engaged alums and business leaders bring real-world acumen straight to students

partner engagement was a main factor in the college of business' new aacsb accreditation

by janel shoun-smith | 10/03/2022

the business world is changing so fast; it’s hard to keep up.
fortunately, lipscomb’s college of business has a deep bench of business veterans who commit their
time and energy to transferring credible, relevant and timely knowledge into the next generation
entering the rapid-fire world of business today.
throughout the 2021-22 school year, members of the cob dean’s board, alumni advisory board and
lipscomb’s alumni community poured into business students in a variety of ways.

marty kittrell (’77), business leader and lipscomb board of trustees member, hosted small groups of
students and faculty this past school year for a steak dinner with a side helping of entrepreneurial
wisdom. that’s in addition to the annual kittrell pitch competition, through which he provides cash
prizes for students’ entrepreneurial business ideas.

the bison alumni network continues to be a valuable asset, volunteering their time to support students.
justin cook (’18, macc ’19), manager, internal audit at hca healthcare, volunteered to help out as the
“banker” in perry moore’s award-winning monopoly simulation game for his auditing students. (url
link to monopoly story) “typically, i have to turn some volunteers away since more sign up than i have space for,” said moore.
“even kevin monroe (former chair of the tennessee state board of accountancy), our partner-in-
residence, served as a banker one year.”

dean’s board member winston justice, financial advisor at alliancebernstein, provided his financial and
professional insight to the community at the college of business’s “being a light in the marketplace”
symposium at the presidential inauguration festivities in march. he spoke to and advised business
students last year in an entrepreneurship class and on a panel for the declaration dinner, held for the
first time last fall.

in an effort to provide every student with a milestone memory in each year of college, the college of
business’ advisory board members and faculty gather to celebrate the latest group of junior-level
students to declare their majors in business during the fall.
the second declaration dinner will be held on nov. 15 this year. each table of students includes a
veteran businessperson focused on building a relationship with the newly-declared majors, and each
student receives a padfolio for use in future interviews.
the declaration dinner is designed to introduce students to a “formal-style business meeting of
professionals,” where members of the dean’s board, the alumni advisory board and faculty are
assigned specific groups of students to interact with during the event, said beth mangrum, alumni fund
and event director.

the authentic, no-nonsense advice and insight of sue nokes, executive-in-residence and retired vice
chairwoman at asurion insurance, was a big hit with students as they lined up after the event to hear
more of her personal stories and tips about people management and leadership. patrick chaffin, evp
and coo of ryman hospitality properties and cob dean’s board member, was part of the event’s panel
discussion on 世界杯2022世界杯时间 in the real working world.

ceo of treemont capital inc. and ceo-in-residence phil pfeffer also presented as part of the dinner,
giving students a sneak peek into what the next 24 months of their college career would entail. pfeffer,
now a lipscomb trustee, interacts with cob students each year by accompanying them on global
learning opportunities, the latest being a trip to indonesia for international business and supply chain
students.
it’s this kind of commitment from external stakeholders that was an important building block to the
lipscomb college of business successfully earning aacsb international accreditation in march.
if you are interested in becoming involved and learning more about lipscomb cob boards, contact dean
ray eldridge, at ray.eldridge [at] lipscomb.edu.