The Decree
since 1960 “of, by, andfor the Wesleyan community. ”
December 13, 2019
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE, ROCKY MOUNT, NORTH CAROLINA 27804
Grateful for Family Support, APS
Student Set to Graduate College at 56
Yvonne Vickers-Jordan, a student in the
college’s Adult & Professional Studies pro
gram. will be among the proud graduates
at the December commencement.
Vickers-Jordan, 56. majored in
psychology at the Durham site, while
working full-time at Duke University.
Married to Ronald, she is the mother
of a 37-year-old daughter, Kearra. and
a 26-year-old son, Brailsford, who at
tended Hampton University in Virginia.
The Richmond native spoke with the De
cree in November about her experience as a
"non-traditional student” and the excitement
she feels about the next stage in her life.
Q. Many APS students attended a tradi
tional four-year school right after high school
and then had to withdraw for some reason-
poor grades, finances, family obligations, etc.
What is your story? Did you have any college
experience prior to enrolling at NCWC?
conversation about me returning to school.
One day he just said to me “It's time.”
When it comes to education, we share the
same values. He’s been so supportive of
my dreams. He’s helped with assignments,
while I stayed up late at night studying or
finishing an exam. Both my children have
been in my corner, pushing and cheering
me toward my goal. Both have expressed
their pride in me. I couldn't have achieved
this goal without my family.
Q. What attracted you to the NCWC
program?
A. I began my journey in late August of
2015. NCWC is an age-friendly college.
It provides an academic environment that
was accommodating to my busy life and
multiple responsibilities. It helped that I
had the ability to take classes in online,
hybrid, or seated formats.
Q. What was that first semester like
A. My grandchildren's paternal grandmother
died suddenly. It was a difficult time, but we en
dured. During this time, it was very hand for me
to concentrate and to turn in quality assignments.
Q. How will your degree help in your
career?
A. I plan to seek a graduate degree in
professional counseling or mental health
social work. Wesleyan has given me a sound
foundation in psychology. It will strengthen
my ability to reach my career goals.
Q. Talk about the graduation ceremony
on December 14.
A. I’m so excited about graduation that I
can barely contain myself. My children are as
excited as I am. I wish my parents were alive
to see this achievement, but for sure they’re
watching. With the loudest exhalation. I’m so
thankful to God for allowing this blessing of
becoming a college graduate. My life would
not have been complete without this degree.
Among the fall sports highlights: The football team played two home
games on campus for the first time, the cross-country team hosted
the USA South Conference meet, and the men's soccer team (shown
above) took their second conference title in three years. SI photo
Her family will be on hand to watch APS
student Yvonne Vickers-Jordan graduate
December 14. Photo courtesy of Y. Vickers-Jordan
A. Even though I was encouraged to go to
college over and over again by my parents, I
chose not to attend. Education was stressed
in my family, but I decided to stay home and
raise my daughter. I felt that the only way
that I could be a good mother was to remain
home and be a full-time parent.
Later I married and had my son. Life
continued to happen, and my focus was
juggling work, family obligations, and
church commitments. Always busy, I
still yearned to obtain a college degree. I
thought of it all of the time. I toyed with the
process of enrolling, but I lacked the cour
age because I thought I was just too old.
My husband and I had an ongoing
First-Person: Students Shadow Sony Music Pros in New York
By Will Plyler
Decree Staff Writer
Over fall break, Joshua Strausser and
I had the privilege of shadowing Sony
Music executives in New York City.
The job shadow program was hosted
as part of the new music production
concentration that was added to NC
Wesleyan’s entertainment major this
year. The trip was eye-opening and
provided Strausser and me with valuable
experience in our aspirational job field.
Strausser and I flew out of Raleigh-Dur
ham Airport on Wednesday, October 16.
We were accompanied by Tony Sawyer,
faculty advisor for the music production
program. After about an hour in the air, we
saw the silhouette of the city on the horizon.
I had never been to the Big Apple before,
so I could hardly contain my excitement.
Soon we found ourselves craising
through Times Square. The buildings
seemed to touch the sky. and there were
signs, advertisements, and flashing lights
everywhere. The air was filled with the
sounds of horns and sirens, and smelled
like a mixture of smog and every fried
food imaginable. Venders lined the streets sell
ing food, souvenir bumper-stickers, bobble-
heads of the Statue of Liberty, and on this day,
umbrellas to fend off the pouring rain. People
seemed to be walking everywhere, and those
who had umbrellas saved themselves from
having their shoes and socks drenched.
The three of us were not so fortunate.
We stayed in a hotel called “The Pod." It
was about a block from Times Square, and
about a mile and a half from Sony Music.
