Dr. Daniel Gilbert, Editor (423) Stacy Swafford, Contributor

BA Newsletter

Merck Awards $20,000 Grant

Administration Department at Tennessee Wesleyan College was recently awarded a $20,000 grant through the Merck Neighbor of Choice program.

This program is

coordinated through the Merck Foundation and its Office of Corporate Philanthropy. The mission of the Neighbor of Choice Program is to strengthen the

relationship between Merck and its local communities by

supporting outstanding

work by non-profit organizations that strive to improve the quality of life of people in communities in which Merck resides and operates.

The Neighbor of Choice Program provides grants to non-profit

organizations located in close proximity to a Merck site. Eligible applicants must be non-profit, 501(c)(3) organizations that serve community residents and meet specific guidelines. Organizations may request support for health, social services, arts, environmental and education programs. The Business Administration Department requested these funds for use in their Bachelor of Science in Management Excellence program.

Specifically, students accepted to this program will be able to apply for one of fifteen $1000 need-based scholarships. Remaining funds will be used to buy a set of ten laptops that may be “borrowed” by qualifying students. The Management Excellence program is the college’s degree-

completion program specifically geared toward working adults. With help from the Neighbor of Choice grant, more adults in our community will be given a chance to fulfill their dreams of a college education. Special thanks to Amy Noble, a senior Business Administration major completing a double emphasis in Marketing and Healthcare

Management, for her assistance with obtaining the grant. Amy’s father, Joe Noble, is employed by Merck & Co. (Cleveland).

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Dates of Note:

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December 3: Last Day of Classes December 5 – 11: Final Exams December 10: December Mini-Term Begins December 13: Commencement January 3: December Mini-Term Ends January 8: Classes Begin January 20:

Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday

February 4: PBL Meeting

All students are invited to join Phi Beta Lambda. For information, contact Mrs. Stacy Swafford, (423) 746-5246.

From left: Stacy Swafford, BA faculty; Joe Noble, Merck employee and father of Amy Noble; Dr. Martha Maddox, Associate Dean of Business Administration; Kevin Holland, Human Resources Director – Merck (Cleveland); Amy DiBernardo, Human Resources Executive Administrative Assistant, Merck (Cleveland).

From left: Stacy Swafford, BA faculty; Amy Noble, student; Dr. Martha Maddox, Associate Dean of Business Administration.

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Notes from Stefanie

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Management Excellence Scholarships,

New Cohorts, New Staff

The targeted start dates for new Management Excellence (ME) cohorts in Athens and Cleveland are January 7, 2013 and January 9, 2013 for the Knoxville campus. The winners of the Star102.1 ME Essay Scholarship contest were as follows:

Kimberly Napier - $12,000 ME Essay Scholarship Winner Lydonna Burchfield - $1,000 Scholarship Toward Emphasis Jeffery Shipwash - $1,000 Scholarship Toward Emphasis Tonya Breeden - $1,000 Scholarship Toward Emphasis Sandra Gatto - $1,000 Scholarship Toward Emphasis Shannon Glenn - $1,000 Scholarship Toward Emphasis

It is with great pleasure that I announce that Kimberly Borchardt has joined TWC as our new Admissions Counselor for the Knoxville ME Evening and RN-BSN online programs. She started a few weeks ago, and she is already making an impact in her role. We are all thankful that Nancy Brooks is well on her way to her recovery, and Kimberly has done a wonderful job trying to fill the gaps while Nancy is away. Attached is a picture of Kimberly. She will primarily be recruiting for the Knoxville ME Program and assisting with the RN-BSN online recruitment reporting directly to Admissions. We are looking forward to growing the programs in Knoxville with her contributions!

Kimberly is a 1995 graduate of Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Therapy. She also holds an MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University. She has more than 18 years of experience in the healthcare field and attended college as a non-traditional student making her relatable to our evening student population. Her eagerness and desire to promote TWC will be a tremendous asset to our programs.

Kimberly is located at our Knoxville campus and her phone number is 865-777-6965. Her email address is [email protected]. Please join me in welcoming Kimberly to the TWC family.

Ms. Stefanie West, Director of Admissions

for the ME Degree Evening Program

Star102.1 ME Essay Scholarship Contest From left: Dr. Jackson (TWC VP for Enrollment and

Communications), Shannon Glenn (finalist - $1,000 scholarship), Tonya Breeden (finalist - $1,000 scholarship), Lydonna Burchfield (finalist - $1,000 scholarship), Kimberly Napier (Star102.1 ME Essay $12,000 Scholarship Winner), Kimberly Borchardt (TWC Knoxville ME and RN-BSN Admissions Counselor), Becca (DJ with Star102.1), and Stefanie West (TWC Director of Admissions for the ME Evening Program). Not pictured: Jeffrey Shipwash and Sandra Gatto (Both finalists - $1,000 scholarships).

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Vezhenkova Completes Internship in Malaysia

Ekaterina Vezhenkova, a senior Business Administration major with an emphasis in International Management, completed an internship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, during the summer of 2013. We asked Katerina to provide a description of some of her marketing duties at the Concorde Hotel Kuala Lumpur:

As an intern, my mission at the Concorde Hotel Kuala Lumpur was to get to know the Concorde Hotel Management and Marketing Communication department. My training had a daily routine that included activities such as collecting all of the important information that could affect staff at the Concorde Hotel in general; suggesting ideas for hotel marketing initiatives; constantly updating current information and promotions on the website, investigating other multimedia advertising approaches that could be useful for Concorde multimedia. One of my major duties during the internship was to visit most of the events that were held in the Concorde Hotel for the cultural exploration in this country, and to respond to any key issues that arose pertaining to the hospitality and tourism industries.

