Smith Hosts National Undergraduate Business Symposium

The Robert H. Smith School of Business welcomed thought leaders from top undergraduate business schools across the United States on March 18 & 19, 2005.

Some 60 participants, primarily undergraduate program directors and faculty leaders, attended the National Undergraduate Business Symposium (NUBS), which aims to continually improve member schools undergraduate business programs through discussion of common issues and sharing of ideas in today's rapidly-changing global arena.

This conference, which brings together faculty and administration from the top undergraduate business programs, is a collegial gathering of friends, at which we share best practices and learn from each other. Each of the member schools contributes a unique perspective, while at the same time all share common issues regarding undergraduate management education, says Pat Cleveland, assistant dean for undergraduate studies at Smith.

This year's conference theme, "Technology in Business, gave the participants an opportunity to glean valuable information and tips on developing and managing the IT infrastructure, which makes possible the high-end programs and services students and faculty have come to expect.

Using Technology to Build Community

"Using Technology to Build Community" was the first session at NUBS 2005. Presenters from the Smith School and University of Iowa's Tippie College of Business highlighted the role of information technology in the business of education.

Cleveland started the session by talking about the importance of building community. She stressed the value of technology in enabling schools to enrich the student experience, and connect with alumni and the community at large. 

Smith students Mark Weinstein, president of Smith Ambassadors, and Sakisha Jackson, president of the Smith Undergraduate Student Association (SUSA), demonstrated Web sites that had helpful features like event listings and dynamic calendars. Brian Horick, associate director of undergraduate studies at the Smith School, talked about the importance of self-managing Web sites.

The session also included a presentation on Web enabled scholarship applications by Maggie Jesse, director of Stead Technology Services at the Tippie College of Business. It concluded with a discussion during which panelists Jesse, Holly Mann, director of Smith IT, and Weinstein fielded questions.

Keynote Address 

Smith School Dean Howard Frank delivered the keynote address at the opening night dinner. Frank discussed the need for business schools to adapt to a business environment that is being rapidly transformed by information technology.

We sit in an environment that changes faster than we can change our curriculums, said Frank. He pointed to a U.S. hospital that now outsources its overnight radiology work to physicians in India and to companies that are developing smart vending machines that change the price of their products based on changes in the environment such as the weather.

If were graduating students who are going to be successful in these companies, we must provide them with the talents that match the environment, said Frank, who has successfully led the Smith Schools integration of e-business into the fundamental business disciplines. It means that as business schools, we need to change in multiple ways.

The Evolution of Wharton's SPIKE 

Among the sessions on Saturday, was a presentation focusing on the Wharton Schools student portal called SPIKE. Daniel Alig, Wharton's senior IT project leader, explained that the student intranet has been 10 years in the making and continues to evolve. The latest version, called SPIKE X, provides students with one-stop for everything from reserving group study rooms and course management systems, to news and events, weather and video presentations. The Wharton presenters stressed the importance of involving students in the development in this 10th version of SPIKE.

Were not just building something that we think is useful. We want something that they think is useful, Alig told the group.

SPIKE is used by both MBA students and undergraduate students at Wharton. Although undergraduates can also get information through the university-wide Web portal for undergraduates, the Wharton presenters noted that SPIKE provides much added value.

We felt that we needed our own identity, said Suzanne Kauffman DePuyt, managing director, Wharton Ugrad Division. We find that our students use the Wharton portal more than the university portal.

The session also featured a presentation by representatives of the University of Arizona's Eller College of Management. Stacey Lippert, director for academic advising and student services, and Andrea Winkle, coordinator for business operations and tech specialist showcased the schools eSMS student management system. Lippert and Winkle also discussed the need to continue to evolve such systems, and the need to build the right relationships within the school to accomplish IT goals.

Its very important to build the relationship with IT, stressed Winkle.

Another session included a live demonstration of the Eller Student Management System, which is a homegrown, Web-delivered, comprehensive database program initiated by the schools undergraduate program and developed by Eller IT.

There were several other panel discussions with topics ranging from Unleashing the Power of Online Recruiting Systems to Integrating Academic & Career Advising through Online Advising.

The host for NUBS 2006 is Case Western University.