Early Career MBA: News

Previous News

Mentorship and Career Advisor Programs Offer One-to-One Connections with Successful Managers
The 2006-07 mentorship program connected 30 first-year MBA students with 30 managers and executives from firms including Hewlett Packard Company, Intel Corporation, Wells Fargo, Deloitte and Touche, Bonneville Power Administration, KeyBank, Oregon Department of Transportation, Angel Vision , Saber Corporation, Planar Systems, IBM, Morgan Stanley and more. Students selected to participate in the mentorship program completed the mentorship application process by late August.

The Career Advisor Program began fall semester and helps students learn about careers from successful managers. Career advisors are alumni and other management professionals who make themselves available to interested Willamette MBA students for information interviews. Some will also assist students by reviewing resumes, providing career coaching and mock interviews. Advisors represent a variety of functions and companies. Functions include: accounting, consulting, finance, marketing, human resources, non-profit management, public management, entrepreneurship, and investment management. Companies include US Bank, Tektronix, Ernst & Young, Providence Health Systems, KPMG, Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Intel Corporation, Nintendo, Microsoft, Bonneville Power Administration, T-Mobile, Oracle, Saber Corporation, and Russell Investment Corporation. Students will also be able to learn from each Career Advisor online where they can read about the advisor before making contact.

Professor Singh Invited to Be Reviewer for Journal in India
Professor Manohar Sing has been invited to a be a member of the panel of experts who review research manuscripts submitted to Paradigm, the new bi-annual refereed research journal of the Institute of Management Technology (IMT), India. He also recently presented two papers dealing with International corporate diversification strategies and performance at the annual Financial Management Association (FMA) meeting.

Young Professionals of Portland is Going National
With the help of Willamette MBA alumnus Matt Hunnicut, MBA'02 and three current Willamette Professional MBA students, Young Professionals of Portland now has over 1800 members and is establishing Young Professionals of America, which will be the umbrella organization for all city clubs. Young Professionals of Portland was established in 2004 to provide a place where young professionals can meet other young professionals interested in meeting new people and furthering their careers.

YPOP has a great audience for future growth because Portland, Oregon is cited as one of the top 3 cities for young educated adults 25 to 34 years old. Articles about the trend say these newcomers have moved to Portland from 43 of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. seeking a quality of life not found anywhere else. Key attractors include the quality of life of the central city of Portland (vibrant, diverse, sophisticated, walkable, interesting, clean and green, good transit system), the beauty of the Willamette Valley (home of Willamette University), the ease of access to the beaches of the Oregon coast and the recreational opportunities of the Cascade Mountains, Columbia River Gorge and High Desert. Economically, the Portland-Salem I-5 corridor remains the engine of growth for the economy of Oregon. (Note: For those of you not familiar with Oregon, Portland is the largest city in Oregon and is located just 40 minutes north of the Atkinson School).

For more information about Young Professionals of Portland visit http://www.youngprofessionalsofportland.com/yp/index.asp. Salem also has a Young Professionals organization. Learn more about Salem Young Professionals at http://www.salemyoungpros.com/

Two MBA Alumni Elected to Willamette's Board of Trustees
Alumni Jim Fitzhenry MBA/JD'81 and Punit Renjen MBA'87 were joined the Willamette University Board of Trustees in October. Jim Fitzhenry is the Senior Vice President for Corporate Operations and Law at FLIR Systems, Inc. FLIR Systems, Inc. specializes in the design, manufacture and marketing of thermal imaging (night vision) and broadcast camera systems. Punit Renjen is a Principal at Deloitte Consulting and serves as the leader for Deloitte's merger integration practice and global leader of its strategy & operations practice.

PACE Student Business Plans and Consulting Projects
Full-time MBA students are off to an excellent start on their PACE projects. PACE is a unique and important part of the first year curriculum, requiring students to take on real management challenges in entrepreneurship, community partnerships and teamwork. PACE teams are working hard to meet the three goals of the program. Here is an update on their progress.