Alumni Update: Meagen Akins

Recent graduate Meagen Akins has obtained a starting position using her new

Business Administration degree from Tennessee Wesleyan at Sunrise

Community of Tennessee, Inc in Knoxville, Tennessee. Her new title is Client

Funds Coordinator. Using her Professional Accountancy emphasis, Meagen is in

charge of all Knoxville area clients’ finances. She monitors all clients'

governmental benefits to make sure the individual is fiscally responsible. She

also pays all bills on their behalf.

Sunrise Community is a nonprofit entity whose mission is “to provide people

with disabilities the assistance and support necessary to enable them to live

valued lives in the community.” Sunrise offers residential services, supported

employment and training, behavioral services, nursing, personal assistance,

community experience, and transportation services. Sunrise Community serves

Florida, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Alabama, Virginia, and Tennessee. The

Knoxville location provides support for over 40 clients. To learn more about

Sunrise Community, call (305) 596-9040 or log on to

www.SunriseGroup.Org<http://www.sunrisegroup.org/

>.

Alpers to PBL: Never Stop Learning

Mr. John Alpers was the featured speaker at the November 8, 2013 meeting of Phi Beta Lamda, the student organization for Business Administration majors.

Influences and Decisions: Alpers began with a brief history of his career. Desiring a

close knit community in which to attend college, this led him to Saint John’s University, a liberal arts college in northern Minnesota. Alpers earned an undergraduate degree in Accounting with NO intention of ever going back to school. After being in the workforce a few years, Alpers was trying to find ways to better his career. He chose entering an evening-based MBA program at University of St. Thomas instead of sitting for the CPA exam.

After completing his MBA, and with a desire to consider milder climates, he and his wife chose Knoxville as a place to pursue new career opportunities. His other option was Saint Louis, Missouri, home of his beloved Cardinals baseball team. Alpers and his wife fell in love with East Tennessee and have lived here for the past 17 years.

Alpers stressed to the PBL members that, regardless of the success they find in their careers, they should ALWAYS continue to learn. “The base line for the ‘normal’ person is constantly pushing people to do better, learn more. In my time a bachelor’s degree differentiated you in the workforce,” Alpers stated. “Now more people have degrees so what are you going to do to separate yourself from the rest of the workforce?”

Alpers also took the opportunity to stress the importance of having a working knowledge of Accounting, even for the non-Accounting majors in the room. “It is the language of business,” he affirmed. Reading and understanding each businesses “story” is critically important to truly understanding the operations of a business.

Coleman Presents to Psych Majors

Dr. Michael Coleman recently gave a presentation to Dr. Kerry Towlers Careers in Psychology class. According to Dr. Towler, “the goal of PY102 is to open the world

of careers to students of psychology.”

Dr. Coleman provided the following description of his presentation:

“I was asked to make a presentation for Dr. Towler’s class on the benefits of coursework in psychology as part of other disciplines or emphases. My

presentation included a discussion of the need for, and uses of, psychology and sociology in the business and legal arenas. I explored the use of psychology in personal social implications such as personal and professional communications contexts (family interactions, employment interviews, office politics, etc.), manipulative strategies (defensive consumerism, promotional consideration, game theory, etc.) and other uses (environmental information conveyed by verbal and non-verbal communication, danger sensing, and the like.)

I particularly pointed out how we as individuals were often subjected to the unrecognized manipulation of others and the advantages of being aware of such manipulations (advertising, marketing techniques designed to increase demand – e.g. Smell of food pumped into adjoining areas of restaurants…)

The final topic was the use of psychology in unrelated occupations – the phenomenon of the most socially awkward profession (computer science) creating the most expansive form of interaction ever achieved - social media. In particular, I gave concrete examples of my personal surprise on entering the legal profession of how little time and effort was spent on legal knowledge and how much time and effort would be spent using psychology – client control, jury analysis, mediation between parties, and the manipulation of events and people in problem resolution.”

Mr. John Alpers

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Human Resource Management Class Holds Job Fair

INTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE

Contact Dr. Martha Maddox, Associate Dean and Chair of the Business Administration

Department, (423-746-5245) about several internships available during the Spring, 2014, and

Summer, 2014 semesters.

Dr. Dan Gilbert’s Human Resource Management class recently conducted a simulated “Talent

Acquisition Fair” as part of the BA 421 course requirements. Using a “poster session” format, the students held a mock job fair and invited other TWC students to the event to be “recruited” to their companies. “When organizations create new positions, the HR professional is under tremendous pressure to acquire a talented pool of job candidates in a short period of time,” explained Gilbert. “This project included a significant research component, but also gave the students an opportunity to express themselves creatively in a simulated job fair environment.”

Lynnette Smith, TWC Director of Career Development, and Bridgett Raper, TWC Director of Marketing, shared their expertise with students during the mock fair.

Ekaterina Vezhenkova’s “Marketing Manager” won First Place in the poster contest.

BA faculty member Stacy Swafford, a former professional recruiter, evaluated the work of the BA 421 students.

Brandon Partin was one of 23 students presenting during the job fair. More than 100 students and faculty attended.

Have a safe and

blessed Christmas

holiday, everyone!