University of Marylands Robert H. Smith School of Business Launches Unique Undergraduate Fellows Program

College Park, MD November 30, 2005 The University of Marylands Robert H. Smith School of Business has launched an innovative Undergraduate Fellows Program. The program will provide a broad range of opportunities to all undergraduate students to specialize and integrate knowledge gained in the classroom with real-world activities and hands-on applications in laboratories, internships and other action-based learning, as well as support the building of community among Smith students, faculty, staff, alumni and corporate partners.

"The goal of the Smith School is to build the top undergraduate program in the United States," said Howard Frank, dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business. "We have extraordinary undergraduate students and a spectacular faculty. Our goal is to create a series of small schools within the Smith School so that students can live in a personalized environment while benefiting from the range of options that only a large school can offer. With the Smith Undergraduate Fellows program, we are creating many small focused programs so a significant number of students can utilize a large schools ability to do great things. All of our students will be given the option to join at least one Smith Fellows Track."

New freshman and transferring juniors participate as cohorts or ongoing groups in a broad range of academic and co-curricular activities designed to broaden their education and create lasting bonds. By 2008 the Smith School plans to develop 20-30 fellows tracks. Examples of programs that have been built or are currently under development include:

• International Fellows students with a double major in business and foreign language study. Students participate in dedicated study abroad trips and international clubs
   
• College Park Scholars Business, Society & Economy one of 13 University of Maryland living-learning programs. Students compete in an annual strategy-board competition, take field trips and perform community service
   
• Entrepreneurship Fellows a dedicated and selective track of the general business major, providing a four-course sequence in entrepreneurship, culminating in a business plan competition and working with the school's Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship in product, service and business creation
   
• Supply Chain Fellows a rich introduction to the logistics, transportation and supply chain industry. Undergraduate fellows assigned as assistants to industry representatives, attend trade shows and U.S. Senate sessions on industry policy, and collaborate to host a year-end Supply Chain policy conference
   
• Smith Research Fellows an opportunity to learn the research process, participate in data collection and compilation, modeling, presentation and other tasks under faculty supervision while earning a stipend for their efforts
   
• QUEST (Quality Enhancement Systems and Teams) Fellows offers team-based collaboration with the A. James Clark School of Engineering to combine science and business management
   
• Smith Technology Fellows an opportunity to apply information technology to business problems and assist faculty in technology-intensive courses while receiving a stipend for their work
   
• Six Sigma Fellows anchored in the renowned Six Sigma approach focusing on improving progress and operations performance and results in Six Sigma certification
   
• Business Honors Fellows offers upper-level core courses in small, seminar-style honors sections with both a thesis and non-thesis option and subsidized international travel and coursework

Other tracks being considered include sports management, real estate management, philanthropy and biotech management.

"It is our goal to provide a superior educational experience to all of our talented undergraduate students," said Pat Cleveland, associate dean of undergraduate programs at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. "The Smith Fellows Program gives students hands-on experience and connects them to professionals often our Smith alumni who are leading the transformation of 21st century business."

About the Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research for the digital economy. The Smith School one of 13 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park offers undergraduate, full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, PhD, and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in four continents including North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. More information about the Robert H. Smith School of Business can be found at www.rhsmith.umd.edu.

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