School of Business > UPDATE > Fall 2002 > Article

Message From the Dean

One of the most enjoyable parts of the first few months in a new job is that you learn many things about your new organization. That certainly has been the case in my early days here at UW-Madison. My previous Dean's Message mentioned our ongoing efforts to assess our Master's program and also pointed to the great asset that our alumni represent. Indeed, two of the areas of greatest focus for us right now are assessing the quality and structure of the Master's program and strengthening our alumni network. As I have taken inventory of where we stand in these two areas, I have discovered a number of solid pillars on which to build.

Much of our existing strength in the Master's program at UW-Madison is clearly in the elective tracks typically associated with an endowed center devoted to a specialization. The crucial features of a center are a dedicated faculty member to oversee curriculum, support staff to serve students in the program and an external advisory board to interact with students and faculty in the program. I have had the opportunity to meet faculty, students and advisory board members involved with many of our centers and am impressed by how well our students are served by centers. The strong signal of achievement is in our placement success out of these programs.

The centers also provide an outstanding mechanism for alumni with a common career interest to come together to support our program and each other, as is evidenced by our successful center-based alumni reunions. The Real Estate Reunion recently drew about 500 professionals back to campus, while the ASAP Reunion drew about 130. Our other centers are younger, and therefore, home to smaller alumni groups, yet importantly, these groups show the same high intensity. Through the center focus, these reunions are based on occupation, and therefore they tend to have a significant professional development component and plenty of opportunity for networking. There is also plenty of fun! I think these career-based alumni networks are more valuable than networks based on, say, year of graduation, as is common elsewhere. They are a model for what we might do in other areas.

Given the success of our centers and their proven ability to anchor our alumni networks, it is natural to consider adding more of them. I am delighted to announce that we will be able to do just that. Thanks to a $6.4 million gift from Signe Ostby (BBA '75, MBA '77) and Scott Cook, the Center for Product Management will enroll its first students next fall. Product management is a highly sought-after career, and one UW-Madison is well situated to help students achieve. With the new center structure, we will be able to offer students an excellent degree with superior services. Furthermore, we are fortunate already to have strong ties with senior executives from five outstanding companies participating in the center's executive advisory board: General Mills, Intuit, Kimberly-Clark, Kraft and Procter & Gamble. This team should be a real magnet for students in product management.

My hope is that before long we have a spirited reunion of product management graduates that will parallel the professional accomplishment and camaraderie of the reunions I have already witnessed. It will be one more indication that our program is on the right track and our alumni are a big part of our success.

Michael Knetter
Dean