|
|
Execs 101
Since the late 1980s, Professor of Economics Vernon Dixon has noticed a change in the admissions practices of the country's leading business schools. The "new reality," as he calls it, is that students are no longer able to enter these M.B.A. programs immediately upon graduation, but only with the benefit of at least two or three years of work experience with a major firm. "The question became, how do we get our students into these selective feeder firms?" he explains. "What are they looking for?"
The answer, he discovered (with the help of a survey of Haverford alums in the business world), is a liberal arts education supplemented by a limited number of applied courses that teach students business basics. Dixon also learned, however, that students need not just practical coursework, but opportunities to "expand their consciousness about business" by interacting with people who are out in the world doing it. Out of this insight, and a suggestion from the alumni survey, was born the Howard Teaf Business Society, named in honor of the beloved Haverford economics professor who taught from 1932 to 1971.
|
|
|
|
Matthew Jennings '99, a founding member and co-director of the 25-member society, explains that the fundamental mission of the society is to "to start getting students talking about business, what the business world is like, and what the issues are out there." The primary activities of the society will include on-campus dinners and receptions with business leaders, business-oriented panels and seminars, and off-campus visits to various corporate settings. The society is also considering a student-operated investment fund and a local small-business student advisory group. "Most Haverford students have no clue what is out there after graduation, especially with business," says Jennings.
The group's first event was a "Working on Wall Street" dinner attended by Jackie Brady '89, Alex Robinson '96, and Anne Santoro '97. More recently, the group has sponsored a visit to Maryland Bank (MBNA) and a dinner with John
Hurford '60, Managing Director of B.E.A. Associates and Chairman of Haverford's Board of Managers. Visit the Howard Teaf Business Society on Haverford's Web site at http://www.students.haverford.edu/tbs/.
