Muleskinner

Issue date: 8/28/03 Section: Features

Robert Best

Business students and faculty will see a new face this year at the head of their department.
The department of economics and finance in the Harmon College of Business Administration (HCBA) recently named Roger Best, associate professor of finance, as chair of the department. He replaced Paul Engelmann who became the associate dean of the HCBA after 24 years as chair of the department.
Best is starting his ninth year of teaching at Central. He had previously taught for four years as a graduate student at Florida State University, where he earned his doctorate in finance in 1996.
Best said his primary responsibility is "educating students and teaching them to think and teaching them how to problem solve in a variety of finance concepts.
Best said being named chair of the department is an exciting opportunity because he enjoys the faculty and students he works with. "(I get to) work closely with students to help solve their problems, and I get to work closely with faculty to solve their problems too," he said.
The department chair facilitates the department in obtaining resources so that they can be better teachers in the classroom. The chair also takes the lead in curriculum development so that the programs we offer are as strong as possible for our students.
With Best's new title comes new responsibilities. In addition to teaching courses in finance, he oversees curriculum for the degree programs, course scheduling and waivers for students, assessment activities of the department and manages the departmental budget.
He said he has three goals for the department.
"First, I want to create an advisory board made up of business professionals who will advise the department on such issues as curriculum and trends in the field," he said. "Second, I want to create a departmental alumni newsletter to maintain contact with past graduates in economics and finance and to keep them informed of the department's activities over the course of the year. Finally, I want to implement the HCBA's core assessment goals," he said. "Long term, I hope to continue the great improvements we've made in our programs."
Economics professor Catherine Chambers said Best is doing well in a position that can be difficult.
"Roger and several of the other chairs on campus are in potentially difficult positions because of allocations of resources and scheduling in a fair and impartial way," she said. "One of the things that impresses me about Roger is that he has shown that he can be fair in allocating resources and schedules and has shown that he is conscious of the possible conflicts that could arise. He really makes a conscious effort to make everyone happy."

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