By Linda Waggener, freelance writer
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — Campbellsville University's School of Business, Economics and Technology has opened a Center for Business and Financial Literacy on the main campus under the leadership of Dr. Dava Dorjsuren, assistant professor of financial planning and international business.
The mission of the Center for Business and Financial Literacy is to create and promote student business/financial literacy and to serve the small business communities in each extended Campbellsville University regional center market areas.
“I am a product of the School of Business, Economics and Technology, and the leaders who welcomed and guided me from my freshman year in 2005 to 2009,” Dorjsuren said.
Dr. Pat Cowherd, dean of the School, became Dorjsuren's mentor, as she earned first her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with an Emphasis in Economics in 2009 and then her Master of Business Administration (MBA) in 2011 at Campbellsville University. Cowherd is now her supervisor.
The Financial Literacy Center is a long-time dream of Dorjsuren's who led development of a new minor in financial planning at Campbellsville University after the completion of her Ph.D. at Texas Tech University.
She said the center will offer tools to build business and money management skills along with development in financial literacy and entrepreneurship. There will be meeting areas for career and entrepreneurial students and community members.
It will include a “dress for career choice” service - offering current students a “clothes mentor” to advise and provide them with professional attire when interviewing and entering the professional workforce. This will be offered in conjunction with the university's Office of Career Services.
An in-house gift shop, offering locally and internationally sourced goods, will provide ongoing income and give students real-world experience.
Dorjsuren came to Campbellsville University from Ulan Bator, Mongolia, having grown up, along with a brother, in a home where parents stressed education and supported her goal to become the first in the family to study abroad.
She was offered an academic scholarship in high school and received opportunities from several American schools. Her parents liked private, smaller one-on-one schools and approved of Campbellsville University.
In her degree path, she became part of the academic team in the School of Business, Economics and Technology and then had the opportunity to take a leave of absence from her work at CU to complete a fellowship in the financial department at Texas Tech University. There she earned a second master's degree and a Ph.D. in financial planning, specializing in personal and family financial planning, before returning to her job in the School in 2018.
The late Dr. Ralph Tesseneer, Campbellsville University professor and Board of Trustee member; his daughter, Susan Tesseneer Walters, and her husband, Campbellsville University Board of Trustees member Joe Walters, were among the key donors for the establishment of the financial planning program at CU.
Dorjsuren's mother, Byambasuren Palan, an engineer, is another one of the key donors. Along with Dorjsuren, they made the family donation in memory of husband and father, Dorjsuren Baljin, businessman and attorney, who was killed in an automobile accident in 2015.
The Center for Business and Financial Literacy is located at 522 North Hoskins Street on the campus of Campbellsville University. The office is open weekdays from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Eastern time. The phone number is (270) 789-5356.
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 12,000 students offering over 100 programs of study including Ph.D., master, baccalaureate, associate, pre-professional and certification programs. The website for complete information is www.campbellsville.edu.