Undergraduate Programs

Student Group Hosts Jim Calhoun, CEO of Converse, Inc.

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Group photo of Honors in Business Association.The Honors in Business Association (HiBA) hosted Jim Calhoun ’89 (CLAS), CEO of Converse for a discussion about his experience as an undergraduate at UConn, his career path, and what it is like being CEO of a multibillion dollar international company.

Before speaking to a larger audience, Calhoun spoke with students at an intimate reception sponsored by the UConn School of Business Dean’s Office. Gregory Doyle ’15 (BUS), an attendee at the reception stated, “It was great connecting with a past UConn graduate who has been successful on a large corporate scale. He seemed really passionate about Converse and what it represents. I especially enjoyed hearing about the mistakes he has made along the way and what he has learned from them.”

Following the reception Calhoun began his discussion in the Student Union Theater with a picture of his father, former UConn men’s basketball head coach Jim Calhoun. The picture was of the former coach wearing Converse sneakers as a college student and playing basketball against UConn, a team he would later coach. Calhoun brought the picture full circle stating that the picture hangs in his office at Converse headquarters.

In addition to taking in advice from Calhoun, students were stunned to learn that Calhoun was to thank for the famous product placement of Wilson in ‘Cast Away’ starring Tom Hanks.

Both the reception and speaking event attracted UConn students across all disciplines who all took something away from Calhoun’s talk. Justin Hall ’17 (ENG) stated, “Calhoun’s presentation was both insightful and interesting. Personally I left with a greater understanding of how to utilize and how to create pivotal opportunities throughout my life.” Alyssa Zabin ’16 (CLAS), from student group Leadership in Action added, “It was great as students to see what huskies before us have done as they build upon their undergraduate experiences in profound ways.”

Larry Gramling, associate dean of the School of Business who sat down with Calhoun for a question and answer session expressed, “A great deal of what made the event one of the very best I have ever attended at UConn was first and foremost due to Jim Calhoun who did a great job by just being himself: genuine, down-to-earth, and engaging before the event in the Lounge, during the talk, and afterwards when many of the 100 or so in the audience came up to talk to Jim.”

About Honors in Business Association: Honors in Business Association (HiBA) is a student organization formed between the Honors Program and UConn School of Business. HiBA strives to create a sense of community for students in both Honors and the School of Business and those with an interest in business while focusing on professional development. Contact information: uconnhiba@gmail.com or Quian Callender at quian.callendar@uconn.edu.

Pictured L to R: John Averill ’16 (CLAS), Quian Callender ’16 (BUS), Alyssa Zabin ’16 (CLAS), Jim Calhoun, CEO of Converse, Associate Dean of the School of Business Larry Gramling, Grace Kim ’16 (BUS), Emily Vasington ’16 (BUS), Brooke Wasserman ’15 (BUS), and Global VP of Communications at Converse Terri Hines.

National Black MBA Association, Inc. – Westchester Greater Connecticut Chapter Scholarship

Posted on by Brian Kelleher

The Westchester/Greater Connecticut Chapter of the National Black MBA Association is offering scholarships to outstanding minority students pursuing undergraduate and graduate management/business degrees, while demonstrating strong leadership abilities and a commitment to their communities. This year the program awards scholarships ranging from $1,000 for undergrads and $2,000 for master’s candidates.

Please note the deadline to apply is December 15, 2014.

Please click the link to apply –

 

Upperclassman Yue Zhu Wins $5,000 Scholarship

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Yue Zhu, an upperclassman in the School of Business, has won a $5,000 scholarship from the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC)2, an organization that promotes international cyber security.

Zhu, who has a cumulative GPA of 3.95, said he hopes to pursue information security as a career after graduation.

“Yue is an exceptional student,” said Professor Dmitry Zhdanov, who is his academic adviser. Last year Zhu was recognized with UConn’s Outstanding MIS Junior Scholarship. He also participated in the CoMIS National Case Competition last April, in which Team UConn won the second place out of 12 colleges from around nation.

