Taking care of business: commitment to faculty, students and fund raising brings Florida State dean early legacy of success - Special report: graduate & professional degrees - Dr. Melvin Stith

Black Issues in Higher Education, July 3, 2003 by Pearl Stewart

Her experiences are unlike those of her friends at other institutions. "They say it's very difficult to get a response and that their appointments are often rescheduled. That's definitely not the case at FSU," Hall says.

Finance instructor Gary W. Smith agrees. "At both the undergraduate and graduate levels, the faculty and the dean are very student-oriented." Smith, who received his MBA from FSU and worked as an economist for the State of Florida before joining the faculty three years ago, believes the intense student focus is working. "The overall quality of students is definitely improving," Smith says.

The college's avowed interest in diversity and the fact that FSU has a Black dean were compelling factors for Hall. "I hadn't had a Black or Hispanic person teach me since I left grammar school in Chicago," says Hall, who earned her bachelor's at New York University and her law degree at Florida State. "As a member of the undergraduate faculty, I've had many undergraduate students tell me I'm the first minority person to teach them in the university."

According to Hall, Stith has managed to attract students, faculty and an administrative staff who are comfortable with his goal of reaching out to minorities without feeling that others will be slighted. "FSU emphasizes fit," Hall explains. "They bring in faculty and doctoral candidates who fit with the culture."

SHARING A VISION

Like Renee Pratt, Horace Melton was impressed by Stith's presentation in Chicago. "I caught his vision," says Melton, who also is entering the Ph.D. marketing program this fall. Melton has had a 25-year career in financial services and plans to conduct research in entrepreneurship and economic empowerment among African Americans.

Others have "caught" Stith's vision along the way as well. Dr. George Stevens, dean of the Kent State University School of Business, says he is one of Stith's biggest fans.

"Mel is real special, very unassuming, but one of the hardest-working and sharpest folks around. He's forward-looking, and he has been fortunate to have the support of others who are open-minded and forward-looking.

"Stith's success is no minor feat," Stevens contends. "There are very, very, very few African American deans (at predominantly White universities) because the positions are too powerful and involve too much money." He notes that when Stith became dean at FSU, "it was just us out there." Stevens was acting dean at the University of Central Florida at the time.

Currently, another African American is in their tiny fraternity. Dr. Sidney Harris is dean of the Georgia State University School of Business.

Despite the accolades, Stith isn't taking his job for granted. When he was first appointed, the faculty wasn't solidly behind him. They went to the foundation and asked to see the accounts, Stith recalls.

"So, early in the game, I began to work very hard to include the faculty." Recently, Stith has established a commission to determine, 'What do we want to be in the future?' And though he set it up, "the commission is not driven by me; it's a faculty-driven process," he says.