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.