November 8, 2013
FOCUS
Volume 4, Issue 38
Let’s Talk HR
Pg. 1 A Message from Dr. Suresh Gopalan
Pg. 1
Undeclared Majors Visit the SBE
Pg. 2
SBE Celebrates International Food Day
Pg. 2
UNC Entrepreneurship Business Plan
Pg. 2
A Dream Come True
Pg. 2
Collective Bargaining
Pg. 3
East Forsyth Students Visit Finance Lab
Pg. 3
Thank you
Pg. 3
Let’s Talk HR
What do you know about leading
people and being led by others? Do
you know when your rights have been
violated? What is the process that
companies follow in recruiting,
selecting, and hiring employees? Have
you thought – even
if something is
legal, is it ethical,
is it good practice?
Should we be
doing it? Do you
want to know how
your current or
future employer
figures out how
they determine your pay and benefits?
Are you entitled to benefits? Do you
feel like you don’t know all that you
need to know about your job and how
to do it? How on earth did they hire
your boss – were they on drugs? Is it
okay to hire your family members for
your company (not owned by you)?
Can you avoid letting a diverse group
know that you have open positions in
your company and not get sued?
Maybe your question is that your
associates/employees/staff members
are not happy, and they are banding
together to get you fired – what should
your company be doing about it?
Employment Law is changing daily –
did you know that the U.S. Senate has
passed the addition of another
protected group to the list under
employment discrimination?
Even if you do not want to work in
the Human Resource Department of
any organization, knowing about
Human Resource Management is still
important to you. If you are going to
be a leader of people at work (and the
skills that we teach will also help you
as a student), you need to know how
to do it effectively, efficiently, legally,
ethically and responsibly. The HR
programs in the
Department of
Management and
Marketing offer
you practical and
useful courses
that will enhance
your
understanding of
the way
organizations work through the
practices, policies, activities, and
attitudes that they have in leading
their people. We want you to think
about what good HR practices are and
give you the opportunity to research
best practices and current approaches
through the literature as well. HRspecific courses that we offer include
the following:
MGT 4348 – Human Resource
Management and Employment Law
MGT 4335 – Compensation and
Benefits
MGT 4336 – Training, Development
and Performance Management
MGT 4337 – Employee and Labor
Relations
MGT 4338 – Organizational Staffing
MGT 4385 – Advanced Topics in HR
(specifically designed for HR
A Message from Interim
Dean Suresh Gopalan
I am pleased to report that we are
continuing to have deep and meaningful
conversations with our
faculty about our curriculum
which includes our
contribution to general
education and establishes a
meaningful relationship
with liberal arts.
Suresh Gopalan
We would love to have
graduates who have both professional
skills and an appreciation for lifelong
learning. While these conversations
about the integration of business with
liberal arts are still in their infancy, I am
confident they are progressing in the
right direction.
The Chairs and I are honored to lead
the discussion of this important initiative.
These conversations will enable us to
align the School of Business and
Economics with WSSU’s strategic
planning.
We will be happy to share our
progress with you in the coming months
and look forward to your feedback.
Suresh Gopalan
Continued on Page 2—Human Resources
FOCUS is published monthly by the School of Business and Economics at Winston-Salem State University. This and past issues of
the newsletter are available at wssu.edu/sbe/focus/default.aspx. For information concerning the newsletter, or to
contribute an article, please contact Joyce Jenkins at (336) 750-2331 or send an e-mail to jenkinsj@wssu.edu.
FOCUS News
Page 2
Undeclared Majors Visit the
School of Business & Economics
WSSU Freshmen and Sophomores
who were still making a decision about
their major flocked to the RJ Reynolds
Center to hear faculty describe the
benefits of a bachelor’s degree from the
School of Business and Economics.
