Good News

Zoey does not have to have surgery. Whew! She is now sporting a neon green cast. What an immense relief. Now she can enjoy the last few days of her break. We may go see a movie tomorrow. At least she can get out and about now.

Fayetteville is expecting more snow tonight. I can safetly say she won't be sledding!

Santa Has A Sense of Humor

As I mentioned on my last post, the University is closed. I don't have any new "business" to report. My posts during this time will be more of a personal nature - what I am doing.

Well, my family's Christmas was going very well. We had a white Christmas for the first time in several years. It was beautiful. The kids got up, saw what Santa brought, we opened gifts, and then we decided to go sledding. We loaded up, even took the dog, and went to Wilson Park which is right by campus. We were having a great time, then it happened. The pictures below are pre-accident.


Zoey was sledding standing up - using the sled like a snow board. She was doing alright and then she fell. It didn't even look like she did anything; she did a great tuck and roll off the sled but then she stayed down. My husband went down to get her and carried her back up the hill. She has sprained and twisted both ankles numerous times and I just figured that she did it again. We got her in the truck, got her boot off, and had her put her foot up. My husband and son kept sledding. I sat with Zoey and she was sniffling and crying. She said, "I can't believe I broke my foot on Christmas." So, I figured we'd better go get an X-ray. She and I spent 2 1/2 hours in the ER on Christmas day. She does have multiple breaks in her fibula and tibia. We are going for a CT scan of her leg and ankle in the morning to determine if she needs surgery.

This is not how I was planning on spending my holiday. She is in a splint, on the couch, foot elevated. She absolutely has to be careful. Her leg has not been casted yet - and it's been 3 days. It is nerve wracking. We'll find out more tomorrow when we see the orthopedic doctor.

Since she plays basketball and it's in the middle of the season, she was devastated. Poor kid. I felt so bad for her. She was just out having fun and now she'll miss the rest of the season. I'll be sure to post another update tomorrow after we get back from the doctor's office. I am just hoping that whatever we need to do, we can get it done this week while we are both off. Fingers crossed - no surgery.

My Kids Can't Hardly Stand It

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. This means that Santa is coming to our house tomorrow night. My son is sooooooo excited. My daughter, who is 12, tries to be cool but she is excited too.

The University is now closed and will be until January 4. I am keeping up with emails but other than that, GSB admissions are on hold for a few days. Since this is the case, I won't have anything new to report regarding the Walton Graduate School of Business until after the Holiday break. MBA Orientation is January 4-8. I'll have much to write about that week.

The trip to Hot Springs went well. We had a good time - did lots of kid activities including an alligator farm, roller skating (my son's first time-I have bruises on my shins from his skates to prove it), and a trip to the science museum. The kids had a great time here (my mom and I did, too).

As I mentioned previously, my goal is to read as much as possible during this break. My daughter recently read Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and she is now reading the sequel, Catching Fire. She has been bugging me for awhile to read them too so now that I have the time, I finally broke down and read them. One of my favorite things in the world to do is read. Zoey loves these books. They were very entertaining and I couldn't put them down - definitely page turners. They did not take a great deal of time; I started Hunger Games on Monday and finished Catching Fire this morning. If you want to know what the kids are reading these days, I would recommend these books. It is a trilogy so there will be one more book. Zoey and I have also read the Twilight series (Zoey hasn't read the last one yet) and she likes the Suzanne Collins books better. I, however, prefer the Stephnenie Meyer books. You won't go wrong with either series.

My next goal is the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. I have read Outlander and listened to two of the other books on CD while I have been on the road recruiting. A couple of new ones have come out recently so I need to start at the beginning again to refresh my memory before I read the last two. I also highly recommend this series. They are wonderful.

Happy Holidays. The next couple of days will be pretty busy at my house. We may actually have a white Christmas this year. That would be nice.

Heading to Hot Springs for the Weekend

My husband just took my kids to school. Zoey has a test in 1st hour and 3rd hour. I'll pick them up after her 2nd test and then we are off to Hot Springs. I am looking forward to the weekend away. We are meeting my mom. She's been there all week. We had originally planned to go yesterday. But with Zoey's tests, we had to wait. Now we really won't have much time but I guess it's better than nothing.

The kids are out of school after today through the New Year. I'll be home with them for 2 weeks. Yesterday I was off. I knew it was my only day before they'd be with me so I was very productive. I ran errands and got all of the Christmas presents wrapped. Wrapping is not my favorite thing. I am not a particularly patient person. The tree does look very nice now with all the presents underneath.

I guess I'd better go get ready. I need to get my bag packed and then load up everyone's stuff. Zoey has already texted me - she forgot her phone charger. I wonder how many more texts I'll get from her before I leave. When I leave here, I'll by by the school to pick up the kids, and then we'll be on the road. Whatever we forget, too bad.

Tis the Season

With Christmas right around the corner, it is a little insane around here. Students are finishing up their finals today. This week has been surprisingly busy for recruiting. Everyone is trying to finish their shopping and we are partying til we drop. Our office Christmas party was last night. GSB Assistant Dean, Marion Dunagan, had us over to her house. She fed us well and I am a little sleepy and dragging just a tad today.

When I got home last night I had to help my daughter study for 2 semester tests. I have been in touch with her (she texted me) and I know one went very well and the other, not so much. We'll have to wait and see how it affects her grade. She has 3 more tests tomorrow and then 1 on Friday. She is in 7th grade and it's her first time to take semester tests. She's not thrilled with the whole process.

I will be out of the office beginning tomorrow. I'll be back January 4th. MBA Orientation is January 4-8. This week is very busy but I absolutely love it. It's the culmination of many, many months of hard work for our entire staff. Our students are finally here and it's great to finally meet everyone and to see the results of all the work. Believe it or not, applications are already rolling in for January 2011. It'll be here before we know it.

I want to wish everyone Happy Holidays. We are actually taking a quick weekend trip to Hot Springs. Other than that, I'll finish my shopping, wrap everything, and do A LOT of reading. This is my favorite pastime. I read every chance I get and I plan to do lots of it over the Holiday.

Corporate Visits

As the recruiter for the Graduate School of Business, I make corporate visits. A corporate visit occurs when I go into a local company and do a presentation about our part-time programs. I had a great corporate visit at Kellogg today. The room was full, nearly 20 in attendance. This is an important recruiting strategy for the Walton part-time programs (MBA & MIS). These programs are designed for busy working professionals. It can be challenging getting the message out to this prospective applicant pool. Going into corporate offices is a great way of reaching this pool. The group today at Kellogg was great. They asked good questions and would make wonderful additions to our MMBA program.

Another way I reach working professionals is meeting for lunch. I receive an email requesting an appointment to discuss the MMBA. I then respond with an offer to either meet in my office on campus or for lunch at a location convenient for them. This is a popular service as it allows the prospective student to use their lunch hour and they do not have to take time off from work. I met a student for lunch yesterday and I am meeting another student tomorrow. The application deadline for this program is April 1 so recruiting is ramping up. This is a good time to be getting ready to apply.

Tomorrow is my last day in the office until after the holidays. I am taking a little time off to be with my kids and to recharge my batteries for the upcoming months. Once we return to the office on January 4, it gets crazy. MBA Orientation is January 4-8. PhD application deadline is January 15. MIS application deadline is February 1. MAcc deadline is March 1. Professional MIS deadline is March 15 and MMBA deadline is April 1. April 1 is also the early decision deadline for the MBA. Spring is a pretty busy time for GSB admissions.

About Last Night...

I just had a reader send me an email stating that he hoped I'd write about last night's Christmas party. I figure I'd better make the readers happy so here you go.

It was bitterly cold out last night but we ventured forth in expectation of seeing Santa, eating yummy treats, and enjoying the camaraderie of colleagues. My son did tell Santa his Christmas list - mission accomplished. He was also able to see several friends from preschool. He is in kindergarten now but several of my colleagues' children attended preschool with Jack. He was having such a good time that he did not want to leave.

When we headed out of the party, we were anxious to get back home to our cozy fire. I love having a fire when it's cold out. On the way home, we detoured through the Fayetteville Square to enjoy the Lights of the Ozarks. I know that I have mentioned this before but Christmas is my favorite holiday. I can't say it's my favorite time of year because I am not a huge fan of cold weather. If Christmas were in June, it'd be perfect! Okay, maybe not because a white Christmas is something special. Those of us in this area do associate Christmas with cold weather. We expect to need to bundle up, start a fire, etc. I am sure it wouldn't be the same if I lived in a climate that was warm in December. I digress, this holiday is my favorite for many reasons. 1) I love giving presents. 2) The kids (and I) are so excited. 3) There are lots of parties and I am a bit of a social butterfly. And 4) I do love the Christmas lights. It's a very festive time of year.

