Carmelita Troy Interviewed on 3ABN

Business prof talks about recent joint project

by Jenna Neil

Carmelita Troy, an associate professor of accounting in the School of Business Administration, was recently interviewed by 3ABN on “Scriptural Foundation for Business.” The episode, filmed in August at the 3ABN studios in Illinois, aired on Monday, November 17, as part of the 3ABN Today program with Danny Shelton and Yvonne Lewis.

“When the first monographs in the Spiritual Foundations series were published in June of 2014, I took a picture of the cover of one, which I had written with LeRoy Ruhupatty, another School of Business faculty member, and posted the picture on Facebook,” says Troy. “Danny Shelton, 3ABN founder, saw the post and sent a message that he was interested in interviewing us about the series.”

Monographs are groups of detailed written studies based on a specialized subject or an aspect of that subject. The Scriptural Foundations of Business monographs series is a group of written studies that brings business and scripture together.

“The monographs integrate scripture with the basic concepts and theories that are already in the business curriculum,” explains Troy.

Troy was interviewed on the show with Michael Cafferky, professor of business and management at Southern Adventist University (Collegedale, Tennessee). Cafferky was invited to appear along with Troy because he is one of the editors of the monograph series.

“Michael Cafferky and Bruce Wrenn came up with the idea of the series and they both worked tirelessly to recruit authors and the Andrews University Press to be the publisher,” says Troy.

Wrenn, Colson Endowed Chari of marketing at Andrews University, and Cafferky were the editors of the project, which included creating the idea, finding writers, and doing final edits.

Prior to this series on the Scriptural Foundations of Business, there was very little material available that integrated scripture and business that targeted college students as they are beginning their studies in business. This series is designed to be a part of the business curriculum.

“This topic is important to me because I want my students to understand and plan to be honest in their business dealings and to have a solid biblical base for responding appropriately when enticed to wrong,” says Troy.

In the accounting portion of the monograph series, Troy and coauthor Ruhupatty used the biblical story of Joseph.

“Joseph was trustworthy in managing and accounting for the assets of Potiphar,” she explains. “Despite the fact that he was wrongly accused and thrown into the dungeon, Joseph maintained his integrity.” She wants to emphasize to students that it’s important to do the right thing regardless of the consequences.
3ABN saw the importance of the topic in a broader sense than originally envisioned.

“Originally they envisioned providing Christian colleges and universities with a resource to integrate faith and learning in the area of business,” says Troy. “Not only did they accomplish that, 3ABN also brought to our attention that this series has a much larger target audience such as church treasurers, Adventist and Christian students attending non-Adventist/non-Christian colleges and universities, business people and just about anyone who conducts business.”

With the publication of the monograph series and her interview on 3ABN, Troy hopes that students and others alike realize the importance of honesty in business and how each principle can be based on the Bible.

To learn more about the School of Business Administration at Andrews University, visit andrews.edu/sba.