Articles about activities within the academic departments
UConn Today – Leave it to a fashion-industry titan to offer UConn business students some words of wisdom that will likely never go out of style.
Alumna Melinda Brown ’77 (BUS) ’85 MBA shared her business perspective based on 40 years working in global consumer products and luxury retail companies.
Molly Cournoyer graduated from the UConn School of Business in December 2022. During her time at UConn, Molly made sure to focus on both her physical and mental health to ensure success in starting her career. Molly explained, “I think in today’s world being able to work from home can get in the way of work life balance as you can just hop on your device to answer a few emails. By choosing to prioritize my health while in school I became a better student and now a more successful employee.”
Molly is currently working as a Sales Representative for Pure Barre. The company’s focus on health and wellness is what attracted her to the role. “The team is very focused on having a healthy mind and body for the clients, along with each other;” she continues, “The deciding factor for me was how I felt in the studio. I would say I’m a pretty intuitive person so when I felt at home as I walked into the studio I knew it was a good fit.”. For Molly, a typical day in her role is centered around strong customer service. She works to make sure members are getting what they are looking for out of their memberships, as well prospecting for new members. Her main objective is to get them into the studios and eventually into memberships that will work for their own routines and personal goals.
Molly recalls her favorite professional experience so far would be making so many connections with her professors while at UConn, especially those who are adjunct professors. “Having professors who are still in the field has been such a great opportunity for connections that will help in my professional life;” Molly stresses the importance of networking, “The connections you make can bring so many opportunities your way. Something that I’ve done to advance my career is keeping an active LinkedIn account and consistently growing my network.”. Molly’s advice to current undergraduate students is to be prepared for whatever comes your way. She notes that “When you are in an interview you are also interviewing that company. Be prepared, ask questions, and follow your gut instinct. Learn to be your best self. If a company is not going to accept you for who you are, and what you have to offer then there are bigger and better things coming your way!”.
U.S. News & World Report has ranked the UConn part-time MBA program, known as the FLEX MBA, as No. 1 in Connecticut and tied at No. 2 in New England with Boston University. The 2023-24 Best Graduate School Ranking was released this week.
The honor comes at a time when the program is revising and strengthening its offerings to provide more flexibility in selecting courses, and greater convenience for students, who can select a mix of in-person courses, on any of three campuses in Hartford, Stamford or Waterbury, or online options. Continue Reading
UConn Today – More than 300 alumni, faculty, and friends of the School of Business celebrated the 30th anniversary Alumni Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Hartford Marriott Downtown on Friday evening.
The celebration welcomed five outstanding and accomplished alumni to the Hall of Fame, while simultaneously honoring business, ingenuity, friendships, family, education, and even the men’s basketball team. Inductees also shared their advice to the many undergraduate and graduate students in the audience.
UConn Today – In high school, Ish Panwar used her talents in public speaking and leadership to run a non-profit organization teaching those skills to young adults. That approach to life – simultaneously ambitious and concerned with helping others – served her well at UConn, where she forged connections with mentors, developed new skills, and discovered that, for such a big university, UConn has a close-knit, supportive field. After graduation, she heads off to New York City, to put her skills to use in the finance industry.
UConn Today – In her work as a vice president at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Annamarie Beaulieu supports strategic initiatives and research that contribute to new therapies and better medical care for children.
Beaulieu, who also has a master’s degree in public health from UConn and has raised four children to adulthood, has long known that maternal and child health was her passion.
UConn Today – The University of Connecticut Office of the Provost is pleased to announce the award of promotion and/or tenure to 96 faculty across its multiple campuses.
Evaluations for promotion, tenure, and reappointment apply the highest standards of professional achievement in scholarship, teaching, and service for each faculty member evaluated. Applications for promotion and tenure are reviewed at the department level, school or college level, and finally at the Office of the Provost before recommendations are forwarded to the Board of Trustees.
UConn Today – As a young girl, Esther Nguyen would watch with admiration as her aunt, a pharmacist in Southern California, shared her knowledge, compassion, and advice with her customers.
