INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
FOCUS
News from the School of Business and Economics
February 18, 2013
Volume 4, Issue 6
Tie in Business Plan Competition
1
Student Profile—Taylor Curry
2
A Message from Dean Bailey
1
PDC hosts Lincoln Financial and BB&T
3
Ram SHRM team to present
1
Certified Financial Planner Exam Prep Course
3
Healthcare luncheon at the SBE
2
Women of Purpose conference at SBE
3
The SBE Goes Red
2
Coming Soon
4
Teams Tie for 1st place in
Business Plan Competition
Ram Society for Human Resource
Management to Present
For the first time in its six-year history,
judges of the Business Plan Competition
awarded the coveted winning team prize to
two teams at The Enterprise Center event.
The teams of Jupiter Snacks-Fillcrescents,
with MBA students Veaceslav Driglov,
Kendra Heard, Chinita Lassiter, David
Showers and Nicholas VerHague shared the
$2,500 prize with Nappturality and Beyond,
presented by senior management major,
Johnene Benson. The second runner-up
prize of $750 went to Quinton Benson and
Amber Kea-Edwards for their MDMA
Clothing Line entry.
Once again, the WSSU Society for
Human Resource Management (Ram SHRM) is
capitalizing on their relationship with the
Winston Salem Society for HR Management’s
(WSSHRM) professional chapter. This year,
our students have been invited to
participate in the “HR Connects to the
Community” event on Tuesday, February 19
which will focus on workforce readiness.
Besides showcasing the programs available
to HR professionals for enhancing
recruitment, retention, and economic
impact within their companies, this event
offers further professional interaction
opportunities for our students as they meet
and network with the representatives from
these agencies.
BPC Winning teams with Dr. Jessica Bailey
Dr. Jessica Bailey, SBE Dean and Dr.
Notis Pagiavlas, Director of the Center for
Entrepreneurship thanked each of the teams
for the excellent work. Other teams
included Chism Corp Automotive, with Marc
-Anthony Chism, and Lexington Miniature
Golf, presented by Sloane Justice Holmes.
The SBE offers its special thanks to
judges for the event, Sherri Brown, Andy
Dreyfuss, Darryl Little, Susan Reagan and
Larry F. Weston.
During this year’s event, Ram SHRM
members will provide an overview of
highlights of these programs, and serve to
introduce agency representatives from a
dozen different organizations that provide
community-based workforce readiness
resources/services for HR professionals in
the local area. Students will once again be
provided with continued networking
opportunities with WSSHRM members,
themselves HR managers from various local
organizations, and will have direct contact
with program representatives during a
“mini” workforce readiness fair on site that
evening. This one-on-one exposure to
successful HR managers provides real world
perspectives on careers in HR, personal
contact with those responsible for hiring at
many organizations, and the perfect
situation for honing their professional
development.
A Message from Dean
Bailey
The School of Business and
Economics is active in campus life,
as this week’s
newsletter attests.
We are also active in
preparing for two
accreditations.
Application was made
in summer 2012 for
Dr. Jessica Bailey
our second
maintenance of accreditation visit
from the Association to Advance
Collegiate Schools of Business
(AACSB), planned for spring 2015.
We are also in the process of
applying for initial accreditation for
the Masters in Healthcare
Administration program from the
Commission on Accreditation of
Healthcare Management Education
(CAHME).
Securing and maintaining these two
accreditations would make the SBE
quite unique. Only about 650
institutions possess AACSB
accreditation worldwide; that fact
alone puts us in a rarified group.
Our success in achieving CAHME
accreditation would make the SBE
the only HBCU with that designation
in the country.
Accreditation is a source of pride
for the SBE. It means that we have
quality faculty, staff, and students.
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 by forwarding an e-mail to
greenebp@wssu.edu.
FOCUS News
Page 2
MHA/HCM Collaboration Luncheon
On Friday, February 8, 2013, the
School of Business and Economics (SBE)
Office of Graduate Programs hosted a
collaborative luncheon, more so a
meeting of the minds, with a focus in
developing and fostering great talent.
The luncheon was a continuation of
interdepartmental efforts aimed at
building a bridge between the School of
Health Sciences undergraduate
Dr. Faye Cobb and Dr. Suresh Gopalan meet with
Professor Stephanie Joseph to discuss collaborative
efforts between the MHA and HCM majors
Healthcare Management (HCM) and the
School of Business and Economics
graduate Master of Healthcare
Administration (MHA) programs.
The mission of the Department of
Healthcare Management (HCM) is to
prepare highly qualified and culturally
competent leaders in healthcare and
health related professions. The vision
of the MHA program is to be the
premiere, dynamic, graduate program
focused on learning and service, where
students from culturally diverse
backgrounds fulfill their potential as
leaders in healthcare management. The
MHA program provides a comprehensive
graduate experience designed to meet
the needs of working professionals who
are in the early stages of their careers.
Within the MHA Graduate Program, the
ongoing mission entails striving to
increase the participation of
underrepresented populations in the
Piedmont Triad region of North
Carolina. The two departments are
looking to work more collectively in
order to create relationships that are
mutually beneficial to the programs,
while enhancing the students’ overall
experience, including their academic
and professional development.
