One good reason to visit me

Yesterday, a student came to the BBA Program Office because she had a concern about a class. Specifically, she was upset about one section of MO300 getting to take their mid-term as a take-home exam while the rest of the sections took their mid-terms in-class. She didn't think that this was right and, at the same time, didn't feel comfortable discussing it with her professor but didn't know where else to turn.

Well, that's where I come in. She dropped by our office and spoke with Rob Koonce (who advises students). He realized that I shouuld know what's going on, so he directed her into my office where we had a quick chat. I took this student's concerns to the MO chair and then the core course coordinator. We discussed the issue and we now both understand the other's thinking on this topic. I don't know what's going to happen today, but the MO professors are at least better informed as to the concerns of the students and will be able to address them before and after the exam.

Building next year's classes

Admissions and the BBA Program Office are busy building next year's classes; the deadline for this set of students has already passed. We are currently in the midst of reading applications for next year's freshman class of preferred admits. They are really, really strong. Any concerns that some might have had that we would not be able to attract a group of smart and active freshman have been completely washed away. High SATs, high GPAs, strong analytic grades and scores, tons of activities, several have been running their own business for multiple years, good mix of in-state and out-of-state — good, good, good. We won't know until mid-summer how many of them are going to show up in September but I'm certain we'll be happy with the result.

The application deadline for current sophomores (rising juniors) is tomorrow (Feb 15). This will be our last 2-year program but it will be as strong as ever. Our third deadline, for current freshmen (rising sophomores), is the end of March. This will be our first 3-year program. We are looking forward to continuing our tradition of attracting a group of smart, highly motivated students to Ross. This has been, and will continue to be, the basis of our success.

Overall, adding our senior class to our three entering classes and next year we'll have around 800 students. We are eagerly awaiting the time when they arrive on campus. We are planning several activities for each group of students to help begin (or continue) to build a connection to Ross.

Good teachers and good classes

I like to consider myself a good teacher. (I'm not talking about how well I fulfill the whole job of professor; I'm simply commenting on my ability to teach a quality class.) I've won awards from students and from other professors that indicate that other people think so, too. That's all well and good.

Now that doesn't mean that I can't get better. It doesn't mean that the next class that I teach is going to be a rousing success. Of course, I hope that it will and expect that it might — but hope and expect are a long way from actually delivering such a course.

Lots of things have contributed to my teaching methods and style. Of course, I've worked with other professors whose work in the classroom I highly respect (Mike Gordon being a prime example). I've observed many great teachers over the years as a student (e.g., Fred Allvine and Eugene Comiskey at Georgia Tech) and as a professor (e.g., Dennis Severance and Judy Olson here at Michigan). I've also built up quite the library of books on teaching; here's a sample of my favorites:

• Making the most of college by Light
• What the best college teachers do by Bain
• Teaching at its best by Nilson
• Strategies for energizing large classes, edited by MacGregor et al.
• Leaving the lectern by McManus
• Classroom instruction that works by Marzano et al.
• Engaging large classes by Stanley & Porter
• Simulations and the future of learning by Aldrich
• E-learning and the science of instruction by Clark & Mayer
• Lessons from the cyberspace classroom by Palloff & Pratt

And that's a sample of the books; there are, of course, many other journal articles that I've read over the years that I've found valuable. These are books by researchers and practitioners (that is, researchers who study teaching and teachers) that tell me their take on what they found of interest when looking at the art and practice of teaching. All of these give me strategies that I might use in my future classes.

What does this have to do with you? Well, I would like to hear from students about their best experience in a classroom, and why it was so great. It can be about a full-semester experience and how it all came together on a specific day in just the right way; it can be about a specific day in one particular class that had a great impact on you — whatever. What I'm looking for are stories, especially from Michigan and Ross students, about their favorite experiences in specific classes. Go ahead and name names if you are going to do so in a positive light. I don't know of any professor that wouldn't love to hear that he/she did a great job.

And why do I care? Two reasons. First, in my current job as BBA Program Director I get to hear about all of the problems. What I'd like to do is have a series of positive examples that I can relay both to prospective students and to current faculty who are looking for inspiration. Second, I am currently working through the process of designing a couple of new classes. I want to hear about the approaches used by professors that students find interesting and not just those approaches that other academics find intriguing.

So, if you would take a few minutes, what I'd like you to do is leave a comment for this post that describes the project, in-class activity, assignment, or other aspect related to a class that you really enjoyed or found valuable. There's no deadline — so even if you're reading this years from now, please go ahead and post — but, on the other hand, the sooner you post your comment, the sooner I can take advantage of this information. Thanks!

Grades, college & life

I just had a chat with a student that reminded me of where many of you are mentally and emotionally in your journey through this school and through your life. And I thought I'd just pass on a few of the main points of this conversation to you.

