General Information

WEBSITE UPDATE
We're in the process of posting a direct link to WebCT on our new website. In the meantime, please go to http://academia.simmons.edu/ to access it. Thank you for your patience.

GRADUATION UPDATES
We are thrilled to announce that Paula Sneed, Sr. Vice President of Global Marketing Resources for Kraft Foods, Inc. will be the Simmons School of Management 2005 graduation speaker on Friday, August 5.

Ms. Sneed is responsible for leading Kraft’s 700+ Global Marketing Services organization that ensures world-class marketing, including advertising, media, promotions, digital and interactive marketing, CRM, packaging, marketing research and other marketing disciplines for more than 100 major food brands. Kraft Foods markets food and beverage brands including Kraft cheese, Jacobs and Maxwell House coffees, Nabisco cookies and crackers, Philadelphia cream cheese, Oscar Mayer meats, Post cereals, and Milka chocolates in more than 150 countries.

After receiving a BA from Simmons College, Ms. Sneed worked for several years in the not-for-profit sector in Boston. In 1975, she enrolled in the Harvard Graduate School of Business and received her MBA with second year honors in 1977. She then joined General Foods Corporation (which later merged with Kraft Foods) as an Assistant Product Manager and thus began her 27-year career with Kraft--holding positions in consumer affairs, food service, marketing and e-commerce.

Ms. Sneed is a trustee of Simmons College, Teach for America and the Chicago Children's Museum and Director of Airgas Inc. and Charles Schwab Corporation. She is also a member of the Executive Leadership Council and The Chicago Network.

Extra Dean's Reception Tickets-We have found out that we will have to limit the total amount of extra tickets sold to 25. Cost per ticket is $50, and you should bring cash or a check made out to Simmons College to the MBA office.

Final Weekend for Voting for Graduation Speaker, Class Marshal and the Pat Miller Leadership Award. We will keep Webct open through the weekend, and close it on June 13 at 9am.

MBA OFFICE NEWS

The MBA Office has officially moved upstairs to 411 Commonwealth Avenue first floor. Students will no longer be able to access the back door of 411 (old MBA space) due to building renovations being done in preparation for the Library. To get to the MBA Office please use the 409 Comm Ave Front Door OR the 409 Comm Ave. back door.

Note from Mary D
We are now officially through the first half of summer term! Graduation is squarely in sight for many students! Many students are talking about the volume of work they have to do, with papers for electives and required courses, QA had its second exam this week, the BGGE midterm is next week and the Ops midterm was last week. Stay focused, ask for help if you need it, talk to your faculty. They are wonderful at strategizing with you about how to master the material in class.

Quotes of the Week
"By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands — your own." --Mark Victor Hansen

”Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many" Unknown

Registration information for Fall 2005
Registration materials for Fall 2005 will be emailed to students on Friday, June 10. This will include a registration letter and the course synopsis. Online registration will open from June 20 at 8am through June 30 at 8pm. Recommended courses for each track of study will be included in the registration letter.

Student Stickers
Have finally arrived and are in the MBA office!

Student Satisfaction Survey
We've already achieved a 64% participation rate; thank you to those who have taken the time to complete it. However,this survey is incredibly important. It is specific to the services you receive here at the SOM (as opposed to the Noel Levitz which was college-wide). There are only 15 questions, so you will literally be done within ten minutes. As always, we have an incentive for you - a small bag of candy which will hit the spot at any point in your day (especially on those long days). Please help us by providing your feedback! We need to collect data by next Wednesday, so please complete the survey if you haven't already.

Class Norm Reminders
It is that time of the year where we need to remind students again of class norms that tend to start to slide a bit. Please try and limit the amount of times that you need to come in and leave class and remember to turn your phones off or to the silent mode. We know that there can be very good reasons for coming in late, leaving early, needing your phone on, etc., but when you move it from an individual perspective to a class perspective, it can be very disruptive for both faculty and your fellow students when it is constant. We are asking you to be a bit more conscious of how these things impact the quality of the classroom experience!