Okay, that's about it. I do have more parties coming up. The GSB Christmas party is next Tuesday. That should be a good time too. I'll be sure and tell you all about it.

GSB Admissions Update

We are rolling in PhD applications. In 2009, we experienced a 46% increase in PhD apps over 2008. Application deadline for our PhD programs is January 15. They are pouring in right now. The Departments will be ready with admissions offers by the end of January. Fellowship deadline is February 1 so PhD decisions are made very early. We do generally get a few late applications. These are typically not eligible for University fellowships. By the time we process all PhD applications in February, I am expecting to see numbers similar to the 2009 admission cycle. One important note is that we do have fewer spots available for 2010. In 2008, we enrolled 21 students and in 2009 we enrolled 20 PhD students. We are a very small College and anticipate only having space for about 15 new PhD students for fall 2010.

Regena Jedlicka processes all incoming admissions documents for the Graduate School of Business. She is the one who puts admission folders together. This is her busiest time of year. All programs have spring deadlines so, not only are we getting PhD apps right now, but we are also receiving MIS, MBA, MAcc, and MAEcon. The Master of Arts in Economics application deadline is also January 15. Master of Information Systems has a deadline of February 1 and Master of Accountancy's deadline is March 1. April 1 is the deadline for our part-time MBA and it is also early decision deadline for our full-time MBA. Regena processed nearly 600 (up 37% over 2008) applications for fall 2009 (this includes the MBA program that began in January). This 600 didn't come in to our office in equal increments over 12 months; the bulk arrives between the months of December and March. So this time of year gets a little hectic in GSB Admissions.

Please be patient with us as we compile your admission materials. Sometimes we get a little bogged down. We make every effort to notify all applicants of the materials missing from their folders; however, we only do this once. It is up to you to make sure the missing materials are submitted. Be sure to check in with us, prior to the deadline, to determine if your file is ready to go to committee. The easiest way to do this is to email us at gsb@walton.uark.edu. Keep in mind that we get a lot of applications and it may take a few days to get back to you so don't wait until right before the deadline to submit your materials.

The University is closed December 23, 2009 through January 3, 2010. It is best to try to submit PhD applications prior to the holidays. The University experiences a backlog of mail during the time we are closed. It also take Regena several days, once we get back, to process all of the material that came in over the two weeks we were closed.

One of the unfortunate results of my having a good recruiting year is that I make Regena's job more challenging. The better I do my job, the more applications we get. This is a good problem to have and we welcome it. So...APPLY, APPLY, APPLY.

It's a sunny 25 degrees!

Wow, it's cold today. When I woke up this morning, it was 18 degrees. It has made it up to 25 degrees now. This is pretty cold for Northwest Arkansas. We even had some snow this morning. It has stopped and there is no evidence of it. Fayetteville does get some very cold temperatures but they don't last long. It can be bitterly cold one day and sunny and nice the next.

Today is Dead Day. For those of you unfamiliar with this term, there are no classes today and finals start tomorrow. It gives students a day without classes to get ready for their final exams. There has been a tradition in the Walton College that goes back several years now - Dead Day Soup Day. The Undergraduate Programs Office brings soup on Dead Day (fall semester) to share with faculty and staff in the College. They had over 20 soups, desserts, and drinks. It was fantastic. Nothing is better than some hot soup on a cold day.

Tonight is the Walton College Christmas party. I am still full from all the soup I ate at lunch. Somehow I'll manage to find room for some more wonderful treats tonight. I asked my son, who is 5, what he was going to tell Santa he wanted for Christmas tonight. He told me, "7 Nerf guns, bakugan, and a sword." I guess he's in a bloodthirsty stage right now.

Tears for Life Strikes Again

Last Thursday, Jared Greer represented his team, Tears for Life, at the Pace Pitch Competition at Pace University in New York. There were 5 finalists and 1 alternate in two divisions. First place in each division received $25,000. There was also a $2500 prize awarded to the team with the most innovative technology. Tears for Life won the award for innovative technology. Congratulations Jared and Tears for Life!

Today is the last day of class for fall 2009. Tomorrow is dead day, there are no classes, and finals start on Thursday.

This is also the season for holiday parties. Tomorrow night is the Walton College Christmas party. My kids look forward to this party every year. It is always well attended and Santa is available for the kids to give him their wish lists. This Saturday, I am having a Christmas party at my house and then next Tuesday, Marion, our Assistant Dean, is hosting the GSB Christmas party.

This is also a wonderful time to spend on Fayetteville's Square. The Lights of the Ozarks are ablaze. It's a popular destination for families. There are pony rides, carriage rides, and Christmas music playing.

I rode up in the elevator this morning with one of our MBA students. She has one presentation today and then a final on Thursday and then she is finished. The semester is coming to a close for them. Two down and one to go. They will graduate in May. Our new MBA class will get started on Monday, January 4 with Orientation. I'll talk more about that later. I think we do a fantastic job with Orientation. Deb Williams, the Associate Director of Student Programs, works very hard to make this time meaningful and well-spent. We also try to have a little fun.

2009 is nearly over. I can't believe 2010 is right around the corner.

Today is December 7th

Today is December 7th, which in 1941 was the day Pearl Harbor was bombed. This day holds special significance in my family because it is also the day my grandparents got married. They heard the radio broadcast that morning prior to their ceremony. Not long after their wedding, my grandfather went overseas to serve and my grandmother, who was only 18 at the time, enlisted in the Navy and served in Washington DC. There were apart for 3 years. I have always been very close to my grandmother so this day touches me deeply.

Back to business. On Friday, December 4 the Graduate School at the University hosted an Open House here in Willard J. Walker Hall. We had a great turnout for this event. The next Grad School Open House will be on Friday, April 9. The next Graduate School of Business Open House is scheduled for Thursday, March 11 at 5:30. You are welcome to attend either event.

This week wraps up the fall schedule for students. Finals start on Thursday. Spring classes begin on Monday, January 11. At this point, everyone is looking forward to the holiday break.

MBA America Tour

The Walton GSB has been presented with a wonderful opportunity. A newly formed group, made up of public MBA programs, will be hosting a new tour next spring. Founding members are University of Texas at Dallas, University of Houston, University of Illinois—Chicago, University of Oklahoma, University of Arkansas, The Ohio State University, University of Missouri, and Michigan State University. The official name is the MBA America Tour. Our spring schedule is:

January 26 - Atlanta
January 27 - Dallas
January 28 - Houston
February 9 - Chicago
February 10 - Kansas City
February 11 - Denver
March 2 - Cincinnati
March 3 - Saint Louis
March 4 - Detroit

The Walton MBA will be at events in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, and Saint Louis. Events are scheduled to be 6:00-8:00. A website is in development but is not live yet. Prospective students in each area will be invited prior to the event.

The focus of this Tour is to stress the value of public education, especially in this current economic climate. New schools will be added each year and as we grow, we will also add new locations. As soon as the website is live, I will provide the address.

I am excited about bringing the Walton MBA to new areas. This is a wonderful opportunity for students looking for an MBA to go to one location and visit with several outstanding schools. Additional information will be provided as it becomes available.

If you are in or near one of the locations mentioned above, put the MBA America Tour on your calendar.

Tears for Life Isn't Finished Yet!

The Sixth Annual Pace Pitch Contest will be held on Thursday at Pace University in New York, NY. Ten finalists will compete in two different categories: New Business Concept and Social Venture. Tears for Life is one of the five finalists in New Business Concept. Each finalist will have exactly three minutes to pitch their new venture idea to a distinguished panel of judges and an enthusiastic audience. There is a prize of $25,000 that will go to the winner in each category. Jared Greer will be representing Tears for Life. Jared graduated from the Walton part-time MBA in July of 2009. His partner in this venture is Bessie Williams, another 2009 graduate of the part-time MBA. This team has been incredibly successful this year, winning nearly $100,000.

The ten teams (and 2 alternates) represent the following schools:

Brown University
Columbia University, Columbia Business School
Fordham University, Graduate School of Business
Harvard University, Harvard Business School
Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government
Johns Hopkins University, Whiting School of Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management
Pace University, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences
Pace University, Lubin School of Business
Pace University, Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems
Polytechnic Institute of NYU
Tufts University, Fletcher School
University of Arkansas, Walton College of Business
University of Maryland, Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship
University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School

More information can be found at their website - http://www.pace.edu/pace/lubin/departments-and-research-centers/entrepreneurship-lubin/pace-pitch-contest/

The Semester is Winding Down

Tomorrow is December 1st. I can't believe it! Finals start on December 10th and go through the 16th. Students are then on break until spring semester begins on Monday, January 11th. Be sure to read the MBA student blogs to get a first hand account of how their semesters are wrapping up.

