Meeting

Report

 
DANIEL S.
FOGEL, PhD
Wake Forest University Babcock School of Management
by Henry Bostic
             
Moving the Wake Forest University Babcock School of Management's Charlotte programs from SouthPark to Uptown makes the Queen City campus "the lead dog in our strategy" to build the MBA school's national reputation, the dean of the local MBA programs told Charlotte Rotarians on Tuesday.
 
Two years ago the Babcock School conducted a self-analysis, said Daniel S. Fogel, PhD. "We found that we have a real program here that is of great value to the University in Winston-Salem. There is tremendous growth here. Because of our presence in Charlotte, Winston-Salem (Babcock program) is stronger. The move Uptown will only enhance that.
 
"It's exciting. There are going to be so many opportunities that come up from being there that we don't even know of yet," said the assistant dean of the Babcock School and executive professor of strategy. "Being uptown is indispensable in terms of our image. All of the major businesses are there."
 
Ken Thompson, head of Wachovia and a Babcock graduate, encouraged the move to Uptown so the program can be part of mainstream business in the city, said Fogel. More than half of the 200 students enrolled in the nine-year-old Charlotte program work Uptown.
 
A specialist in strategic management, Fogel said the University is committed to the "triple bottomline" in its operations. "We are committed to operating excellent programs that are financially sound and that enlarge the Wake Forest brand," he said. "We also want to fulfill our social responsibility by bringing a more diverse population into our MBA programs. Most MBA student populations are too monolithic. We need the vibrancy that comes from more diversity." Rotarian Tony Marciano, who introduced Fogel, is an example of that effort. Tony, executive director of the Charlotte Rescue Mission, is a scholarship student in Babcock's Charlotte program.
 
The third bottomline, said Fogel, is to build 'environmentally sustainable' facilities. "We hope to become the first offices in Charlotte certified as environmentally sustainable in the use of energy, lighting carpet, etc."
 
Fogel said Thompson and Wachovia invited the Babcock to become part of its new multi-use development in the block bounded by Tryon, Church, First and Stonewall streets. The 4.5-acre development will include a 35-story office building that will house the Babcock program and the Arts & Science Council, a 1,200-seat performing arts theater and the Bechtler Museum, which will showcase works by Pablo Picasso, Edgar Degas and Andy Warhol. Wachovia plans to extend its festive park, The Green, and the overlooking condominiums, Ratcliffe on The Green, across South Tryon Street. Condominiums will feature retail shops on the main level. The campus, said Fogel, will allow much sharing of resources among occupants. For instance, he said, Wachovia plans to use the university's campus for its in-house education during weekdays since the Babcock will use the space primarily during evenings and weekends. The Babcock will use the auditorium for public lectures.
 
The university's new state-of-the-art campus will include a technologically advanced infrastructure, Fogel said. Instead of PCs, the campus may use "personal devices" with "virtual screens and keyboard." Walls could become screens for "distance learning" connections with the Wake Forest campus in Winston-Salem or anywhere in the world.
 
Plans are still in development but the Babcock School will initially lease 30,000 square feet at the new location, with expansion plans for up to 60,000 square feet. The university will remain in its current location in the city's SouthPark area until the project is complete. Wake Forest's Charlotte campus has been located at One Morrocroft Centre for the past nine years.
 
Wake Forest has offered an evening MBA program in Charlotte since 1995. There are more than 5,000 Wake Forest alumni and approximately 700 Wake Forest MBA alumni in the greater Charlotte area. The school's Charlotte campus has graduated 265 MBA students with an additional 50 expected to graduate this summer.
 
Wake Forest MBA programs have grown with Charlotte in recent years. In January, the university began a Saturday MBA program. In April, the university began offering a non-degree Business Essentials program, also at the university's Charlotte campus.
 
The Babcock School in Winston-Salem offers full-time, fast-track executive and weekend MBA programs. Ranked among the top ten percent of MBA programs in the nation, the Babcock School, unlike most colleges and universities, Fogel said, does not share faculty with Wake Forest University, the undergraduate school, so professors concentrate on graduate level teaching.
    
Head Table:
David Lewis, Bob Phifer, Catherine Browning, Tony Marciano, Sammy Black, Hershel Sanders
              
Visitors and Guests:
Invocation: Matt Joyner; Visitors & Guests: Bill Bradley; Health & Happiness: Frank Watson; Song: David Erdman

        

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