Coastal Carolina University has announced that a search for a new director of its prestigious Wall Fellows program will begin as soon as July 1. The nine-year-old program places students in internships with national and international companies.

William Woodson, who was the first director of the program, resigned May 15 to pursue other business opportunities. In the interim, David DeCenzo, dean of the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration, and Harold Stowe, chairman of the Wall Fellows Board, will direct the program.

While the Wall Fellows program has been a tremendous success in its first nine years, it is important that we further the legacy of the Wall family in expanding the program to be the cornerstone that links Coastal students in the Wall College of Business with top national and global businesses, said DeCenzo.

The Wall Fellows program is designed to prepare top business students for high-level careers in major U.S. and international corporations and organizations. This marks the second year that students from the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts have been included in the traditionally exclusive business program piloted by the business college.

Students are chosen for the Wall Fellows program through a rigorous application process in the second semester of their sophomore year. The two-year program includes a three credit hour per semester course that covers specific nontraditional areas including interpersonal and communications skills, ethics, personal health and appearance, business and social etiquette, foreign languages and cultural skills. The course prepares the students for the highlight of the program: a series of internships and international experiences during their senior year.

A record number of 24 Wall Fellows are in the field this summer interning in the U.S. and Europe. Intern postings for the fellows include Citigroup Global Technology and Operations at the New York headquarters and also the Citigroup Europe Middle East and Africa headquarters in London and the Latin American headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Bayer GmBh in Leverkusen and Sankt Augustin Germany; Schott Glass International at their world headquarters in Mainz, Germany; Rolls-Royce in Indianapolis; the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, N.C.; European Communications Consultants in Brussels; Kemin Pharma in Antwerp, Belgium; TPC in Connecticut; and the Atlanta Symphony. Local student internships include Golf Holiday, Partners and the Waccamaw Community Foundation.