“I saw how warm and caring my aunt was with the community and especially advocating for the Vietnamese-American population that she served,” Nguyen recalled. “I always looked up to her for that. I wanted to become someone you could turn to when you needed support in improving your health.”
Olivia Hoffman is a senior Marketing major with a concentration in Digital Marketing and Analytics and a minor in Management. Early in Olivia’s college career, she made it a priority to get involved in extracurricular activities and try new things. Olivia recalls that the most important step she took as an undergraduate was exposing herself to areas outside of Marketing. Through experiences like joining the Learning Community Council’s Recruitment Committee instead of the Marketing Committee and participating in the First Year Experience Program as a Mentor, Olivia got a taste of what different career paths looked like and new opportunities. Another important step Oliva took was making sure to network. “We hear all the time from professors and faculty that networking is important, but networking is so much more than a buzzword. The only way I discovered my past internship and the role I am pursuing after graduation was by striking up a conversation with a friend of a friend who worked at the company – if I had not taken the time to network with her and ask her about her job, I would have missed out on the perfect opportunity for me.” This past summer, Olivia worked as a Human Resources Corporate Intern at CVS Health. The internship lasted 10 weeks from June through August 2022. At the conclusion of her internship, Olivia accepted a return offer to join the company’s Human Resources Leadership Development Program (HRLDP) after graduation, which is a three-year rotational program based in Hartford, CT.
When looking for internship roles, Olivia had certain criteria in mind. She knew she wanted to work for a large company with a strong company culture and a mission she believed in. She also wanted to work somewhere that invested in early career talent. “That can mean something different to everyone, but to me, that meant a company that offered Leadership Development Programs after graduation and other talent development opportunities catered to recent graduates. CVS Health checked all of those boxes, and when I joined the company this summer, I was even happier than I expected to be.” Although interns were primarily virtual this past summer, Olivia made the most out of her experience. Most days, She would attend meetings with her team to discuss and work on projects and participate in development workshops offered to interns. CVS Health placed a large emphasis on networking, so over the summer Olivia was able to set up 30 minute “coffee chats” with 50 human resources professionals across different areas of the business. Olivia states, “It is important to keep in mind that as an intern, your entire internship is also an opportunity to showcase your skills and company fit; that played a large part in the process for receiving a full-time offer” Olivia recalls her favorite part of her internship was when CVS Health hosted all 300+ corporate interns for a week in their Hartford, CT office for their Intern Summit event. “Although I had completed other internships prior to this role, this was the first time that I was truly in an office setting for full-time work due to the pandemic. That week really transformed my perspective on the workplace and allowed me to gain a better understanding of what office culture looks like, which cannot be communicated through a Zoom call. It was an overwhelmingly positive experience that influenced my choice to join the company full-time next June.”
One piece of advice Olivia has to offer other undergraduates is to look early and often for roles, but to also understand the timeline for your industry. “Sometimes you might find that perfect job listing in October, but most often the timeline may look different. It can be disheartening to consistently look for Marketing roles early in the year and to not find many, but once you realize that the Marketing recruiting timeline leans more towards the Spring semester, it can alleviate some worry.” Olivia also wants to emphasize how incredibly important it is to network as much as you can. “UConn students have such a large alumni network who want to see UConn students succeed, so take advantage of that! Attend events on campus where you can connect with employers and take the time to build genuine relationships before the internship or full-time role you want is even on the table so that you are top-of-mind when application time comes.”
UConn Today – Mia Hawlk, the Executive Director of MBA Programs and a relentless advocate for graduate students, will be recognized next month with a ‘Top 25 Women in Business Award’ presented by the Hartford Business Journal.
Hawlk oversees the Online, FLEX and Executive MBA degree programs at UConn, serving 675 students. Her responsibilities have included the creation of an online MBA program two years ago, and more recently the redesign of the FLEX MBA, allowing students a highly customized education.