The ISC2 Foundation is an international charitable trust that aims to empower students, teachers and the general public to secure their “online life” with cybersecurity education and awareness programs and to fill society’s need for trained cybersecurity professionals.

“This is a highly prestigious scholarship in the information security field, coming from the organization which is a gold standard in information security excellence,” Zhdanov said, noting that Ryan Fried won it as a UConn student in 2012. “It is safe to say that our program is producing top-notch talent.”

Zhu grew up in China, which is still his home, but has been attending U.S. schools since the 11th grade. Although a junior, he has already accumulated enough credits to graduate.

American Bullion College Scholarship

Posted on by Brian Kelleher

Scholarship Essay Rules

  • Scholarship essay must be a minimum of 500 words, maximum of 2,000 words.
  • Applicant must be currently enrolled at an accredited high school, college, or university within the United States.
  • Applicant must be a legal resident of the United States or hold a valid U.S. student visa.
  • One submission per person, per year.
  • Essays that fail to meet the above requirements will be disregarded.
  • Winners may have their essay featured on the American Bullion website, Facebook page, and blog. For up-to-date information on the scholarship and other American Bullion announcements, follow American Bullion on Twitter and Facebook.

Scholarship Deadlines

  • Application Deadline: January 1, 2015
  • Winners Selected: January 15, 2015
  • Winners Contacted: January 30, 2015

Scholarship Application

To apply for this scholarship opportunity, please complete the following form and include a 500-2,000 word essay answering the question: “Why is gold a good investment for future generations?” –

For more information and to submit your scholarship application go to American Bullion.

The Excel Builders Scholarship

Posted on by Brian Kelleher

Excel Builders are proud to announce their first-ever college scholarship for the 2015 school year. It is their hope that this $1,000.00 scholarship will make a big difference towards helping one student achieve his or her dreams. The scholarship is available to college students and high school students entering college. Entry close date is December 30th, 2014. Winner will be chosen January 15, 2015.

About Excel Builders Scholarship

Few industries are as close to the changing way that people live their lives as home construction. We’ve seen amazing changes in the way people live their lives since we started in this business, in everything from style to comfort and efficiency. We know that new life-changing innovations are always just around the corner. Who better to tell us about the homes of the future than the nation’s students? Your mission, should you choose, is to prepare an essay on one of the following topics:

  1.      Luxury Topic: With Companies Like Nest Popping Up, Home Design and Customization Has Never Been So Interesting. What Features would You Like to See on the Homes of the Future?
  2.      Sustainability Topic: Environmentally Friendly Home Building is a Hot Topic. How Can We, As Potential Home Buyers, Come to the Aid of our Planet?
  3.      Novelty Topic: Oh no! A zombie plague has swept across the land. Tell us about the defensive and comfortable features of your post-apocalyptic pad.

Learn about the good work we are doing in Maryland and Delaware.

Scholarship Entry

Apply here: scholarship entry form

7th Annual Undergraduate Networking Skills Forum

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Group photo from the Undergraduate Skills Forum.The 7th Annual School of Business Undergraduate Networking Skills Forum on Sept. 24 gave freshmen from the University’s Business Connections Learning Community (BCLC) the opportunity to meet and mingle with Connecticut business leaders, many of them UConn alumni.

Some 40 business people spent time encouraging the 87 freshmen, and sharing career advice, insight and suggestions about how to make a good first impression.

“Our alumni said they were very impressed,” said Fran Graham, manager of alumni relations for the School of Business. “They also commented that the students didn’t appear to be nervous, and that they were surprised that incoming freshmen could be so poised.”

“This is my second year attending this event and it is one of my favorites,” said Kirstin Ferreira ’12, a business analyst at Cigna. “I am heavily involved in the UConn Recruiting team for Cigna’s Technology Early Career Development Program (TECDP). I think it is incredibly important to teach these kinds of skills as early as possible, as I know the impact of a first impression.

