INSID E THIS ISS UE:
July 19, 2013
FOCUS
Table of Contents:
Southern Business Administration Workshop
NEWS FROM THE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS
Page
1
Message from Dean Bailey
1
Alumni Profile—Kristopher T. Ferguson
2
Southern Business Administration Summer Workshop
The Summer Workshop of the
Southern Business Administration
Association took place July 14th to
16th at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
The meeting, a gathering of business
school deans from the southern
region of the United States, is a
popular conference which keeps
deans current with the latest
developments that affect business
school education. Dean Jessica Bailey
was in attendance.
The meeting began Sunday with
a reception for new members, those
deans who were attending their first
SBAA
meeting. The
reception was
followed by a
general
reception and
a dinner, attended by a host of deans
and their spouses. It was the
highlighted social event of the
conference.
Following breakfast Monday
morning, SBAA President Mo Sarhan,
Dean of School of Business at
Savannah State University, welcomed
all in attendance and introduced the
keynote speaker, Joe Moglia,
Chairman of the Board of TD
Ameritrade and Head Football Coach
at Coastal Carolina University. Joe,
who is, undoubtedly, a unique
character, talked about the
similarities between his
responsibilities as Chairman and as
Head Coach. He explained that both
jobs required staying focused on the
customer and being able to recognize
skill and character. His rousing
address was quite inspiring.
All of the sessions of the
conference were informative. Dr. Rick
Mathieu, Associate Dean at James
Madison University, talked about
community, student, and faculty
engagement. This is an extremely
relevant topic given the fact that
engagement is one of the three
hallmarks of the new accreditation
standards of AACSB. He explained that
success lay in embracing engagement
and doing everything possible to
identify activities already being
undertaken on most campuses. Dr. Jeff
Michelman, Director of International
Programs at the University of North
Florida, addressed the topic of MBA
Dual Degrees. In particular, he advised
caution in establishing international
dual degrees, since so many
uncontrollable factors can determine
the success or failure of the program.
Max Burns, President of Gordon
College, gave a personal address
entitled, “From Business Dean to
President: My Perspective,” which
described his personal journey from
contented business school faculty
member to U.S. Congressman to
consultant to business school dean to
college president. He advised the
audience on the appropriateness of
business school deans reaching out for
college presidencies since the skill sets
for both positions are so similar.
The conference ended Tuesday at
11:00 a.m. following presentations on
faculty orientation, a vice-president’s
perspective on the impact of business
schools, and an update on the new
AACSB standards.
Volume 4, Issue 28
Where in the World Reminder
2
A Message from Dean Jessica Bailey
The campus was abuzz this week.
July 18th was Transition Thursday, a
special day set aside for
orientation of transfer
students. Faculty
members from each of the
three departments of the
SBE made themselves
available to transfer
Dr. Jessica Bailey students for advising and
mentoring as they entered
WSSU to complete their degrees.
Also, July 18th marked the on-campus
visit of representatives of Experiment in
Self-Reliance (ESR), an organization
devoted to empowering people to
become self-reliant. I attended a special
luncheon that was sponsored by Ms.
LaMonica Sloan, Director of Career
Services, who serves on the board of the
organization. ESR, which has been active
in Winston-Salem since 1964, has worked
closely with WSSU over the years to help
eliminate poverty in the city and county.
This past year, faculty and students of the
SBE’s Department of Accounting and
Management Information Systems
contributed their time for the Volunteer
Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program,
providing free tax preparation for low- to
moderate-income families at sites
throughout Winston-Salem. Thus, the
SBE has been instrumental in increasing
the economic impact of tax return dollars
in the community; I am proud of that
contribution.
Stay cool!
Jessica Bailey
FOCUS is published weekly by the School of Business and Economics at Winston-Salem State University. For information concerning the
newsletter, or to contribute an article, please contact Ben Greene at (336) 750-2330 or send an e-mail to greenebp@wssu.edu.
Page 2
FOCUS News
Attention SBE Graduates:
We welcome the opportunity to provide information about all of our students and alums in the Focus Newsletter’s “Where in