Speaking of "wrapping up," it's almost Christmas. I was actually able to get some shopping done on Black Friday. For those of you unfamiliar with "Black Friday," it is the day after Thanksgiving and the stores have crazy sales. The stores are also crazy busy. I don't usually participate in this annual ritual, but this year I had some electronics on my list and this is a very good day to pick these items up. I love Christmas. We put up our Christmas tree yesterday. My daughter is ready for me to wrap presents. I have learned not to put presents under the tree this early. There are 2 reasons for this: 1) my cats tear up the bows and make a mess of everything and 2) my kids drive me crazy with the shaking and the exclamations of "I know what it is." My favorite part of Christmas is the look of surprised pleasure on my kids' or husband's face as they unwrap the perfect present. I don't want them shaking and analyzing the gifts and taking that moment away from me.

For the next two weeks I'll also be wrapping things up (there's a theme here) in the office. I put another MBA candidate through to committee today so we are still finalizing the class that will begin in January. We could have 43-45 students. I haven't heard from 3 of our recent admits so I don't know yet if they will be accepting our offer. Orientation begins on Monday, January 4. I won't know for sure who is coming until that morning. I'll be standing there by the check-in table anxiously waiting to greet our new students. In reality, I am hoping for a class of 40. Anything over that will be icing on the cake. Our current class has 37. We are slowly growing each year. Our maximum size will be 50.

For those of you contemplating the MBA for January 2011, early decision deadline is April 1. For full consideration of funding, I recommend applying by this date.

Holidays in the Ozarks

I haven't written anything in awhile. Shame on me. I have all kinds of lame excuses but it just comes down to poor time management on my part. My kids are out of school this week for Thanksgiving break. This means that I have been home with them. This last Saturday was the holiday parade on the Square in Fayetteville. The Lights of the Ozarks are now ablaze. If you've never visited the Square during this time of year, you have to add it to your "must-do" list. They have carriage rides, pony rides, and you can even ride a camel - if that is something on your "must-do" list. It's a beautiful time of year here and my kids love going to the Square in the evening to see the festivities.

This last weekend I made 2 trips to the movie theater. On Saturday, my daughter and I went to see New Moon. We got there over an hour early and there was already a line (not to buy tickets, they were already sold out for most of the show times that afternoon, this line was just to get into the theater). The line stretched from the ticket taker's kiosk all the way to the entrance of the theater; it then curled around and nearly made a circle - it ended up looking like a U. I even ran into 2 of our MBA students there.

On Sunday the entire family went to see Blind Side. The theater was packed for this movie as well. It was a great weekend for movies. Since my kids are out of school this week, we have been spending afternoons at the Boys and Girls Club. Zoey has her first basketball game next Wednesday. It made me nervous that she wasn't going to have practice for a week and then go back to school and have her first game. We go to the club so she can do a little shooting and then she and Jack go swimming.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I'll be back in the office next Monday.

Summary of Recent Rankings

I can't stress these rankings enough so I thought I'd mention our recent MBA success once more.

The full-time MBA was ranked #7 by Princeton Review in their Most Competitive Students category.


The Walton full-time MBA program was ranked #91 overall by Aspen Institutes's Beyond Grey Pinstripes Global 100. If only looking at US public institutions, we are #27.

The Walton part-time MBA (Managerial MBA or MMBA) was recently ranked #26 among public program and #59 overall by BusinessWeek. We are #1 in the SEC.

These rankings reflect the quality of our MBA programs. To learn more about these options, visit http://gsb.uark.edu/mba.asp and http://gsb.uark.edu/mmba.asp.

Be Sure to Check Out the Walton MBA Student Blogs

In case you aren't a regular reader of the student blogs, you really should check them out. Our student bloggers are our MBA Ambassadors. They had to go through an application process to be selected for this position. Along with blogging, they assist me with student recruiting by meeting with prospective students, answering their email questions, and generally anything else I ask of them. They are a fantastic group, if I do say so myself. This year's class is represented by 5 ambassadors - 2 guys and 3 girls. They also nicely represent our students as 2 are newly graduated from their bachelor's, 3 are married, 1 is international, and 2 are a little older with more experience. Their recent posts are very entertaining as their semester is winding down and they are frantically trying to get their assignments and projects done and get ready for final exams. All of this is going on while they are working and interviewing for jobs. Several students are in the process of interviewing right now and some of our bloggers are sharing this experience with their readers. Be sure to keep up with them - links to their blogs are provided on the right.

How can it be mid-November already?

I am sitting here looking at my wall calendar. I live by this calendar. It tells me when I am speaking in a class, when I have an ad due, when I have an event. This wall calendar plays a very important part in my life. As I was saying, I was sitting here at my desk gazing at my wall calendar wondering where on earth the time has gone. This is one of those signs that I am getting old. "Where has the time gone" was a saying I heard my grandmother use often, along with, "If I had half her energy..." It is official, when we start using the same phrases our grandmothers used, we are old.

The Thanksgiving holiday is 2 weeks away. Since I am out of the office that week, I really only have one more week left before December. When we start talking about December, I start panicking. One the one hand, December is great - it means the holiday and the University is closed. On the other hand, it means Christmas and I have been awful this year. I am one of those people who start their holiday shopping in June. I love Christmas. It is very important to me that I find everyone that perfect gift. For some reason, this year I am really slacking. Just this week I went online to Overstock.com and ToysRUs.com and ordered some gifts for my kids. I am going to have to get on the ball. I am not one to wait until the last minute and join the frenzy. My husband does that. It is no fun at all to me. I do not like crowds so I like to finish my shopping early. I just can't get my act together this year.

My daughter's (Zoey) first basketball game of the season is December 2. I love basketball season. This allows us a lot of quality family time. She will play every Wednesday night and Saturday afternoon. She only plays through the end of January so it is short and quick. We all go to her games (me, my husband, and son). We spend lots of time in a gym. Zoey started playing in 3rd grade. She is now a 7th grader so we have spent a lot of time watching her play ball. Jack is not playing basketball yet so all of our attention is focused on her. This works pretty well. Jack plays soccer and football in fall; Zoey plays basketball in winter and then Jack plays soccer and baseball in spring. Maybe that is why I am so tired. I love that they are so involved and have a true love of sports.

Tomorrow is Friday the 13th. I am really not superstitious but I have to admit that when I was very young, my babysitter took me to see Friday the 13th. This was back in the 70s at the drive-in theater. It scared me to death. It left a lasting impression on me so I will try to be extra careful tomorrow. Black cats don't bother me and I'll even open an umbrella inside or walk under an open ladder. Friday the 13th is just scary. I'll keep my fingers crossed that all goes well.

Travel finished for now, focus is on MBA

I have finished my travel for this semester. Last week was intense. I was in Central Arkansas for 3 days. While I was there I attended 3 Career Fairs, made 1 corporate visit at Acxiom, and met with 1 prospective student at UAMS. I thoroughly enjoy my time on the road but I am also glad each semester when it comes to an end. Thanksgiving is in a couple of weeks and I will be taking the entire week off. Woohoo for me. Both of my kids will be out of school that week so it will not be a time of rest and relaxation.

I will be making one final Corporate Visit tomorrow to Walmart's ISD. I'll be there 11-1 so be sure to stop by and say hi if you are in the building.

For the rest of the semester, I will be focusing on wrapping up our MBA class. I will also be finalizing my recruiting reports for fall. Before we know it, the year will be over and it'll be 2010. 2009 has really flown by.

We are still accepting MBA applications for 2010. We will accept them through the end of the month. Orientation is January 4-8 and we leave for Christmas break on December 23rd. The MBA class of 2011 will need to be finalized before we leave for the holiday break. To see a complete list of our admissions requirements, visit http://gsb.uark.edu/admissions.asp.

Walton's MMBA ranked #26 by BusinessWeek

The Walton College Managerial MBA (MMBA) is ranked #26 among public schools of Business by BusinessWeek and #59 overall. For a complete list of ranked schools, visit http://bwnt.businessweek.com/bschools/ptmba_rankings_2009/?chan=magazine+channel_special+report.