Faculty representatives from the seven
majors (Accounting, Business
Administration, Economics, Finance,
Management, Management Information
Systems, and Marketing) and two
concentrations in Financial Planning and
Human Resources were in attendance in
individual classrooms. They discussed
the opportunities each of the degree
programs offered to students, the fact
that seven of the 14 majors with the
greatest earnings potential are offered by
the SBE and offered a glimpse into
courses in each major.
Prospective students left with a
wealth of information to encourage a
decision pursue a major to the School of
Business and Economics. We look
forward to welcoming each of them.
SBE Celebrates International
Week with an International
Food Festival
The SBE will participate in the
International Week by featuring its everpopular International Food Festival on
Thursday, November 14, from 12:00 until
1:30 p.m. in Room 136 lobby of the R.J.
Reynolds Center. The “Tastes and Sounds
of the World” event will feature food
prepared by faculty, staff and students.
Visitors to the SBE will be able to sample
flavors from Germany, Greece, India,
Moldova and other countries. We
cordially invite you to bring a dish or to
attend and enjoy this annual event.
Human Resources
A Dream Come True
(Continued)
Concentration students to prepare
for their national Assurance of
Learning Assessment)
If you are interested in learning
more about leading organizations
through people – Human Resource
Management – please contact Dr.
Janice Witt Smith, SPHR –that is,
Senior Professional in Human
Resources – HR Programs
Coordinator, RC 110, 750-2349.
Please watch out for our new series,
“Let’s Talk HR,” beginning in Spring
2014. Dr. Smith will coordinate a
series of conversations and/or
workshops that talk about HR
topics. If you would like to be a part
of Team HR to assist in planning
and delivering those workshops and
in marketing HR, please contact Dr.
Smith. In addition, you may want
to join the Ram SHRM Chapter,
which is our professional student
organization that exposes students
to various areas of Human Resource
Management. Please check their
The 2014 UNC Social
Entrepreneurship Conference
Business Plan Competition
School of Business and
Economics’ undergraduate students
have a great opportunity to learn the
mechanics of a business plan, to
participate in the creation of a
sustainable new venture that
achieves an important social
objective and to meet other students
from throughout the State at the
2014 UNC Social Entrepreneurship
Conference at NC A&T on February
28, 2014. Dr. Notis Pagiavlas will be
working with interested students to
create a project and a team that will
represent the SBE in competition
with other UNC institutions. Honors’
students may find this opportunity
especially useful. Details are
available at www.northcarolina.edu/
sec/index.htm. Interested students
should email Dr. Pagiavlas at
pagiavlasno@wssu.edu by November
15, 2013.
It was the
completion
of a dream
come true
for Muskie
Fellow and
WSSU MBA
candidate
Veaceslav (a.k.a. Slava) Driglov as 11
boys from his homeland of Moldova
stepped off the plane in New York en
route to Winston-Salem. Slava, while
working on his degree, came up with
the idea of founding a US/Moldovan
cultural exchange to enable the young
men to participate in the Southwest
Forsyth Little League Baseball
Tournament in October and to compete
with teams from throughout North
Carolina.
During their stay, students were
housed in host family homes in
Clemmons. In addition to playing
baseball, they explored American
culture and visited Pilot Mountain, the
Dixie Classic Fair, YMCA Camp Hanes,
and a Wake Forest football game.
Among the most remarkable
experiences, visitors enjoyed pre-game
tailgating, bowling and culinary
traditions like Krispy Kreme
Doughnuts, barbecue, and S’ mores. The
Twin City
Host Lions
Club and
Reynolda
Rotary
Club
hosted the
students
for
meetings and luncheons. North Carolina
Secretary of State Elaine Marshall
joined them for pizza and discussed
opportunities for higher education and
the North Carolina state colleges and
universities. The players also learned
about the tradition of community
service at the Second Harvest Food
Bank and toured the North Carolina
Capitol in Raleigh.
Plans for a visit from Forsyth
County students to Teraspol, Moldova
are currently underway for June of
2014.
