Consider presenting at the 2006 Executive MBA Council Conference Check out a summary from the USA Southeast Regional Meeting

Transcription

1 March 2006 Exchange Web page Consider presenting at the 2006 Executive MBA Council Conference Check out a summary from the USA Southeast Regional Meeting Mark the upcoming regional meetings on your calendar Keep in mind the benefits of the 2006 Student Exit Benchmarking Survey Share your ideas with the conference planning committee Order additional copies of the Impact of Executive MBA Education brochure Learn more about international trips Explore the expanding world of career services for Executive MBA students Consider presenting at the 2006 Executive MBA Council Conference Share your best practices and experiences with others by submitting a request for proposal (RFP) to present a concurrent workshop session at the 2006 Executive MBA Council Conference, Oct , at Baltimore, Maryland. Concurrent workshops cover a single topic or a group of related issues with the aim of educating and engaging conference attendees. Presenters can choose from a diverse range of topics, such as career management, technology, courses, alumni, marketing, or industry trends, for their proposals. The planning committee encourages RFPs that reflect the conference theme, Navigating in a Sea of Change, and that represent the diversity of membership, including collaborative presentations with different perspectives and international collaborations. Submit your proposal by May 1, The proposal form and instructions are available on the council web site at Contact Tony Handsford, thansford@merage.uci.edu or Maria-Eugenia Marin at mariaeugenia.marin@ie.edu with questions about the RFP process and proposed workshops. Check out a summary from the USA Southeast Regional Meeting Outstanding presentations on branding, marketing, and advertising marked the USA Southeast Regional Meeting, which took place Feb at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill). The first Executive MBA Council regional meeting of the year, the USA Southeast Regional Meeting attracted 69 participants from 33 schools and organizations and 11 states. Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Virginia, Wake Forest University, and West Virginia University hosted the regional meeting.

2 Steve Jones, dean of the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill, welcomed participants on Sunday. The first presentation featured Paul Speaker and Elizabeth Vitullo from the University of West Virginia, who shared the results of a survey on the organizational structure of Executive MBA Programs. Thirty programs from the Southeast region responded to the survey, which looked at program responsibilities and staff, organizational structures, alumni relations, and salaries. In the next presentation, Susan Brooks, senior financial aid counselor at the Kenan-Flgler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill, provided information about the Higher Educational Reconciliation Act of 2005 and changes to financial aid. Maury Kalnitz, managing director of the Executive MBA Council, and Barry Van Dyck, council board member and director of degree programs, executive education, at the University of Notre Dame, also updated participants on council initiatives. Monday s activities began with the following presentations: Professor Marian Moore from the University of Virginia spoke to many aspects of branding, including a brief history of brands, brand equity, and the emotional and experiential dimensions of branding. Dan Stotz, director of executive programs at Georgia Institute of Technology, discussed the advantages of customer relationship management, covering successful marketing techniques, keys to increasing open house attendance, and the best ways to convert the applicant into an Executive MBA student. Concette Grillo of Wake Forest explored the use of advertising for Executive MBA Programs and outlined best practices. Before Monday s dinner at the Fuqua School, Associate Dean John Gallagher presented the results of the school s return-on-investment research and compared it to Executive MBA Council studies. Brian Mahoney of Percept Research also talked about five-year trends in the Executive MBA market. On Tuesday, participants reconvened at UNC-Chapel Hill. Professor Jeff Edwards of Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill led a three-hour session on work/life balance issues for Executive MBA staff members. Special thanks to the USA Southeast Regional Meeting planning committee for their hard work in organizing such a successful meeting: Jamie Barnes, director, Wake Forest University Barbara Millar, director, MBA for Executives Program, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia

3 Penny Oslund, executive director, Executive MBA Programs, Kenan-Flagler School of Business, UNC-Chapel Hill Rob Sandruck, director of operations, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University Paul Speaker, director, MBA Programs, West Virginia University Elizabeth Vitullo, associate director, Executive MBA Programs, West Virginia University Several regional meeting presentations are available on the council web site at Mark the upcoming regional meetings on your calendar The slate of regional meetings continues throughout the year; mark your calendar now for the following upcoming meetings. The most recently completed regional meeting, the Europe/Middle East/Africa Regional Meeting on March preceded the MBA Directors meeting at the European Institute of Purchasing Management in Archamps, France. Future issues of Exchange will feature highlights from regional meetings. Remaining regional meetings include: USA/Canada Western Regional Meeting Date: April 9-11, 2006 Starts Sunday; those interested can attend a 1 p.m. baseball game featuring the University of California Irvine (UCI) against Cal State for free, courtesy of UCI. Reception will take place Sunday evening and sessions begin Monday at the Beckman Center. Tuesday sessions will move to the Paul Merage School of Business, with presentations ending by 1:50 p.m. Location and Host: University of California at Irvine Hotel: Rooms are reserved at the Irvine Marriott at $159 per night by calling ; make your reservation by March 29th and reference the Executive MBA Council Western Regional Conference to lock that price. Logistics: The closest airport is SNA-John Wayne Airport Costs: In addition to hotel and travel arrangements, the attendance fee is $125 per person; check payable to UC Regents Topics: Tentative meeting topics include understanding and providing soft skills; finding, qualifying, and recruiting the underrepresented, taking the Executive MBAs to the next step inside the board room, closing the loop (what do you want to be when you grow up), and overcoming corporate reluctance (the Executive MBA brand) Registration and Information: Contact Erik Charles, echarles@uci.edu or if you plan to attend or present and for more information. USA/Canada Midwest Regional Meeting Date: April 25-26, 2006 Starts Tuesday with cocktails and dinner and ends at 4 p.m. Wednesday

4 Location: Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana Host: Purdue University Registration: Please register by April 10 at: Attendance confirmation is on the left; the tentative agenda, subject to change, is on the right. Logistics: A block of rooms is reserved at the Purdue Memorial Union Club Hotel ( Purdue Memorial Union, 101 North Grant Street, West Lafayette, IN Hotel costs are $85 a night plus 11 percent tax. There is no need to make a hotel reservation by phone. If you indicate on the registration site that you will need a room, one will be reserved under your name, and you will receive an confirmation from the Union Club Hotel. All rooms held for the conference will be released on April 11, Purdue will provide all meals and refreshments. Travel tips: Driving directions are available at or fly into the Indianapolis International Airport; transportation from the airport to the Union Club Hotel is available through Lafayette Limo, The drive from the Chicago airport is about two to three hours. Information: Contact Erika Steuterman at or steutere@purdue.edu USA/Canada Northeast Regional Meeting Date: May 15-16, 2006 Starts Monday noon with lunch and ends between 4-5 p.m. Tuesday Location and Host: University of Buffalo, State University of New York USA Southwest Regional Meeting Date: June 11-12, 2006 Location: Rice University, Houston, Texas Hosts: University of Houston and Rice University Look for ongoing regional meeting updates on the council s web site at Keep in mind the benefits of the 2006 Student Exit Benchmarking Survey The 2006 Student Exit Benchmarking Survey offers an economical and easy way to understand student opinions and compare your performance against your competitors. In 2006, the Executive MBA Council has added new features and financial incentives for member programs, making the survey one of the best competitive intelligence tools available for Executive MBA Programs worldwide. The survey measures the opinions of your graduating students on areas that are critical to program success. It also allows you to compare your results with other programs through anonymous peer reports and against all programs through aggregate results.