Grades are important. They are a major component of the decision of admissions committees if you should ever decide to go to graduate school. They are also a major component of the weeding-out process for initial interviews for certain careers. Getting good grades is certainly better than getting bad grades. I got good grades and they certainly helped me in my academic career.

Grades are not important in many ways. They should not determine your self-worth. They are not who you are. They also should not be the reason that you try hard in school. You should possibly end up with good grades as a by-product of working hard in a class that you enjoy and that is important to you for some reason. Not the other way around.

You shouldn't work hard so that you get good grades; you should work hard (because you like something) and then possibly get good grades. This is a real important point. This is one of those "If I had only known then what I know now" things that adults say. Very few college kids understand this. Some of you never will. Some of you will get it during your mid-life crisis. And a few lucky ones get it while you're in college. I didn't get it until sometime in my late 30s.

Another point to be taken out of this: think of how "enjoyment" or "fun" or "goodness" fits into this whole equation. It should be related to the content of the class and how well the class is taught; it should not have anything to do with your grade. I've heard someone say "I didn't get a good grade in that class. I shouldn't have taken it." What?!? If you're taking a class because of a grade, or if a grade has something to do with how you value a class, then you're messed up.

You should take a class because you're interested in the topic. You work hard and try to learn the material. Note that I didn't say "You work hard and try to do well in the class." Wrong-o! You work hard to try to learn the material; as a result of learning the material, you then have a better chance of performing well on projects (and assignments and exams) and, thus, have a better chance of getting a good grade.

This isn't just a semantic trick or some philosophical mumbo-jumbo. It has to do with success. Take a moment to understand this chain of relationships: like topic —> try harder —> learn material better —> perform better —> better chance at good grade. If this doesn't seem right, apply the same concepts to playing a sport: like sport —> try harder —> learn skills better —> perform better —> better chance of winning. Now that makes sense, doesn't it? I'm just applying the same process to school work, that's all.

Still, when applied to school, this may sound hopelessly naive to you. You're probably thinking something like this:

"You don't take classes because you like them. Who likes their classes? You take them just to get through them. You take them to get good grades. And, at the end, if you're lucky, you get a good job because of them."

Well, I'm telling you right now that you might think this, but you would be wrong. The grade should not be the focus of your efforts; the process (the class and the material) should be the focus. Everything else will then flow naturally from that — including good grades on classes that you like and jobs that are related to this material that you like. Again, this is just like sports. Winning should not be the focus of your efforts; performing up to your capabilities should be your focus. If you do so, then winning will come. You can't (or, at least, shouldn't) measure your performance by whether you won or you lost — you should look at whether you prepared correctly to give yourself the best chance to perform well. If you did that, then you have to accept the outcome. As Bill Parcells says, "You are what you are."

Again, the process — in this case, the class and the assignments — should be the focus of your efforts. This statement might not make any sense to you but it's been a guiding statement in my life (since my life started making some sense, anyway). Don't focus on the end; focus on the journey. Focus on the process of learning. Focus on enjoying the class as you sit in it. Focus on the new topics that you encounter. Focus on the challenges that you come across. Focus on how you can apply what you learn to your life. And so on. In our life, all we have is what we do and who we come in contact with. You should focus on getting the most out of both of these.

If you're focusing on the process, you will become more engaged with the material. Having become more engaged, you will learn it better ... and off you go (as we discussed above).

I'm not encouraging you to not get good grades. I'm saying that I think you should focus on the learning process and let the grades take care of themself. I'm encouraging you to think about who you are, how you choose classes, how you think about your classes, and why you're in school. You'll be better for it because you'll learn more and enjoy your time in school more. And as a side effect, you'll also end up enjoying your life after school more. And I think that we can all agree that's a good thing.

Our BBA Program Office staff, and coming changes

The BBA Program Office is going to be hiring another BBA Student Advisor (like Katie's position that we hired for last year). This is the last piece of the BBA Program Office puzzle that Dean Bob Dolan and I agreed to two years ago when I started in my role as BBA Program Director. This person will allow us to add more outreach and more activities that involve the BBAs; however, it is also a necessary hire given that we will have about 1100 BBAs to advise next year instead of 720. This is a fantastic commitment by the Dean to the BBAs, and every future student will benefit from it.

This person will report to Rob Koonce (as Katie McCartney does) in his role as coordinator of all things related to a BBA's academic life once he or she is here — though, of course, not the stuff related to enforcement and interpretation of rules that Academic Services does (under Evonne Plantinga's steadying hand) — as opposed to their extra-curricular life stuff that Student Life (the group under Amy Cell's direction) handles. Erika Busch will continue to report to me, continuing in her role as liaison to the rest of the school, coordinator of BBA projects and events, and coordinator of communications and outreach for our department.

