Year at a Glance

A quick look at some of the main achievements of
the UW-Madison School of Business over the past
academic year.

Wisconsin MBA

  • The Wisconsin MBA, built around highly focused caeer specializations, graduated its first class in May 2006. Members of the Class of 2006 had 95% placement within three months of graduation, were offered salaries up 11.5% from the prior year and were recruited by more companies and more geographically diverse firms than their predecessors.
  • The full-time MBA program of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business was ranked 31st among all business schools in the United States by U.S. News and World Report, up six places from 37th in 2005, the highest ranking since 1990.
  • An MBA Academic Integrity Policy Honor Code was implemented during the 2005-06 school year.
  • Derek Kwan, an MBA student with the Bolz Center for Arts Administration, won a Grammy award in the category of Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album.

Enterprise MBA Programs

  • The Evening MBA program added a Madison-Milwaukee shuttle, to make it easier for Milwaukee-area professionals to earn an MBA from UW-Madison. The Evening MBA incoming class grew to 50 students, up from 44 and 30 enrolled in the two previous years.
  • The Executive MBA held its first alumni seminar, “What It Takes to Stay on Top in the Global Economy.”

Undergraduate Program

  • The 2005 U.S. News & World Report ranking of undergraduate business programs placed UW-Madison 12th among all business schools in the U.S., up two spots from the previous year
  • As a result of a major review of the undergraduate program of the School of Business, students will be able to apply for admission as sophomores, starting in 2008.
  • A new concentration in Entrepreneurship within the Management and Human Resources major was approved.
  • Starting salaries for undergraduates were up almost 4.5% over the previous year and the percentage receiving signing bonuses rose from 39% to 47%.
  • Plans were developed for the Accenture Leadership Center—offering opportunities for undergraduate business students to improve their understanding of leadership and their own ability to lead.

Executive Education

  • Center for Advanced Studies in Business, Inc. (CASB) made its second distribution of $250,000 to the School of Business as a result of surpluses earned from custom executive education and Fluno Center operations.
  • Public program executive education revenues and customer satisfaction were at all-time highs.
  • The Financial Times ranked the Fluno Center for Executive Education first in the world for food and accommodations in custom programs for the third year in a row.
  • The School of Business teamed up with the College of Engineering to offer a Certificate in Technical Leadership for technical professionals transitioning into managerial and leadership roles.

Construction Progress

  • Construction began on a $40.5 million Grainger Hall addition after the winning bid on a revised plan came in on budget. The addition is scheduled to open in fall 2008.

Other Accomplishments of Note

  • Toni Whited, an associate professor of finance, won the prestigious Brattle Prize in Corporate Finance and $10,000 for co-authoring the paper, “Debt Dynamics.”
  • INSITE, a cross-campus program to enhance understanding of technology entrepreneurship, received a three-year, $125,000 collaborative research grant.

International Business Center Receives $1.4 Million Grant

In April 2006, the U.S. Department of Education announced it would provide approximately $1.4 million to fund the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) from 2006 to 2010. The center, which was created in 1998, will continue its support of faculty research and curriculum development in international business, undergraduate and graduate study-abroad experiences and business outreach programs on international topics. New initiatives made possible by the grant include support for a new Arabic residential learning community, development of the first technical Chinese program in the United States and a series of risk assessment seminars for businesses.

Congress created CIBERs in the late 1980s to help strengthen the competitiveness of U.S. business globally and enhance international business-related teaching and research. Each of the 31 CIBER institutions nationwide is known for the strength of its international programs.

Effort Leads to Record Giving Levels By New Business Graduates

The School of Business made major strides in 2005-06 in creating a “culture of giving” among its recent graduates. An initiative was launched to encourage members of the graduating class of 2006 to contribute to a graduation gift to the School of Business. Members of the Dean’s Advisory Board provided matching gifts to 2006 MBA graduates who made a financial pledge to the School of Business. The effort resulted in more than 30% of new graduates contributing to a class gift, compared to 7% the prior year.

Beginning in fall 2006, MBA and undergraduate students will learn about the importance of making a class gift from the time they enter the School of Business. The goal: To continue to raise the percentage of new graduates who make a financial pledge to support the business school and begin a lifelong pattern of “giving back” in appreciation of the education they received at Wisconsin.

Students Manage $44 Million Portfolios

In 2005, students in the Applied Security Analysis Program (ASAP) of the School of Business in October were authorized to manage more than
$40 million in intermediate term, corporate, government and mortgage-backed securities on behalf of the University of Wisconsin System.

Each year, the fixed income team inherits an investment process that must be learned and refined. The students must deliver performance that meets or exceeds the expectation of the client, the UW System Board of Regents.

Students in the ASAP program now have more than $44 million in total
assets under management, believed to be the largest pool of capital managed by students of any university. Funds under management include the more than $40 million fixed income portfolio, $2 million in equities and a $1 million REIT portfolio.

Students managing the equities and REITs maintain complete flexibility and independence over all investment decisions, subject to endowment guidelines.

Students in the Applied Security Analysis Program manage real, multi-million dollar portfolios