On Thursday morning, Strausser and
when you began the program?
A. My first day was indeed a scary one
as I had been out of school for over 25
years. I felt intimidated at first, but I prayed
and prayed, and then it clicked and I began
to soar. My courses were challenging and
overwhelming, but I was effective at time
management. That gave me peace of mind
and allowed me to complete assignments in
the limited time available during my day.
Q. What led you to become a psychology
major? What did you like most about your
field of study?
A. Many psychology courses that I
took were fun and left me elucidated and
clear on human psychology. I’ve always
been fascinated by the human mind and
behavior. I’ve gained a greater under
standing of myself and others.
Q.Tellus about your current job at Duke.
A. I've been employed at Duke Health
(formerly Duke University Medical Center)
for more than 24 years. I serve as staff special
ist within The Duke Department of Medicine.
Q. What challenges did you face in earning
your degree? What sacrifices were necessary?
A. There were illnesses and the passing
of loved ones. The biggest sacrifice was not
spending enough time with family, especially
my four loving grandchildren. Many times I had
assignments or exams to complete, and I had to
decline invitations and miss family gatherings.
Q. Would you describe one particu
lar event that typifies the obstacles you
encountered on the way to graduation?
I had to get up early because we had to
be at Sony at 8 a.m. Once we arrived,
we were introduced to Constance Wil
liams. A former adjunct instructor at
Wesleyan. Williams is Vice President of
Human Resources for Sony. It was Wil
liams and President Duff who first had
the idea for the job shadow program.
Our first stop was a Sony marketing
presentation. The speaker was Dennis
Kooker, president of Global Business and
U.S. Sales. Kooker discussed the ways
music is marketed in the age of streaming.
According to Kooker, the current focus
is on enticing customers to purchase
subscriptions to streaming services (such
as Apple Music or Spotify), rather than
selling music on iTunes or CDs. Kooker
talked about the current growth of the mu
sic industry, stating that it was estimated
to be worth $45 billion by 2030.
Next, during lunch, we observed a panel
with three A&R (artist and repertoire)
agents who work for Sony. These men and
women are responsible for scouting new
talent, signing them to one of Sony’s dozen
labels, and helping them build their image
and marketability. A&R agents spend there
time combing through social media and
online streaming services to identify the top
un-signed artists. Learning this, Strausser
and I realized the importance of using so
cial media and digital streaming to promote
ourselves as artists.
That afternoon we toured Sony’s visual
department. We met dozens of directors,
music video producers, and photographers,
and we were allowed to observe them
while they worked. Some were making
Second Graduate Program Launches in January
NC Wesleyan begins its second graduate
program in early January when it enrolls
about 50 students in its online MBA program.
Its criminal justice program is in its
second year of existence, with the first
group of master’s students receiving their
degrees last May.
In November The Decree conducted an
email interview with President Evan Duff.
An adjunct instructor in the School of
Business and the Vice President of Adult &
Professional Studies, Dr. Duff was instru
mental in developing the new program.
Q. Why start an MBA program?
A. A feasibility study was conducted a
few years ago. with alumni, current students,
and local industry. The results demon
strated that there was a high interest from all
constituents in Wesleyan offering an MBA
program. Since we announced the program,
we've received more than 110 applications,
which demonstrates the demand that’s out
there. Some alumni have told us that they
postponed starting their graduate education
to complete their MBA with Wesleyan.
Q. How many students will be in the
first cohort?
A. Because of the demand and quality of
applicants, we’ll start two cohorts on Janu
ary 6, with 25 students in each. The next
cohorts, beginning in our first summer term
(in May), will include 20-25 students each.
lyric videos, while others were creating
album artwork and printing posters. It was
neat to see so many different jobs for those
of us interested in the music industry.
After our day at Sony, Sawyer, Strausser,
and I visited the Empire State Building. We
ate dinner at a Japanese restaurant, which
gave me my first experience eating with
chopsticks: it’s harder than it looks! The day
ended with a show by the Blue Man Group.
Music production students Joshua
Strausser and Will Plyler visited Sony Music
in New York City as part of a recent job
shadowing opportunity. Photo courtesy of W. Plyler
Our second day began with a tour of
Sony's archives. Sony keeps photographs,
documents, and records on file from all of
its musical recordings dating back to the
1920s. Strausser, Sawyer, and I soon found
ourselves thumbing through never-re
leased photos of Johnny Cash and holding
the original copies of Elvis Presley's studio
paperwork. Talk about a piece of history!
Next was lunch with Jeff James, one of
the A&R agents we met at the panel on day
See SONY pg 2
As we add more faculty for the MBA pro
gram, we anticipate future cohorts to have
between 15-20 students each.
