Welcoming new students

Wow! What an exciting and exhausting two days that was! Over the last two days I hosted the last class of incoming junior BBAs at a full day of orientation, hosted a dinner for the first class of incoming freshmen preferred admit business students, participated in the new student convocation for the University, and then hosted the first class of incoming sophomore BBAs at a full day of orientation.

My overriding reaction to meeting all of these students is that they are a quality group of kids, and that we should expect a lot out of them in the years to come. These are smart, well-spoken young adults who professors will enjoy having in class, and I think they're going to have a great experience while enrolled at Ross.

We had a productive and informative orientation for the students at the Michigan Theater. They got to hear from Dean Dolan and me to start things off. The rest of the morning was spent on what I termed the “necessities”: ensuring that you graduate (Evonne Plantinga), ensuring that you take classes that you’re interested in (Rob Koonce), and ensuring that you get a job (either Al Cotrone or Lisa Hurst). In the afternoon, we got to spend some time on more interesting topics. First John Kim (BBA ’83), president of Prudential Retirement, spoke for 45 minutes on his reflections concerning work, life, and balancing the two, and then took questions from the students. It was valuable time for the students. After his address, the students heard several short pitches related to interesting opportunities that they will have during their time at Ross. I will discuss more about this topic later but, suffice it to say, many students found something or the other that got them even more excited about their upcoming time at the school. Finally, we closed with a reception and the ever-popular chocolate fountains.

While the day was long, I believe that the students received a useful introduction to their next few years at Ross. At the same time, I got quite excited about the overriding quality of these students, and even more than before I look forward to working with them.