This Insights article was contributed by Dr. Lisa Scribner, Department Chair of Marketing, Cameron School of Business
 
The Marketing Department and the Cameron School of Business are proud to announce the establishment of the Center for Sales Excellence and Customer Delight. 
 
This center aligns perfectly with the goals of the school to provide myriad opportunities for our students, faculty and external stakeholders in the business community, in particular the sales community.
 
The marketing department offers a concentration in Professional Selling to more than 150 students. The newly-created Sales Excellence and Customer Delight center will allow for mentoring and role-play opportunities with sales professionals for these students. Sales professionals will be able to collaborate with faculty and students to conduct research relative to their industries. An advisory board of sales professionals will emerge to guide curriculum, internships, full-time employment and other issues to foster even deeper relationships between UNCW Cameron School of Business and the business community. 
 
The first director of this center is Dr. Vince Howe, Associate Professor of Marketing. It is Dr. Howe’s hope to provide various opportunities for the Professional Selling students, including participating in sales competitions, both regionally and nationally. UNCW is already listed as one of the Top Universities for Professional Sales Education by the Sales Education Foundation. 
 
Dr. Howe will be seeking membership in the University Sales Center Alliance (USCA) for UNCW. The mission of the USCA is “to advance the selling profession through setting and monitoring sales program standards, sharing best practice, enhancing sales curricula, and preparing students for a career in sales.” Currently, there are only 46 other members of the USCA and only two of them are in North Carolina. Membership in the USCA will add value to students, faculty and the business community through the association with top sales programs around the country. 
 
The networking ability for faculty and students in the sales area will allow for enhanced teaching and research ideas. Additionally, through the Center for Sales Excellence and Customer Delight and USCA membership, the marketing department will be able to provide the opportunity for students to earn the Certified Sales Student certification.
 
For more information about how to become involved with the Center for Sales Excellence and Customer Delight, please contact Dr. Vince Howe, Director, at (910) 962-3882 or [email protected]. 

Robert T. Burrus, Jr., Ph.D., is the dean of the Cameron School of Business at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, named in June 2015. Burrus joined the UNCW faculty in 1998. Prior to his current position, Burrus was interim dean, associate dean of undergraduate studies and the chair of the department of economics and finance. Burrus earned a Ph.D. and a master’s degree in economics from the University of Virginia and a bachelor’s degree in mathematical economics from Wake Forest University. The Cameron School of Business has approximately 60 full-time faculty members and 20 administrative and staff members. The AACSB-accredited business school currently enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduate students in three degree programs and 200 graduate students in four degree programs. The school also houses the prestigious Cameron Executive Network, a group of more than 200 retired and practicing executives that provide one-on-one mentoring for Cameron students. To learn more about the Cameron School of Business, please visit http://csb.uncw.edu/. Questions and comments can be sent to [email protected].