Q. Talk about the structure of the program.
A. If taking a full load, students will
take two courses per eight-week term.
They can complete the MBA in 12
months. Students can opt for a part-time
schedule, allowing them to complete the
program in 18-24 months. The MBA
curriculum features 11 courses (33 total
semester hours); the final course is a
capstone course with a major project.
Q. What qualifications will applicants
need to present?
A. Students should possess an undergrad
uate degree in business or a related field, with
a minimum GPA of 2.5. They should provide
a resume and two references. I would like to
note that a 2.5 GPA is the minimum require
ment, and based on the competitiveness of
our current applicant pool, most students will
have an average undergraduate GPA of 3.5.
Q. Who is making decisions on admissions?
A. The Interim Dean of Admissions and
Graduate Admissions Representative in
consultation with the Program Coordinators
for the MBA program. Decisions will be
based on the established admissions criteria.
Q. Describe the faculty who will teach
in the MBA program? What percentage
will be adjunct instructors?
A. I anticipate that 50 percent or
more of courses in the MBA program
will be taught by full-time faculty,
once we've filled existing business
faculty vacancies. All faculty—part-
time as well as full-time—will have
a terminal degree, online teaching
experience, and industry experience.
We prefer that they have graduate
teaching experience as well.
Q. In light of recent retirements and other
departures from the Wesleyan Business School,
will the college hire new faculty, at least in
part to help teach in the MBA program? If
so, what specialties will be considered?
A. Yes. We’ll hire to fill vacancies first
and then move forward with hiring new
faculty positions in 2020. We'll look
for generalists in hopes that some have
experience and concentrations in marketing,
finance, accounting, and management.
Q. Will tenure-track faculty be teaching
courses as in-load or overloads? If in-load, how
will their typical undergrad courses be staffed?
A. I suspect we’ll see more overloads,
staying within our overload policy.
Q. At least at the outset, how many
current full-time business faculty will
teach in the MBA program "in-load?”
A. We anticipate two or three.
Q. How will the new MBA program
affect the undergraduate business students?
A. I don't think this will have a negative
impact on the undergraduate program
except for an initial strain on the full-time
faculty who may teach in both programs.
But we expect to hire more business
faculty to support the MBA in 2020.
The MBA will have a positive impact on
the undergraduate program by allowing
students to continue their studies at the
graduate level, which may improve admis
sions and retention.
Q. Would you provide a profile of the
typical student Wesleyan expects to attract?
A. We expect to see 80 percent (or more)
of the students with at least two years of
work experience. A smaller percentage will
be recent college graduates who have an
exceptional academic background and a
desire to find full-time employment while
earning their MBA online.
Q. What’s the geographic market for
the MBA program?
A. Central and eastern North Carolina
will be our primary market, but we may
attract students from across the state.
Q. Will the program be open to
students from overseas?
A. It can be, but we won’t market it
internationally. I suspect that some of
our international students who return to
their home country once they complete
their undergraduate degree could become
future MBA (or MSCJ) students, since we
offer both programs online.
Q. With which colleges and universi
ties will Wesleyan compete for students?
A. To my knowledge, Mount Olive
and Gardner Webb are the only North
Carolina schools that offer an acceler
ated MBA online. There may be a few
others. But our tuition is much more
competitive, and textbook costs will be
much lower than at competitors.
Q. What’s the total cost for students to
complete the 12-month MBA? How does that
compare with the price tag at competitors?
A. Based on the current tuition rate,
plus books, the entire program will cost
less than $17,000. Barton. Mount Olive,
and similar schools will cost over $20,000
and that doesn’t include books. UNC-
Wilmington, UNC-Pembroke and other
state schools offer programs for around
$10,000, plus cost of books and other fees.
Q. Will there be a focus to the NCWC
program?
A. The initial program focuses on man
agement, but the School of Business will
consider future concentrations in logistics,
healthcare administration and perhaps
information technology administration.
Q. How much revenue will the MBA
program generate on an annual basis
after it’s up and running?
A. It has the potential to generate
$500,000 to $800,000 in net revenue per
year with faculty salaries our primary cost.
Q. What will the pay be per course for
adjuncts? What will full-time faculty get
for teaching overloads, per course?
A. There will be one rate for graduate
classes regardless if we use a part-time
or full-time faculty member; that rate is
$3000 per class.
Q. What most excites you about this
new program?
A. I would say it’s our ability to
meet the needs of our alumni and the
surrounding community by offering an
advanced business degree that aligns
with our mission of offering lifelong
learning opportunities.