SGA: Raising Awareness and Tackling Key Issues

The Graduate Student Government Association has officially embarked on its mission to raise awareness of Rutgers Business School and its programs. On the agenda are two white papers covering curriculum alignment with market needs and the strengthening of employment pipelines by concentration. This initiative, spearheaded by SGA President Barak Epstein and Full-time Newark SGA Vice President Anjum Malkana, is already in the works with key contributors identified. Completion of the first paper, tackling the business school’s Finance, Marketing and Supply Chain concentrations, is scheduled for the end of spring semester, and provided buy-in is obtained from faculty and administration, a second covering the remaining specializations will be issued in the fall.

The All Clubs Council held a second successful meeting thanks to the leadership of SGA Treasurer Darryl Wooten. Board representatives from each of the graduate student organizations were in attendance to offer updates on their various initiatives as well as voice concerns. Website maintenance was one issue raised by meeting attendees, and a task force has been designated to address the matter. The SGA is also working to address the needs of its international student body, pledging its support for proposals aiming to improve guidance for students requiring additional academic and career assistance.

More to come on these topics at the following SGA meeting scheduled for Friday, April 29th, 2011.

Picking MBA Classes 101: Business Communications

Student: Diana Bodine
Favorite Class: Business Communications
Class: Full time 2012

Diana's Insight:
When entering the business world, there are certain skills such as memo writing, public speaking, and proper writing techniques that you are expected to know. However, these skills are not included in any course syllabus. Business Communications has allowed me to designate time and get honest, yet supportive feedback from my peers to perfect these skills. As someone who does not find public speaking easy, Business Communications was important to continuously work at improving these necessities. Taught by Susan Mach, a communication trainer, coach, and strategist, she has coached clients at AT&T, Ford, General Electric, Siemens, and IBM. As I’ve learned is standard in the business world, I’ll be brief and make my point- Business Communications is a valuable class that will benefit you in interviews, future coursework, and throughout your career.

Road Trip!

by: Tarak Shah

It wasn’t officially Spring Break at Rutgers, but Brian Pan and I went on a road trip to Boston for a medical devices conference last weekend. While the trip gave me an opportunity to learn more about this industry, the key highlight for me was valuable bonding time with a good friend and MBA classmate.

We took off Sat night from Newark and spent the night at my uncle and aunt’s place near Hartford, CT. Being that my aunt likes to cook extremely spicy Indian food, often times more than I can handle, I wasn’t sure how Brian would respond. But he seemed like he really enjoyed the food. Brian also seemed to enjoy talking to my family and I know they felt the same. After all, there’s a reason why Brian is Rutgers Business School’s most eligible bachelor J.

Brian and I then headed to Boston Sunday afternoon and had dinner with an old friend and his girlfriend. Boston currently has their Restaurant Week so we got to enjoy some pretty amazing food (with big servings!) at a very reasonable price. Later that night we arrived at the hotel and decided that we really needed to do some work for our classes being that it was also midterms week!

Monday we were at the conference all day. Brian and I attended most of the talks and networked with a few industry experts. Most of the discussions centered around the state of new product regulation as a result of healthcare reform. The funny thing was that in between some of the events we were in the lobby sitting in front of our laptops getting more work done. The true life of an MBA, right? Later that night we got to catch up with other old friends in the area.

While these events made the trip a lot of fun, I especially enjoyed the car ride as it gave me an opportunity to learn more about Brian. We haven’t had many opportunities to hang out since the start of school, so it was really great getting to know him better. It reminded me that the MBA experience is not just about pursuing career goals, but it’s also about building long term friendships with classmates. I look forward to more opportunities to bond with Brian and my other classmates.

Keep up the Good Work SGA!

Following its latest meeting on February 25^th, the RBS Student Government Association hit the ground running to launch several initiatives in support of the school and its student organizations. Among the inventory of projects are:

· Website Development Workshops

· Club Funding Guidance Documents

· Networking Events

· An RBS Paper

In support of student clubs, the SGA hopes to partner with the Office of Communications to offer website development and maintenance workshops for incumbent club officers. The additional training will ensure all websites are up-to-date. Similarly, SGA Vice President, Anjum Malkana, is working with the Office of Student Services to develop guidance documents on club funding procedures. The idea is to make funding processes as transparent as possible, so student organizations can sufficiently plan for the semester. The guidelines will also facilitate smoother transitions to next generation board members.

Special props go out to SGA University Senator, Kyle Jasey, and SGA Treasurer, Darryl Wooten, for coordinating and spearheading the first “All Clubs Council”. The committee serves as a platform for club officers to share ideas and voice concerns. So far, clubs have expressed a need for a once-a-semester concentration seminar to introduce students to the variety of MBA specializations offered at RBS, as well as a need for an Alumni Chair on the boards for each student organization. Currently, the Pharmaceutical Management Club is the only organization with an official Alumni Chair position dedicated to maintaining relationships with RBS graduates.

Stay tuned for upcoming social networking events coordinated by SGA Social Chair, Brandon Saks, and SGA Part-Time Vice President, Megan Reed. Also on the horizon, is the first student-authored RBS White Paper, which will focus on the alignment of curriculum and career goals by MBA concentration.

More discussion on these initiatives at the next SGA meeting scheduled for Friday, March 25^th, 2011.

Picking Courses 101: Multicultural Markets

Student: Nicole Ricchione

Favorite Class: Multicultural Markets

Nicole's Insight:

This semester, I am very excited to be taking Multicultural Markets and Urban Developments with Professor Jerome Williams. Since Professor Williams is new to the Rutgers community, I figured I should share my thoughts on his class and on him as a professor. As a student concentrating in Entrepreneurship, I see a huge need for a class that focuses on how to run a business in the multicultural society that we live in today. One of the main goals of this class is to provide students a better understanding of multicultural markets as it relates to assisting entrepreneurs in urban communities. As a student with an interest in Social Entrepreneurship, I see the need for a class that teaches me how to meet the needs of consumers in inner-city communities. This class is providing me with relevant information I will need when I start my own social venture someday in the near future.

Professor Williams uses a dynamic teaching style that keeps us involved in the class discussion. He is not a lecturer. He keeps us on our toes and keeps us interested. Before each class, we prepare by reading articles and case studies so that we can actively participate in class discussions. For the case study discussions, we are prompted to choose a side and defend our decision. As much as I am not one to enjoy being “cold called”, it does challenge me in the best way possible and it brings me out of my comfort zone. He has no problem playing the devil’s advocate to either side of an argument in order to get us to think more critically. Professor Williams also brings a wealth of knowledge and real world experience to the classroom. We have already viewed numerous video clips of interviews, studies, and cases he was involved in that dealt with issues we have discussed in class such as retail redlining, target marketing to specific ethnic groups, and consumer racial profiling.

A final note about Professor Williams is that he is genuinely a down-to-earth guy who really sees the value in getting to know his students and letting them get to know him on a more personal level. He strives to be approachable and easy to talk to. In the past, he has reached out to students to ask them what makes an effective professor so that he can improve. The common theme was that students want their professors to be down-to-earth and approachable. Therefore, he takes time out of each class to share video clips, pictures, and personal stories that relate to his family or his experiences in childhood and school. He does this in an effort to be relatable and everyone really enjoys this part of class.

As an entrepreneurship concentration, I highly recommend this class as it is not only relevant and extremely useful, but also genuinely enjoyable. I look forward to the next half of this class as well as any other classes I am lucky enough to take with Professor Williams throughout my MBA experience.