All Aboard | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of ECU News Services. The author of this post is Matt Smith.


Representatives from fashion merchandising and other areas in the East Carolina University College of Health and Human Performance talk with prospective students in Minges Coliseum during Pirates Aboard Admitted Students Day on March 25. (ECU photo by Rhett Butler)
    Donors and the merchandising advisory board are instrumental to the success of students and faculty in the East Carolina University Department of Interior Design and Merchandising.

    One evolving aspect is how board members work with faculty to enhance curriculum for courses. Using their professional knowledge and insight, board members keep faculty informed of industry trends along with skills and strategies students should focus on as they prepare for professional opportunities.

    It is part of an overall emphasis of professionals directly and indirectly connecting to eager students.

    "We don't want to be teaching students things that are not relevant," said Marina Alexander, merchandising advisory board faculty chair and an associate professor in interior design and merchandising. "I do think it's very important to stay open to the industry and know what changes are happening in the industry, otherwise we are doing a disservice to the students. ... These are people who are industry leaders and you are getting first-hand information from them."

    Financial support also can have a major impact on students. Donor Betty Thomas from City Beach, Western Australia, who is family to Alexander, helped interior design and merchandising - part of the College of Health and Human Performance - win the university's annual Pirate Nation Gives fundraiser farthest-away gift challenge in consecutive years.

    IDMR earned $4,000 in challenge bonus money for the farthest gift this year, which will help support a clothing closet project for students to have access to professional wardrobe items.

    Last year's bonus money of $3,000 helped send students to the National Retail Federation Student Program in New York.

    That is where senior Emma Smith participated in an in-person interview with department store retailer Burlington and received an unforgettable follow-up phone call.

    "I'm looking at the Empire State Building and they say, 'We want to offer you a job in New York City as an assistant buyer,'" said Smith, who graduates in May. "I will never forget that moment for the rest of my life."

    Jenna Scott accepted an internship with Nordstrom. Sofia Pereira will intern at Belk.

    Smith accepted her job offer, thus turning Pirate Nation Gives efforts from others into her professional start.

    "I would not have been able to go if it were not for that help," Smith said of the National Retail Federation Student Program.

    Board support

    Smith's story was a popular topic during the March 31 merchandising advisory board meeting.

    Longtime board members include Britt Laughinghouse (Bostic Sugg Furniture, Inc.), Miles Barefoot (Albion and Associates), Walter Perkins III (The Hammock Source) and retired board member Joseph DiGiulio (Jerry's Artarama). Joining them to form the full board are Alice Trimble (Gucci), Chris Knott (johnnie-O), Erin Davis (Truly Yours), Freddy Simon (Freddy Simon and Associates/Atlanta Apparel Mart), Haley Garrison (Storr Office Environments), Nathan Kelly (Greenville Mall/Brookfield Properties) and Stephanie Bond (Kidde, Carrier Global). Non-attending consultants include Greg Grauel (Fanatics) and Kristi Forbes (AmericasMart Atlanta).

    Board meetings feature an in-person panel discussion for students to ask questions. The next meeting will include a board review of curriculum materials.

    "We have had paid internships for years and years and have found some of the best people (at ECU)," Laughinghouse said. "They have benefited us, and what I have gotten out of this program is so much more than what an individual would ever give. Now you have students who are able to pick the brains of board members who are so successful. ... This board has gone from a regional and local business group to you see how it is expanded with people who have connections and people who can really help the program and the students."

    All of the board members are ECU alumni and some are IDMR graduates.

    Perkins, Laughinghouse, Bond and Knott worked with Alexander and Amanda Muhammad, interior design and merchandising department chair, to establish an initial endowed $25,000 scholarship in December. The first $1,000 scholarship will be awarded this year.

    Alexander, whose colleagues as fashion merchandising and consumer studies faculty include Tiffany Blanchflower, Runying Chen, Erin Parrish and Muhammad, said helping students succeed is part of faculty and donor roles. Smith and many others IDMR students benefit as they ready themselves for professional careers.

    "ECU has helped me along the way, prepping me for interviews and prepping me for my career," Smith said. "I'm not nervous. I'm more excited, because I know that what I've learned here and what I've shown my professors is what they (employers) were looking for."