Save the Date!

The GSB will host its Spring Open House and Social on Thursday, March 7. The Open House will begin at 5:30 in 403 Willard J. Walker Hall. Program directors will be in attendance. This event is for all prospective master's degree students. As soon as the Open House is finished, we'll join the Social.

The Social will be 6:00-8:00 at Powerhouse Seafood and Grill in Fayetteville. The Social is for current, former, and prospective Walton graduate students. Faculty will also be in attendance. This is a very good opportunity for our alumni to come back and say hi. It also gives our current students a chance to socialize outside of the classroom. For our prospective students, they are able to mix and mingle with current students.

These events are hosted three times a year. If you are unable to attend this spring, our summer Open House and Social will be in either June or July.

Where does the time go?

I have been meaning to share pictures of Walton MBA Orientation for a couple of weeks now. Better late than never, right?

Day 1 we are very busy providing information to students. We kicked off the week by having the students do a fun icebreaker. They then got a program overview followed by an important discussion on developing their personal brand. Technology training was then done and the GSB discussed graduate assistantships. We wrapped up the day with Vikas Anand's topic, "Maximizing your MBA Experience, Going Beyond the Classroom" and a Career Center overview. That evening we hosted a mixer where an alumni panel spoke to the class.

Day 2 began with a study abroad overview. Dr. Gary Peters went over the China trip and then Dr. Vikas Anand and Dr. Alan Ellstrand discussed India. 

The class then spent the rest of the day in a very fun team building exercise.

Day 3 was retail immersion day. The day started at JB Hunt where Walton alumni, John Roberts, CEO, spoke to us.


Then next stop of the day was a tour of a Walmart distribution center. We then had lunch at the Arkansas World Trade Center. The afternoon was spent at a local Walmart where teams were formed and an assignment was completed.

Day 4 was spent preparing for a case competition.

Day 5 is case competition day. Dina Howell, Worldwide CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi X, was our guest speaker at lunch.

Here is Dean Eli Jones speaking to the class while the judges are deliberating.

And the winner is...Team H - Marsha Shaw, Jenna Gladney, and Andrew Mainer.

And finally, may I present to you the Walton MBA class of 2014.

National Science Foundation Awards Grant to CycleWood Solutions

CycleWood Solutions, a start-up founded by Walton MBA alumni, Nhiem Cao and Kevin Oden, has recently been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation.

http://newswire.uark.edu/article.aspx?id=19906

Also, today is the application deadline for the Walton Economics, Finance, Information Systems, and Management PhD programs. Marketing, Accounting, and Supply Chain Management had deadlines in December.

 I will provide more detail later this week about the amazing MBA Orientation that occurred last week.

 Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/waltoncollegemba?ref=ts&fref=ts and on Twitter, @WaltonMBA.

Hello 2013!

Walton will welcome its new MBA class on Monday. Orientation will be January 7-11 and classes start on the 14th. I will be sure to post pictures throughout the week.

Here are the stats for the class of 2014:

Class size = 34
GMAT = 655
Women = 50%
International = 30%
Age = 25.5
States represented are: Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, Alabama, Colorado, South Carolina, and Washington DC.
Countries represented are: Bolivia, China, India, Vietnam, France, and Brazil
Undergraduate institutions are: UofA, Univ of Kansas, Clemson, Univ of Colorado, Univ of Oklahoma, Baylor, TCU, Georgetown, SMU, and Washington Univ.

Before we get started on the new year, I need to wrap up 2012. December was a very busy month. On December 7 we held our first meeting of our new MBA Alumni Advisory Board. Here are some pictures of that meeting:

Our students also spent December studying for and taking finals. Here are some shots I took in the building as the semester came to a close.

Come back next week to see how MBA Orientation is going.

To join the Walton MBA class of 2015, submit your application materials by April 1, 2013. Our application requirements can be found at http://gsb.uark.edu/admissions.asp. This class will begin in January of 2014.