UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 35, Page 1
June 23, 1994
Stonier visitors keep campus active during early summer days

     While many University students and faculty use the month of June
as a time to vacation and recuperate from the pressures of the
academic year, about 450 visitors from across the nation do just the
opposite.
     These special summer students take and teach classes in the
American Bankers' Association Stonier Graduate School of Banking, held
since 1986 on the Newark campus.
     Charles Westerman, director of American Bankers' Association
Executive Schools-the parent organization of the Stonier School- said
the program works to help banking industry middle managers "take on
bigger and better responsibilities."
     Robert Schweitzer, chairperson of the Department of Finance in
the University's College of Business and Economics and a Stonier
School faculty member, called the program a demanding three-year, two-
week postgraduate course in banking.
     Each summer for three years, bankers come to the University for a
highly concentrated, two-week residential session. During each of
these sessions, bankers live in University housing (this year, they're
in the Christiana Towers and Ray Street residence halls) and take a
total of eight classes-four each week, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.-that
focus on critical banking issues.
     While not attending residential sessions, bankers do home-
extension work. During their second year of study, each banker must
write a thesis, which is defended at the end of the third session.
     Bill Heath of Richmond, Va., executive vice president and private
banking division manager of Crestar Bank, noted that all those
involved with the Stonier School must be highly motivated because the
program involves a major, year-round commitment. An accelerated
program requiring only two residential sessions is available for
bankers who have earned MBAs, Westerman said, and completion of the
Stonier program may count toward academic credit in other graduate
schools.
     Teaching the residential courses and overseeing the home-
extension work are senior professional bankers and consultants,
professors, government officials, bank examiners and other
instructors, all of whom are nationally recognized in their fields.
One visiting scholar, Donald. J. Mullineaux, holds the du Pont
Professorship in Banking at the University of Kentucky at Louisville.
     The primary aim of the Stonier School, Westerman said, is to
broaden the knowledge and experience bases of bankers in specialized
management positions. This process can help bankers gain promotions
and new and better jobs, while benefiting them in day-to-day
operations, preparing them for the growing demands of the banking
industry and serving as a valuable asset to the profession as a whole.
     Brenda Kissel, vice president and regional manager of National
City Bank in Louisville and a third-year Stonier School student, said
the program allows bankers from all over the country to make
professional contacts, share information and experiences and build a
stronger national banking community.
     Joey Rein of Deposit Guarantee Corp. in Jackson, Miss., who is in
his second year in the program, agreed, noting that, while bankers
from different states and regions have unique issues and local
economies to work with, the Stonier School provides a forum for
discussing common concerns across the industry. Many participating
bankers come from small community banks, and the program allows for
communication and cooperation among members of all segments of the
banking community.
     Many faculty members and facilitators encourage what Heath
describes as an "interactive" academic atmosphere. Discussion is
favored, and both Rein and Kissel said they found the method valuable
and effective.
     Schweitzer said faculty members use other innovative and student-
centered teaching strategies, such as problem-based learning, case
study and cooperative learning, to help bankers share information and
resources, to make the school as applicable to professional life as
possible and to make learning effective and efficient.
     Heath, for example, is one of 13 faculty members serving as
facilitators for a computer simulation program that re-creates "real"
banking conditions, including guidelines set by real-life bank
examiners.
     In the course, which emphasizes teamwork and effective
information sharing, he said, "six bankers work together to run a bank
for two years, with each day serving as one quarter." The bank
examiners who set the guidelines also are Stonier faculty members, and
students have the opportunity to interact directly with them.
     According to Schweitzer, the high level of instruction, the
quality of the students and faculty and the rigor of the program
combine to make this the most prestigious of the nation's six major
graduate schools in banking.
     Westerman said the academic reputation, facilities and resources,
location and accessibility make the University of Delaware a highly
attractive site for the Stonier School.
     Heath also praised the high quality of the University's academic
facilities and resources and was pleased by the excellent
technological support provided for what he described as a "complex and
evolving" computer banking simulation. The College of Business and
Economics' faculty, staff and resources also received accolades from
Stonier students, faculty and administrators.
     Rein said the facilities, food and service provided on-campus are
high quality, and Heath said that University professionals and staff
members worked hard to make program participants "feel at home" in
Delaware.
     The presence of such an excellent program on campus affirms
Delaware's reputation as a center of academic excellence. As
Schweitzer explained, this serves to benefit the University community
as a whole by fostering a mutually beneficial and reinforcing a
"synergistic relationship with other universities, scholars and
business programs."
     Richard Fischer, associate provost and director of the Division
of Continuing Education, said the presence of the Stonier School on
campus both reflects and enhances the University's ongoing commitment
to life-long learning at the postgraduate level.
     He and Schweitzer said the program provides a particularly
valuable link between the College of Business and Economics and an
important segment of the professional business community. The school
also generates revenue for the University and the Newark community.
David Butler, director of housing and residence life, said Stonier is
an excellent customer of University services at what is ordinarily a
downtime.
     As Fischer said, the school serves as an excellent introduction
to the University's resources, campus and atmosphere-important things
to bear in mind at college-selection time.
     In addition, Butler said hosting the program helps to build and
strengthen ties within the University itself because personnel from
many departments and offices "cooperate in a good effort across the
University to produce a high-quality product."
                                                    -Kathleen Therrien