FOCUS News
Page 3
Collective Bargaining as an Element of Human Resources
MGT 4337—Pictured are
more! While North Carolina is a
Employee and Labor Relations class
right-to-work state (and we talk
students preparing for
about what that is and
their collective
is not as well), you
bargaining
may not have heard
simulation. One team
much about ways that
represents the union
employees collectively
(and the company’s
discuss their issues
employees), while the
with
other team represents
management. We’re
management (company
following the racial
owners and
slurs and bullying in
leaders). They were
the NFL; the teacher
asked to dress in
walk-in/walk-out
type. Our labor union
across the United
negotiators are (left to
States; organizational
right): Kiana Franklyn,
practices that value
Our Union Negotiators
Ashton Johnson,
their most important
Laquitia Cozart, and
investment – their
Rashonda Howard.
human
resources. During the next two
Our management negotiators are
weeks, the students will be
Chantel Coltrane, Tameka Russell,
conducting 30-minute-long mini
Bryson McCall and
workshops on various
Britney Hall. Kiana,
HR issues (including
Bryson, and Britney are
those listed above). If
Management Majors
you are interested in
with an HR
attending one of these
concentration. Ashton,
workshops to learn
Laquitia, Rashonda, and
more about employee
Tameka are Healthcare
and labor relations,
Management majors
please contact Dr.
with an HR
Janice Witt Smith, 750
minor. Their task is to
-2349 or
negotiate the
smithjw@wssu.edu.
settlement of a labor
dispute in a way that
Next semester, we will
The Management Team
the employees feel
have a series of
valued and rewarded,
workshops and/or
and the organization
conversations around
can continue to be financially
the topic, “Let’s Talk HR.” These
competitive and generate a profit for
talks will be held the 1st and 3rd
the shareholders. The challenge is,
Thursdays of the month. Further
they do not know each other’s
information about time and
positions – what are the union
location will be provided. For
members willing to call a strike
further information about this
about; what are the management
series and to tell us what topics
folks willing to shut down the
you would like to have covered, or
company over. This is just one of the
to discuss our HR Concentration
many activities and topics that are
and HR minor, please contact Dr.
covered in this HR course. Other
Janice Witt Smith, SPHR, HR
issues that are covered are employee
Programs Coordinator, RC 110,
rights and governance; privacy
750-2349 or smithjw@wssu.edu.
issues; social media; identity theft;
discrimination; and much, much
East Forsyth High School Students
Visit the Finance Lab
WSSU Professor Nick Daves served as
host to eighteen students and faculty
advisor, Ms. Jennifer Haynes, from East
Forsyth High School in the Finance Lab at the
School of
Business and
Economics.
During the
presentation,
Mr. Daves
spoke about
careers in
financial planning, the RAM Investment Fund
and the investment analysis process used by
students who make investment decisions for
the fund. He also presented a slide show
about the determinative process when
considering investment of funds in specific
stocks.
Students were intrigued with the new
opportunities that the Finance Lab offers,
including the
ability to sign the
wall, and had many
questions about the
trading process.
We look forward to
the opportunity to meet with additional East
Forsyth students in the spring.
Thank you
It has been a distinct honor and pleasure
to serve you as the editor of the Focus
newsletter for the School of Business and
Economics since January of 2013. During
this time, the SBE published 38 issues of the
newsletter with a wide variety of features
including student, alumni and faculty
profiles, the introduction of the Finance Lab,
faculty research and general interest articles
on a myriad of subjects.
This will be my last issue since I will be
leaving to accept the Practice Administrator
position of Cornerstone Health Hematology
and Oncology in High Point. Here, I will be
able to utilize the skills I learned in the
WSSU Master of Healthcare Administration
program. I encourage each of you to support
the great work that occurs every day at the
School of Business and Economics and wish
each of you the best in the future.
Attention SBE Graduates:
We would like to include your information in future “Where in the World” sections. Please send updates, including your name,
title, employer name, year of graduation and current city, and state/country to jenkinsj@wssu.edu.