and inspiring professor is encountered, let
that professor know your feelings. There
are too few of these types of professors
around to let them go unencouraged or
uninspired. Professors are people too.
The gratitude and encouragement from one
student may well be worth the professor’s
ordeals of an entire semester. Never pass
up an opp>ortunity to thank any professor
that has inspired or challenged your intel
lect.
Throughout a person’s collegiate
career, the work must be viewed as a
collective experience. If the con^x>sition
of the student body is indeed a cross-section
of society in general, then what better place
is there to test collective information-gath
ering, analysis, and problem solving than
right there on campus? Students bring to
class a wealth of information and knowl
edge from their own cultures and
neighborhoods to share with others and
with professors. Students, and professors,
should not pass up the opportunity to learn
from every available resource. The experi
ences of college life should produce sound
citizens capable of living harmoniously in
any cultural or societal environment in
which they may find themselves.
The Universitas experience is the
foundation for the rest of a person’s intel
lectual life. Do your best to get them to help
you build a solid foundation under those
castle walls of wisdom and those fanciful
images of your imagination.
“Only Wet
Babies Love
A Change”
By Kathy Barron and Earl J. Moniz
Dr. Charles Davis indicated that the
adage above is one of a handful that he uses
to guide the purp>ose and direction of his
life. The adage and other very interesting
notions and long-term objectives were re
vealed in a recent interview with the new
Dean of the School of Business and Eco
nomics (SBE).
Dr. Davis also indicated that one of the
major reasons behind his move to Fay
etteville State University (FSU) is the tre
mendous opportunity that he has been
afforded to make some positive contribu
tions through encouraging and implement
ing the tremendous potential that currently
exists here in the FSU SBE.
We concluded the interview with
an expansive conversation of the notion of
higher education. His response indicated
that his notion can be described as the
expanding, narrowing, and expanding once
again on the focus of one’s personal expe
riences and education in order to bring
about the improvement of the quality of life
for everyone.
“Only a wet baby loves a change” as
well as “What goes around, comes around”
are two of the more readily available adages
that Dr. Davis says he tries to adhere to in
both his professional and personal life. He
realizes that change is a long-term process
that cannot successfully be accomplished
overnight. Much of his work here
involves the continuation and culmination
of the work that has been started by others
before him.
One of the primary projects that
he hopes to complete is the accreditation
of the SBE program. The university pro
gram overall is accredited through the
Southern Association of Colleges (SACS)
and the School of Education is accredited
through a separate organization as well as
SACS. Dr. Davis indicates that accredita
tion through the American Association of
Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
will further enhance the image and the
quality of education that individuals re
ceive in the SBE programs.
Overall, Dr. Davis indicates that college
business education programs could be
subdivided into at least three smaller divi
sions. They are the corporate, entrepre
neurial, and business educational tracks.
Students in the corpwrate track involve
themselves with management, organiza
tion, and implementation of existing large-
scale production and distribution endeav
ors (big business). Students in the entrepre
neurial track involve themselves in the
actual planning, funding, starting, and
cultivating of new product manufacturing
and distributing processes (small busi
ness). Students in the third field of en
deavor prepare themselves to become the
educators through which the theories and
concepts of both big and small businesses
are introduced at both the secondary and
higher educational institutions. Dr. Davis
indicates that the SBE has the personnel and
experience to develop and implement such
a system with the additional benefit of
being based in a multicultural and racially
mixed environment.
The departments described above must
be based in a well-rounded education of
critical skills of which critical thinking and
effective decision-making processes are
an essential component. Dr. Davis is con
vinced that life itself is a continual learning B
process. Some people aspire to be edu-
cated quicker than others. Those that come j
to college aspire to learn in a four-year L
period what others who do not attend col- I
lege are content to accumulate over a I
period of years in the world of work (Not *
meant to imply that being a college student
isn’t work. ED). I
At the foundation of all business en- I
deavors are two basic concepts that Dr. *
Davis shared with us. The first is technol
ogy that is forced on the consumer. A I
product is first devised and then the market I
demand is created. Many large corpwra- I
tions use this scheme. “New and im- I
proved” prefaces many of these types of ■
products. The product has been devised by I
the company and now a demand must be B
created through a process of convincing
prospective customers that the use of this
product will raise their quality of life. This
business technique permits the largest growth
for those involved in the manufacture and ;
distribution of the goods or services. ,
On the other side of the coin is the •
concept that some astute individual notices
a demand in the market for a product or a
service and creates a product or service to
fill that vacuum. Many of those types of
businesses flourish right here in Fayettev
ille. A need is first identified and then a
product or service is made available to fill
that need. These types of businesses do '
not grow as fast as the technology-based
enterprises; however, they do have the
reputation of having a high probability o
success.
Tfi order to enter successfully ei
ther of those fields of endeavor, an individ
ual must be able to understand what is
happening, where the need is occurring,
and how to fill that need most expeditiously
and profitably. This determination procKS
requires sound evaluation Md Malysis sta ^
1 hat process means sound cntical tninKing
and decision-making skills.
Dr. Davis indicates that a valid metaphor
for the entire process of higher education
may be the hourglass. The wide base o
the hourglass is interpreted as the soun
liberal arts education from which the in i
vidual determines a specific area of inter
est. The individual then begins to narrow
the focus of the educational process
the undergraduate degree is earned. ®
earning of the master’s degree rnaintains
the narrow focus of the undergra ua e
degree. The doctorate degree brigh^*®'
highlights, and contrasts the know! g®
and experiences ofthe individual with ose
of other educational and social endeavors
(Continued on next pagO