General Information

Schedule Changes & Course Information

Financial Aid Information

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Career Services Office

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Technology

SOM in the News

General Information

NOTE FROM MARY D
No one will be surprised that I continue to find ways to draw parallels to the Red Sox last 10 days to what is going on in the MBA program for many of you!! All of you have gotten some grades back in the last two weeks in Accounting, Finance, Econ and QA. Some of you did better than you hoped or dreamed. Some of you did not do as well as you thought and are trying to figure out how to change and improve things going forward. All of you are putting in long days and nights trying to stay on top of your work and other commitments. Here is my parallel!! Dreams do come true and don’t ever lose sight of the reason you chose to come back to school and get your MBA!! The Red Sox won by staying focused, working hard, taking it one day at a time, not looking too far ahead, not dwelling on things that didn’t go as they hoped or expected, and concentrating on what they had in front of them. They won by believing they could do it, and never giving up, even when the odds were so much against them. They won by realizing that lots of people are involved in their success and are rooting for them each and every step of the way. Remember that you are part of the Simmons community with classmates, faculty and staff here to help you realize your potential and reach your goals. They won by being prepared and giving it their all. Some folks say they got lucky. I would argue that one definition of luck is when preparation meets opportunity, and both happened to the Red Sox this week. The one thing that will never be in doubt in my mind is that you will be successful and the rewards at the end will have been worth all the hard work and preparation now.

Insurance Card Information
Due to a vendor problem, health insurance cards have not been delivered yet. If you have health insurance through Simmons and need to see a doctor, you can provide them with the following information instead of your card:

ID : SSN (note, once your card comes, your ID number may be different)
Group Name: Simmons
Group Number: S206499

Have Claims sent to:
Consolidated Health Plans
195 Stafford St
Springfield, MA 01104

If the provider wants to call to confirm benefits they will want to call Yvonne at Consolidated Health Plans at 800-633-7867 ext 173.

STUDENTS LETTING VISITORS INTO SOM BUILDINGS
I have heard recently that over the past couple of weeks, students have been letting guests into the 419 building after being approached by someone saying they are looking for student xx and want to get in to find them. This is a tough problem despite being motivated by good intentions by the student letting the person in. First, guests are not usually known to all students who might be in the building. Someone walking around the building can be unsettling for students who are there because they don’t know who the person is and whether they should be there. Secondly, students make the assumption that the student wants the guest to find them. Again, sometimes this has not proved to be true, and we have had situations where a guest has been an unwanted visitor by the student. Third, students are put in awkward positions by guests who want to get in, but they don’t know if they should let them in or not and this can make them uncomfortable as to how to handle it. So, I would ask all students to make prior arrangements with guests coming to meet them, use cell phones, and escort them to wherever you are studying.

AMA (American Marketing Association) Chapter
Simmons College has formed an AMA chapter through the UG management department and invites interested MBA students to join. After you pay your dues you receive a subscription to Marketing News, become a member of MarketingPower.com and access to the AMA Member Resource Center. You will receive the Collegiate Connection, a quarterly newsletter that serves as the primary communication between the AMA headquarters and Collegiate Members. The AMA also holds an annual International Collegiate Conference which provides valuable career information, invitations to AMA Conferences and Seminars, online training, and permission to search the AMA member roster for networking connections. The next meeting is Monday, November 1 at the main college building, 300 the Fenway, in Java City at 6:15. For more information contact rachel.anderson3@simmons.edu.

News from the Help Desk
The Help Desk’s hours have been extended. We are now answering calls Monday-Friday: 8:30 am – 6:30 pm. And on weekends there are staff members available Saturday: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm; Sunday: 11 am - 7 pm. On Saturdays and Sundays our priority is academic and event support, but we will check voice mail at least every 15 minutes. Web Site: We have updated most of our web site (http://my.simmons.edu/technology). There is now documentation on all things Technology at Simmons College: please take a look.

Alumnae Board Recruiting Student Representatives
Apply by November 15, 2004

The Simmons School of Management Alumnae Association (SOMAA) Board of Directors is looking for two students (one full time, one part time) from the Class of 2005 to sit on the Board as non-voting members representing the interests of current students, our pre-alumnae constituents.

The SOMAA Board is the leadership of the Alumnae Association. Our mission is to serve alumnae and to support and advance the SOM. We focus on strategic issues that are important to furthering the interests of both groups including: Network Magazine, fundraising, accreditation, career services, marketing executive education, etc.
Your time commitment includes agreeing to attend all board meetings, held quarterly at the school, as well as monthly conference calls in the off months. Additionally you will be asked to work on a special committee or work on a special project.

This is an excellent opportunity to gain experience working on a board, become involved and connected with the alumnae network, and have some say in the direction of the Alumnae Association.

If you are interested, please contact Wendy Sheehan at wendy.Sheehan@comcast.net by November 15, 2004. Please include a resume and statement of interest. A nominations committee will contact you directly.

