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Connect: Fall 2002

A Special 20th Anniversary Newsletter from GSOM

View the Fall 2002 GSOM Alumni Newsletter as published, in PDF format.

			Clark Celebrates Businesss Excellence
			Dean's Message: Ethics a Core Requirement
			Alumni Connection Critical
			Alumni Resources
			Student Leadership
			Alumna Honored
			Fundraising Success
			Calendar of Events

Clark Celebrates Business Excellence

The program's accreditation has been reaffirmed by AACSB International, and the graduate curriculum has been refined and strengthened. We are introducing new video conferencing and wireless network technology at our expanded and renovated facilities at Carlson Hall and at the MetroWest campus in Framingham. As we celebrate this milestone, GSOM will be more visibly involved in focusing attention on socially-responsible business leadership and recognizing business excellence through a year-long calendar of events and partnerships.

"Clearly that's part of the Clark tradition, to have a strong track record of involvement and advocacy," said GSOM Dean Edward J. Ottensmeyer. "What we bring to the table is an extra element of business and economic expertise and vision. That makes us a valuable resource to the business community."

To strengthen that connection this year, GSOM is the lead sponsor of three prominent celebrations of business leaders and business success: the Worcester Business Journal's annual 40 Under Forty, Top Growth Companies and Business Leader of the Year awards.

"We want to be involved in recognizing business excellence," said Ottensmeyer. "As one of only 10 schools in Massachusetts that offer accredited business programs, we know how hard it is to attain and maintain a reputation for excellence, and how deserving of recognition and respect organizations and individuals are when such standards are met," he added. "That is why we are pleased to be part of these events saluting outstanding business and community leaders and growing corporations - several of whom, I note with great pride, are affiliated with Clark University."

The 40 Under Forty awards recently recognized 40 young business leaders who have distinguished themselves through their expertise, influence and community involvement. Top Growth Companies are selected each November by the Worcester Business Journal and Worcester-based Alexander, Aronson & Finning Co. PC, based on profitability and growth percentages.

The Business Leader of the Year award is named in January. Awardees are community leaders and key decision-makers who have in the past year marked a significant milestone personally or professionally. Past recipients include Ralph D. Crowley Jr., MBA '79, president and CEO of Polar Corporation, in 1997; and Richard Traina, former president of Clark University, in 1991.

GSOM is also strengthening its ties with the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. The School's 20th anniversary will be recognized at the Chamber's December 2002 Breakfast Club, and Dean Ottensmeyer has been asked to moderate an upcoming Chamber-sponsored seminar on ethics and corporate responsibility.

"We're looking at more ways to work with the Worcester Chamber and regional businesses, in partnership with Clark's Small Business Development Center (SBDC)," said Ottensmeyer. The Center, a state and federally funded initiative based at Clark's GSOM, also marks 20 years of service this year, to more than 15,000 new and emerging small businesses in Central New England.

"Through the Center, Clark plays a primary leadership role to strengthen the small business community," said Ottensmeyer.

"If we can continue to provide intellectual capital and expertise through the MBA program and the SBDC to help the talented entrepreneurs and business leaders in the area, we can be an even more valuable resource to the community."

Dean's Message

Dean Ottensmeyer with 40 Under Forty awardees Todd Wetzel, Clark Trustee; Jennifer Chase Williams, MBA '98; and Christine Proffitt, BA '92

Unlike many business schools whose awareness and commitment to such ideals waxes and wanes with the headlines, GSOM has held them constant. Our mission, of course, derives from our home at Clark University. Clark's liberal arts tradition recognizes the complexity inherent in all human endeavor and the importance of integrity in the development of true leaders, in every sector of society. It's a legacy we proudly and enthusiastically embrace. As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we remain consistently focused on developing reflective and skillful leaders and managers who have the capacity to deal responsibly with the ethical dimension of their business decisions.

Historically, whenever outrageous, unethical or illegal behavior takes place in the corporate sector, we have seen a rush to correct the social context in which it occurred. One attractive "quick fix" approach to restoring public confidence is to enact stricter laws and write tougher regulations designed to improve business and executive behavior. Since laws alone cannot assure ethical, socially responsible behavior, students need to develop basic skills in ethical analysis.

By reflecting on their own values, by learning basic approaches to ethical analysis and by analyzing business case examples, our graduates take with them valuable skills that will help them deal with the complex ethical dilemmas they will certainly face in their careers. They learn to appreciate that some of the more difficult dilemmas are not necessarily questions of right versus wrong. Oftentimes managers must choose between two right actions, with a choice in either direction carrying harmful consequences in the other. For example, loyalty to a friend may conflict with loyalty to an employer. Dealing with such ethical dilemmas is part and parcel of a manager's job. And Clark graduates should be well prepared to handle them.

From its earliest days, GSOM has required all BA and MBA students to take a core course that focuses on ethics. The MBA course was called Corporate Social Responsibility 20 years ago; it's known today as Business in Society. The BA course is called Business Ethics. In these courses, students learn how better to assess the consequences of managerial actions and to recognize the ethical rights of peers, subordinates and other corporate stakeholders. In addition, they become conversant with current "big picture" issues in contemporary business such as globalization, discrimination and the natural environment.