This is very exciting for us. We are also ranked #4 in the South and #1 in the SEC. This program was specifically designed for full-time working professionals. It begins each August and students take 6 hours a semester for 6 semesters by only attending class in Fayetteville one Saturday each month. In between these face-to-face meetings, students work online. For more information about this highly ranked program, visit http://gsb.uark.edu/mmba.asp.

Application deadline is April 1 and admissions requirements can be found at http://gsb.uark.edu/admissions.asp. Email gsb@walton.uark.edu with questions.

Halloween Pictures

As promised, here are my cute little Red Power Ranger and Devil. The first pictures are at the Fayetteville Square.

These last one is of Jack trick or treating on Saturday.

Crazy weekend, crazier week ahead

I promised that I would share Halloween photos today but I left my camera at home. I have some very cute photos of a red Power Ranger and a devil. I'll try to remember to post some when I get home tonight.



Friday I took my kids to the Fayetteville town square for trick or treating. It was a very popular destination; it was very crowded. My daughter had a birthday party that evening so I dropped her off for that and then had to go back to get her at 11:00. Ugh. Saturday was truly beautiful in Northwest Arkansas. My family got up and spent the morning running errands. Our first stop was Rick's Bakery for some breakfast. I have mentioned Rick's several times before. It is a definite "must" on your to-do list. Zoey was staying the night with friends so we dropped her off before we headed back home to get our Power Ranger dressed and ready to go trick or treating. Zoey is at the age where she goes out with friends on Halloween. This is the second year she has ditched us in favor of them. I am glad I still have many years left with Jack.



Saturday was also Homecoming here at the University of Arkansas. This was very tricky. We began watching the game at home, prior to trick or treating. Once we got in the car, we tuned our radio in to the game. We were able to get back home in time to watch the second half. As I have mentioned, I'll share some trick or treating photos tonight. I do have a photo that Stacy put on her blog of some of our crazy MBA students dressed in Snuggies for the game. Since they are super cute, I thought I'd share the pic. Here are Alisha Staggs, Stacy Carty, and Mikal Murders.



Yesterday the weather was also amazing. Jack and I rode bikes on the Scull Creek Trail. For a complete map of the bike/jogging trails in Fayetteville, go to: http://www.accessfayetteville.org/government/parks_and_recreation/documents/2009_Trails_Brochure.pdf. This trail is over 3 1/2 miles long. Since we drove to the end and parked, we ended up riding about 7 miles. My poor little boy couldn't even climb up into the truck when we were finished. We had a great time, though.

I will be out of the office tomorrow through Thursday. Tomorrow I will be at Philander Smith. On Wednesday I will be at University of Central Arkansas and on Thursday I will be at University of the Ozarks. I will be back in the office on Friday.

MBA Update

We are currently expecting 41 students to join us in January. Applications are being accepted through the end of November. I would like to admit a few more as we do expect not all of the 41 will "show up." What do I mean by this? A student may accept our offer of admission and then change his or her mind; however, we are not always notified of this change of heart. Since several students are starting this program without funding (more than we have ever had before), we will not be surprised if one or two are not able to secure the financial resources needed.

In-state tuition for all three semesters is approximately $22,000 while out-of-state students will pay closer to $48,000. We feel as though the Walton MBA is a very secure investment since 88% of our 2009 graduates were placed 3 months post graduation.

The 41 students who have accepted our offer of admission have an average GMAT of 634 and they average over 4 years of work experience. If you are still contemplating joining the Walton MBA this coming January, we will accept completed applications through November 30. Your goal on the GMAT should be at least 600. I am currently working with 4 or 5 students who are in the process of applying. I would like to admit 2-3 more. My goal is to have 42 students begin in spring.

Next week will be incredibly busy for me. I will be in Little Rock at Philander Smith on Tuesday; on Wednesday I will be at University of Central Arkansas, and on Thursday, I will be at University of the Ozarks. I will not be in the office much. After this next week, all travel will be finished for the semester.

Gloomy Tuesday

It is a gloomy day today. At least it's not raining. It rained much of this last weekend and again yesterday. It is not raining right now but I think it's supposed to start again either tomorrow or Thursday. I am ready for some sunshine.

We had a great turnout at the Social on Friday night. It was nice to see everyone enjoying themselves. Our next Open House and Social will be in February. We did broadcast the Open House via webinar and a few who were unable to make it to campus participated via the web.

Tomorrow I will be at Arkansas Tech's Career Fair. Be sure to stop by and say hi if I will be in your neighborhood.

This week is full of Halloween festivities. My son has an event at his school tonight. On Friday children are able to trick or treat on the Fayetteville square and then Halloween is on Saturday. Saturday is also Homecoming at the University of Arkansas. I'll be sure to share Halloween pictures next week.

Open House Tonight!

We will host a master's open house tonight - 5:30 in 403 Willard J. Walker Hall. This event is for everyone who is considering a master's degree in business. The session will begin with a general overview of the GSB and the application process. Students will then break into small groups and meet with the program coordinators. This is a great chance to get your questions answered and to get some face time with the coordinators. Walton master's degree programs are Master of Accountancy (MAcc), Master of Arts in Economics (MAEcon), MBA (full and part-time, aka MMBA), and Master of Information Systems (full and part-time, aka Professional MIS).

If you are unable to attend the event, please join us live at http://ice.waltoncollege.uark.edu/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=7cfb9a87c74f466b966d0ba6f92729f8 .

Following the Open House, there is a Social at Powerhouse. The Social gives current, former, new, and prospective students a chance to mix and mingle outside the classroom. Faculty will also be present. For prospective students, this is a chance to get a feel for the Walton GSB and to see how our students interact. This is also your opportunity to ask them questions about their program and get some valuable insight. The Social begins at 6:00.

Also going on this weekend is the International Logistics Case Competition being hosted by our Supply Chain Management Research Center. Team Walton MBA placed 3rd last year. I am anxious to hear how our current team does. For more details, visit http://ice.waltoncollege.uark.edu/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=7cfb9a87c74f466b966d0ba6f92729f8 .

Next Wednesday I will be at Arkansas Tech University. If you are in Russellville or nearby, I'd love to meet you.

Open House tomorrow-View webinar

The Graduate School of Business Master's Degree Open House is tomorrow at 5:30 in 403 Willard J. Walker Hall. If you are unable to attend this event, please join us by viewing the webinar at http://ice.waltoncollege.uark.edu/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=7cfb9a87c74f466b966d0ba6f92729f8 . If you have any technical difficulty, email Jim Goodlander at jgoodlander@walton.uark.edu.

Hope to see you there.

Beautiful fall foliage

Fall in the Ozarks is a beautiful time of year. This tree is outside of Willard J. Walker Hall. It is raining right now and it's supposed to rain all day. This weekend is a big one for me and my family. It is my husband's 20 year high school reunion. Friends from Austin are coming in today for the reunion and will be staying with us. Tomorrow is our Open House and then on Saturday, the Hogs play Ole Miss. We'll also have reunion events all weekend. I am looking forward to spending time with our friends.

Walton MBA ranked on Beyond Grey Pinstripes/Global 100 List

The Aspen Institute Center for Business Education has ranked the Master of Business Administration program in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas in its 2009-2010 Beyond Grey Pinstripes/Global 100 List. If private and/or international institutions are removed, the Walton MBA is ranked #28.

The Walton College was 91st on a list of 149 schools, which was compiled by the Institute “over the past eighteen months ... from 149 M.B.A. programs in 24 countries about the depth and scope of integration of social, environmental and ethical issues in business school education.”

Beyond Pinstripes is a biennial survey and alternative ranking of business schools conducted by the institute, which undertook an effort to map the landscape of teaching and research issues pertaining to business and society.

Judith Samuelson, executive director, Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program, said, “The best business students move quickly into the front ranks of business — and the attitudes and values they bring to the table are deeply influenced by their time in business education. Will they accept the status quo or act on their passion about the positive role business can play at the intersection of corporate profit and social impact? The schools that are competitive in the Beyond Grey Pinstripes ranking are the real trailblazers — they assure that students have the right skill as well as the will to make things happen.”

