University of South Carolina Libraries
Search The following interview Is the fifth In a series of 10 articles highlighting prominent schools and departments within USC. Dr. James Kane, Dean of the College of Business Administration talks about his school and Its ad vancement. BY BOB BAKER Editor-in-Chief Q. Dean Kane, what do you see as the function of the USC College of Business Administration? A. That's hard to say because our progams here are so diverse. Of course, our number one function is to provide an education for young potential business leaders on both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Our main thrust is that of trying to respond to the total needs of business whil.0 staying ahead of what the busineab world is doing. We, in other words, are not in a position to -try to prepare young people for their first job which they might take. Our programs are geared to the positions the young people will have when they advance say 10 years from now. I'd have to say in this respect we are 10 years ahead of the business world. Now, this concept has more than a theoretical basis. It is geared toward concepts of management which are to be put into practice several years from now as com pared to the present day-to-day, routine. Take our MJBS (Masters. of International Business Studies) program. It is really taking on very important implications for the future and has an effect on our other programs. As the world is getting smaller, our graduates must know more about the business world. Other MBA candidates will be exposed to the international business courses we offer primarily for the MIBS program. Q. Are most of the BA programs geared to a regional appeal of the South or Southeast, or.to a national appeal? A. While it is .true that all segments of the University are approved or accredited by a Southern Accrediting Association, that only serves as an umbrella for the University. The College of Business Administration is ac credited also by its own professional accrediting body, the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business. That body in itself sets its own standards of excellence in terms of quality of faculty, students, and physical plant. I think it's a hallmark of distinction to be accredited by this body. Out of 500 business schools or departments in the nation, we are one of 140 accredited at the baccalaureate level, and one of 85 accredited at'the graduate level. We're also the only accredited college of business in South Carolina. This means a lot to students, and the number of research grants we have obtained adds to the prestige. So, even though our principle objective is related to the South, our faculty is oriented strongly toward a national reputation as well. In addition to the local and regional firms who do their recruiting here, we also have a lot of national firms who come to recruit here. Continuing education is a very significant Item with us. Of course, this program allows opportunities for people who are out In business to get some of our educational program. To give you just some Idea of how 1la.ge this item Is, For Ac Dean James Kane probably in the lait 12 months over 4,500 business men were involved in some sort of program provided through our continuing education such as the Daniel Management Center and others. All this allows for the business world to be brought up to date, to note trends, perhaps forecast trends, and to continuously upgrade themselves. A third area which we con centrate quite heavily on is that of research. Companies, state and regional agencies are bringing their economic problems to us to be studied for their impact or for whatever other reasons. We've been studying the States Ports Authority in Charleston. Work men's Compensation problems were analyzed here which resulted in new laws for the administration of workmen's compensation. This research probably brought us up from 45th in the nation in work men's rights to second or third. We studied problems with South Carolina's insurance laws which allowed such things as the con troversy over the New South Life Insurance Company a few years back, and made strong recom mendations in these areas. On an international scale, we helped establish a graduate finance program in Rio De Janeiro and will use some of our faculty to teach down there. Most don't realize, but this has helped us open up doors in South America. Q. What direction does the College of Business Administration hope to take In the next five years? A. Basically, we want to con tinue doing the same things we've been doing for the last five years. We have received national at tention for a number of programs we've established such as the use of educational television to teach master's degree courses.This is the kind of technaological breakthrough we've been involved in. The MIBS program at USC, which is only in its second year of operation, is probably the only kind of program in the country which involves such an intensive training in several areas. We put heavy emphasis on foreign language and require our students to have a six months internship in a foreign country in exchange for a foreign student in the U.S. Columbia's and Harvard's masters programs aren't near as intensive and basically just offer a degree and maybe three other courses. We are proud of the fact that we were able to recruit $3 million in private money which has allowed us to attract new faculty, new graduate assistants, more money ,ademic for the library, and other programs. In addition, we know we must be doing a good job when companies come and tell us so. However, we need to put some concentration on smaller businesses as the job market becomes more selective in the larger industries and firms. I think for the future, we can expect more and more women and ninorities in our programs. You know, the average gal has a par ticular problem in that she has basically little means for ad vancement within a company's management. We have been working on a program which will perhaps give her the background to allow her to otherwise move ahead within a firm. She would receive all the necessary background for a sound understanding of business while at the same time developing the technical skills which will qualify her as a secretary. This gives her an established executive secretary's skills as opposed to the routine typing, shorthand situation. But we are developing these programs because we feel that although women are getting many breaks in the business world, they are not getting enough to move them through management. We have quite a large doctoral program in which we are preparing economics and business administration majors for thePh.P. At present, there are around 80 students in residence. Now this just about ranks with Harvard in size. We have no intentions to expand the program from its present size. For the next five years, we will Histor SPECIAL FEATURE In preparation for the United Sta Susan Cate of the GAMECOCK researching USC's history. Belov series of articles. This one de leading up to the Civil War. BY SUSAN CATE Of The Gamec6ck st4 Unpopularity was the plague of Henry and rumors of impeachmei campus. A legislative investigatii found Henry to be unsatisfactory a the trustees tactfully gave him a return for the presidency. Under Henry's successor, Harper and were built, Greek fraternities (Kappa Alpha and Phi Kappa Psi a the original six that remain), the i first out-of-state students and lost junior class. 