We believe, quite simply, that if a business school hasn't incorporated ethics into its curriculum from the start, it has not faced the reality that business is a human endeavor carried out by people, not by computers or robots. Just as ethical issues don't arise in a vacuum, discussions about ethics are not restricted to our Business in Society or Business Ethics courses. Any course in which professional standards of conduct arise - for example, accounting, finance, marketing, organizational behavior, competitive strategy or international management - is fertile ground for constructive discussions about ethics.

Because the business sector has become more focused on regaining the trust of a skeptical public, GSOM has taken steps to support this important effort. In addition to contributing to a number of recent articles in the business media, I have represented the School by carrying a message of ethics and integrity to managers in some of the area's top firms. We have also been invited to play a lead role, in partnership with the Worcester Chamber of Commerce, the Better Business Bureau and concerned business groups, in developing a program on business ethics and leadership for executives in the region.

This year, GSOM celebrates 20 years as a distinct unit within Clark University. Clark's Board of Trustees, when they created the School, surely must have foreseen that its business school would reflect and enhance the University's liberal arts heritage by shaping leaders, not only with strong business skills but who also recognize the importance of ethics in their careers and lives. Donald Melville, former CEO of the Norton Company and former member of our Business Advisory Council, once noted that a business education with a solid liberal arts underpinning not only helps you make a living but also helps you shape a life worth living. We at GSOM couldn't agree more.

As reported throughout this issue of CONNECT, GSOM programs continue to evolve, and our alumni and faculty continue to reach new heights of recognition and accomplishment. Our commitment to excellence in business education in the best Clark tradition, and to the betterment of our graduates and our community, never changes or wavers.

We hope that you will join us in celebrating our deep-seated commitments and our collective accomplishments during this special year!

Contact Dean Ottensmeyer by e-mail at eottensmeyer@clarku.edu

Connect also recognizes alumni excellence and reports career updates through Class Notes.  Tell us your alumni news at clarkmba@clarku.edu.

'All Roads Lead to the Alumni'

John Mead, MBA '00, and Gregory Degermajian, MHA '92, want to se more alumni involved at Clark's GSOM

"All roads lead to the alumni," says GSOM Dean Edward J. Ottensmeyer. "Our graduates are leading new firms, reshaping old ones, revitalizing not-for-profits, transforming family businesses, contributing to their communities and contributing to the school."

While Clark University is well-served by a 26,000-strong alumni association, GSOM is putting greater emphasis on reaching alumni of its graduate and undergraduate programs. Leading the outreach efforts are two GSOM alumni, Gregory Degermajian ('92) and John Mead ('00).

"This is a high-quality school of business where people make high-quality contacts," says Mead, who now works as a financial advisor in Merrill Lynch's Private Client Group. "With a strong alumni association, we can provide a greater return on investment by enhancing the School's reputation and visibility. We can do that by creating the network for alumni to develop personally and professionally."

Mead and Degermajian are organizing along two lines right now. The first is to put together an infrastructure to support alumni, facilitate communication and bring former students back to campus. This includes opening an alumni office at Carlson Hall; coordinating with the Student Council, Career Services, faculty and administration; and getting their message out via newsletters, newspapers and the Internet.

They have begun to assemble a core group of GSOM graduates this fall to begin to give the organization a sharper focus.

"We want to gather alumni to share ideas and get a broader group of them involved," says Mead. "We want to put together a core group to discuss what the alumni are interested in, what they want the Graduate School of Management to offer them and what resources they can contribute."

All parties generally agree on a few goals for the outreach effort. One is that it should be a gateway into the corporate arena for students and new graduates through internships, referrals and school-to-business partnerships.

"Everything has become so specialized," said Degermajian, a risk manager with Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada. "But in areas like mine (insurance underwriting and health care management), the field continues to evolve and will evolve for a long time. Absolutely, it's beneficial for students to have contacts out in the field who are experiencing these changes firsthand."

This effort will also provide personal and professional development opportunities for alumni - invitations to speak, forums for networking and a vehicle for giving. And, it should position alumni as a unified community of professionals whose work and ethics reflect positively on the quality of education offered at Clark's GSOM.

"At the heart of the curriculum presented at Clark is the understanding that we're operating in a public setting, in the context of community," says Degermajian. "People are looking at professional development with the same philosophy - these are the standards that you're following after you graduate and as you move up the ranks of leadership."

While many former students have maintained a connection with the school, until recently there had been no ongoing effort to reconnect with GSOM alumni. The first formal alumni event was held in Massachusetts in 1999. Reflecting the School's international population, there were also alumni events in India and Turkey in 2000.

If you would like to participate in this effort, please contact John at john_mead@att.net, or Greg at greg_degermajian@sunlife.com.

