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KPMG's PhD Project
director comes to UNCP
By Scott Bigelow
 Bernard
Milano was at UNC Pembroke March 17 planting a few seeds and seeking
the faithful.
Milano, Executive
Director for the KPMG Foundation, met with more than 30 students, staff
and faculty at the School of Business to discuss
his organization's program to nurture minority doctoral candidates in
business.
"We are looking
for people who feel a calling to teach business," Milano said.
"We are in the business of creating professors."
Dr. Eric Dent, Dean
of UNCP's School of Business, said a visit from KPMG was a good opportunity
for students to learn about doctoral programs.
"KPMG is one
of the world's largest accounting firms, and the foundation's PhD Project
is seeking minority candidates to encourage diversity in corporate America,"
Dr. Dent said. "That is what brought Milano to UNCP."
"KPMG has learned
that business schools heavily promote careers in business to their students,"
the dean said. "Another terrific option, though, is for business
students to become professors. I am very pleased that Bernard Milano
was able to raise the profile of that possibility with our students."
Milano addressed
several myths about doctoral programs in business, including the cost.
 "Most
Ph.D. programs in business cost nothing and pay a stipend," he
said. "You are considered part of the faculty as a teaching assistant."
Milano also said
doctoral programs are not only for the young.
"Most people
believe that education is for the young," Milano said. "A
person with 10-15 years of corporate experience makes a pretty terrific
professor."
Another myth he
exploded is that business professors are paid poorly.
"There is a
national shortage of business professors, so their salaries are rising,"
he said. "Business professors are among the highest paid in higher
education."
It is also widely
believed that doctoral programs in business are very difficult. Milano
said that is no myth, but KPMG's PhD Project has a very high success
rate.
"You can't
minimize the difficulty of getting a doctorate," he said. "There
is a 40 percent failure rate nationally. We have only an eight percent
dropout rate in our project."
Freshman Kristy
Michaud asked where the MBA (Master of Business
Administration) fits into the requirements of doctoral programs
in business.
"I'm glad you
asked that question. That's another myth I want to address," Milano
said. "You can get a doctorate without an MBA."
MBA programs have
practical applications for business people who wish to accelerate their
careers, while doctoral programs are research oriented, he said.
KPMG Foundation
has 67 doctoral candidates in its PhD Project, Milano said. The PhD
Project was founded in 1994 to increase the diversity of business school
faculty by attracting African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and Native
Americans to business doctoral programs, and to provide a network of
peer support throughout the programs.
Additional information
about the program may be found at www.phdproject.org.
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