Erin M. Wiles (Class of ’10)
Self-Employed Marketing Professional
www.ErinWiles.com

Dear MBA Students:

It has been two years and as an MBA student at CBU I have completed dozens of group and individual class projects, been witness to the strategic invention of the “Grizzle Stick,” written one too many IRACs, took an embarrassingly easy (yet still baffling) marketing math test, and completed a kick-ace marketing capstone project.  Most of all, I have had a wild ride at CBU, with the usual ups and downs, mastering business theories and learning valuable life lessons.  Now that graduation has come and gone, it is time to share my own advice to the existing students and any future students that may get the pleasure of creating and launching a Vodite.

1) Get through CMBA 602, 603, & 604 (Econ, Acct, and Finance)

In my own MBA experience, I have learned that you can do anything for 8 weeks, including sit through one of the three quantitative classes offered by CBU.  These three classes are dreaded by the average student but are essential in equipping us as Masters-level professionals with the knowledge to be effective and well educated leaders in whatever company or industry we work for.  If you are not a fan, just do your best to get through these three classes as quickly as possible.  I guarantee that after these classes, it is smooth sailing until graduation day!

2) Find a Mentor

I was lucky enough in my MBA tenure to be apart of a robust mentorship program sponsored by CBU.  In this program I was paired with a CBU MBA alumni in the Memphis area who I was able to network with, get invaluable real-world perspective, and connect with on a personal level.  This program is not as well publicized as it should be, so I urge each existing MBA students to contact the Director of Alumni Affairs (alumni@cbu.edu) or reach out to other mentorship programs in Memphis such as Nexus to make contact with a prospective mentor.  It will enhance your MBA experience 100 times.

3) Go to post-class events

The biggest and best selling point for CBU is its small community and cohort modeled classes.  Being in a cohort, students establish deep and trusting relationships with their classmates that will continue past graduation.  Many of these relationships are solidified in the classroom, but can be enhanced outside the classroom. If given the opportunity (class gets out early or a group is getting together to celebrate completion of class or project), take the time to relax and go out with your cohort-mates.  I know many times I was tempted to just go strait home to my family after class, but ended up creating some really good memories just by hanging out at the local pub or barbecue shop.

4) Connect outside the classroom

Ok, yes.  I am the founder of Buc MBA and am biased when I recommend that every student participate in any of the Buc MBA social networking arms, but I can’t help but reiterate how exceptional each of the CBU MBA students are.  We should all make a real effort as students to get to know each other better.  I personally have made some wonderful connections with existing students through Buc MBA that I would have never made just by mingling with my cohort.  We are a student body of 150+ and growing.  Why would any student limit their interactions with just the 20 or so students of their cohort?  Take the time to friend us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or join the discussion through our Linkedin group. Trust me, we are a fantastic group!

5) Make something happen

One of the strengths my group defined for CBU in our CMBA 608 Capstone project was that the MBA program had the agility and ability to change based upon student needs.  Since the MBA program is young and still has a kink or two to work out, I encourage each of the students to step up to the plate.  If there is something you would like changed in the program, help instigate change (and not through just complaining, through real idea submission and plan implementation).  I noticed a year ago that the MBA program didn’t have any presence in social media or have a way for students to connect outside the classroom, so Buc MBA was created.  I approached the MBA director with an idea, got his buy in, and the rest is history.  There a concentration you want that CBU doesn’t currently offer?  Get a group of students together who want the concentration and approach the program director.  He is open to changes as long as the students want them and can define the need.  By making things happen in the MBA program, you not only add more value to your educational experience, you make it better for future students of the program.

Finally, I wish the best of luck to all the existing MBA students and recent MBA graduates of 2010.  I look forward to seeing what each and every one of you can do for the city, community, heck, even the world!

Erin Wiles
Self-Employed Marketing Professional
MBA Concentration: Project Management
Graduated May 2010

Greg Jordan (Class of ’07)
Manager of Web Development at
Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare

Dear MBA Students:

I hope you are enjoying your time in the MBA program and making the most of it. Believe it or not, it will actually come to an end sooner than you think, and I wish you luck in finding a career for which you have passion.  To that point, I offer a few insights and practices I discovered during my MBA studies and beyond.