OPERATIONS UPDATES

Renovations
5th floor kitchen offices are being constructed, demolition in the old MBA offices has begun for the new library, carpet has been installed to the Green Room level in the 411 building.

Parking
Please remember that there is officially NO student parking at the SOM. We are about to lose up to 6 spaces for construction starting as early as June 15, and but particularly during the weekday hours of 8:30-6pm, Monday-Friday, parking will be even tighter than it has ever been before. Cars will be towed unless you are on the parking grid in the Operations office or have had special permission in writing by the MBA office. Please call Karen at x3821 if you have an extenuating circumstance. On the weekends, we do not enforce the no parking policy for students, but there are many classes scheduled on Saturdays during the summer and spaces are very limited.

409 Elevator Status and Alternate Route to the 5th floor Caseroom
It appears that the motor has suffered some serious damage in its latest set of problems and will be unavailable indefinitely. For those of you needing/wanting elevator access, go to the 407 building (behind the front desk) and take the elevator to the 5th floor. Weave around and you will come in the opposite side of the 5th floor caseroom entrance (behind the chalkboard!)

Student access to all the buildings via your ID
Have all been re-entered and are working again!

top

Career Services Office

Trends - Some of the latest Career-Related news!

Hiring is up, recruiting budgets same
Hiring projections for this year look promising, according to a recent survey conducted by the Northeast Human Resources Association.
Read on ->

The Globe 100 is here! Check out this year’s top businesses in Boston:
Find out more->

Looking for outside networking opportunities and job leads?
The National Black MBA Association and National Society of Hispanic MBAs have terrific job fairs with top tier companies! You are still eligible for the student member rate if you sign up today!

Did you know?
Simmons SOM has been accepted as an Alliance of Bridgestar, a non profit organization that got its start via Bain Consulting. Bridgestar offers nonprofit board and senior leadership opportunities for Simmons students and alumnae.

New Opportunities:
Don't forget to check Career Connect on a regular basis! Just added this week:

Concept Champion – Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Senior Concept Champion – Blue Cross Blue Shield 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.

Click to log in to Career Connect->

CSO Hours:
We are open Monday through Friday from 8:45am to 6:00pm onward*.

* Please know we understand your busy schedules and offer evening appointment hours on request. If you need to schedule an evening appointment (anytime after 6pm) please feel free to contact Wendy at (617) 521-3854 or at dambrose@simmons.edu.

top

Library

Reminder about Reserve Books
Reserve books may only be checked out for 2 hours at a time and can only be used in the 419 building. Reserve books can only be checked out when the library is staffed, so please plan accordingly.

Reference Interviews
Make an appointment today with Linda or Kathy for help with your research projects.

The library is looking for Part-time Graduate Student Library Assistants
Day/Evening/Weekend hours are available. If interested, please contact Kathy Berger, SOM Library Assistant, at 617- 521-3847 or e-mail kathleen.berger@simmons.edu for an application.

Worth a Read…..

Check out the “100 Street Smart Companies” in the June 2005 issue of Inc.
Magazine.

Take a look at “NAFE’s 2005 Women of Excellence Awards” in the Summer 2005 issue of NAFE Magazine.

Stop by the library and take a look at the latest issues of: Forbes Magazine, Harvard Business Review, HR Magazine and BusinessWeek.

New Books in the SOM Library:

Investor's Business Daily and The Making of Millionaires: How IBD Rewrote The Rules of Investing and Business News by David Saito-Chung.

The 100 Best Trends, 2005 by George Ochoa and Melinda Corey.

Why Men Earn More: The Startling Truth Behind The Pay Gap--And What Women Can Do About It by Warren Farrell.

Boards That Deliver: Advancing Corporate Governance From Compliance to Competitive Advantage by Ram Charan.

Changing Minds: The Art and Science of Changing Our Own and Other People's Minds by Howard Gardner.

top

TECHNOLOGY

Media Services

SOM Technology is hiring for the Summer semester!

