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THE NEW CHALLENGE Few persons in our society doubt the importance of post-secondary education - especially during these fast-paced times of global economics and sophisticated communications and information technologies. Moreover, these "times" highlight and bring more clearly into focus the vital contributions institutions of higher education make to a free society. Indeed, given the pervasiveness and importance of American businesses in today's global economy, business schools owe an even greater duty and can make an even greater impact. The North Carolina Central University School of Business accepts that greater responsibility. During agrarian times land ownership and its productivity determined the wealth of individuals and nations. During the industrial age factories proved the determining factor. Recently, computing technology and information replaced industrial capacity as the primary means of creating wealth. Now, the confluence of computing and information technologies and the Internet has created the "connected economy."This "connected economy" has, in turn, spawned the new economic foundation and determinant of wealth: human capital. Yes; human capital has replaced hard goods and computing and information technologies as the most valuable and fastest growing part of the economy. Human capital is the essence of the new "knowledge age." This "knowledge age" revolves around the individual's set of competencies and unique skills and abilities and his or her facility with updating, refining, and expanding those competencies and developing those unique skills and abilities. These competencies and special skills are, then, the purveyors of future wealth. As a result, now more than ever, individuals must continually develop their human capital. They must learn well at an early age how to learn. Moreover, they must refine their learning methodologies continually and adopt in earnest the life-long learning philosophy. We in the North Carolina Central University School of Business recognize and welcome this new "knowledge age." Moreover, this new era and our history of responsiveness and leadership in providing quality management education motivates our re-dedication to, and re-consecration of, our "Vision for Excellence" in delivering quality management education. We know we can deliver the quality management education that our constituents need to develop the competencies so crucial to their living productive lives and creating future wealth. Not only do we know we can, we know we must! The very survival of our communities depends upon our success. Of course, to deliver on our mission to provide quality management education in this changing economy, our faculty and staff must adjust. We must continually update and refine our existing competencies and develop those emerging competencies necessary to deliver quality management education in the new millennium. We must bravely open our minds and think beyond our walls of comfort. We cannot kowtow slavishly to traditional ways of conducting the education enterprise. Rather, we must determine the teaching and learning approaches and technologies that best fit the needs of our increasingly diverse group of students. And when we know we must act, responsibly but decisively and quickly. We must continue to challenge our processes to generate more value for all our constituencies. We must and we will! As we close another chapter in the ever-evolving saga that is the North Carolina Central University School of Business, we pause again to mark our place - recognizing our heritage, our evolution, and our promise. We are an integral part of a University that owes its existence to a business entrepreneur with a heightened sense of social values and responsibility and a keen "Vision for Excellence." Indeed, even the first course in commerce emanated from, and revolved around, this "Vision for Excellence." In that context, we take but a snapshot of what we have been, what we are, and what we shall surely become, as individual students, faculty, and staff, as a School, and as an engine of quality business and management education, leadership, and community development. We pay homage to those daring pioneers who came before and charted the path. We praise those dedicated souls who currently show the way with so much heart and passion. We exalt those brave hearts and indomitable spirits who commit to making the necessary adjustments to guide us into the future, to accept the greater responsibilities and meet the New Challenge. For further information with respect to the School of Business, North
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Last updated: August 19, 2002 |
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