For more information, contact Richard Doty, (937) 775-3232. 
May 22, 2007 WSU business college, Dayton Early College Academy partner for Young Business Scholars Program Ask business executives the secret to their success, and, in many cases, they will say it was the influence of a mentor in their formative years. For Webster describes a mentor as “a wise or trusted counselor or teacher.”Berkwood Farmer, Ph.D., dean of the Raj Soin College of Business at Wright State University, will assume this vital role in the fall for 15 students at the Dayton Early College Academy (DECA). “When I was young, I benefited tremendously from the influence of a mentor who guided me toward my career in business education, and I want to do the same for these young men and women,” said Farmer. “I care about the youth because they are tomorrow’s leaders, and we welcome the opportunity for our business college—the students, faculty and administration—to provide the personal attention that we know from experience yields positive results.” And he will have help. Farmer has support from several leading Miami Valley business executives, including Tom Young, first vice president/investments with Wachovia Securities, David Gasper, founder and chairman of Gasper Corp., and Mike Di Flora, founder and president of The Home Group, to work with him in the Young Business Scholars Program. Each DECA student also will be assigned a Raj Soin College of Business student to serve as a mentor at the peer level. The objective is to build a bridge to these urban students while interesting them in a business career. The Raj Soin College of Business and DECA will kick off the project on May 29. The ultimate goal is for the DECA students to qualify for a scholarship at Wright State for their college education in the business field. “As a mentor for these young students, I look forward to meeting with them throughout the year to provide personal scenarios, anecdotes and case examples to provide guidance and insight about the business world and encouragement in attaining a college degree,” Farmer said. “I will share things I have done right in my career and also a few things that failed so they will receive a realistic expectation of the business world.” He said the business faculty at the college will also serve as a resource for the DECA faculty and students at part of the partnership. “This is exactly the kind of creative collaboration that brings together the best resources and experts from Dayton Public Schools, Wright State University and the University of Dayton to develop future leaders in our region,” said Judy Hennessy, Ph.D., the DECA principal and a Wright State graduate. DECA, part of the Dayton Public Schools, was developed to maximize each student’s unique potential through a personalized, accelerated, academic program. It addresses a critical need in urban pubic schools to help students, particularly those underrepresented in higher education, to explore their personal and intellectual potential, achieve academic success and make a seamless transition from high school to college. The Raj Soin College of Business is among only one-third of the business programs in the nation accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). With an enrollment of 1,200 undergraduate students and 450 graduate students, the college offers 10 undergraduate business majors and four master’s-level degrees. Its accountancy program is one of only 168 programs also accredited by AACSB and its Bachelor of Science program in information systems is one of only 20 in the nation to be accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). For more details on the Young Business Scholars Program, contact D.R. Fannin, director of the Center for Economic Education at the Raj Soin College of Business, at (937) 775-2322. 
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