For its inaugural issue, the Writing Across the Curriculum Newsletter interviewed Dave Arseneau, instructor in the Business College here at Eastern Illinois University. Arseneau allowed us a window into his very busy life and spoke about a variety of issues dealing with writing.

As an example of just how busy Arseneau actually is, when we arrived at his office in Lumpkin Hall, he was with two students discussing their upcoming trip to Springfield for a conference. Earlier in the day, when we had called to confirm our interview time, he was eating a Snickers bar for lunch and talking to another student. His office, however, belied the seeming chaos of his hectic schedule: a desk clear of clutter, a purple orchid blooming in contentment, on his bookshelves neatly arranged volumes on small business management, his primary area of expertise.

Arseneau, an animated and likeable man, began by telling us a little bit about his educational and professional background. After he received his undergraduate and Master's degrees at Northern Illinois University, Arseneau's first job was writing a newsletter for a petro-chemical plant in Tuscola. Although he feels that newsletters are a great way to publicize a new business, he stressed that he himself was not, and still is not, a very good writer: "I lacked strong writing skills because I never had to really develop them." He went on to become a highly successful business owner (he sold his business last year) who often had others look over and correct his writing.

Dave Arseneau recognizes that while he has been able to be successful without having exceptional writing skills, future generations of business owners will not be able to get away with that. "People like me will be replaced by those who can write well," he stated. In other words, in order to compete in the business world of tomorrow, aspiring professionals will have to write effectively. When asked what he does in his personal life when he is called upon to write extensively, he responded, "I plug along and when I write something that's important, I revise it numerous times."

In his twenty years at Eastern, Arseneau has taught Human Resources, Collective Bargaining, Business Policy, Marketing Business-to-Business, Principles of Management, and Small Business Entrepreneurship. He stresses the importance of good writing in all of his classes. As an example of the assignments his classes must complete that incorporate writing, Arseneau shared the class project that his Small Business classes work on throughout the semester. The students are divided up into groups of 4, 5, or 6, and must complete a business plan. "I do not help them at all relative to writing, graphic display of data. I show them some past samples, we learn the conceptual aspect of what goes into a plan, but as far as the writing, the graphics, the presentation of data, it is all up to the student," he said.

When we asked for his definition of good business writing, he placed professionalism and legal (factual) correctness at the top of his list. By professionalism, Arseneau means the overall presentation of a document. "Whereas in an English class, the emphasis is more on the writing itself, in business classes the whole package counts," he said. "Design, neatness, the look of digital photos, sentence construction, paragraphing." He believes that clarity and brevity have always been important in business writing and emphasizes both in his classes.

A man of many enthusiasms, Arseneau is currently involved in creating the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Eastern Illinois University. He sees the Center as a place where students from all disciplines and majors who have ideas for starting businesses can get advice and support from those with entrepreneurial experience. His voice rose in excitement when talking about the Center, which will probably open within a year or so and will probably be located in Lumpkin Hall.

We wish Dave Arseneau success in this new venture. Those interested in learning more about the Center can contact Arseneau at dparseneau@eiu.edu.