General Information

Schedule Changes & Course Information

Financial Aid Information

Meetings & Events

Student Clubs

Career Services Office

Library

Technology

SOM in the News

General Information

Summer WebCT
You will be able to access your Summer courses on WebCT tomorrow, Friday 4/16/04.

MBA Office Hours Reminder
*The MBA Office will not be open this Saturday 4/17 or Monday 4/19 for President's Day.
*During the week of semester break (April 19-23) the MBA Office will be open from 8:30am-4:30pm.
*Mary D will be on vacation April 19-26; Paula, Beth and Chris will all be here.

COLLEGE NETWORK UPGRADES
Due to construction in the college Data Center, there will be a shutdown of the entire Simmons network on Saturday, April 17 from 8:00PM until 2:00AM. Services affected will include:
All access to the Simmons network and Internet
Access to Simmons E-mail and WebMail
Access to the Simmons file and print servers
Access to Datatel's Colleague, Benefactor, and SOAR (including student registration) Access to Simmons web servers Access to WebCT
Access to the Simmons wireless network

NOTE FROM MARY D
Spring term is officially over this week and everyone is ready for a week off and some nice weather. This winter seemed unusually long for most students, but everyone does agree that they worked hard, learned a ton of new things, and view the world differently than they did before. For some students it is the end of their first semester. For others, it is the end of their 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th or 10th term at the SOM. Now you have a sense of how many different student tracks are operating, but usually it is encouraging for folks to realize there are a ton of great role models and support systems in your fellow students and all of them can help you reinforce why you are here and why it will be worth it in the long run!

Many students now have graduation squarely in sight with one semester to go! But for the majority of you, it marks another milestone in your goal of getting your MBA. Each milestone is a major one and one to be celebrated. I encourage you all to reflect on how much you have learned and accomplished. We are very proud of all of your accomplishments and hope you are too! This is not a long break, so do something fun if you can, go out to dinner, spend time with friends and family and relax. We’ll see you in about 10 days!!

MARATHON MONDAY
Good luck to any of you running in the Marathon this weekend! Our faculty member Jill Kickul will also be running!

SUMMER PROGRAM FOR WOMEN INTERESTED IN POLITICAL OFFICE
A five day program, known as "Summer School for Success" is offered to assist, train, motivate, etc. women who want to run for office or have a better understanding of the inner workings of campaigning in the United States. The Women's Campaign School at Yale University is a nonpartisan, non-issue based political campaign training school. Women who wish to enter politics or move further up the political ladder can gain the access and necessary campaign skills by attending our training sessions. It is cosponsored by Yale Law School and the Yale Women's and Gender Studies Program. http://www.wcsyale.org/index.html

SOM Bookstore
The bookstore will be at the SOM:
April 12-16 from 3-8pm,
April 22 & 23 from 3-8pm and April 24th from 10am-3pm (this is during the semester break week)
April 26th from 10am-8pm
April 27th from 11am-8pm
April 28th-30th from 3-8pm.

If the hours work for you, I would recommend buying them in person at the Corner Store, which will be located on the first floor of the library building. Let me know if you have any other questions.

SOM Student Satisfaction Survey
The SOM Student Services Team will be administering our yearly student satisfaction survey the first week of May. Your feedback on the services provided by the MBA Program Office, Library, Career Services Office and the Media Dept. are very important to us. The data collected from this survey is a key driver in determining where to allocate funds and in helping to make improvements which provide SOM students with the best learning experience possible. This year, the survey will be administered online for your convenience.

REMINDERS ABOUT STUDY AREAS AS WE ENTER THE LAST TWO WEEKS OF THE SEMESTER
As we head into finals at the SOM, I would like to remind students that all of you are on differing final exam and deliverable schedules. Many of our areas serve as joint study and informal social space, and while one group may be finishing up and ready to celebrate, others will be going into an exam that same night or the next. Please try and be aware of other students around you as we head towards the end of the spring term. Thanks!

OPERATIONS UPDATE
There was a gas leak in the 409 Comm. Ave building last Saturday around 11am that resulted in the buildings from 409 through 419 being evacuated for a short time. The source of the leak was an HVAC valve on the 5th floor of 409, but the gas company shut the valve off and the problem was fixed on Monday. There is no gas in 419, and the smell was related to the gas drifting into the building vents from the roof.

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Career Services Office

Enjoy your much deserved time off next week! Please note, the CSO will be closed on Monday, April 19th for Patriot's Day.

Trends - Some of the latest Career-Related news!

New Survey on Ad Effectiveness - At the 2004 management conference of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, which begins today in Miami, senior executives will learn the results of a survey of consumers conducted on behalf of the organization by Yankelovich Partners, the market research company.
Read on at: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/14/business/media/14adco.html

March retail sales surge 1.8%
Jump reflects growing strength of US recovery
Read on at: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2004/04/14/march_retail_sales_surge_18/

New Opportunities: Don't forget to check Career Connect on a regular basis!
Just added this week:
Human Resources Intern - Nortel Networks
Market Research Project/Internship - Parexel
Performance Consultant - Harvard University
Deputy Budget Director - The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

As a reminder, please keep your Career Connect profile up to date. If you forgot your username and password, please contact diana.cook@simmons.edu or (617) 521-3857 Please do not re-register yourself as past information about you will be lost. Any questions about Career Connect? Please do not hesitate to contact Diana.