'Te juniors were beir1 Brumby to attend extra chemisti another professor was away. President Preston temporarily s young men who then retaliated by (kindled by chemistry texts) ii Fossil's" (Brumby's) house. Ill-health caused Preston to resi religion was growing stronger in I Thornwell, a Presbyterian ministe as Preston's successor. The defended the traditions of the preached against reform while det be a Biblically-supported thstitutie of his administration saw the Rebellion" calling for the end of ci at the dining hall. The rule re students left--most never returne< The presidency was left vacarl Thornwell was called back into ti church. A notable candidate for Francis Lieber, a German who hi Excelh continue to have the same un dergraduate programs that we have now although we don't expect them to grow in size. Perhaps, we'll have a greater ration of women and minorities, but no different overall enrollment figure. Now, with our masters degree programs we expect to continue, like gangbusters in our growth. We'll probably significantly in volve more people. Our Ph.D. candidates will probably stay around 80 or 90. While we are planning to accept more MBS candidates, we have been trying to upgrade the quality of our school by upgrading the quality of our faculty. From a faculty of 43, eight years ago, we have grown remarkably to 114 this fall. The faculty is fully in charge of curriculum and standards for the school including admissions. Currently, we are accepting about one out of every five candidates for eur MBA programs while several years ago it was just one out of two. Our selectivity has definitely shown up in our MIBS program. Out of 800 inquiries and 300 actual applicants, we only accepted 95 new students into that program. But this selectivity is showing up in all our MBA programs. Q. Do you ever see the USC College of Business Administration ever gaining the national prominence of such schools as Harvard, Chicago, or Indiana? A. I think those schools live in a different ballgame from us. They are nationally reputable in the sense of their admissions policy. Most people have never seen y Behi Part tes Bicentennial, Napoleon, parti staff has been spent many nij is the fifth in a spoken nationa als with events America, becor Americana. He Harvard when a came to him in Professor of Pc President Robert Throughout t it permeated the made it clear m of S.C. College everything abx a a president and "cultural and professorship in although he owi William Preston, strong advocate Legare Colleges the partisan fee were introduced 1800's. Lieber re the only two of posed the formi, :ollege gained its as called for by almost the entire the measure wa: g forced by Prof. newspapers ber y lectures while mobbed. But Lil ['hey refused so professorship al uspended the 60 made him worl holding a bonfire , presidency and i front of "Old Francis Liebe were all but ru gn in 1851 and as and his ardent he South, James spent as much r, was welcomed while still recei rnwell strongly.- When Charles Old South and College in 1855, taring slavery to cepted a positio n. 'The first year City. Upon he "Great Biscuit Lincoln rally in impulsory eating Society remov mained, but 108 destroyed his b I- artist. But Liet t once more as~ had been one of ae service of the campus has evi the position was worldwide recol id fought against Caolna Conlq mnce Harvard Business School. They have a faculty of 350 in what could be considered a small college unto itself. We are not talking about just one structure. It actually encompasses an entire campus. And that's almost three times the faculty we have here. Of course, you know that they don't have any undergraduate programs there so our system is quite different. It would be a serious mistake for any business school to think they could emulate a Harvard. It should analyze its won environment and establish its own niche for whatever prominent programs are needed. Now, speaking in terms of the South, there are only around 20 'schools there. Our academic programs rate right in line with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Probably, as far as continuing education is concerned, UNC and the University of Virginia rank ahead of us. In terms of research programs, we are just now coming in our own. You can see the acceptance of our programs going like gangbusters in the eyes of our faculty whose average age is in the thirties. Exposure (i.e., publications and research) for the USC College of Business Administration is an area we are becoming strong in now. I think if we hold key faculty people now, then in five years, we'll be right in the tops of those nationally prominent schools. Strong indicators of this prominence seem to be related to the amount of out-of-state ap plications we're getting and the fact that other schools are recruiting our Ph.D. grads. d USC: Five cipated in the Greek revolution, rhts in Prussian jails for his out listic views, and had come to ning editor of the Encyclopaedia was waiting for an appointment to n offer from the college in Columbia 1835. Lieber excepted and became litical Economy. ,e 21 years Lieber remained, he in his writings that he disliked ut the South--the climate, the intellectual desert" and slavery, ied a few slaves himself. Being a of nationalism, he firmly opposed lings prevalent in the South in the aided a group of students who op ig of a Southern Rights Association, the University of Virginia. When s defeated in the student legislature, ated him and his house was almost eber stayed. He needed the time the rforded him to write his books that di renouned, he had his eye on the he needed the money. r's chances for,becoming president ined by his non-support of slavery stand against secession. He also time as possible out of the South ving full salary. McCay was elected President of the Lieber resigned in protest and ac n at Columbia College in New York aring that Lieber presided over a New York, the S.C.C. Euphradian ed his name from their rolls, ust and returned his portrait to the er's memory was never erased; he the most outstanding lecturers theA er known and his writings brought gnition to the ever-struggling South e.7