Chicago Business

Issue date: 9/28/06 Section: GSB Life

Quiet envelops the Hyde Park Center during the summer months. As full-time students head out to showcase newly honed learning, the MBA program staff review the prior year and plan for the coming academic year. Admissions finalizes its strategies for marketing and recruitment and then begins traveling in August; the Dean of Students team (Academic Advising and Student Group Advising) and the Diversity Affairs and International Programs teams assess programming and coordination issues with an eye to improve the student experience; and, Career Services focus on their constituencies--reaching out to recruiters and reviewing programming to fully support students in their career aspirations. This leads to lively discussions, improved programs, and to many road trips.

Dean Snyder, Associate Dean Julie Morton and I visited seven cities to hold roundtable discussions and met with more than 20% of the full-time Class of 2007 in London, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Kong Hong, Tokyo and Chicago. What we heard from students and corporate partners was consistently positive feedback on our students' preparedness and their demonstrated skills. Unsolicited many students praised LEAD for helping them maneuver difficult conversations and situations. Students offered constructive suggestions regarding potential pre-internship programming and infrastructure for GSB social networks.

While the roundtables are the centerpiece of our summer travel, we also visit with alumni and corporate partners both to thank them and to look for future opportunities for engagement with Chicago GSB. These trips took the staff throughout the United States and to Europe and Asia.

Considerable administrative attention was given to issues around coursework, international student acclimation, and staffing this summer. Implementation of new policies including plus/minus grading, the deans' commitment to lower course packet pricing, and revised course evaluation data were top of the agenda. DSO designed and delivered cultural training for 70 international students new to the United States that was very well received. On the staffing front, we devoted time to our LEAD search, staffing to full capacity in DSO, Admissions and Career Services (with great success!), and to investing in our team by sending a number of key staff to leadership development programs.

Summer offers the Full-time MBA Programs team the quiet needed to reflect and recharge. It is also a time of anticipation as we await your arrival. Welcome back. We look forward to a productive and rewarding 2006-07.

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