Walton Alumni Win TCBY Great Store Giveaway

The announcement was made this morning that Walton alumni, Jared and Sarah Greer, had won the TCBY Great Store Giveaway. This is very exciting for us in Northwest Arkansas and at the Walton College. You can see the video announcement at: http://www.kfsm.com/news/kfsm-news-nwa-tcby-winner-announced,0,3637094.story.

If Jared's name seems familiar, it is because he was a member of the successful small business plan team last year, Tears for Life. Jared, Sarah, and TCBY will now choose a location and will be breaking ground soon. Let's help them make this a successful venture by buying lots of TCBY yogurt.

Weekend Summary

I was off on Friday to enjoy a very nice 3-day weekend. Well, I did enjoy it, for the most part. On Thursday night, Zoey was spinning Jack in her computer chair. Gravity and the G force won and he fell. No one said anything though. On Friday, my day off, I noticed Jack's coloring was off and that he didn't look well. You don't ask a 6 year old if he is sick - especially when he knows his mom has the day off. I kept my eye on him and noticed he was holding his arm very protectively against his side. I finally asked him what he did to his arm. That is when I got the spinning chair story. I asked Zoey to show me how he fell and when I saw how he landed on the floor, I decided to take him to the doctor. We were able to feel his shoulder and move his arm around. He flinched a little but no tears and no cries of pain. I thought he probably knocked his shoulder out.


As you can see, that is not a dislocated shoulder. That is a broken clavicle (collarbone). And of course there is not a should immobilizer small enough for a 6 year old little boy - which I find odd. I know it is not uncommon for little boys to break their collarbones. I told him that this is why I am always telling him to stop jumping on the couch. So, my Friday morning off was spent in the doctor's office and then trying to find something to put on him to hold him still for his bone to heal. We ended up putting a figure 8 on him and a sling. He is still able to move his arm entirely too much. The rest of my weekend was spent camping on the Elk River in Noel, MO. My mom came into town so she got to stay with my daredevil children. The weather was beautiful but we weren't able to float. The River was too high.

This is going to make our trip to Yellowstone very interesting. Poor guy is now finished with T-ball this year and he can't swim for 6 weeks. Maybe now they'll listen to their ol' mom.

Great Way to End

Well, I hate to brag. Wait a minute, no, in fact, I love it. Walton business plan teams had another great week. Silicon Solar Solutions placed 1st at the Licensing Executives Society business plan competition in Boston yesterday.

The Donald W. Reynolds Tri-State Competition was held May 17-19 in Las Vegas. The top two finishers from Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Nevada advance to Vegas to crown a regional winner. Walton's Innervision placed 1st and BiologicsMD placed 2nd.

To recap the success of these teams, here are the results (that I am aware of):

University of Louisville - BiologicsMD - 1st and winner of spirit award.
University of Cincinnati - BiologicsMD - 1st and 2nd in trade show
Carnegie Mellon - Innervision - 1st in technology
WBT Showcase - Silicon Solar Solutions (SSS) - 3rd
San Diego State - BiologicsMD - finalist & winner - trade show
University of San Francisco - Innervision - 3rd and winner of elevator pitch
Manitoba - SSS - 1st
AR Governor's Cup - Innervision - 1st, BiologicsMD - 2nd, and SSS - 3rd
Oakridge - SSS - 1st
Rice - BiologicsMD - 1st, Innervision - 3rd
Moot Corpt - BiologicsMD - 1st, SSS- 3rd
Licensing Executives Society - SSS - 1st
Donald W. Reynolds Tri-State - Innervision - 1st, BiologicsMD - 2nd

What is going on in the Walton GSB?

Commencement was on May 8 and last week was a week without students on campus, meaning that spring semester had ended and the first summer session hadn't begun yet. We all took advantage and took a day or two off. The first part of May is very busy. Summer school started yesterday so we are back to sharing the parking deck with students. Last week I took advantage of the peace and quiet to finally get some things cleared off of my desk. It felt great. I do have a few projects that I will be focusing on over the summer - things I don't typically have time to work on during the school year.

Of course, we are not finished recruiting for the MBA - both full and part-time. Full-time application deadline is September 15 and we are continuing to accept part-time (MMBA) applications through July 31. In fact, I am meeting a Walton alum and a few prospective students he works with on Thursday for lunch. There is no rest for the wicked and I will continue recruiting for our MBA programs this summer.

The student programs side of the office (my side of the office works with applicants and prospective students through the admissions process. Once admitted, student programs takes over and provides services for them while they are students) are wrapping things up for the graduated students - conferring degrees - and getting ready for the new students who will begin in the fall. We do have MBA students interning this summer and a few of them are in the area. They pop in from time to time. Before we know it, it'll be time for new student Orientation.

I have a couple of upcoming trips that I am very excited about. I am taking my kids to Yellowstone National Park in two weeks. We took my daughter when she was 5 and I am looking forward to going back with her and my son. I have family in Cheyenne and Rawlins so we'll spend some time there first before we head on up to the Park. We'll also see Jackson and Cody. Jackson, Wyoming is incredibly beautiful. This time we are going to go to Mount Rushmore as well. It will be my first time there. I'll be out of the office from Friday, June 4 through Monday, June 14. It's a long trip; we'll be covering many, many miles. I hope I survive with my kids in the car. I'll be sure to blog all about it.

Another New Blogger

Alana Hale joins our group of student bloggers. Follow her Walton MBA experience at http://mbagirlsguide.blogspot.com/. Alana began the MBA in January and will graduate next May (2011).

Walton Making Big Splash!

Recently our students and an alum have received nationwide attention. BiologicsMD won small business plan competitions at Rice University and Moot Corp. Fortune featured them, http://waltoncollege.uark.edu/externalrelations/BBPM.pdf as did the New York Times, http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/10/company-with-osteoporosis-treatment-wins-the-super-bowl/?src=busln.

MBA alum, Jared Greer is one of five finalists to receive a TCBY franchise in the Great TCBY Store Giveaway, http://newswire.uark.edu/article.aspx?id=14104. This is very exciting. Be sure to vote for Jared and Sarah at www.tcby.com.

It's Picture Day

Time to share a few pictures from the graduation party and commencement. The graduation party is held every year and it is for all students graduating from the Walton Graduate School of Business.

Here are a few of our graduating MBA students. Not all were present at the party.

Terryn and Alisha, MBA graduates.

A few of our MBA graduates with friends.

Wenqi and Sherry, MBA graduates.

I love this one. This is Benoit and Whitney.

Two of our MMBA (part-time) graduates.

Three Walton faculty - Scot Burton, Marketing; Adriana Hofer, Logistics; Alexey Malakhov, Finance.

Master of Information Systems graduates.


Commencement.
This is Marion making sure a hood is on correctly prior to the ceremony.

Three part-time MBA graduates - Meagan, Autumn, and Sarah.

Group of MMBA students.

MBA grads - Amy and Marisela.

MMBA grads.

MBA grads.

All students finishing graduate degrees line up in this hallway.

They then file out.

Commencement for the Walton College is held in Barnhill Arena. Once all of our graduates file out to the floor, they are seated and the ceremony begins.