Alumni as Resources & Resources For Alumni

• Career Services Office

  The office works with GSOM students to help them establish and refocus career goals and develop job-finding skills. A critical part of the Career Services function is its connection with GSOM alumni and the broader business community, building connections to internship and employment opportunities with local companies and inviting GSOM alumni and other professionals to expand career opportunities for GSOM students through speaking engagements and mentoring relationships. Additional alumni are especially welcome in these capacities.

  More than 60 GSOM alumni are volunteering through Career Services this year as informal career advisors and career panelists. As part of GSOM's 20th anniversary events calendar, panels on financial careers, marketing careers, careers in high technology and health, and entrepreneurship and business start-ups are being explored. To get involved through the Career Services Office, contact David Carroll at 508-793-7770, or e-mail him at dcarroll@clarku.edu.

• Management Fellows Program and Alumni Enrichment Program

  Through a new program started last January, GSOM alumni have an opportunity to refresh and/or refocus their business skills by returning to Clark University to take up to five courses currently offered in the GSOM curriculum with tuition savings of 50 percent. Through the Alumni Enrichment Program, returning students may take any five courses currently offered in the GSOM curriculum. Through the Management Fellows Program, returning graduates select five courses in a specific discipline and upon completion of this concentrated study, earn a Fellows Certificate. In both programs, students receive full academic credit. If you are interested in returning to GSOM for enrichment or to earn a Fellows Certificate, please contact the Office of Admissions at 508-793-7406 or by e-mail at clarkmba@clarku.edu.

Student Council Requires Diverse Leadership

Student Council President Jeffrey Heller (left) and Vice President Fransico Ortuazar

The energetic MBA student from Colombia speaks rapidly as he discusses plans and goals for the Student Council of GSOM this year, looking and sounding like the business executive he used to be before attending business school.

"After spending any time in an institution or group setting, you can always be quick to see what you think you can improve," he says of his decision to run for Council president. "I felt I had a lot to offer student government."

His peers thought so too. In May, he was elected to the one-year term, with Francisco Ortuzar as vice president. Also serving are: Lisa Terry, Representative Before the University Administration; Amit Chaturvedi, Treasurer; and Mulugheta Isayass, Secretary.

"It's a micro-representation of the multi-cultural environment here," says Heller. "That's a key strength of Clark's graduate business environment and experience."

The primary goal this year is to steer the student government organization toward a more central and proactive role in the life of the GSOM student body. So far, the Council's meetings with the administration, faculty and alumni have given everyone a good head start on unifying needs and expectations to that end.

"It's a huge challenge to get unity in any organization," says Heller. "Here, it's more challenging because people have lives outside school, and because we have the diversity of part-time and full-time students and a large international population."

Traditionally, the Council has sponsored events and activities to help students from different cultures get to know one another and assimilate into academic life. That won't change.

"We will still be working on activities that help integrate the students," Heller says. "But we will also be working on improving the overall welcome process. People get off the plane with all their belongings in a suitcase. We'd like to see students taking in newcomers and showing them around until they get on their feet."

More communication among students and between students, faculty and alumni will also help bring people together. Heller says the Council would like to see articles written by students in CONNECT and on the GSOM Web site. Students are also interested in hearing about the research projects being pursued by faculty and the career lessons to be learned from alumni.

"It's not only for the benefit of the students," he says. "We help GSOM and the broader university and they help us. We're the voice of the students to the faculty and alumni, but we also bring the voice of the faculty and alumni to the students."

GSOM Sparks Science Educator: Clark MBA honored for bringing science to life

Sandra Mayrand, MBA '91, will receive the Bruce Alberts Science Award for Distinguished Contributions to Science Education from the American Society for Cell Biology in December

In December, she will finish the journey by traveling to San Francisco to accept the Bruce Alberts Science Award for Distinguished Contributions to Science Education, presented by the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB).

The award, named for Dr. Bruce Alberts, president of the National Academy of Sciences, was established in 1998 to honor outstanding contributions to science education with an emphasis on volunteerism and reform. One awardee is selected annually by the ASCB Education Committee.

Through the Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research, Mayrand began to develop initiatives to open young minds to math, science and technology concepts that textbooks alone couldn't teach. Now, as director of the University of Massachusetts Medical School's Regional Science Resource Center, she works with over 86 school districts in Central Massachusetts and beyond to strengthen inquiry-based, student-centered science education through technical support, materials and equipment, partnerships with science and technology professionals and professional development opportunities for teachers.

From her office at UMass Medical School on the Shrewsbury campus, Mayrand spoke enthusiastically about the program and the impact it has had. Some excerpts:

How did you first become aware of the need in science education and what you could offer?

What does the Regional Science Resource Center do?

How did you apply what you learned at GSOM?

Fundraising Success

GSOM alumni, friends and corporate donors have been increasingly generous in support of the business school's commitment to excellence. With a 20th anniversary goal of $100,000, your support is more critical than ever. To help GSOM reach its goal, click on Alumni and Friends on the Clark Web site at www.clarku.edu or call 508-793-7503.

Calendar of Events