Lee College - Vindauga Yearbook (Cleveland, TN)

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years before but the financial times are a bit constraining. According to instructor Dwayne Thompson enough courses have been entered into the curriculum for a minor in information systems and he believes, If everything goes as it should ... a person could have a minor starting next year if he had taken other courses that had already been offered. Thompson doesn ' t feel that the major will be as easy to materialize. There are going to be a lot of considerations here, including hardware, software, and personnel. The major could be as far as maybe three years in the future. Burns sees the computer affecting more than just the classes ' curriculum because its effect is also prevalent in We can no longer ignore it; it is here to stay. the classes already being taught. In business, as we get more and more oriented toward technology and the computer, what we teach has to be integrated and oriented along those lines. Secretarial skills instructor Lucille Elliot agrees. Based on what the computer is doing, not only in our department but in the world, we are going to need to encourage students to enroll in a beginning course in typewriting. Elliot feels this is a basic skill needed for the operation of computers. She adds, The computer has had a tremendous effect. We can no longer ignore it; it is here to stay. —Allan Hill Time Has Changed Dr. Rowe- Dr. Rowe Has Changed Lee Rowe then . There was no Business Department, business major, not even a minor in business offered at Lee College. That was 1964, the year Donald Rowe joined the faculty at Lee College. The following year a business major was developed; before only a few stenographic type classes were taught. Almost 20 years later the Business Department is one of Lee ' s strongest and its success and size has presented a challenge to other departments. If anyone has fulfilled a position at Lee, surely the facts show that Dr. Rowe has gone beyond the normal expectations of an effective department head. Before Dr. Rowe there was no respected Business Department, but now our students compete and win in state and national competition with business students from other colleges and universities. Each year our students take the high awards at the state level in Phi Beta Lambda competition. This statewide business student competition proceeds to the national level. In 1982 under Dr. Rowe ' s leadership, our students took more national awards than any college or university in the country. Excelling was characteristic of Dr. Rowe before joining the faculty at Lee. While serving as a sales manager for Eastern Airlines he was called on to serve in the Navy ' s Intelligence Division. Rowe attended the University of Miami where he received both his B.B.A. and his J.D. Degrees with honors. His M.A. work and graduate studies in business were done at UM and at the University of Tennessee with straight A ' s. He was awarded a Pre-Doctoral Fellowship by UM and offered another in advanced legal studies by Yale University. It ' s been said that good students make better teachers. Rowe ' s teaching career began at his Alma Mater and And now he also lectured at the University of Miami College of Law. After coming to Lee his educational talents were recognized as he was selected to Who ' s Who in American Education and was more recently selected to Outstanding Educators of America. The church and the state benefit from the input of Dr. Rowe also. He has served in several capacities in the Church of God and in the Westmore Church. He assisted in beginning a Full Gospel Business Men ' s Fellowship International in Cleveland. In Bradley County, Rowe was elected as delegate to the Tennessee Constitutional Con- vention and it was his resolution that was adopted that determined the length of the Governor ' s term in office. This is only a highlighted account of Dr. Rowe ' s honors, awards, and contributions. However, one need not read this to know the caliber of man that Lee has enjoyed these past 20 years. Dr. Rowe ' s sincere concern for and close fellowship with students is a strong indicator of his commitment to Lee College. He is often observed lunching with a table full of students in the cafeteria and he and his wife have frequently participated in campus events and excursions. This year is Dr. Rowe ' s last at Lee, but his influence will remain for years to come. And it can be predicted with reasonable accuracy that retirement will not mean an end to a highly influential and successful lifestyle. To Lee College, Dr. Rowe is a rare and precious gem that has benefitted thousands in the past and he will be remembered by all who have had the distinct honor of learning from this professor who has led a truly exemplary lifestyle. —Allan Hill ®tmrB L

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) Lucille Elliot, Donald Rowe (Chm.), William Morrisett, Alan Bums During recent years as the economy slumped and jobs became scarce, the Business Department enjoyed a steady growth rate. Department chairman Dr. Donald Rowe sees this as a direct result of the recession and explains, The demands of the business world are, for the most part, for people who are trained in business areas, especially in the areas of finance, statistics, management and more particularly accounting. The business program is structured to attract students to fulfill these positions after receiving a quality education which Rowe calls well- rounded. He explains, The purpose here is not to specialize too much, but to equip students to go in many directions. Business professor Alan Burns at- tributes the department ' s recent appeal among Lee ' s students to two factors of the times. As liberal arts types of jobs did become more scarce, our students Dwayne Thompson, Instructor (not pictured in group photo) realized that they would have a better chance to gain a professional type job when they left college if they had a major in a business field. Secondly, Bums sees changes in the church as a whole. The clientele that Lee College serves, the Church of God, in general, is becoming more affluent and is realizing the need for a professional business background, more so than they did before. Rowe feels these times are somewhat advantageous for students enrolled in the accounting program. Demand for accountants seems to persist even in times of economic slow down. To further explain Rowe points to his memory of the great depression. When many professionals . . . dentists, lawyers, and architects . . . and 25% of the work force was unemployed and on ttcoom The purpose here is to equip students to go in many directions. relief, accountants were in big demand. So, we have developed a program at Lee to take advantage of that situation. According to Rowe, this program is as promising as the general business program and it is headed by a graduate of Lee ' s accounting program, William Morrisett. Rowe thinks that the department can keep pace with the times by developing a major in computers. Mr. Bums blames the lack of a computer program up until this time on the inflationary financially critical times. He admits, It would have been good to have had them (computers) several StmrsA

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3tm£s Education (l. to r., from top) Stephen Dubose, Jack Souther, Jim Bilbo, Herbert CHne, James Lemons, Vernon Harmeson, Morris Riggs (Chm.), Eugene Christenbury, Debbie Murray, Ron Evans, Mary Ruth Stone, JoAnne Higginbotham StmraA