Pursuing a degree in Business continues to be a strong choice with Business Degrees equipping students with a myriad of skills that prepare them to enter into the competitive job market. The Thomas College of Business and Economics is located in Pembroke as part of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Between the college’s undergraduate and graduate programming there are about 2000 students enrolled accounting for about a quarter of the total number of students at UNCP.
The college of business has been serving students and fostering their entrepreneurial spirits for over a decade, and Dean Dr. Mohamed Djerdjouri and Dr. Rebecca Gonzalez-Ehnes, Professor of Finance and MBA Program Director, spoke with the Greater Fayetteville Business Journal to provide insight into

the key components of the college’s success.

“I think one of the most pivotal or important times for the Thomas College of Business and Economics came in 2013 when we became AACSB accredited,” shared Dr. Gonzalez-Ehnes. “AACSB (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accreditation is the premier accreditation worldwide. It’s a designation given to about 5 to 6 percent of the top business schools in the world. So we were able to achieve that in 2013 and you go up  for reevaluation every five years and we just went through that. Dean Mo led the charge in fall of 2022, and we got it again and we renewed our accreditation, so that’s something that we’re really proud of.”

The college offers two degrees at the undergraduate level: Accounting and Business Administration. The Business Administration degree has seven different concentrations that students can choose from: Analytics, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, International Business, Management and Marketing. Dr. Djerdjouri shared that they are working on launching another concentration in Supply Chain Management as well.

At the graduate level the college offers a General MBA with a concentration in one of the following subjects: Business Analytics, Finance, Financial Services, Forensic Accounting, Healthcare Administration and Supply Chain Management. According to Dr. Gonzalez-Ehnes, they are also tossing around the idea of a Masters in Accounting as something they’d like to add in the future.
“One thing that we’re really proud of in the MBA program is we have something called Pathway MBA. And what we do through Pathway is we get promising students that are getting ready to finish up their undergraduate degree that maybe want a head start on their MBA and we allow them to take 12 hours of graduate level courses that are going to count towards their MBA, but they’ll count for credit towards their MBA but also credit towards their undergraduate degree. So as they’re finishing up their bachelor’s, they’re taking up to four MBA classes, and to complete the MBA you need 12 classes, so they can get four out of the way that way, that means they're only left with eight classes to complete and that’s a great opportunity,” shared Dr. Gonzalez-Ehnes. 

All classes at the MBA level are currently offered online. However, Dr. Gonzalez-Ehnes shared that they are looking at possibly starting up a face to face MBA in the fall of 2024.

“We’re currently working on assessing demand. We’ve surveyed undergraduate and graduate students to determine demand for a face to face MBA and it’s definitely there,” remarked Dr. Gonzalez-Ehnes. “It’s something we used to do and we stopped doing it. For a while there was more demand for online, but we’re seeing the uptick in demand for face to face MBA again.”
While earning a degree is of great importance, Dr. Djerdjouri and Dr. Gonzalez-Ehnes both understand that equipping students with practical, employability skills is also a top priority. The college places an emphasis on experiential learning and service learning. Students are encouraged to take advantage of opportunities such as internships and study abroad programs to further their education.
One program that the college has instilled is called the Passport program and it helps students learn soft skills and professionalism.

“One of the events [the students] really love is the etiquette dinner. We have a business etiquette dinner, and they absolutely love that. It’s a three course meal. They sit down and they learn all the basics about which fork is the right fork to use and which goblet is your water versus your neighbor’s water and on top of everything they also learn at what point during the meal you should start talking about business and that’s always a huge hit with our students,” shared Dr. Gonzalez-Ehnes.

In order to continue moving forward and developing the program further, the Thomas College of Business and Economics faculty have developed what they call Sustainable Development Goals. Two of these goals that they are prioritizing currently is community engagement and economic well-being.

“Recently, we have one of our faculty, Dr. Scott Cohen, who started up a VITA program and is going to continue developing that but what VITA does is its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance. And what they’ll do is [the students will] prepare tax returns for free to individuals in the area,” shared Dr. Gonzalez-Ehnes. 

Financial literacy is a subject that Dr. Gonzalez-Ehnes is passionate about advocating for both in the classroom and in the larger community.

“We’ve had workshops and seminars on credit management, on budgeting, on consumer protection laws. For students we typically talk to them about student loan debt and the dangers of taking on too much student loan debt. So making sure that we cover those topics and concerns are important to us. We received a grant recently so that we could study financial literacy and awareness in the American Indian community in the region. And so it’s a big push towards promoting financial literacy and financial awareness,” stated Dr. Gonzalez-Ehnes.

The intersection of business and community is critical and it is important that young entrepreneurs recognize this fact.
“I personally believe in business for good. So we want to influence the new generation of leaders by teaching them about ethics and [how to] use business for social impact. Entrepreneurship is not only about profit...You could make a living, make money, but you could also help the community [and] have a good impact,” stated Dr. Djerdjouri.

This emphasis on social responsibility within business is playing a great role in shaping business education. As students continue to study at the Thomas College of Business and Economics, they may be confident that the value and responsibility held by business leaders will continue to be treated as something important.