Smith Newslink MBA - An eNewsletter for MBA Students at the Robert H. Smith School of Business

Congratulations Smith School Graduates!

An enthusiastic crowd gathered in Comcast Center on Dec. 20, 2007, to cheer on a brand-new crop of proud Smith School alumni. Allan Edelson ’81, director of Deutsche Bank Berkshire Mortgage, Inc., joined in the congratulations and gave his fellow alumni advice on selecting a career and specific steps they could take to be successful in their first job. In particular, he urged graduates to be successful in their positions before they tried to reinvent their jobs. “Most companies have processes that to the new employee seem redundant, unnecessary, and highly inefficient. While in some cases, it may actually be true, you should not revise the process until you have mastered the process,” advised Edelson.
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Smith Helps Raise Funds to Build Libraries in Rural China
A fundraising effort, sponsored by the Smith School of Business to support youth literacy and education in rural China, has raised enough money to build eight libraries in these often-neglected regions of the country. The money raised at the Smith School's Team Maryland Thanksgiving Charity Fundraising Dinner, Nov. 24, 2007 in Shanghai will benefit The Library Project, a non-profit organization that donates books and libraries to underserved schools and orphanages in China.

Nearly 150 people attended the fundraising dinner while corporate sponsors – many of them Maryland-based companies such as Black & Decker and Under Armour – provided cash gifts and products for auction. Through donations and ticket sales, sponsors and participants ensured that the event drew funds equal to the amount needed to construct eight libraries. The following day Team Maryland, which consisted of 70 runners including alumni and students from the Smith School's Executive MBA program in China, competed in the Shanghai International Marathon as part of the fundraiser.
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Smith Alum’s Support Ensures Future QUEST Conferences, Programming
A gift from a recent Smith Schools graduate will ensure the future of the school’s Quality Enhancement and Teams (QUEST) Honors Fellows Program annual Innovation and Consulting Conference. QUEST Executive Director Gerald Suarez announced the gift at this year’s conference, held Dec. 6, 2007. The evening event is organized to give students opportunity to present their consulting projects to more than 250 business, nonprofit and government clients; faculty; parents; and peers. “The essence and strength of the QUEST program resides in the students,” Suarez told the standing-room-only audience in Frank Auditorium. He introduced Matthew Brumberger, a 2007 information systems Smith School graduate and QUEST alumnus, who said he was compelled to give back to the program that has done so much for him.
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Smith School Partners with Avaya on Supply Chain Project
About a year ago, the Smith School's Supply Chain Management Center teamed up with Avaya to prototype the delivery of "Communication Enabled Business Process" solutions in the banking industry. Last month, Avaya executives, including Charlie Ill, senior vice president of global sales for Avaya, visited Smith to review the research and meet with Dean Howard Frank and Sandor Boyson, research professor and co-director of the Supply Chain Management Center.

"Avaya values the close relationship that it has with the Smith School--and the University of Maryland overall--and hopes to continue such endeavors in the future," says Skip Cohen, global account manager (public sector) for Avaya. Also present was Ryan Ockuly, client executive public sector, Avaya.

“The Smith School and Avaya have a strong and supportive history and we are pleased to be contributors to this project,” said Boyson. “This offers an opportunity to build on previous collaborative efforts with Avaya to develop industry-pioneering, communications-enabling supply chain process.”

Smith MBAs Learn About Socially Responsible Investing at Calvert
On Friday, Nov. 30, a group of first- and second-year Smith MBA students traveled to the headquarters of the investment fund Calvert in Bethesda, Md., to learn about the Calvert Fund, a socially responsible mutual fund. This field trip–dubbed “The Calvert Trek”–was organized by the Smith Net Impact Club, whose mission is to make a positive impact on society by building a community of leaders who use business to improve the world. Calvert has been in the mutual fund business for over 30 years and manages more than $15 billion in assets, including the nation’s largest array of socially responsible mutual funds.
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University Update

► UM Students Capture Second Place in Solar Decathlon
The University of Maryland Solar Decathlon Team capped its "silver" honors in the U.S. Department of Energy competition by winning the BP Solar People's Choice Award Dec. 15. The Terps amassed the most votes as the favorite of visitors to the Decathlon site over nine days. The Terps also captured the title of People's Choice two years ago in the previous Decathlon. Earlier this week, the Discovery Home Channel program, "Solar Showdown," highlighted a University of Maryland team and two others as they prepared for the Solar Decathlon.
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More Latest News

♦ Smith MBAs Attend National Society of Hispanic MBAs Conference and Career Expo

♦ Fall 2007 Issue of Smith Business Magazine Online!

♦ Smith Faculty Opinion: Dr. Peter Morici
» Business as Usual: the Energy Bill, Subprime Mess and Recession Watch

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