Simmons SOM Fall Telethon
Monday, November 8, 2004, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Tuesday, November 9, 2004, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Simmons College, 300 the Fenway, East Wing, 1st Floor of the Advancement Hall

The Office of Development and Alumnae Relations (ODAR) is seeking volunteers for our Fall Telethon. Telethons are an important component of achieving our Annual Fund goal, and also provide a great opportunity for students to meet and network with SOM alumnae who also volunteer for the telethon. Your participation is essential if we are to acheive our goal. Note that no experience is necessary – we will train and have fun while we're doing it! Please join us to help the SOM reach its goals for 2005. This year's priorities include: the Entrepreneurship and Diversity Initiatives, the Corporate Outreach Initiative, Leadership and Accountability, and the Center for Gender in Organizations. We provide delicious refreshments, good spirit, and great prizes to our volunteer callers. So check your calendars and contact Corinne Sirianos at 617.521.3825 or corinne.sirianos@simmons.edu to sign up. If you can’t be there in person, but you would still like to help, please drop us a line about the Phone from Home program, which allows you to make calls at your convenience.

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Career Services Office

Don't forget to RSVP to the CSO's Fall event! Use the link provided in the Events section of the MBA Update or you may use the link provided in the evite that went to your Simmons email account.

Celebrating Successes:
The Following is a sample list of positions secured by Class of 2004 Graduates!

Product Manager - EMC
Account Manager - Pearson Early Learning
Budget Analyst - Executive Office of Health and Human Services, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Leadership Development Extern - Toyota Motor Corporation
Sr. Research and Implementation Manager - Dalbar, Inc.
Experienced Associate - PriceWaterHouseCoopers
Director of Marketing - Moet Hennessy, Louis Vuitton- Guerlain Japan
Implementation Consultant - Workscape, Inc.

Trends - Some of the latest Career-Related news!

Business Networking Online can Advance Your Career
"… you don't need to attend countless meetings or go bar-hopping to be an effective networker. Just open your browser and surf to a social-networking Web site. In this virtual world, the improbable becomes possible: Social networks allow you to pull up a chair beside industry leaders."
Read on at: http://www.careerjournal.com/columnists/perspective/20041025-fmp.html?home_whatsnew_major

Flex time, mentoring for women help create a new business culture
"Put together flexibility and mentoring - two big guns in any business arsenal - and you have a powerful combination. And that's just what the Department of Labor's Women's Bureau is doing with a ground-breaking program called ''Flex-Options'' that is tackling one of today's most thorny workplace challenges: how to create a flexible business culture. " Read on at: http://bostonworks.boston.com/globe/balance/archives/102404.shtml

New Opportunities: Don't forget to check Career Connect on a regular basis!
Just Added this week
Business Market Planner - KeySpan
FESS Project Manager - The Women's Union
Business Systems Analyst - Fitzgerald Associates

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 below to login:

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Library

It's Halloween and time for trick or treat! Stop by the SOM Library for a treat!!!

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

Reference Interviews -Sign up now!!!! For help with in-depth research projects and questions, please sign up to make an appointment with Linda or Kathy. Times are available throughout the day. As always, feel free to come by for any help you need using the databases and finding answers to homework questions and more…

You are welcome to talk in the library, but out of respect for your fellow students, we ask that you speak quietly. Please remember to use your cell phone outside of the library.

Reminder: Shark Card applications are also available in the library. Please stop by the library and fill one out.

Worth a Read…..

Take a look at "America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies" in the Fall 2004 Special Issue of Inc. magazine.

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TECHNOLOGY

We're hiring! We have Wednesday evening, day and morning shifts available. If you're interested call Bill at x3852.

Media Services

Class Tapes
Recordings of classes are available in the computer lab. Only Quant courses are recorded this semester. If you want a copy of the audio recording please follow the posted instruction on how to make a duplication in the computer lab. We have blank tapes available for you to use at no cost. Please remember to return all master tapes to the rack.

Please note: all classes recorded over the last week do have low record volumes. This is a result of technical problems with the recording equipment. The Multimedia Networks department is aware of the problem and will do what they can to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

The original class tape labeled "420B Financial Reporting 9/21/04 1/2" is missing. If you have taken it from the lab please return it to us.

Computer Lab

The study room from the back of the library along with the two in the basement (BA & BB) will be re-located to the 4th floor by Friday. They will now be named 4A, 4B, & 4C.

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

SOM Lab (staffed) Hours:
Monday - Thursday 3:30pm-7:30pm
M,W & Th 11:30 - 12:30pm
Sundays 12 -4pm
If you need assistance and a lab staff is not available please call x2769

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

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SOM in the News

The article “Our earliest mentors: Is there a father in the house?” mentioning Simmons School of Management co-founders and first deans Ann Jardim and Margaret Hennig continues to appear in the media nationwide. The article mentions research the two former deans conducted for their book, The Managerial Woman, which found that the top 25 female achievers in American business had fathers who encouraged them to excel. The article appeared in nearly 25 publications nationwide on August 31, including Tampa Bay Business Journal, Washington Business Journal, and the Houston Business Journal.