So, what does this mean to you?

• You should go to Student Life if you have any questions related to extracurricular activities.
• You should go to Academic Services if you have questions related to your degree audit, class credit issues, etc.
• You should come to Student Advisors in the BBA Program Office if you have questions about what classes to take or your program of study. You should also come to us if you don't know where else to go. We're real good at pointing you in the proper direction, in referring you to other departments in the Business School and in other parts of the University.

College students are still maturing

As described in a news release from Darthmouth University:

Two Dartmouth researchers are one step closer to defining exactly when human maturity sets in. In a study aimed at identifying how and when a person's brain reaches adulthood, the scientists have learned that, anatomically, significant changes in brain structure continue after age 18. ... The results indicate that significant changes took place in the brains of these individuals. The changes were localized to regions of the brain known to integrate emotion and cognition. Specifically, these are areas that take information from our current body state and apply it for use in navigating the world. ... "The brain of an 18-year-old college freshman is still far from resembling the brain of someone in their mid-twenties," says Bennett. "When do we reach adulthood? It might be much later than we traditionally think."

I'm bringing this to your attention because I sense a reluctance among students to come forward and ask for help from people who should be able to help them. Students should realize that asking for help from people who are there to help them is perceived as a sign of particular maturity and confidence and not as a sign of weakness and ignorance.

I fit into the pattern identified by the researchers. I know that I wasn't even an approximation of who I am now until I was in my early 30s. While I am still nowhere close to being able to keep my emotions close to the vest, I am now much better at being able to control my emotions and not allow them to rule my minute-to-minute activities. Even now, as a 43-year-old, I know that I think about relationships and situations much differently than I did when I was 30, let alone 20.

So, this is an admonishment to college students based not on the fact that I'm an old fart — though I'm getting there — but on actual science: Your professors, your parents, your advisors — all these people might actually be able to help you. Many of them actually think about things in a more advanced and sophisticated way than you do. We're not just dense; we see things and think about things in a different way, as being more interconnected and complicated. Going to your peers some times, many times, will not be enough because they are at the same stage of development. It's not that we're smarter than you; it's that we've had experiences that have shaped our brain (and, thus, our thinking) in a way that will happen to you but hasn't happened yet. It's not that you won't be able to think as an adult; you simply might not be physiologically able to do so at this stage of your development. We won't always give the right advice — we're not perfect — but we should at least be able to give you a different, and valuable, point of view.

Summer internships

It's that time of year — internship season. Looking over possible companies, bidding for interviews, preparing for the interviews, hoping for callbacks, preparing for a callback, the torture of that process, waiting for an offer, and — you can only hope — the strain of choosing among several good offers. This essay is, generally, not applicable to students who have to — get to! — go through this last step. I'm addressing this essay primarily to those students who are worried about their internship.

Let me get this out of the way right now: If you work this summer in any capacity, you have the opportunity to impress a future employer. Suppose that you want to work for some random industry (let's call it "Investment Banking") but you only get an internship in another industry (let's call it "not Investment Banking"). Your life is not over. Your career path is not set. You have not been proven a loser. You do not have to change your life and career goals. This is a wonderful opportunity; it is not punishment.

Let's look at the positives that might come from getting an internship — any internship. You will gain lots of transferrable skills. These are actually the skills that future employers are most interested in. You will gain experience working with a variety of people, not just other Ross Business School students. They might have, heaven forbid, grey hair, but they might actually treat you like a real human being after working with you for a while.

You will also gain experience getting things done in an organization. This is different than getting things done at school. You will have incomplete information and a less clear path to the information you do need. You will learn when to ask for help, when to ask for information, and when to just buckle down and get it done.

You will learn about organizational life. This is very different from academic life. You will learn to work with many bosses and many more co-workers, all with very different experiences and expectations than what you've come in contact with at school. You will learn to socialize, enough so that you have a network of friends but not so much that it gets in the way of getting your work accomplished. You won't have homework, but you might be expected to work until late at night. But other nights you will not have any work to do. No homework at all. You will just be able to explore a city, read a book that you actually want to read, go to a movie, rent a DVD — whatever! It's a very different feeling than always having homework hovering over your head.

You will learn about how a big company (or a small company) works. Either one would be useful. And they are quite different than each other, and quite different than how a university works.

You also might learn what you do not like to do — even if you actually did think you would like it going into the internship. This is a very valuable lesson. This will help you eliminate a bunch of companies that you might otherwise want to interview with. And do not forget that what you do not like now is not necessarily what you will not like in the future. Surprisingly enough, when you are 30 you will be different than you are now. (At least I hope so.)

