelson created the lab so that online learners would have a way to participate in research, especially if they wanted to pursue graduate studies. 

Jillian Lesikar, for example, is a recent graduate who participated in the psychology lab and is planning to publish research from a study she led into how screen time influences young children’s behaviors. A group of students from the lab recently presented a poster summarizing another project — focused on the societal attitudes regarding the sexual health of individuals with autism — at the Eastern Psychological Association conference in New York.  

The virtual Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience lab was founded in 2021 by William Horton, assistant teaching professor in biobehavioral health at the Penn State College of Health and Human Development.  

In the lab, students can study how sleep and circadian rhythms impact various biological and psychological processes. Currently, 11 students are involved in all aspects of the research process, from experimental design and data analysis to presenting the results of their research at national and international scientific conferences. 

The research projects include the interaction of abused drugs and sleep, how lack of sleep can exacerbate poor health outcomes from childhood asthma, and how caffeine intake impacts the relationship between sleep and pain processing.  

A Penn State education online 

Penn State World Campus has been offering a Penn State education online for more than 25 years. It now offers a comprehensive selection of more than 200 degree and certificate programs. 

Conducting research is one of the many ways that Penn State World Campus students can enrich their learning experience. Others include internships, clubs and organizations, study abroad opportunities, and more. 

Visit the Penn State World Campus website for more information about learning online.