Professor Lynda Moore was invited to participate in a session on the 20th anniversary of the Gender and Diversity Division of the Academy of Management at their annual meeting in August held in New Orleans. Moore was Chair of the Women in Management Division in 1988. The Women in Management Division was the predecessor of the Gender and Diversity Division and Professor Moore was involved in its early pioneering establishment. She participated in a program with other former officers of the Division that presented a retrospective review of the division and the field.

The August 9 issue of Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education (Paramus, NJ) featured an article on the May 6 Professional Women of Color Conference held at Simmons College on May 6. The conference, co-sponsored by the Center for Gender in Organizations, Simmons School of Management and Working Mother Media, offered a venue for an unusual and open discussion of problems that professional women of color still face in the workplace. The event drew nearly 200 women from business and academics to discuss differences between white and minority women in the workplace.

Deborah Kolb, the Deloitte Ellen Gabriel Professor for Women and Leadership, was the guest speaker for the Financial Women's Association of Chicago on October 5th. Her talk, entitled “Her Place at the Table - A Woman's Guide to Negotiating Five Challenges of Leadership Success,” was delivered to more than 60 women, including Nancy Masashi '97 and Siobhan S. Flynn ’93, organizer of the event.

Assistant Professor of Finance Patricia Clarke reviewed and discussed two papers at the Financial Management Association annual meeting in New Orleans, October 6-9. The papers were “Conducting Event Studies on a Small Stock Exchange with Thinly Traded Stocks” and “Identifying the Gap Between Student and Faculty Expectations: Report from a Business School.”

On October 15, Professor Stacy Blake-Beard gave a live interview on New Black City Radio, St. Louis, regarding her CGO Commentaries publication “Releasing the Double Bind of Visibility for Minorities in the Workplace.” Looking at lessons learned from the first season of NBC’s The Apprentice, authors Stacy Blake-Beard, CGO faculty affiliate, and Laura Morgan Roberts of Harvard Business School discuss two frequently employed visibility strategies and their implications for minorities who choose to use them. They also offer advice on how minorities can strategically manage their visibility most effectively in work organizations. The CGO Commentaries series paper can be found on www.simmons.edu/som/cgo.

Acting SOM Dean Deborah Merrill-Sands was quoted in the Diversity Works supplement of the October 17 Boston Sunday Globe. In the article “Shattering the Glass Ceiling: In 2004, is gender still a diversity issue?,” Merrill-Sands asserts that one of the most difficult challenges facing women in the workplace is an assumption based on anecdotal data that women don't wish to seek leadership roles. This reinforces gender stereotypes, and “also shifts responsibility for change away from organizations and places it squarely on the shoulders of individual women,” Merrill-Sands says. The article also highlights the Simmons School of Management as the only MBA program in the world geared exclusively to women.

Janine Dusossoit SOM ’82 has joined Safeguard Scientifics, Inc., as Vice President of Investor Relations. She is responsible for the company’s communications with financial analysts, investors, and the business media. Dusossoit also manages the company’s marketing communications.

EVENTS

SOM Class Reunion Day
Saturday, October 30, 2004
409 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston MA

The Simmons School of Management is having its 2004 Reunion on Saturday, October 30th! Join fellow students from the classes of 1979, 1984, 1989, 1994, 1999. Rediscover the power of connections. Renew friendships. Learn from our renowned faculty. Come back to the Center for Women, Leadership, and Management. Sign up at alumnet.simmons.edu.

MBA Preview Session
Wednesday, November 3, 2004 6:00 p.m.
451 Marlborough Street, Boston MA
RSVP at 617.521.3840 or somadm@simmons.edu

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 of Finance Indra Guertler. Learn how Simmons prepares students for success!

MBA Information Session
Wednesday, December 1, 2004 6:00 p.m.
451 Marlborough Street, Boston
RSVP at 617.521.3840 or somadm@simmons.edu

Spread the word to prospective women MBA students about the upcoming SOM MBA Information Session. They'll be able to hear from Acting Dean Deborah Merrill-Sands, alumnae, students, and faculty as they talk about the Simmons MBA experience. They will learn what it takes to earn a Simmons MBA and how it will open up a world of possibilities and opportunities. Topics include the one-year accelerated program, part-time options, curriculum, career placement, financing the degree, and the application process.

Dr. Deborah Kolb Book Signing - Her Place at the Table: A Woman’s Guide to Negotiating Five Key Challenges to Leadership Success
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
7:30 – 9:30 a.m.
John Hancock Hall, 180 Berkeley Street, Boston

In August 2004, Jossey-Bass published the newest book Deloitte Ellen Gabriel Professor for Women and Leadership Deborah M. Kolb, Ph.D., Her Place at the Table: A Woman’s Guide to Negotiating Five Key Challenges to Leadership Success (co-authored by Judith Williams ’80 and Carol Frohlinger ’00EE). Hear from Dr. Kolb and her co-authors about their latest research on women and leadership. Based on interviews with more than one hundred women in leadership positions or on the cusp of leadership, Her Place at the Table shows that women are aware of the leadership challenges facing them and the action steps they need to take to ensure their success. An invitation will be sent to students shortly.

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