“I got to where I am with the support of UConn’s Career Services department, and I want to do what I can to continue to help students find opportunities,” said Ferreira. “I was so impressed with the students, from their sharp attire to their career aspirations.”

Alyssa Kafka ’11, a business and technology senior analyst at Accenture, agreed.

“I come to the undergraduate networking forum because I know how intimidating it is to speak with professionals,” she said. “At any stage of your career, there’s always going to be someone more senior than you. And the more practice you have, the more comfortable and prepared you will be to speak to them. It’s my job as an alumna to help UConn business students find success and best represent our school. After all, I’m proud to call myself a Husky and I want them to be too!”

Among the pointers that the mentors offered included: encouraging students to make eye contact, present a firm handshake, wear comfortable shoes and, in some cases, be a bit less formal, Graham said.

—photos by Aileen Tobin

Real Estate Program Ranks in Top 10 Nationwide

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In keeping with a long-held tradition, the Center for Real Estate and Urban Economic Studies at the University of Connecticut has been recognized as one of the Top 10 programs in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.

The real estate program was listed as number 9 in the nation in the “2015 Best Colleges” report. It has been in the Top 10 for more than 15 years, said Director John Glascock.

“We have a very good team of professors and it has been that way for decades,” he said. Current faculty includes John Clapp, Ph.D., a professor of finance and real estate, who is considered one of the top researchers in his field worldwide. In addition, Professor John Harding, Ph.D., has more than 20 years of industry experience in financial services, including working as senior vice president of planning and research at both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The real estate program boasts full job placement in top corporate real estate firms in Hartford, Boston and New York, Glascock said. With active alumni in firms including JP Morgan, Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, TIAA-CREF and UBS Global Real Estate, to name a few, the opportunities for internships and networking are many, he said.

UConn real estate students are particularly hard-working, Glascock noted. In national competitions, judges have remarked about the UConn students’ willingness to put in extra hours, as well as their ability to uncover detailed data errors that students from other colleges missed, he said.

In addition to its student training, the Center provides services to Connecticut’s real estate professionals and to the Department of Consumer Protection.

In the same publication, UConn’s undergraduate business program ranked 31 among public universities nationally, and 51 overall.

New Undergraduate Center at UConn School of Business Centralizes Student Services

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Undergraduate Center UConn School of Business logo.The School of Business has established a new Undergraduate Center, combining important student services into one central location. The Center, which was formed over the summer, is located in Suite 248, and will now house the Office of Undergraduate Advising, the Undergraduate Career Development Office, the Office of Diversity Initiatives and the Business Writing Center.

“I’m very excited because this will provide efficient, one-stop shopping for our undergraduates,” said Larry Gramling, associate dean for undergraduate programs. “It will be extremely convenient for students, and provide even greater opportunity for the professional staff to collaborate.”

The new center is designed to offer support that is completely dedicated to the undergraduate students’ professional needs. The Center takes advantage of space formerly occupied by the Full-time MBA program, which has since relocated to Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford.

Brandy Nelson, who had formerly served as an academic advisor, is now the director of the Office of Undergraduate Advising (formerly known as the Undergraduate Programs Office) and the program can be reached at (860) 486-2315. Kelly Kennedy, well-known for teaching career development courses, will continue in that role as well as creating a new academic advising program that will engage students through all four years.

Kathy Hendrickson is serving as the assistant director of the Undergraduate Career Development Office (formerly known as the Business Career Center). That program can be contacted at (860) 486-5136.

Seanice DeShields is director of The Office of Diversity Initiatives, and that office can be reached at (860) 486-4135.

Jeffrey Roberts is director of the Business Writing Center, which can be contacted at (860) 486-9011.

Another familiar presence in the new center is Debbie Smith, who will now serve as front-desk receptionist in addition to her duties with the Career Development Office.