In attendance were Mr. Montrale
Boykin, J.D., Chair and Assistant
Professor for the HCM program and Dr.
Faye M. Cobb, Associate Professor
representing the HCM program. Mr. G.
Douglas Atkinson, adjunct instructor,
sitting MHA Advisory Board and
Committee member, Stephanie Joseph,
Esq. MHA Program Coordinator and
Associate Professor of Business Law and
Dr. Suresh Gopalan, Associate Dean
represented the SBE.
In response to a question about the
nature of the MHA/HCM collaboration,
Dr. Gopalan responded, “We agreed to
cooperate by making presentations to
HCM seniors regarding the MHA program
and to host a special open house for
their recent graduates. The ultimate
outcome would be for us to have a
pipeline to attract and recruit
outstanding HCM graduates who wish to
pursue a graduate degree. By virtue of
the fact that the bulk of their graduates
are African-American, we are seeking to
increase the percentage of students of
color in our program.”
This collaborative effort does
demonstrate the value to both
departments when they move together
in a positive direction.
The SBE Goes Red
The SBE truly showed heart when
efforts in support of the American Heart
Association’s “Go Red” campaign were
held on Valentine’s Day, February 14.
Justin McKenzie and Dr. Jessica Bailey walk
the “red carpet”
Signage was found throughout the building
for weeks leading up to the event. At the
event, both heart healthy and more
traditional sweets in moderation were
consumed by participants to remind
colleagues of the importance of heart
health for African-Americans and females
in particular. Even the Association’s Red
Dress mannequin made an appearance.
A great time was had by all with a
special focus on the serious work of the
American Heart Association. Lissa Cheek,
MBA/MHA Program Administrative Support
Associate, chaired the event.
Student Profile
Taylor Curry is a Senior Finance major
who currently serves as President of the
National Association of Black Accountants
(NABA) and as Vice
President of the
Student Advisory
Council, Rams Go
Green, and the Honda
Campus All-Star
Challenge (HCASC). In
addition, he has been recognized as a
member of the Dean’s list.
Taylor has worked in a summer
internship at Transformed Lives
Community Outreach Center. They provide
a food bank, adult and youth computer
literacy classes and tutoring programs in
support of the Winston-Salem Forsyth
County Schools. There he gained
experience in grants writing—succeeding
in obtaining a grant of $3,000 from Food
Lion to provide free summer camp services
to all agency lower income families. He
currently works as a waiter at Longhorn
Steak House where he organizes
teambuilding and customer relations
exercises in support of service excellence.
Prior experience includes employment at
DHL Forwarding where he worked on the
development of organizational methods to
enhance operations at the company.
As a volunteer, Taylor is becoming
certified by the Volunteer Income Tax
Assistance (VITA) program to provide free
tax preparation services to our
surrounding community; is very involved in
environmental and conservation
initiatives at Go Green and the Sierra Club
and participates as an invited member of
the National Council of Negro Women
supporting the organization’s goal to
increase male participation and the efforts
they provide at WSSU and in the
community.
In April, Taylor and a team of WSSU
students including Stephen Archie, Rahim
Skinner and Valerie Nkansah will travel to
Los Angeles to represent the school at the
annual Honda Campus All-Star Challenge
HBCU National Quiz Championship. Now in
its 24th season, nearly 100,000 HCASC
players have demonstrated their
incredible intellects and fast recall, and
for their efforts, have earned over $7
million in grants from Honda for their
institutions.
An Important Week at the Professional Development Center
This week the PDC helped strengthen the
SBE’s connections with two of the region’s
premier financial services companies, Lincoln
Financial Group and BB&T. As a follow-up to
the successful Lincoln Financial Group
Information session on February 7, the PDC
office served as the site for the promised
interviews announced that day. On
Wednesday, February 13, Stacy Brown,
Enterprise IT Planning Manager and Jennifer
Emery, HR Recruiting Officer, conducted
interviews with seven candidates who met
the GPA requirements and had provided
resumes for review. Brown and Emery
conducted an additional set of interviews
with individuals who missed the GPA cut-off
or were graduating seniors but wanted to
practice interviewing with professionals. The
end result was several solid performances
that show great promise for internships this
summer. Even those who were not eligible
impressed the recruiters. Each candidate
faced questions in a range of categories
dealing with leadership, strategic thinking,
personal interests, etc.
Several of the students visited the PDC
prior to their Wednesday sessions for mock
interviews and reported that they felt
prepared for their interviews having learned
to strategize the process. Nina Vargas, Junior
accounting major had this to say about the
preparation
she
received: “During an interview most people
get nervous and do not know what to say.
Fortunately, I had the chance to do a mock
interview with Mr. Wood before the real
interview with Mr. Brown and Ms. Emery.