Here is a complete list of the top 100:
Overall Rank School
1 York (Schulich)
2 U. of Michigan (Ross)
3 Yale School of Management
4 Stanford Graduate School of Business
5 Notre Dame (Mendoza)
6 UC Berkeley (Haas)
7 RSM Erasmus
8 NYU (Stern)
9 IE Business School
10 Columbia Business School
11 U. of Virginia (Darden)
12 Cornell (Johnson)
13 GWU School of Business
14 U. of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler)
15 Simmons School of Management
16 Duke (Fuqua)
17 Wisconsin School of Business
18 Duquesne (Donahue)
19 U. of New Mexico (Anderson)
20 U. of Denver (Daniels)
21 U. of San Diego School of Business Admin.
22 Loyola U. Chicago Graduate School of Business
23 Nottingham University Business School
24 Ohio State (Fisher)
25 Portland State U. School of Business Admin.
26 Babson (Olin)
27 Griffith Business School
28 INSEAD
29 San Francisco State U. College of Business
30 UC Davis Graduate School of Management
31 McGill (Desautels)
32 ESADE Business School
33 Case Western Reserve (Weatherhead)
34 Concordia (John Molson)
35 Georgetown (McDonough)
36 USF St. Petersburg College of Business
37 U. of Colorado at Boulder (Leeds)
38 Monterey Institute of International Studies
39 U. of Stellenbosch Business School
40 U. of Oregon (Lundquist)
41 U. of Navarra (IESE)
42 U. of South Carolina (Moore)
43 Wake Forest (Babcock)
44 Dartmouth (Tuck)
45 Brandeis (Heller)
46 HEC Genève
47 Willamette (Atkinson)
48 U. of Jyväskylä School of Business and Econ.
49 U. of British Columbia (Sauder)
50 Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)
51 U. of Calgary (Haskayne)
52 Boston U. School of Management
53 U. of Western Ontario (Ivey)
54 Northwestern (Kellogg)
55 Villanova U. School of Business
56 Wright State (Raj Soin)
57 Arizona State (W.P. Carey)
58 Michigan Tech. U. School of Business and Econ.
59 Thunderbird School of Global Management
60 IESA
61 U. of Southern California (Marshall)
62 Pepperdine (Graziadio)
63 Copenhagen Business School
64 UT Dallas School of Management
65 CUNY, Baruch College (Zicklin)
66 U. of Colorado at Denver Business School
67 Bentley (McCallum)
68 Lamar University College of Business
69 U. of Vermont School of Business Admin.
70 Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School
71 University of Glasgow Business School
72 Western Washington U. College of Business and Econ.
73 Boston College (Carroll)
74 Vanderbilt (Owen)
75 U. Mass Boston College of Management
76 Saint Joseph's University (Haub)
77 Kansas State University College of Business Admin.
78 University of South Australia IGSB
79 HEC Paris
80 Dalhousie SBA
81 Cranfield School of Management
82 Massachusetts Institute of Tech. (Sloan)
83 U. of Bath School of Management
84 EGADE Tecnológico de Monterrey
85 Georgia State University (Robinson)
86 Tulane (Freeman)
87 Oregon State U. College of Business
88 Ashridge Business School
89 Claremont Graduate University (Drucker)
90 Washington State U. College of Business
91 U. of Arkansas (Walton)
92 IEDC (Bled)
93 U. of Maryland (Smith)
94 Illinois Institute of Technology (Stuart)
95 London Business School
96 Audencia Nantes School of Management
97 Asian Institute of Management
98 Baylor University (Hankamer)
99 North Carolina State U. (Jenkins)
100 aSSIST

Continuing with MBA admissions

We are continuing to accept MBA applications. To see a complete list of admissions requirements, visit http://gsb.uark.edu/admissions.asp. In order to be considered for admission, all materials must be submitted. This includes:

application (can be done online - https://www.waltoncollege.uark.edu/qp/gsb_app.asp)
application fee - $40 for domestic students and $50 for international students
resume (can be emailed to me)
essays (can be emailed to me)
3 letters of recommendation - forms can be downloaded from - http://gsb.uark.edu/forms.asp
transcripts from all institutions attended
GMAT score

Applications will be accepted through November 30. Orientation is January 4-8 and is mandatory. All financial assistance has been awarded. Domestic students are still eligible for loans through the FAFSA. Apply at www.fafsa.ed.gov.

We have received all responses from our last round of offers and we have even admitted 3 since then. Our class is now at 40 and GMAT average is 635 and they average 27 years of age and over 4 years of work experience. These numbers will continue to change as we finalize this class.

Yesterday was INSANE!

Yesterday was a very busy day in the GSB. I was in Fort Smith at a Career Fair. I had a great visit to the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith and was able to talk to several promising prospects. Last night, Dr. Ellstrand and I hosted an Information Session in Rogers. We were able to meet some great master's candidates and the evening was a success.

Also last night, Marion (our Assistant Dean) and Deb (my counterpart in student services) hosted an etiquette dinner for our full-time MBAs. The purpose of this even is to assist our students with proper behavior during a business dinner. They cover things like how to network, which utensils to use, how you should eat soup and bread(did you know there was a specific way?), etc. This is important because we want our students to perform well socially as well as academically.

Other upcoming events include the Walton College International Graduate Logistics Case Competition, October 22-24. Our team includes Stacy Carty, Michael Novak, Liz Slape, Terryn Weygandt, Ujjwala Darvemula, and Brant Simpkins. For more information about this competition, visit http://scmr.uark.edu/130.asp?article=727. Our team placed third last year.

On October 23 we will host an Open House and Social. The Open House will be at 5:30 in 403 Willard J. Walker Hall and the Social will be 6-9 at Powerhouse. If you are unable to attend, you can participate in the webinar at: http://ice.waltoncollege.uark.edu/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=7cfb9a87c74f466b966d0ba6f92729f8.

Next Tuesday I will be at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Ed Begley Jr. Talks Sustainable Living

The Fayetteville Public Library will host Living Simply: An Evening with Ed Begley Jr. on Friday, October 23 at 8 p.m. in the library’s Media & Magazine Section.
The author, actor, and environmental activist will speak about living an environmentally-friendly life.

Copies of Begley’s books, Living Like Ed and Ed Begley Jr.’s Guide to Sustainable Living, as well as DVDs of his television show, Living With Ed, and his environmentally-friendly cleaning products, Begley’s Best, will be available for purchase.

Following his talk, Begley will be available for autographs.
The event is presented by the library’s Roberta Fulbright Society.
The talk is free and open to the public. No tickets are required to attend.
For more information, call 856.7105 or visit www.faylib.org.

Centers for Outreach and Research

The Sam M. Walton College of Business has several Centers that focus on outreach and research. They are:

Small Business and Technology Development Center - http://sbtdc.uark.edu/
Bessie B. Moore Center for Economic Education - http://bmcee.uark.edu/
Center for Managerial and Executive Education - http://execed.uark.edu/
Applied Sustainability Center - http://asc.uark.edu/
Center for Business and Economic Research - http://cber.uark.edu/
Garrison Financial Institute - http://gfi.uark.edu/
Information Technology Research Institute - http://itri.uark.edu/
Center for Retailing Excellence - http://cre.uark.edu/
RFID Research Center - http://itri.uark.edu/rfid.asp
Supply Chain Management Research Center - http://scmr.uark.edu/

Walton MBAs on graduate assistantship may have the opportunity to work with one of these excellent centers. This adds value and depth to the high-quality curriculum of our program. Learning is not accomplished only in the classroom.

Finally, back at work - up from #10 to #7!!!!!

I made it back into the office today. My son is back in school and hopefully, all went well. Tomorrow I will visit Tyson's Corporate offices to talk about our part-time programs. On Thursday, I will go to the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith's Career Fair and that same evening, we will host an information session at the Arkansas World Trade Center in Rogers. It'll be a busy week.

Good news. The Walton MBA program was ranked #7 by Princeton Review on their Most Competitive Students Category. Last year, we ranked #7 on this list and this year we moved up a few spots to #7. This ranking is located in their Best 301 Business Schools: 2010 edition.

It's raining, it's pouring...

Fayetteville is experiencing torrential rains right now. There was a tornado watch earlier. I get the emergency alert messages from the University on my phone. I received the following text message, "The University of Arkansas is under a tornado warning until further notice. Please take shelter immediately." Once the tornado warning had passed, this message was sent, "The tornado warning for the University of Arkansas has been lifted. Thank you." This alert system is in place so that we are all able to receive emergency messages immediately. Since I was watching a TV show that had been DVRed, I had no idea we were under this warning so this system let me know that I needed to pay attention to the weather. This same system would be used if the campus needed to notified of a dangerous situation, not weather related, and was implemented due to the violence that has occurred on campuses recently. Thus far, I'd say the system is working. Everyone who subscribes to these text messages was notified of the dangerous weather conditions. Currently, it is raining - HARD.