the World” section. This allows fellow alumni, students and faculty to be aware of the location and corporate affiliation of
friends and colleagues. Please send updates, including your name, title, company name, year of graduation and current city, and
state/country to greenebp@wssu.edu.
Alumni Profile—Kristopher T. Ferguson
Kristopher Ferguson is a 2008 Cum
Laude graduate of the School of
Business and Economics (SBE) with a
triple major in accounting, economics,
and finance and a minor in
chemistry. He is a “kid at heart” with a
passion for both his
personal and
professional life. His
personal interests
include following
college sports, reading
online message
boards, and attending
as many of the WSSU
football and basketball games as
possible. This led to a conversation
about “giving back.” On this subject, he
spoke about the need to provide
support to programs one considers
important. He is a believer in, and
contributor to the SBE, the Honors
program, Honda Quiz Bowl team, and
Ram athletics, making equal
contributions to each. Personal travel
also occupies a substantial amount of
his time. After attending a summer
program in Quebec after his junior
year, he now visits Canada annually. As
a road trip and automotive enthusiast,
he has traveled to 42 states and 10
Canadian provinces and territories by
car. He also drove to the Arctic Circle
and back which took 14 days and
covered 10,000 miles! In his new home
in Pensacola, Florida, Kris enjoys going
to the beach, cooking, playing video
games, catching up on television shows
and reading about current events and
financial happenings.
he became a Financial Institution
Examiner after completing a rigorous
training program. Completion of the
program permits him to be “Examinerin-Charge” on select bank
examinations, a designation that allows
him to submit reports detailing the
fiscal health of financial institutions.
with him, Kris has had the opportunity
to go on special assignments because of
his distinct capital markets training. He
also recalls taking the Myers-Briggs
personality test shortly after starting
his career, and discovered that he was
an INTP (Introvert-Intuitive-ThinkerPerceiver). He used this newfound
awareness to strengthen his
During his relatively
cognitive abilities and
short career at the FDIC, he
become a more effective
has had the opportunity to
worker and
see financial institutions
communicator. His career
recover after near-failure,
permits
him
to travel extensively
worked with and resolved problem
throughout the Southeast, and he
banks, and participated in various
training and speaking opportunities. He spends approximately 130 nights on
the road for the FDIC.
is designated as a Capital Markets
Subject Matter Expert. As such, he is a
“go to” person for a variety of topics
ranging such as asset/liability
management, insurance and
compensation agreements, and
mathematical modeling activities. As
an examiner, he meets with bank
managers of institutions with assets
of up to $20 billion to discuss rules,
regulations, findings and corrective
actions. The analysis of credit
worthiness, liquidity ,and market risks
of domestic and international securities
are also included in his responsibilities.
Interestingly, his employment
coincided with the beginning of the
“Great Recession,” a period which
presented significant training
challenges and unique opportunities
alike. One of the most productive things
he did after settling in to his new job
and community was to seek out a
mentor with similar work styles and
Following graduation, he accepted interests. Kris reports that this tactic
a position with the Federal Deposit
yielded dividends, as his mentor is
Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as a
considered one of the best at the FDIC
Financial Institution Specialist. In 2012, in his specialty. As a result of working
Kris encourages others in the
WSSU family to bring a unique
perspective to their workplace by
considering:

distinguishing themselves from
others by taking on projects and
activities that others may not
understand or are uninterested in;

learning by taking the time to
attend training and reading books
and articles that relate to their jobs;
and

getting to know personal strengths
and weaknesses to maximize
strengths and improve upon
weaknesses.
He also takes time to reflect on
his time at the SBE where he was
inspired by Dr. George Johnson
(accounting), Dr. David Stewart, the
late Dr. Swapan Sen (finance), and Dr.
Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi (economics).
Their encouragement enabled a
successful transition from student to
professional and continued
development post-graduation.