5 The survey is easy to administer, cost-effective, and saves you time. Choose from print or online survey options and receive high-level summaries two weeks after the survey period ends. You also can customize your survey by adding your own questions. For information or to register, contact Brian Mahoney, Percept Research, , or visit and enter your portal passcode. Contact if you need assistance with your portal access. Share your ideas with the conference planning committee The conference planning committee is working hard to make the 2006 Executive MBA Council Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, another memorable experience for members. From Oct. 22 to 24, the Executive MBA Council will host its annual conference in Baltimore, Maryland. With the theme Navigating in a Sea of Change, the 2006 conference features a full slate of concurrent sessions with more opportunities for interaction than ever, plenary speakers who will shed light on issues of importance to the industry, the latest research results, and much more. All this will happen thanks in large part to the efforts of the following members of the conference planning committee. Feel free to contact committee members with ideas or to volunteer. Co-Chairs Darlene Smith, University of Baltimore, dsmith@ubalt.edu Mary Clark, Washington University, St. Louis,HYPERLINK "mailto:clarkm@wustl.edu" Plenary Sessions Allison Buckley, University of Maryland, abuckley@rhsmith.umd.edu Concurrent / Developmental Sessions Tony Hansford, University of California-Irvine, THansford@gsm.uci.edu Maria-Eugenia Marin, Instituto de Empresa, admissions@ie.edu Toolkit Susan Carver, University of Alabama, scarver@cba.ua.edu Local Schools / Sponsorships Manette Gates, Loyola College, mgates@loyola.edu Paul Speaker, West Virginia University, paul.speaker@mail.wvu.edu Marketing Dan Stotz, Georgia Tech, dan.stotz@mgt.gatech.edu Holly Rice, UNC-Chapel Hill, holly_rice@unc.edu

6 Faculty Event Beatrix Dart, University of Toronto, Special Event Deb Fallahay, University of Chicago, Corporate Representative David Moayad, Orion Worldwide Travel, Evaluation / Logistics Brad Vierig, University of Utah, execbv@business.utah.edu International Coordinator Maria-Eugenia Marin, Instituto de Empresa, admissions@ie.edu Council Representatives Maury Kalnitz, maury@embac.org Karen McLintock, karen@embac.org Event Planners Event Acuity Carrie Hurd, carrie@eventacuity.com Linda Thompson, Linda@eventacuity.com Order additional copies of the Impact of Executive MBA Education brochure Distributed to council members in February, the Impact of Executive MBA Education brochure describes the Executive MBA experience and includes statistics from research studies that demonstrate the value of the degree program. Schools may request up to 75 complimentary copies and purchase additional copies after the first 75 copies for $.25 per copy (U.S. dollars) plus shipping costs by contacting Karen Mc Lintock at karen@embac.org. In March, the council also distributed its 2006 Executive MBA Council Directory, along with an annual report of council activities for Learn more about international trips What are the top 10 most popular countries for international trips? The 2005 Program Survey revealed some interesting information about the international trips that Executive MBA Programs offer their students. International trips average 11.9 days in duration, and 78 percent of all programs that offer international trips also assign a letter grade for participation. In 42 percent of the

7 programs, the program director handles the logistics of the international trip, followed by the program coordinator in 39 percent of programs, by vendors in 17 percent of programs, and by students in 2 percent of programs. Students help plan the itinerary of international trips for 67 percent of programs. Thirtyseven percent of programs coordinate their international trips with other schools. The most popular destinations vary by region, but overall include Brazil, the United States, Chile, the Netherlands, India, Argentina, Ireland, Japan, the Czech Republic, and Hong Kong. Explore the expanding world of career services for Executive MBA students In what ways are Executive MBA Programs expanding their career services for Executive MBA Students? A story in the February Exchange magazine offers some insights. Career services are on the rise. Programs that offered on-campus interviews increased from 18 percent in 2004 to 29 percent in 2005, according to results from the 2005 Executive MBA Council Program Survey. Programs that provided career-related workshops also rose from 55 to 62 percent. To learn more about this trend and the ways that programs are responding, check out the Exchange story at (Just enter emba in both the user name and password lines to access the link).