Update on my situation - the doctor called me back and after a brief discussion of my son's symptoms, I decided to take him in to be tested for the flu. Thankfully my doctor's office had walk-in hours until 7 pm last night. We piled into the car and headed on over. They did the swab test and it did come back positive for the flu. So, if you or anyone you know experiences a persistent low grade fever lasting more than 2 or 3 days, you should see a doctor. This version of the flu has the following symptoms: persistent low-grade fever, sore throat, cough, and congestion. Don't ignore a fever that lasts more than a few days. You are infecting others if you don't take care of yourself and stay home. The doctor said that it'll last 7-10 days. I am hopeful that he'll be fully recovered and well enough to go back to school on Monday.

So, needless to say, I'll be home again tomorrow. I did go in to the office briefly this evening to take care of a few things. Next Tuesday, I will be at Tyson's Corporate offices to talk about Walton's 2 part-time programs - the Managerial MBA(MMBA)and the Professional MIS. For more info on these options for full-time working professionals, visit http://gsb.uark.edu.

Next Thursday I'll be visiting the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith and that evening, we'll be hosting an information session in Rogers at the Arkansas World Trade Center at 5:30.

Great day at Missouri Southern

Today I attended Missouri Southern's Career Fair. Joplin is only about 1 1/2 hours north of Fayetteville. Due to the proximity, this is a good fair for us. We get students from here every year. I was so busy that I ran out of brochures. This is a good problem to have. It means the interest was high. I am hopeful that I'll be able to get a few more students for 2010.

Marion, the GSB Assistant Dean, headed off to Dallas today. She is attending a conference on part-time MBA programs. I was supposed to go also but because of my sick child, I decided it would be best if I stayed home. I am excited about what she will learn and am looking forward to the materials she'll bring back. There are some great programs attending so I am sure there will be much to learn.

Speaking of my sick kid, he is running a fever again. This began on Sunday so I decided it was time to make a call to the doctor. I left a message with her nurse and am awaiting a return call. I am hoping I can take him in tomorrow. This is a persistent little virus. I do not think he has the flu. His only symptoms are his low grade fever and lack of appetite. He doesn't have his usual energy although even at partial energy level, he's a handful. Since I was in Joplin today, daddy was on duty. I had the day off but I'll return to the trenches tomorrow. He's on the injured list as long as his fever persists.

I'll keep my schedule updated here. I plan on going into the office tomorrow so I can catch up on phone calls and get a few things done. He'll be with me so I'll be sequestered in my office. No need to expose others. I won't stay long because there is only so much a 5 year old little boy can do in my office.

Well, it wasn't a 24 hour bug

I got up this morning and was relieved to see that Jack felt much better. He ate breakfast and I took him to school. I dropped him off and headed to work. I had parked my car and was heading to the elevator when my phone rang. I pulled it out of my purse with dread and sure enough, it was my husband telling me he had just been called and that Jack needed to be picked up immediately. He had a temperature of 100.3.

I stopped where I was, just short of the elevator, turned around and headed back to my car feeling like an awful mother for sending him back to school with a fever. I checked him and thought he was fine although I didn't use a thermometer this morning. I can usually get a pretty good idea just by touch. Well, I was wrong today.

As I am driving back to school, I am trying to figure out what I am going to do about my schedule for the next few days. I was supposed to visit Walmart's ISD today and tomorrow is the Career Fair in Joplin, not to mention the conference in Dallas that begins tomorrow too. After talking to my husband about his schedule and consulting with my Assistant Dean, Marion, this is what we decided to do.

Today's visit to Walmart was cancelled and will be rescheduled. My husband will handle the sick kid tomorrow (Jack can't go back to school until he's gone 24 hours without a fever. It is for the best, we don't want to contaminate anyone else) and I will go to Joplin as planned. I will not go to Dallas. I don't want to risk my being so far away if he is still sick or has a relapse. If Jack is well and able to go back to school on Thursday, I will go in to the office. This way I am close in case he needs his mommy.

Right now, he is watching Tom and Jerry and I just finished putting tires (that he pulled off) back on his truck. My living room looks like a tornado hit it. There is a truck, a football, a pair of shoes, and a helmet on my floor. Sick days can be really rough when they are almost better, so they have most of their energy, yet are not well enough to go back to school. They are small for such a short period of time and I do treasure every bit of it.

Tomorrow I will be at Missouri Southern's Career Fair. Hope to see you there.

Busy week ahead

Today, instead of being in my office preparing for the busy week I have ahead, I am home with a sick child. My five-year-old son, Jack, ran a low grade fever yesterday, slept most of the day, and didn't eat past breakfast. Today his fever is still lingering but at least I have been able to get him to eat. I am hoping it is only a 24 hour bug.

I should take this opportunity to address a scary topic, swine flu. The University of Arkansas does have a plan in place should swine flu strike the campus. If a student becomes ill, a call should be made to our Health Care Center. Symptoms will be triaged over the phone and if it is believed the student could have swine flu, he/she will be instructed to stay quarantined. The Dean of Students will be notified and an email will be sent to all of the student's instructors. Should faculty and staff become ill, we have been instructed to remain at home. Offices will remain open as long as there is personnel to staff them. Classes will continue as scheduled. If an instructor is ill and unable to teach class, it will continue online. The health of our students is our first priority.

As I mentioned, this week is going to be a busy one. Tomorrow I'll be at Walmart's ISD, 11-1, to talk about our two part-time master's degree programs. On Wednesday I'll be in Joplin at Missouri Southern's Career Fair. That same day after the Career Fair, I'll jump on a plane to Dallas for a conference on part-time MBAs. I am looking forward to this. I won't be back in the office until next week. If you are at Walmart's ISD or in Joplin, be sure to stop by and say, "hi."

Check out Jessica's blog. She did a study abroad in Rio this summer so she has some interesting insights to the 2016 Olympic games. You can read her opinions at: http://jessicasmbaexperience.blogspot.com/

We've survived another week

I am so very glad today is Friday. We are experiencing beautiful fall weather in Fayetteville. The trees are beginning to change. It is currently a sunny 57 degrees. The weekend is supposed to be beautiful. My mom is coming to visit. She'll be here this afternoon. She lives in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Tomorrow is a huge day for the Razorbacks. They will meet Texas A&M at the new 1.2 billion (yes, I said, "billion") dollar stadium in Dallas. The Hogs have gotten off to a rough start. Unfortunately, the season doesn't get any easier. In the next three games we face off against Auburn, Florida, and Ole Miss. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Speaking of the fabulous new stadium in Dallas, I should mention Jerry Jones. Jerry Jones is the owner of the Dallas Cowboys and he is a former Razorback football player and an alum of the Walton College. He will be honored by the Walton College this year as he is inducted into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame. For more details about this and to learn who else will be inducted this year, visit http://dailyheadlines.uark.edu/15742.htm.

Next week is going to be busy for me. On Tuesday, I'll be at Walmart's ISD recruiting for our part-time programs. I'll be in Joplin on Wednesday at Missouri Southern's Career Fair. I then head to Dallas for a conference and I'll be there through Friday. Hope to see you on the road.

Let's talk MBA for a minute.

I wanted to address a situation that we (and other graduate schools of business) are currently facing. On the one hand, it's a good problem to have and on the other, it is frustrating for everyone involved.

What am I talking about? This year the Walton GSB has experienced a significant increase in MBA applications. This is good; I am not complaining. Also, we have experienced a decrease in the number of graduate assistantships (GA) we have available to our incoming MBA students. The same phenomena is responsible for both effects - increase in applications, decrease in financial funding available. The phenomena that I am referring to is the current economic situation our country is experiencing.

Our applications are up because of the current employment situations of many people. This is a good time to go to grad school. The number of GAs we have is down for the same reason. We depend on many corporate partners to hire our GAs. If these corporate partners are experiencing cutbacks, they are unable to sponsor a GA (or 2 or 3).

So, let me tell you what is happening this year. We have more students, than we have had in the past, starting the program in January who have not been awarded a GA. This is not because they are not deserving; to the contrary this class has broken all previous records. Currently, the average GMAT is 642 (previous high was 630), average age is 27 (previous high was 26), and they average nearly 5 years of work experience (previous high was 3.5).

Hence the frustration - for our students and us. The exceptionality of this class is a direct result of the economy. In better circumstances, many of these incoming students would not have chosen to leave their current employment situation to return to grad school. But, and this is a big but, we have to take the bad right along with the good. We have an outstanding class coming in yet we have less money than ever to award them.

We, here in the Walton GSB, are not rolling over. Steps are being taken to find new corporate partners. We want to reward our students with an assistantship. They are most deserving. So, we are not giving up yet. Cross your fingers.