The mock interview taught me how to stay
calm and to breathe. The best advice he
gave me was that an interview is like a
conversation and to give real life examples
of all the qualities I have acquired through
my years in high school and in college thus
far. Furthermore, the questions that were in
the mock interview were similar to the real
interview that
was given by the
employees from
Lincoln Financial
Group, ‘Tell us
something about you’, ‘What makes you
unique from everyone else that we would
like to hire?’ ‘Do you have any questions for
us?’ Practicing these questions actually
made me feel secure and not as nervous as
before. Throughout the real interview I
remembered to smile, to look directly into
the eyes of the interviewer and to let my
personality show like Mr. Wood advised me
the day before.” Brown and Emery were so
impressed with the quality of candidates
interviewed that they plan to do another
round of interviews during the month of
March.
Before the dust settled from the LFG
sessions, the PDC officially launched the
recruitment of rising sophomores for the
BB&T Institute of Professional Development.
Don Wood, LaMonica Sloan, CDS Director,
and Teresa Mackey, Multicultural Markets
Officer for BB&T’s Triad
and Triangle regions met
with 5 candidates on
Friday, February 15 to
give an overview of the
program and provide instruction for
applying. An additional information session
will be held at the Thompson Center on
March 5 to reach out to a greater number of
students. The application deadline is March
26. Students must meet the requirements
and submit an application, resume and
personal statement that will be reviewed
and judged before submission. Faculty
members are invited to submit names of
promising candidates for the program. The
Institute’s recruitment PowerPoint
containing the requirements and a copy of
the application will be sent to faculty. The
PDC, in partnership with faculty, staff and
administration, continues to build
competence and confidence among SBE
students as they face bright futures in the
global marketplace.
FOCUS News
Page 3
CFP Exam Prep Course
From June 19-22, 2013, the
Center of Excellence in
Financial Services will host
a three-day exam
preparation course for
individuals intending to take
the Certified Financial Planner examination
in July. The sessions will run from 8:00 a.m.
to 5:00 p.m. each day, and they will be
conducted by Keir Educational Resources, a
nationwide provider of personal financial
planning materials and instruction. Keir’s
review materials summarize all of the topics
tested on the CFP examination. Keir led
review courses are available on-line and at
10 locations throughout the country. Having
a classroom-based course on the WSSU
campus is convenient to those in our
community, our graduates, and for students
in their final semester at WSSU who have
completed the required coursework.
To learn more about the course and to
enroll, individuals should call Keir at 800-795
-5347 or visit them online at
WWW.KEIRSUCCESS.COM.
Women of Purpose Student Leadership Conference
The Professional Development Center of the
School of Business and Economics and the
WSSU Office of Student Activities is cosponsoring our First "Women of Purpose:
Leading for Life" Student Leadership
Conference, to be held Monday-Friday,
March 18-22, 2013. Mr. Don Wood, as
Director of the PDC, has appointed Dr. Janice
Witt Smith as the overall conference
coordinator, and Ms. Terri Morgan,
Management Major (HR Concentration) as
the student coordinator. The theme of this
conference is "Women of Purpose: Leading
With Style".
The primary purpose of this conference
is to provide experiential opportunities for a
select group of women in business to
develop leadership skills. Secondarily, this
conference will more broadly (a) highlight
the contributions of women to business,
science, technology and industry; (b)
challenge existing paradigms and
perspectives which limit women’s view of
self, individual and professional choices, and
unique career opportunities;
(c) provide real-life examples
of women and their
contributions which will
provide additional insight
about work-life balance and
the “roads less traveled”; and (d) provide
workshops and small group sessions led by
facilitators and speakers which enhance
professional polish, networking,
professionalism, and savvy of female leaders
and leaders-to-be in organizations.
Programs are open to traditional and
non-traditional students across campus but
specifically target individuals desiring to lead
others, whether in for-profit or nonprofit
arenas. The focus of the conference is on
the unique needs of women as leaders.
There will; however, be open sessions to
which males will also be invited to attend.
The 1.5 day intensive leadership experience
is by application only and is for women
only. Students with GPAs between 2.0-3.0
are especially encouraged to apply for this
"Leading for Life" experience.
For further information and/or to register,
please contact Dr. Janice Witt Smith,
conference coordinator, at 750-2349 or
smithjw@wssu.edu.
C o m I n g
S o o n !
Scholars Day
Mandatory Attendance for
Friday, February 22
SBE Department
Chairs & Freshmen
Faculty Advisors
7:00 am-4:00 p.m.
Spring 2013
Pre-Major to Major Transfer Social
Prospective scholarship
recipients and their families
visit campus
Tuesday, February 26 from
3:00-5:00 p.m.
McNeil Dining Hall, Anderson Center
FAFSA Day
MBA/MHA Open House
Saturday, February 23
Thinking of Graduate School?
Want to further your career and
increase your earnings potential?
9:00 am-12:00 p.m.
Attend the MBA/MHA Open House
Elva Jones Computer Science Building
Visit www.wssu.edu to
register
Chomp-N-Chat with
Dean Bailey
Thursday, Mar. 7
Thursday, Apr. 4
from 6:00-7:30 p.m.
RJ Reynolds Center Room 201
University Wide
Spring Open House
Monday, February 25
12:00 p.m.
RJ Reynolds Center, Room 107
Friday, March 22
Watch future Focus issues for
details