For those interested in Marketing: Become a Volunteer for AMA Boston
Learn, Network and Maximize Your Investment in AMA Boston
If your goals are professional development and building networking contacts, the key to getting the most value out of joining the AMA Boston is to get involved with the group. Volunteer and seize the opportunity to add to your professional experience:
* Write press releases, email invitations or articles for the communications committee;
* Sell member directory advertising to increase revenue or negotiate in-kind trades for the sponsorship committee;
* Book speakers or manage event logistics and catering for the programming committee; * Develop recruitment and retention programs for the collegiate and membership committees;
* Join the board - the new board year starts in July and we are looking for new board members for several positions.
For more information on volunteering for AMA Boston, call (781) 647-7555; email us at volunteer@amaboston.org or visit our site at www.amaboston.org.

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Library

Holiday Hours - The library will be closed on Monday, April 19, Patriot's Day.

Students - Enjoy the break.

Worth a Read…

Adweek - April 12, 2004 issue - "21st Annual Agency Report Cards" - How 53 agencies performed in 2003, and where they are going next. Plus the top 100 agencies and grades by holding company.

Fast Company - May 2004 issue - "Balance & Balance Sheets" - A profile of an innovative accounting firm.

Fortune - April 19, 2004 issue - Cover Story: "Trumped!" - An article about Donald Trump - everyone's favorite television star.

Gentle reminder: Reserve materials may be checked out for two hours.

Course packs - due to copyright regulations the library does not have copies of the course packs.

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TECHNOLOGY


Enjoy the spring break!

Computer Lab

NEW SOFTWARE
We now have a multimedia production computer in the lab. Computer #12 in the lab (the one with the scanner) now has the following software installed on it: Macromedia Dreamweaver and the Adobe Creative Suite which includes the following programs: Photoshop, ImageReady, Illustrator, InDesign, GoLive and Acrobat Pro. Now you can scan and edit your images as well as build a website. If you have questions about this software please contact Bill Porter of the Technology staff.

Reminder: Food, drinks or cell phones are NOT allowed in the computer lab or study rooms, sorry. This rules will be enforced by lab staff.

Access to personal network folders in Windows XP
A Handout is available in the computer lab. It explains how to use a personal login to access your own network 100MB folder. It's a more secure alternative to saving files to the Student Data drive. Please be sure to restart lab computers after you use your personal login. Feel free to approach lab staff with questions about how this works.

Problems?
If you experience any problems with the computers please record it in the Problems Notation Log located in each study room or tell the lab staff.

LAB HOURS
The lab is open:
Monday - Saturday 7am-11pm
Sunday 7am-7pm

Please note: the lab will not be staff on evenings or the weekend during the semester break. Please call x2769 if you experiece problems in the lab and no staff is available.

SOM Lab (staffed) Hours:
Monday - Thursday 4pm-7:30pm
Sat. & Sun 12 - 4pm

Bill Porter is also available for assistance Monday - Friday 9am - 4:30pm If the lab is not staffed and you need assistance call the Main Campus Lab @ x2769

PRINTING
Please note that PDF files and other documents that contain graphics or are memory hungry take longer to print than your common Word document. We have also noticed that some PDF's cannot print successfully in WebCT. If you experience this issue, try emailing the PDF file to yourself and then try printing from your webmail account. Also, printing from the color ink-jet printer takes longer than the laser-jet. Please be patient and refrain from sending multiple print jobs of the same document to the printer.

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SOM in the News

SOM Professor Fiona Wilson ’97 and Gail Deegan SOM ’77 appeared in the April 11 Boston Sunday Globe BostonWorks article “Corporate ‘camps’ nurture girls’ aspirations in the business world.” The article featured Camp CEO, an event created by Boston-area Girls Scouts and businesswomen to expose teen girls to careers in business. Deegan, on the Patriots’ Trail Girl Scout Council, helped establish the program, based in part on the SOM/The Committee of 200 national study “Teen Girls on Business: Are they being empowered?,” co-authored by Wilson.

The 25th annual Simmons School of Management Leadership Conference and its impressive line-up of speakers are gaining press coverage nationwide. Articles on the premier leadership conference for women and headliners HP CEO Carly Fiorina, Erin Brockovich, Jane Fonda, and Whoopi Goldberg have appeared in CBS Marketwatch, ICMA-RC VantageLink, and Pinnacor NewsAlert.com.

The results of the 2003 Simmons SOM/HP survey conducted at the SOM’s 2003 Women’s Leadership Conference were covered in the March 16 Finance Canada.com article “Businesswomen want to be leaders at Work.” The March 16 issue of Black Enterprise Magazine also featured the SOM/HP survey findings in the article “Women often eye top jobs, survey shows.”

SOM Professor Jill Kickul has recently published “Emerging with Allies: The Role of Top Management Strategic Congruence in the Creation of Inter-Firm Relationships” in the Journal of Enterprising Culture, co-authored with Elizabeth Belgio and Matt Green of DePaul University. She has also published “From ‘Push or Pull’ to ‘Push comes to shove:’ Entrepreneurs’ E-Commerce Strategic Orientation and Initiatives” in the Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship, co-authored with Lisa Gundry and Margaret Posig of DePaul University.

As part of a financial literacy service-learning project SOM Professor Patricia Clarke and her Principles of Finance undergraduate students developed and planned a Personal Finance Information Fair for English as a Second Language (ESL) students, which was held on March 31 at the International Learning Center located at the main branch of the Boston YMCA. During this project, the students research a variety of financial topics and use them as a base for their participation in the Information Fair, where approximately 30 ESL students learn about and actively participate in their financial education and improve their English skills.

Spread the word! If you know a woman who would benefit from a Simmons MBA, invite her to the following event:

MBA Preview Session
Monday, April 26, 2004
6:00 p.m.
451 Marlborough Street, Boston MA
RSVP at 617.521.3840 or somadm@simmons.edu

We invite you to attend our MBA Preview and participate in an actual business case discussion led by Professor of Finance Indra Collins Guertler. The MBA Preview will provide you with a sneak peek into our program and demonstrate how a Simmons MBA relates to your success.

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