Goal #1: Design and develop a business opportunity with real potential - Teams are applying what they learn through class, research, and consultations with seasoned entrepreneurs and professionals to develop a plan for a business opportunity with real potential. Plans in progress include: Oregon Small Hydro -selling and installing small hydraulic pump generators in China; Computer Repair Services -providing basic computer repair services on college campuses; My Fair Bean - a fair trade coffee shop for globally aware customers; and Run Through Oregon - an adventure travel company providing structured running trips through Oregon.

Goal #2: Complete high-profile consulting projects that will make a difference for their non-profit client
Client organizations for PACE 2006-07 are Mercy Corps Northwest, Goodwill Industries, the Salem Art Association and the Salvation Army. Each PACE team is applying project management methods and management tools to complete a major consulting project for their non-profit client organization. Projects in progress include a feasibility study to expand business development operations, development of new marketing initiatives, a SWOT analysis to aid in the development of a strategic plan, enhanced fund raising and opening a community kitchen.

Goal #3: Create and implement a team organizational structure to accomplish #1 and #2
Teams developed their organizational infrastructure and support systems. Systems include but are not limited to human resources, policies, team development, project planning, communication, and work quality management.

April 2007, PACE teams will compete against each other to determine which of them added the most value to their non-profit client and which developed the best business opportunity.

Lisbeth Claus, Global HR Professor, Speaks Around the World
Professor Lisbeth Claus published a case study entitled, "Strategic Global HR at Teva Pharmaceuticals," in The Thunderbird International Business Review (Vol 48, No 6, 2006 November-December). Lisbeth was also the keynote speaker at the KPMG EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) HR Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, and the Central and Eastern European HR Conference in Budapest. In addition, Professor Claus presented a paper entitled, "HR as a Global Partner," at the Northwest Human Resource Management Association regional conference.

First Thursdays With the Willamette MBA
Learn, Interact, Connect
If you are in the Portland area on any First Thursday (the first Thursday of any month), be sure to attend the Willamette MBA Empowerment in Action Series. Learn, interact and connect as Willamette University's top professors lead discussions, share expertise and present research at Willamette's Portland Center. See how Willamette's Full-Time MBA can help you take your career and experience to new heights. Learn more at http://www.willamette.edu/mba/empowerment/

Graduating Class of 2007 Already Receiving Job Offers
It's always exciting when job offers for our next graduating class start rolling in. As of March, more than 38% of Willamette MBA students who will graduate in May 2007 have already received a job offer.

The offer rate for the class of 2007 is growing faster than the graduating class of 2006 which posted a very successful rate of 66% with offers before graduation. Employers for the class of 2006 included: Digimarc, Ernst & Young, The Gallup Organization, Harrah's Lake Tahoe, Holiday Retirement Corporation, Intel Corporation, Jeld-Wen, Kaiser Permanente, Key Bank, KPMG, Mentor Graphics, Microsoft Corporation, Moss Adams LLP, Nautilus, Nordstrom, Providence Health Systems, Russell Investments, Saber Corporation, Tektronix, Inc., The Big Day, The Boeing Company, US Bank, Vision Plastics and more. Click here for complete placement statistics for the class of 2006.

First Year MBA Students Preparing for Internship Search
In addition to completing the first year curriculum and learning experience, the entering class of 2006 is building the career management tools and network they need to prepare for their upcoming internship search. They have completed CareerLeader, reviewed their career plans with Director of Career Services, Beth Ursin, and are participating in a variety of career services events including the mentorship program, career interest panels, professional organizations, and an evening workshop with Dr. Eric Allenbaugh, Leadership and Performance Consulting Executive Coach. Click here for complete internship statistics from summer 2006.

