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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 27, 1981)
CBA. program Tarings execs to A.&IVX ac\<A« rvew cWrrvervsiorv to program By CHRISTI A. WILLIE The Visiting Executive Speak ers Series, first established in 1977 by the College of Business Administration, is a program which offers students an oppor tunity to meet with successful ex ecutives without having to leave the Texas A&M campus, said Dr. Samuel Gillespie, interim associ ate dean of the college. Gillespie said that business ex ecutives are invited to campus for a day, during which time the guests may give a lecture before a regularly scheduled class, visit the dean of the college and lunch with a select group of students. The select group of students is the Visiting Executives Commit tee, headed by Willie Langston, a senior accounting major. Langston said that members of VEC, a group of 10 students this year, take the executives out to eat and talk to them in an infor mal atmosphere. "Mostly what we're trying to do with this program is to get the students in front of executives in stead of just the faculty," Lang ston said. "We get together and just talk buddy-buddy with them." The Visiting Executives prog ram provides benefits for execu tives and students, as well as the university, Gillespie said. "Executives get the opportun ity to see first-hand the type of undergraduate students that come to Texas A&M, particularly those entering the field of busi ness," Gillespie said. He added that not only is it a thrill for the executives to be among students who have the same interests and job aspira tions as the executives had in their own college days, but it is also beneficial for executives to see what type of students will constitute the new job market. Gillespie said that students be nefit by hearing the experiences of excutives who actually work in the business world and have learned by doing. He said the ex ecutives relate the actual plea sures and pains of the business. "Students are exposed to day- to-day situations in the clas sroom," Gillespie said. He said that executives share information ranging from the very specific, such as dealings within the executives' own busi ness, to the very broad, such as business in general. "The program also serves as a public relations job for the uni versity," Gillespie said. He said that it gives the college an opportunity to get needed ex posure by allowing executives from other cities to see the de partments and the students. "We're planning seven or eight luncheons this semester," VEC Chairman Langston said. "Last semester we talked to several executives including Raul Fernandez, vice president of J.H. Uptmore & Associates and for mer president of the Association Council members to speak in business classes The following CBA Development Council members will serve as Visiting Executive Speakers in various business classes meeting 10 a.m. Friday, April 3. For specific locations of a particular class, please contact the department indicated. While the visiting executive lectures are open to the public, classroom size may limit the number of non-class persons able to attend. For a complete description of the CBA Development Council, please see page 8. Speaker Topic of Former Students; Bill Stevens, a financial analyst; Archie Wil son, president of Dixie Carriers Inc.; Newton Graves, vice presi dent of sales at Yellow Freight System Inc.; and Captain Grace M. Hopper, developer of COBOL (Common Business Oriented Computer Language)," he said. Gillespie said the program has received a lot of support, espe cially since students have been involved with it for the last two years. One student involved in the program said he considers it to be very beneficial. "It's a great opportunity for executives to see the quality of students on campus and vice ver sa," said Randy Kelley, a mem ber of the VEC. Executives who are unable to come in person to Texas A&M University may speak to a clas sroom of students by telephone, with the same conference-call techniques often used in in dustry. The conference-call technique was first used the college by Gaines West, associate general counsel to the Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs and management department lecturer. Essentially, the device is a mechanism con nected to a telephone that broad casts the voice of the person call ing and allows listeners to re spond. "We have only scratched the literal surface of its potential," West said. He said that participating 3 j Mr. A.L. Wilson, (upper right) President of Houston-based Dixie Carrier, Inc., talks about business operations with Bobby Dick (far left) and Glenn Wof ford during his recent visit to Texas A&M. Mr. Newton Graves (right). Vice President of Sales for Yellow Freight System, Inc. of Overland Park, Kansas and a recent visit ing executive to Texas A&M, discusses sales management be fore a class of business students. Host Department business executives call a selected classroom equipped with the device at a prearranged time. Students are then able to talk with the executives through two remote microphones. West said that the entire sys tem is about the size of a portable typewriter. The only special equipment needed beyond the 1 system itself is a four-pronged jack in the classroom for the tele phone. "It takes three to five minutes to set up," West said. "It's simple and not at all time consuming." Among those who have "vi sited" recently are Eddie Chiles, the outspoken head of the West ern Company in Fort Worth; Clayton Williams, an assistant general counsel for the Federal Trade Commission in Washing ton D.C.; and Harry Hubbard of the AFL-CIO in Austin. West is truly enthusiastic ab out the potential use of the sys tem in the classroom and consid ers it an exceptional teaching tool. "It keeps the attention of the students," West said. "It en riches the educational experi ence. "No special oratorical skills are required. Everyone knows how to talk on the telephone." West said that another advan tage of the system is its speed. When he contacted Williams ear ly one morning, Williams called the classroom at 11 a.m. that same morning. Normally, however, West contacts the ex ecutives a week or so in advance to make arrangements for the call. West considers the technique to be applicable for use in nearly every discipline and is trying to talk to everyone he knows about trying the system in other col leges and departments at A&M. West said he is "very pleased with the program" and thinks it will be a great success as people become better informed about and see it in wider use. Robert G. Wallace, Executive "Decontrol of Oil" Management Vice President, Phillips Pet roleum Co. Richard G. Merrill, President, "Marketing Challenges for Finance First City National Bank of, Banks in the 1980s" Houston Gary Shafer, Senior Partner, "Real Estate Finance and Con- Finance Trammel Crow Company struction" Rudolph H. Stevens, Partner, "Trends in Public Accounting" Accounting Arthur Anderson & Company John R. Hill, Jr., Chairman and "The Gifford-Hill Story" CEO, Gifford-Hill & Company Business Analysis & Research Beverly L. Brooks, Assistant "Changing Roles for Women in Marketing Manager, Southwestern Life In- Business" surance Company James B. Kelly, President, James "Career Opportunities in Small Management B. Kelly & Company Business" Vern H. Goodwin, Jr., Opera- "Physical Distribution's Key Business Analysis tions Manager, Distributions De- Issues for the Eighties" & Research partment, Exxon Chemical Americas AT WOODSTONE (H'way 30) 696-3003 Hairdesigns For Men & Women The Business — Page 3 nature, most diamonds contam ni 11 1C •