News > September 11, 2008

By R. Hunter Bratton | Contributing writer

After the April 1 announcement of a $500,000 donation from the Ernst & Young Foundation, the Calloway School of Business and Accounting has opened the Ernst & Young Professional Center, which will provide business students with the means of making their professional development as and effective as possible. Located on the ground level of Kirby Hall, the center functions within 900 square feet of space and operates five days a week.

click to enlarge

Sam L. Beck is the newly employed director of Student Professional Development for the Ernst & Young Professional Center. The center is slated to open at the end of October. (Kelly Makepeace/Old Gold & Black)

Sam L. Beck, the newly employed director of Student Professional Development for the center, says developing the skills of students has been the goal of many national business schools; however, few institutions can claim to offer comparable facilities to those of the new professional center.

Beck received her undergraduate degree with a double major in speech communications and history from the university, as well as a Masters and degree in history. She calls the center a “pioneer program that may, ultimately, serve as a national model.”

The university plans for the center to offer many different services that will whet the potentials of any and all business students.

“Our ultimate goal is that Calloway graduates will be able to quickly and confidently assimilate into their respective business and corporate settings, adding value and professional contributions to their employer while earning respect and career advancement,” Beck said.

The Calloway School predicts the new organization will assist students in securing unmatched occupations by offering information in areas such as professional presence, self-management, developing professional contacts, interpersonal effectiveness, team-building, group effectiveness, business etiquette and professional protocol.

Future renovations are scheduled to begin in the upcoming weeks with plans for an Appealing Center, multiple private offices that will be utilized for coaching sessions and a multi-purpose space that will be used for an assortment of diverse instructions. Once renovations to the center are complete, walk-in assistance as well as scheduled appointments will be taken daily.

Beck, who began working at the Ernst & Young Professional center on Aug. 1, expects that such a program will amplify the potential for leadership roles among future Calloway graduates.

She says the center will allow students to “possess not only the competence, motivation and expertise to do the job but the additional development in self-awareness, personal management, broad-based communication and interpersonal effectiveness that will allow them to excel.”

Already, plans have been assembled to set the center ahead of its time. Cutting-edge programs that are technology-based will provide students flexibility in learning on their own time.

The modern technology will also promulgate the most current information and training, drawing from the expressed needs of employers. At the same time, the Ernst & Young Center will preserve the strong, individual career coaching that has made the university famous. Ernst & Young is a primary employer of Calloway School graduates and provides work for over 130,000 staffers who do various consultative and contractive services in more than 140 countries worldwide.

“Academic advising and career counseling are two critical success factors for any undergraduate business school, and we hope this donation will further the high-caliber professional development already offered to Calloway students,” Tom Hough, the vice chair of Ernst & Young said. Over $100 million has been distributed by the Ernst & Young Foundation to various educational organizations throughout the United States. “Ernst & Young’s relationship with the Calloway School epitomizes for me the strong partnership that is absolutely necessary for the continued success of our school,” said Jack Wilkerson, dean of the Calloway School.

“The thing that has been most impressive to me about the friendship and support of this firm is Ernst & Young’s sustained efforts to enhance our school and especially to enhance our learning environment and the development of our students. This generous gift, this center, will assure that our graduates are exceedingly ready on day one.”

A formal opening for the center is tentatively planned for the last week of October.