It is a great pleasure to be part of a class in which there are Academy students.  It takes a special breed of student to volunteer to take my class.  First of all, it meets at 8 a.m. -- as one of them said one morning when we had no difficulty finding another room, "There's a reason for that!"  Next, it is heavy duty Academics - it takes the student through a series of fast-paced lectures on business, marketing, and marketing research, and then tests them on their knowledge of concepts, facts, and analytical methods.  All of this takes place within the first few weeks, and then the style of the course changes significantly from one that is largely lecture and fact-based to one that is project-based and
relies on student initiative and student-driven learning.  Students choose a real business problem and apply their earlier knowledge to devise creative ways to collect data on the problem, then analyze the data using SPSS, develop defensible conclusions, prepare a written report and a computerized presentation, and recommend actions to the client.  The course is an innovative one that tests technical knowledge, creativity, and the ability to deal with situations of uncertainty and the practical
world outside of the classroom.  It was selected as one of the three most innovative course submissions in the decision sciences in the 2004 nationwide competition sponsored by the Decision Sciences Institute.

So, as a result, I am honored to have among the students, some of the best, most determined students we have.  The quality of the class participation is excellent and challenging.  Several student teams have achieved external recognition for their work, including Big Night finalist, Big Night winner, winner of National Social Sciences Association #1 student research prize, NCHC, NCUR, GCHC, etc.  It is a joy to be associated with these students.