A former dean of the UNT College of Business (CoB) polled numerous companies in the DFW Metroplex who consistently hired UNT graduates. The information gleaned from this poll was that UNT graduates were highly skilled and had excellent work ethics. The new UNT alumni lacked a knowledge and understanding of the corporate culture. To give them the added polish he created the Professional Leadership Program (PLP) in 1994. The first few years the responsibility of managing and promoting the program bounced between the Dean's Development Officer and a faculty member. Former Dean Hazelton saw the potential of this program and recruited a Development Officer who had an extensive background in the corporate arena, to become the Director.
The former Director revamped the program to include more interaction between corporate sponsors and students. The atmosphere changed from just a "fork and knife" program to a more in depth program that prepared students to enter the workforce. Corporate sponsors were more interested in students who graduated from this program because they had applied leadership along with theory.