Weekday morning, afternoon and evening shifts available starting at the end of April. Job responsibilities include supporting the daily operations of the SOM Computer Lab as well as assisting with classroom media. Experience is not required, but we are looking for people that feel comfortable with technology. We'll provide training.

Anyone interested should contact Bill Porter at 617.521.3852 or stop by the lab for an application. I can answer any questions about the job and provide an application to anyone who may be interested.

Computer Lab

New Study Room Printer
We now have a new CS Printer setup in study room 3D in 419. It is the default printer for all 3rd and 4th floor study rooms. You may still print to the lab, but just be sure to select the printer you need from the drop down menu.

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

STAFFED HOURS
During summer hours, the lab will be open Monday - Thursday 8am - 9:30am & 2:30pm - 6:30pm, Fridays 8am - 11am

If you need assistance and a lab staff is not available please call the Helpdesk at x2222

Reminder: Reminder: Food, drinks and cell phones are NOT allowed in the computer lab, sorry. This rule will be enforced by the lab staff.

top

SOM in the News

HEAR YOUR FELLOW STUDENT ON WBUR!!
Zuania Pomales, a current day student was interviewed on WBUR and her segment aired last week. She was part of an interview on why women of color graduates are leaving Boston. She mentions the SOM too!! Read more here->

Simmons faculty and students are well represented with four presentations at the upcoming Babson-Kauffman Entrepreneurship Research Conference, June 8-11th:

Fiona Wilson, Jill Kickul, and Deborah Marlino will be presenting their paper, "Is The Pipeline Of Future Entrepreneurs Strong Or Weak? - Using A Longitudinal Approach To Examine The Role Of Perceptions And Self-efficacy In Generating Entrepreneurial Intentions Among Young Women And Men." In addition, Jill and Fiona (in partnership with colleagues from the University of Bodo, Norway) will be presenting their paper, "Across Cultural And Economic Boundaries: Modeling Cognitions, Norms, And Motivations Onto Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy And Intentionality."

Lindsay Titus ('05), Jill Kickul, and Patrick Murphy (DePaul University), using some of the recent research from the Panel Survey of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED) will be presenting a paper on "Contextualizing Legitimacy, Risk Preference, and Social Capital For Women Entrepreneurs." Also, in partnership with Norris Krueger (Boise State University) and as a follow-up to the work by Laney Whitcanack ('05) and Jill on entrepreneurial cognition, we will be giving a talk on "Choice Modeling Of Venture Preferences: The Impact Of Mental Prototyping."

Finally, Laney Whitcanack and Jill Kickul are collaborating on an international study with Alain Fayolle, E.M. Lyon, France, Benoît Gailly, Université Catholique de Louvain, and Nargisse Lassas-Clerc, E.M. Lyon and will be presenting their work at the International Conference of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ICSB Conference) on "Capturing Variations in Attitudes and Intentions: A Longitudinal Study to Assess the Pedagogical Effectiveness of Entrepreneurship Teaching Programs." This paper and line of research coincides nicely with our recent grant award under the Coleman Foundation's Entrepreneurship Excellence in Teaching Colleges program.

Simmons SOM cited as a "model program" for working mothers! Read more->

EVENTS

Upcoming Admission Events: Spread the word to friends and colleagues!
All events are held at 451 Marlborough Street. For more information call 617.521.3840 or somadm@simmons.edu.

MBA Preview Session
Monday, June 20, 2005 | 6:00 p.m.

If someone you know is considering a Simmons MBA and wants to make sure that it is the right choice for her, invite her to experience a Simmons MBA classroom firsthand. The evening's session will be led by Professor Stacy Blake-Beard. Learn how Simmons will prepare you for success!

MBA Career Panel
Tuesday, June 28, 2005 | 6:00 pm

Join us for a panel discussion highlighting remarkable women who have used a Simmons MBA to transcend traditional career paths. Hear from leaders in marketing, finance, healthcare, and not-for-profit. Learn why they chose to pursue an MBA and how their leadership skills and career opportunities soared.

top