You will make contacts that you will be able to use in the future. These contacts might be for future job recommendations. This person might be someone whom you hope will hire you at some point. And do not forget that these people can change jobs, too. Just because you wouldn't want to work in this particular company in the future, this does not mean that you would not have the opportunity to work for this person at another company. Every day that you are at your internship is an interview for some future position. You'll never know when you're meeting a person for the first time that might end up hiring you, or having the possibility of hiring you, in the future.

Finally, it is actually often easier to convert a "non-big-company" experience in which you get real responsibility into great talking points for companies in the fall (during your interviews for full-time jobs) than it is to convert the experiences you might get as an intern at a large company. Remember that it's not the company that counts, and it's not the position that counts, it's what you do in that position at that company — no matter what the position or company. (Thank to Al Cotrone for bringing this last point to my attention.)

So, take that internship. Keep a positive attitude. Work hard. Set goals. Get things done. Make yourself valuable. And have a good time.

Extracurricular participation for BBAs

The Ross School of Business BBA student certainly has a lot of clubs that he or she (I'll say "she" from now on) might participate in. The questions are:

• Why participate in the clubs?
• What clubs to participate in?
• How to participate in those clubs?

A student might have many reasons for participating in clubs — giving back to the community, strengthening connections with a culture, finding social activities, playing sports, or what not — but companies make important implications from looking at a student's set of extracurricular activities.

With this set of activities, a student sends a strong signal about her ability to manage her time, her ability to work in a group, and her ability and willingness to lead a group. A student should generally not have a long list of extracurriculars at any one time because that indicates that she is not able to make choices and she is probably limiting her ability to make significant contributions to those clubs. Even if the company isn't hiring in a position that seems like a leadership position, with most every hire it is looking for a person who might soon be able to handle small, informal leadership positions (running a subcommittee or group) and then, one day, be able to take on more significant, formal leadership positions (manager, director).

So, to answer the above questions: Participate in clubs for any of the above reasons; participate in the clubs that you are interested the most in; and work to accomplish things within the context and structure of the club. (I've written on this topic in a previous post.)

BBA Program Office goings-on

There is a lot going on in the BBA Program Office that you might not be aware of so I thought I'd give you a quick update.

Staff

I now have three people on my staff:

• Erika Busch: in charge of communications, coordination with the rest of the School and University, and on-going projects, among other things,
• Rob Koonce: in charge of academic advising, the Mastery Project, community outreach, among other things, and
• Katie McCartney: advisor to BBAs on academic and undergraduate life.

Workshops

Since the most recent workshops on going to law school (that the Law School put on for us) and living in New York City (that Katie and Tony Tsai put on) were so successful, we're looking into related workshops: living in Chicago, pursuing an MBA, pursuing a PhD, etc. Let us know — by coming by and chatting with Rob, Katie, or myself — if you have any particular requests that you think a good number of students might be interested in.

Visiting classes

Rob & and Katie are continuing to visit classes so that they might be in a better position to talk about them.

Career Guides

We are nearing completion on our career guides. These will provide students with a recommended list of classes for particular careers. We will publish these on our Web site for easy reference.

BBA Newsletter

Erika has been, and will continue to, publish the BBA Newsletter every two weeks. If you've been missing it, this email attempts to highlight events and resources that are, or should be, of particular interest to BBAs.

Orientation

We're working on BBA Orientation for next year. We've taken a long, hard look at the suggestions you made at the most recent Orientation and have incorporated many changes into our planning for next year's programming. Just FYI, we weren't too surprised by most of your comments. We saw the same problems that you saw. More on this in a later post.

Problem resolution

I've been working with students to help them resolve issues they had with professors last semester.

Washington Campus

We've been working with Professor Siedel to put on the Washington Campus program that will have its inaugural session this May.

Study Breaks

We're arranging to have a BBA Study Break again this semester. It was quite a success last semester in its first offering.

Printing problems

We've been talking with the Dean's office about the printing problems students have been having. We're getting close to resolution, I believe.

I just wanted to make sure that you know that we've been working hard for you this year — even if you haven't been aware of it! I have a fantastic staff, and and they make up a fantastic resource for you. I hope you can make the time to get to know them.

Changing businesses

A company does business long enough, and it probably thinks it's safe. Well, let's see:

• As of January 27, 2006, Western Union is no longer delivering telegrams.
• No matter how good it actually is (and no matter how many times I read it as a kid — yes, read it!), the Encyclopedia Britannica isn't exactly raking in the money any more, is it?
• GM, Ford. That's all I'm going to say.
• Sears and/or K-Mart.

I'm sure that there are a lot more, but these came immediately to mind.

To anyone who is of a certain age, the above list is shocking. If I had been told that those companies would be in trouble in their "core" businesses, I would have had trouble believing it.

The lesson: Don't ever be satisfied. Don't get comfortable. Keep working. Keep improving.