Students show leadership through new organizations
October 12, 2007 - There’s been an explosion of new student organizations at the College of Management in the past year or so. They are giving students the opportunity to gain more insight about their chosen field, to network with professionals, and to provide service to the college and community. At the same time, they are sharpening their leadership and communication skills.
Last year, new organizations included Net Impact, a graduate level organization that focuses on sustainable business issues; the BioPharma Management Club (BPM), open to all those interested in the biopharma and biotechnology industries; the National Association of Women MBAs, the American Marketing Association, and a Toastmasters chapter.
This year, four additional organizations are being formed, mostly focusing around a particular industry or field of study.
Ryan Brown is co-organizer of one of the college’s newest organizations, the Management Consulting Club. It will hold its first meeting on Monday, October 15, in 1206 Nelson Hall at 4:15 p.m.
The club was formed by students who are interested in the services concentration in the MBA program, but members from all disciplines are welcome to participate. “Consulting is unique," he said, because it offers opportunities in many industries. The new organization “is being well received,” he said. Brown’s background is in engineering and he plans to work in consulting after graduation. The club also wants to help increase external awareness of the college’s academic program in services management.
Case competition in the works
The Management Consulting Club has started planning a major invitational consulting case competition to be held in early 2008, and already has a number of schools “on board,” Brown said, including Michigan and Duke universities. The club will be soliciting sponsors for the competition and plans to offer a ‘substantial prize’ to the winners.
Brown, a first-year MBA student, is vice president of the new organization, working with Damon Yudichak, president of the group who is in his last year of the MBA program for working professionals.
Yudichak and several of his MBA student colleagues - Loren Allston, Rick Bhandari, Jenny Gidley, and Geoff Haisty - formed SMART Pack Consulting as an offshoot of an academic group project in fall 2005. "We worked together to write a white paper on creating a Culture of Innovation for Dr. Lynda Aiman-Smith's Managing in the High Tech Environment class. In spring of 2006, Loren, Rick and I formed SMART Pack Consulting," Yudichak said.
Members of the new BioPharma Management Club are also similarly helping to spread the word about opportunities in the biopharma industry. They will be assisting the BioPharma Management Initiative during the third annual BioPharma Forum, to be held Oct. 26.
Following are the newest student organizations in the college, and a link to our complete list.
- BioPharma Management Club
- Consulting Club
- Finance Club
- Supply Chain Management Club