Campbell business students courted by nation’s leading banks

     Dr. Ben Hawkins, dean of the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business, and Peggy Lawrence, career adviser, cannot conceal their excitement over the opportunities open to Campbell business students. Approximately 99 percent of students enrolled in Campbell’s Trust and Investment Management program are placed every year with the country’s leading banks, said Hawkins. The students are not only in demand, but the big banks are coming to them.
     Lawrence reported that in addition to banks recruiters coming to campus, the school received personal invitations to visit the first and fourth largest banks in the country during the past year, Bank of America and Wachovia.
     “We’re one of two colleges in the country Bank of America is recruiting from,” Lawrence said. “They hired 45 interns for summer 2007 and are in the process of making offers for permanent hires. The Bank also hired 12 graduates from the May 2006 class.”
     A total of 62 juniors made the trip to Charlotte where senior officials of Bank of America briefed them on the bank’s primary resources. Wachovia Bank in Winston-Salem invited senior trust students and graduate students to an executive luncheon.
     “Some of our alumni who’ve done well with Wachovia spoke to them about their own trust careers and the opportunities that will be available to them,” Hawkins said. “They gave our students a real chance to network and observe.”
     The networking opportunities proved especially beneficial to senior Jessica Hendershot of Bethesda, Ohio, who was invited to interview with Wachovia in Atlanta, and Washington, D.C., and with Bank of America in Boston.
     “The jobs are endless,” Hendershot said. “I was excited that they were willing to take time out of their day to speak to us—I mean we had the opportunity to speak to individual employers.”
     Hendershot added that the visits really opened her eyes to the many avenues her trust career can take. She has decided to pursue a law degree in preparation for a career in estate management and hopes to enter Campbell Law School.
     Graduate student Austin Rape, of Monroe, N.C., is enrolled in the 3/2 Trust and Investment Management and MBA program, an abbreviated program in which students can earn both a bachelor’s degree in Trust Management and a master’s in Business Administration in a period of five years.
     “The banks are very open to us and want to know us better,” he said. “It is like they are saying, ‘Hey, you can come to work for us when you graduate.’”
     For the academic year 2005-2006, a total of 69 out of 73 Campbell trust majors are employed or attending a school of law, Lawrence reported. They’re working with Bank of America, Wachovia, BB&T, First Citizens, Wells Fargo in Las Vegas, Merrill Lynch Trust in New Jersey, National City Bank in Cleveland and many others. In addition to the leadership of Jimmy Witherspoon, chairman of the Trust and Investment Management program, Hawkins attributes the appeal of Campbell trust graduates to the distinct niche market the school occupies.
     “We’re the only college in the nation to offer an undergraduate program in trust management and investment,” he said. “Nowhere else could these big companies find as many quality students to interview in one place. That’s why it’s worth their effort to come here.”

Photo Copy: Jimmy Witherspoon, chairman of Campbell University’s Trust and Investment Management degree program, chats with Lorie Fillyaw, center, and Ever Miranda Owens, both Campbell graduates who are now employed as financial advisers with Wachovia in Winston-Salem.