Placement Statistics for the Graduating Class of 2006
88% of the WU MBA graduating class of 2006 accepted an offer for a professional position within three months after graduation.Companies included: Digimarc, Ernst & Young, The Gallup Organization, Harrah's Lake Tahoe, Holiday Retirement Corporation, Intel Corporation, Jeld-Wen, Kaiser Permanente, Key Bank, KPMG, Mentor Graphics, Microsoft Corporation, Moss Adams LLP, Nautilus, Nordstrom, Providence Health Systems, Russell Investments, Saber Corporation, Tektronix, Inc.,The Big Day, The Boeing Company, US Bank, Vision Plastics and more.

The average salary accepted was $58,144. A standard salary comparison calculator (with preference of owning a home) shows a $58,000 salary in Portland, Oregon approximately equal to $76,599 in Seattle, Washington; $126,158 in San Francisco, California; $81,273 in San Diego, California; $94,432 in Chicago, Illinois; $89,110 in Boston, Massachusetts, and $93,450 in Washington DC.

The graduating class had a pre-MBA average of 11 months of work experience. The range was 0 to 86 months.. Click here for the complete employment report.

Summer Internship Placement Statistics for 2006
97% of students seeking a summer internship completed an internship. Internship employers included: Columbia Sportswear, ESCO Corporation, FLIR Systems, Halliburton, Harry and David Operation Corporation, HSBC USA, Insights LLC, Made In Oregon, Northwest Mutual Financial Network, Saber Corporation, ShengZhong Corporation, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, State of Oregon, Tektronix, Inc., Wall Street on Demand and more.

Internship projects involved a variety of functions including business development, change management, accounting, strategic finance, process improvements, marketing, data analysis, information technology, etc. Ninety-five percent of internships were paid internships. Salaries averaged $16 per hour and ranged from $10 to $20 per hour.

Student Investment Fund Update for Spring Semester 2006
Investment students have a lot to say about their experience with the school's OSIF (O'Neill Student Investment Fund) and their investment course. One student wrote: "This class was extremely valuable because we learned how real world events can affect businesses. We managed our fund through two major hurricanes and elections overseas. We had to keep up on current events and analyze how they might affect our fund." Another wrote "great course, intensive learning of investing and all related subjects."

For 2006, students managing the OSIF designed a benchmark that contains a mix of U.S. energy stocks (natural gas and pipeline services), U.S. health care stocks, U.S. information technology and telecom stocks, U.S. financial services stocks (investment banks), foreign equities (Europe and Japan), emerging market equities, and U.S. money market funds.

In 2005, Fund total return before investment expenses was 5.83% (5.23% after expenses), compared with total return to the S & P 500 index of 4.91%, and Nasdaq total return of 2.13%. The students accomplished this with return volatility of 5.1%, compared with S& P 500 volatility of 10.3% and Nasdaq volatility of 12.7%.

Willamette MBA Ranked 28th in Public Finance by U.S. News & World Report: U.S. News & World Reports recently ranked the Willamette MBA 28th for the specialty of "Public Affairs, Public Finance and Budgeting." The ranking is displayed on the 2006 U.S. News Best Graduate Schools website.

Willamette MBA Featured in Two "Best Business Schools" Publications: Willamette University's Atkinson Graduate School of management is featured in The Princeton Review's Best Business Schools publication for the third yeare in a row. The latest edition compiled surveys from over 16,000 MBA students from the best AACSB International accredited schools in the world. The online-based surveys asked students over 50 questions about their experience at each school, their career plans, and their school's academics, student body and campus life.

The Willamette MBA is also featured in Vault's 2006 Buzz Book, where actual quotes from students are published to provide first-hand insight into how well the school performs on various dimensions. Students praised Atkinson's admissions process, academics, career prospects and quality of life.Download and save a free copy of Vault's 2006 Buzz Book's survey of Willamette MBA students.

"Beyond Grey Pinstripes" Recognizes Willamette MBA: Willamette's MBA program was selected by "Beyond Grey Pinstripes" as one of 91 programs recognized for achievement in preparing MBA's for social and environmental stewardship. Other programs receiving this honor included Dartmouth, Stanford, Yale, Northwestern and Notre Dame.