Strong Corporate Support for Students in UConn Stamford’s New Financial Management Major

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The UConn School of Business is proud to announce a premier group of financial institutions supporting the School’s new undergraduate Financial Management major in Stamford.

The Financial Management major was designed and developed, in part, by CFA charterholders from prominent local hedge funds and investment firms. The major has been accepted into the CFA Institute’s University Recognition Program and stands to serve as inspiration to a program intent on helping cultivate a young generation of future CFA charterholders. The CFA credential has become one of the most globally respected designations and the Financial Management major, along with those selected within this program to join the Investment Management Program (IMP), will be exposed to academic and practical applications in finance coupled with reinforcement of strong ethical behavior.

“Through a progressive relationship with the CFA Society of Stamford, students who excel in the Financial Management major will be invited to join an exclusive Investment Management Program (IMP), which, among other benefits, provides access to a wide array of tools and research from financial institutions like Barclays, CreditSights, and Atlantic Asset Management,” said Jud Saviskas, executive director for the UConn School of Business in Stamford. “This innovative relationship encourages and facilitates an exchange of ideas, networking opportunities and career development for aspiring investment professionals – and it’s already received outside interest from many other colleges and universities.”

Last year, a group of IMP students travelled to Wall Street for a visit to several institutions such as Barclays, Bloomberg, and CreditSights. As program supporters, these companies allow students and faculty complimentary access to their client web portals such as, Barclays Live, which provides a range of research and financial analytics tools, and CreditSights’ online global research platform and an analytical staff of almost 80 investment professionals.

“Barclay’s and CreditSights’ web portals are an excellent tool for IMP students as they undertake the challenges of the program and the pursuit of the CFA Level I exam,” said Michael Dineen, senior vice president of Atlantic Asset Management and UConn adjunct professor.

Thomas Walsh, managing director at Barclays added that the collaboration with IMP is just one example of the importance the bank places on developing an early foundation of ethical investment knowledge. “The most successful students will be those who develop the skill sets they need to be productive and innovative members of the next generation’s workforce,” Walsh said. “We are delighted to be able to make Barclays Live available to IMP students and hope that they will derive significant benefit from these new resources.”

“We have had the pleasure to meet a number of IMP students, and they are coming into the space during interesting times in the evolution of the credit markets,” said Glenn Reynolds, CEO of CreditSights. “We hope the background information from prior credit cycles and our analysis of the structural shifts taking place today – most notably in banking and finance – can be of value as they prepare themselves for the role they can play in the markets. Credit has grown dramatically in all areas of the global economy from sovereign to corporate to household, and there are a lot of moving parts to the puzzle.”

Barclays
Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in personal banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking and wealth and investment management, with an extensive international presence in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Barclays has long been recognized as a leader in not only fundamental equity and credit research but also technical and quantitative analysis. Their research, analytics and market-leading benchmark and tradable strategy indices are widely used by clients and the markets.

CreditSights
Founded by a group of analysts in September 2000, CreditSights is an independent research firm offering a range of fundamental research products, quantitative risk models, and ratings services that are used by clients making investment and risk management decisions. CreditSights does not underwrite securities or manage assets and has grown from 8 employees in 2000 to over 115 currently. The company has its main operations in New York, London, and Singapore.

Atlantic Asset Management
Atlantic Asset Management has been an independent registered investment advisor for over 20 years, focusing on institutional fixed-income and asset allocation strategies; and for 15 years, has run an investment manager “sponsorship” program, where promising emerging managers focusing on niche market segments have received seeding and infrastructure support to help grow their businesses.

Experience a Top Ten Business Law Program!

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Bloomberg Businessweek has named the UConn Business Law program as one of the top ten programs in the U.S.

This ranking is based on survey responses from graduating seniors regarding their learning experiences in Business Law classes. Members of the Business Law faculty have repeatedly earned national recognition from their peers for their teaching methods and classroom mastery.Continue Reading