Today, We Remember Karthik

Karthikeyan Sennimalai was killed in a hit-and-run accident on July 2, 2005, shortly after celebrating the completion of his MBA at the Walton College. After his death, friends and family members contributed to a memorial fund in his honor.

Last year, Karthik’s family decided to create an endowed scholarship funded partially from gifts given in his honor after his untimely death and partially from his family. The purpose of the Karthikeyan Sennimalai Scholarship for International Students is to provide financial assistance for international students who are pursuing a graduate degree in the Walton College. It will be awarded for the first time in the coming year.

Sennimalai’s father, Sennimalai Arunachalam, said, “He was a unique individual whose infectious smile and willingness to help enlivened the lives of those who knew him. This fund is set up by his family to commemorate his life and perpetuate his memory.”

Marion Dunagan, assistant dean for Graduate Programs, said, “Karthik’s family and friends have provided a lasting gift for countless international students. We are grateful that they have chosen to remember an exceptional Walton MBA student in such a meaningful and giving manner.”

A plaque commemorating the establishment of this scholarship will be displayed in the Graduate School of Business suite in Willard J. Walker Hall once the scholarship has been awarded for the first time. Below, Marion Dunagan and Alan Ellstrand, MBA program director, show another plaque that will be displayed in the Walton College on the third floor of the business administration building, along with other endowed scholarships that have been created for our students.


Today,September 30th, happens to be Karthik’s birthday remembrance day; therefore, we are writing this post in his honor and hope that everyone who reads it will reflect on his life and the impact he had on others.

Master of Accountancy Admissions Update

I am sure you are thinking that the Master of Accountancy (MAcc) just started. Why on earth am I talking about admissions for this program again already? Well, last year the program implemented an early decision deadline of September 15. Recruiting in the field of accounting occurs in the fall. Our application deadline for the MAcc is March 1. If seniors apply at that time and are denied admission, they have missed the recruiting season and would have difficulty finding a job in late spring.

Last year, we admitted 2 students after this early deadline. This year, we have 20 completed applications. This looks like a very promising group. It's too soon to report the results. The committee has yet to make their decisions. As soon as I hear back from them, I'll be sure to provide the information.

Final application deadline for the Master of Accountancy is March 1. To find our admissions requirements, please visit http://gsb.uark.edu/admissions.asp.

MBA Admissions Update

The committee met for the last time yesterday. We currently stand at 39 possible admits. Average GMAT is 642, average GPA is 3.3, average age is 27, and they average over 4.5 years of work experience.

13 more students were admitted yesterday. Until we hear back from these 13, we won't have final numbers. We will accept late apps through November until we reach a class size of 45 (at most).

If you have questions, please email gsb@walton.uark.edu.

I can hear the faint rumble of motorcycles

Bikes, Blues, & Bar B Que kicked off yesterday here in Fayetteville. The main attractions are on Dickson street which is very near my building (located on Harmon, just off Dickson). This is a huge event that is held annually; this is the 10th year. Visit their official website for more details: http://www.bikesbluesandbbq.org/. The event director is Walton's very own, Nelson Driver. Nelson teaches in our Finance Department. Last year over 400,000 people attended this event which raised money for several local charities.

I'll be working at the rally tonight to raise money for my kids' school. It is definitely something to see. I am a people watcher and there are lots of them to watch.

Walton College Career Fair

The Walton College held its Business Career Fair last Tuesday. Prior to the Fair, on Monday night, a networking social was held that employers (who were attending the Fair the next day) and students attended. This was a great opportunity for Walton students to interact with possible future employers. I have attached a few pictures of both events.

Wal-Mart Sustainability Supplier Assessment course

A new course is being offered in environmental sustainability, the Wal-Mart Sustainability Supplier Assessment. This course if being offered in partnership with the University of Arkansas Applied Sustainability Center. In this 90-minute session, you will:

Review the Wal-Mart Sustainability Assessment Questions in detail, including key learning that could come from each question, resources within your organization that could help answer each question, and a review of external resources that may help you answer the question and proactively explore ways to innovate in those areas of your business.

Review the weighting and calculations that will take your answers to the 15 questions and create scores in the areas of Climate and Energy, Material Efficiency, Nature and Resources and People and Community.

Discuss future sustainability reporting plans, including the much anticipated product sustainability assessment, or “Sustainability Index," and the Sustainability Consortium’s role in building the foundation for that program.

For your convenience, this session will be offered both online and in-person. For more information or to register, visit our website.

Event: Wal-Mart Sustainability Supplier Assessment
Fee: $145 per participant or per web link
Location: Donald W. Reynolds Center, Fayetteville, Arkansas or OnlineDate/Time: Wednesday, September 20, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM

In today, out tomorrow

I am back in the office today but I will back on the road again tomorrow. I will be attending a Career Fair at Rogers State University in Claremore, Oklahoma. I have not attended this fair before. I try to add a new fair or two each fall. I also will stop going to a fair that doesn't result in applications. My travel locations each fall will vary depending on how it went the previous fall.

On Wednesday, the admissions committee for the MBA meets for the last time. We are currently at 28 students and I am expecting to admit at least 10 more at this meeting. Late applications will be accepted as space allows. We do not want to have more than 45 in this next class. Also, all late applicants will be self-funded.

On Thursday I will be at the Bentonville Plaza talking about our part-time MBA (MMBA). I am taking Friday off to recharge my batteries.

How to choose a business school

The AACSB provides this convenient checklist:

1. Research your prospective school
choices, talk with the admissions staff and
ask every possible question that you may
have. There are so many programs
available today, especially in the area of
business, that program diversity can be
overwhelming. Each business school has
its own programs, culture, personality
and blend of faculty. The good news is that
you can find the right program that fits
your areas of interest and personality.

When meeting with or talking to
admissions staff don’t be shy, this is their
area of expertise and make sure you ask
specific and direct questions relating to
your goals and aspirations.

2. Do your own personal needs
assessment. What kind of environment
do you want to live in during your years of
study? On or off campus? Large campus
or small? Do you want to be close or far
away from home? What are your career
goals? Where do you envision yourself
when your education is complete?
Remember, making your final choice
should be a very personal one — don’t
rely solely on the opinions or influence
of relatives and friends. What is right for
someone else might not be the best choice
for you.

3. Talk to everyone and compare
responses. If you can, have conversations
with current students or even past
graduates. Are current students or
graduates happy with their decision —
what would they do similarly or differently
if they could do it all over again? Try to
find out the overall philosophy, outlook,
and ‘feel’ of each particular school and
its various degree programs. What
are the academic strengths? What are
the weaknesses? Are there special
programs, research opportunities,
internships available for your area
of interest?

4. Assess faculty quality. Look at available
web pages and other information to
assess the experience level of the school’s
faculty. Do they have extensive real-
world experience that they bring to the
classroom? Are they engaged in research
that helps to advance knowledge in their
field of expertise? Does the school have a
strong link to the business sector through
internships or volunteer programs?

5. Don’t overemphasise the importance
of rankings. Remember, rankings are only
a single data point to help you with your
overall research. While you can make
some comparisons with rankings, be
careful in how much weight you attach to
them — the key to using media rankings
effectively is knowing if what they measure
is what is important to you. What
is most important is to select programs
that fit best with your goals regardless of
the rank attributed to a program by
any publication.

6. Choose a school with global business
accreditation. Be knowledgeable
about the importance of specialized
business accreditation. Specialized
accreditation, such as that awarded by
AACSB International, demonstrates that
a school has gone through an extensive
multi-year evaluation process and has
made a commitment to academic quality
and continuous improvement. AACSB-
accredited institutions, which make up
less than 5% of the world's business
schools, are subject to rigorous review
and evaluation processes — each of
which raise the school’s level of academic
excellence over those that are not
accredited.

Provided by AACSB International
(The Association to Advance Collegiate
Schools of Business)

www.aacsb.edu

Podcast Available of MBA Internship Presentations

The podcast of the final round of MBA presentations is now available.

http://ice.waltoncollege.uark.edu/mediasite/FileServer/Podcast/61a66e3f-b4a7-4a1b-a193-d20e05ce3d7d/graduate_school_of_business_podcasts.xml

To recap, all students who completed an internship over the summer were required to do a presentation. These presentations were performed in front of corporate judges and the top 6 MBA students then moved on to a final round. The finals occurred last Friday and the winner, Brant Simpkins, was announced on Monday evening. Check out the podcast to see these fabulous presentations. I do know that one or two of the speakers did not turn their microphones on and I apologize for this technical goof.

I was at Tulsa University today and was able to meet several great prospects for our master's degree programs. I will be in the office tomorrow and I am looking forward to doing a little catch up since I have been out for two days. I know we received several applications yesterday (deadline) for MAcc and MBA. We need to get all of these apps ready for their admissions committees. I am anxious to see what we have. On Friday I'll be at Harding University. Come see me if you are there.

For those of you who read my blog regularly, I am sure you are not surprised if I say that I am watching So You Think You Can Dance right now. Woohoo! I am ready for season 6. Okay, this is why I watch this show. A girl who is deaf just danced beautifully. So inspiring.

Congrats Brant

Walton MBA student, Brant Simpkins, is our 3rd Annual Internship Showcase winner. Brant is actually pictured below. I'll share pictures from the Networking event that was held on Monday night when I get back into the office.

Today I attended a Career Fair at Missouri State. This Career Fair has been profitable for me. I have met very high quality master's and PhD students at Missouri State. Tomorrow I am off to Tulsa University. I actually began my undergraduate career at TU where I was a Kappa Delta (and finished my degree at NSU). I look forward to this trip each year.

I will be back in the office on Thursday. By then I am sure I will have a lot to report.

Walton MBA Internship Showcase is Over

Our 6 finalists in the MBA Internship Showcase competed on Friday. They did such a great job and I am very proud of them. The winner will be announced tonight at the Networking Event. I know who won but I can't tell yet. Here are pictures of Friday's competition. We also had 8 students from the new MBA class that will start in January present. They came to learn more about the internship process and to get a heads up for the competition next year.

















Tonight's event is very important for our MBAs. Tomorrow is the Walton College's Business Career Fair. All employers who will be attending tomorrow's fair have been invited to the Networking event tonight. Our MBA students will be present with their poster. This gives the employers an opportunity to browse through and speak to them about their summer internship experience. Connections could be made that may result in future employment opportunities.

The following companies will be present at the Business Career Fair tomorrow. This fair is held in Willard J. Walker Hall, 11-3.

1. ABF Freight System, Inc.
2. Acxiom Corporation
3. American Airlines
4. AR State Bank Department
5. Ark. Dept. of Information Systems
6. Arvest Bank
7. AT&T
8. Bank of Arkansas
9. Becker Professional Review
10. BNSF Logistics
11. Cherokee Nation Enterprises
12. Cintas Corporation
13. Colgate Palmolive
14. ConAgra Foods
15. ConocoPhillips
16. CROSSMARK
17. Defense Contract Audit Agency
18. Deltic Timber Corporation
19. Dillard's Information Systems
20. EJ Gallo Winery
21. Eli Lilly & Co.
22. Energizer
23. Fastenal
24. FedEx Freight
25. Firestone Complete Autocare
26. GDH Consulting
27. General Mills, Inc.
28. Hallmark Cards
29. Hilti
30. HP
31. Internal Revenue Service
32. J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc.
33. Johnson & Johnson
34. LinkAmerica
35. Lowe's
36. Nebraska Book Company
37. Northwestern Mutual Financial Network
38. Pepsi Bottling Group
39. Reckitt Benckiser
40. Sam's Club
41. SC Johnson
42. Sears Holdings Corporation
43. Sherwin-Williams PSG
44. Southwestern Energy Company
45. Target
46. Transplace
47. Tyson Foods, Inc
48. U of A Graduate School of Business
49. UA Operations Management Program
50. Unilever
51. United States Marine Corps
52. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
53. Wells Fargo

Tomorrow I will be at Missouri State University's Business Career Fair and on Tuesday I will be at Tulsa University's Business Career Fair. I will be back in the office on Thursday.

Crazy morning-crazy semester!

What an insane morning. I visited two Accounting classes to talk about the Walton Master of Accountancy (MAcc) program, had a meeting about scanning (we are going paper less in the GSB so all of our incoming documents are being scanned), and had two student appointments - one was a visiting PhD applicant from Kansas so a tour was involved. This is the first chance I have had to sit down and write something. I haven't even tweeted yet today. That'll be next on my agenda. Once the semester gets started, this is just pretty much the way it is for me. I'll keep up a pretty fast pace until mid-November. Here is my recruiting schedule:

September 15th – Business Career Fair – Missouri State University
September 16th – Business Career Fair – Tulsa University
September 18th – Grad School Fair – Harding
September 22nd – Career Fair – Rogers State University
September 24th – Corporate Visit – Bentonville Plaza, 3:00
October 6th – Corporate Visit – Walmart ISD, 11-1
October 7th – Career Fair – Missouri Southern State University
October 13th – Corporate Visit – Tyson Headquarters, 127, 2:00
October 15th – Information Session – Arkansas World Trade Center, 5:30
October 15th – Career Fair – University of Arkansas – Fort Smith
October 20th – Career Fair – University of Central Oklahoma
October 23rd – Open House and Social
October 28th – Career Fair – ATU
November 3rd – Career Fair – Philander Smith
November 4th – Career Fair – UCA
November 5th – Career Fair – University of the Ozarks

If I am coming to your neighborhood, I would love to meet you. Stop by and say, "hi."

Keep Up With Our MBA Students

School is back in session and even though this is only the 3rd week of class, there is a lot going on. Check the links on the right. The MBA students have a lot to say right now. This is a great way to learn about them, their lives, and what it is like to be a Walton MBA student.

Dr. Raja Kali Joins the World of Bloggers

Hugely popular economic instructor, Dr. Raja Kali, is now blogging. Be sure to keep up with him and his insights into the world of economics at http://scale-free-economics.blogspot.com/. Dr. Kali teaches an economics class during the first semester of the Walton MBA. This class is consistently listed as a favorite in exit interviews held with graduating students. Students have loved his class so much that they have asked for further opportunities to take his courses. Because of his popularity and the current obsession that many are experiencing in regard to our economic situation, a professional development course taught by Dr. Kali was developed. This semester, he is now leading a discussion titled, "Realtime Economics" for one hour every other week. Walton MBA students can take this 8 hour series and earn one hour of professional development.

Over the course of the three-semester curriculum, MBA students earn 5 hours of professional development credit. This is earned in many different ways. One way it to take a "short course" such as the one Dr. Kali is teaching. By offering different topics throughout the three semesters, students are able to select what is most important to them - to "tailor" their degree program. Other ways of earning professional development credit include: image consulting, attending guest speakers, etc. There are many different ways to earn the credit and also many different opportunities are provided.

It is important that an MBA program stay current and up to date. By requiring professional development credits, the Walton College is able to implement new, "hot" topics quickly. Each year, the options offered differ. What is important and vital now may not be next year. We are able to respond to current demands and needs. I believe this sets us apart.

And the Winner Is...

It is too soon to tell but we do know it'll be one of these six MBA superstars: Stacy Carty, Brant Simpkins, Liz Slape, Adam Hale, Sarah Clark, and Matt Taylor. These students will present on Friday and the winner will be announced at the Networking Social on Monday. I always look forward to the Internship Showcase Finals. This is my chance to learn what our students are doing over the summer. This helps me in recruiting future students and gives me valuable insight to share with prospective Walton MBA students.

MBA application deadline is next week, Tuesday, September 15th. The admissions committee will meet on the 23rd. We currently have 28 students in the next class. I am expecting to have at least 38 after this meeting. Late applications will be accepted. I don't think we'll admit more than 45 into this class.

It's Finally Friday!

And not only is it Friday, it is a three day weekend.

Today our MBA students are competing in round one of the Internship Showcase. All Walton MBA students do internships during the summer between their first and second semesters. Three hours of credit are earned. As part of their requirements, students design a poster and a presentation. This presentation is then performed in front of corporate judges. The top 6 then move on to the final round of competition. This will be held on Friday, September 11, 1:00-3:00 in the Willard J. Walker Auditorium.

On Monday, September 14 all students will attend a Networking event. This event is for all vendors who will be attending the Walton Business Career Fair on Tuesday, September 15th. During this Networking event, Walton MBA student posters will be showcased and potential employers will have the opportunity to discuss their internships with them.

Between the presentations and the Networking event, this is an opportunity for our students to catch the eye of a potential employer. Both the final round of competition and the Networking event are open to our newly admitted MBA students who will begin in January as well as any prospective MBA students who would like to observe these opportunities in order to get a feel for the Walton MBA. Please email me at gsb@walton.uark.edu if you plan to attend either event.

Enjoy your 3 day weekend. I know I will.