Make Research a Routine
Having carried the same course load you are now carrying, I know first hand how much reading, analyzing, and writing you have to do and the short time-frame in which you have to do it.  If you haven’t guessed by now, the cycle does not end when you receive your MBA.  It is part and parcel – for most of you – of what lies ahead in your career.  In many fields, the learning never ends.

So, if you have not started it already, make research a priority and a routine.  Set aside – at minimum – one hour each day to examine trends and research shaping the business world at large or your desired field.  As part of that routine, you should learn and use technologies that can help you collect, organize and synthesize all of it.

Find a Mentor
Find a mentor who will be unbiased and fair as well as someone you can trust.  It does not have to be someone at your current organization, but I would recommend he or she be working in your desired field.  Probably goes without saying, but it should not be a relative or your spouse.  Even if they understand your field, they will struggle with being objective.

Having a mentor can give you an outlet for your ideas and concerns as well as offer the wisdom and insight gained from past successes and failures.

Get Involved
If you are exhausted and just don’t want to go to that seminar/meeting/social function, suck it up and go anyway.  Just think of the opportunities you’ll miss by passing on it!

If you do summon the strength to go, practice your small talk. If you consider yourself shy, work to get past it.  If you don’t know someone, introduce yourself and be ready with questions to start the conversation.  At these events, remember someone’s name when they tell it to you.  On the off chance you see them again, say on an interview, they’ll be impressed you remembered.

Also, get involved with groups and organizations that will help you hone your leadership skills.  For example, the Leadership Academy – a great organization right here in Memphis – offers a competitive fellows program that provides opportunities to improve your interpersonal skills while giving back to the community.

Give Back
If you are already involved with community projects, helping the university or working to help a charitable cause, then good for you and keep it up.  If not, then find time to give back in some way, start today and make it a habit.

Giving back is not only helpful for those who directly benefit from your contribution, but helps provide perspective on what is truly important and helps you stay connected with the community.  You can start by making a small contribution to the CBU scholarship fund.  (You’re welcome, Dr. Ryan!)

Encourage Others
Finally, my favorite piece advice is something that was given to me by a mentor, which is: encourage others when they’re down.

You’re likely to experience at least one minor setback in your career – if you’re lucky.  When it happens to someone you know, be genuine and offer any help you can – even if they don’t ask.  In the long term, it will pay dividends, especially when you need it.

Greg Jordan
Manager of Web Development at Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare
Earning Ph.D. in Professional Writing
Focus in Web Usabilty
jordangr@methodisthealth.org
Class of 2007

Daniel Messinger
Therapist and Administrator at the Logan Center
Licensed Master of Social Work
Master of Science in Social Work
dmessing@bellsouth.net
Class of 2003

Dear MBA students:

It has been a long time since I sat in the very chairs you are now sitting.  Well, not really that long ago, only 6 or 7 years ago.  However, much has changed in delivery of the MBA  program, content, and style of program.  All changes for the best, I might add, as I helped make many of the changes  during my tenure as Director of Graduate Programs at CBU.  Alas, that is for another letter!  My purpose now is to attempt to offer some words of encouragement and enlightenment for your journey through the program.  I hope I am able to help several of you.

The first and most significant piece of advice I can give you is that your teachers expect you to already know the material they are covering.  Yes, you heard me right.  Then why do you need to take the class you ask?  Well, it is simple. Despite the teacher’s expectations that you know the material, you will look at it from totally different perspectives.  A prime example from my courses was the Economics class.  We were already expected to know the material as we had completed it as undergrads in Micro-Econ, Macro-Econ, and Managerial Econ.  But this time, the course was taught as if we were the CEOs of a company and left to make the management decisions ourselves.  This was totally different than the “hold your hand” approach I was used too from undergrad.  I learned fast that I was expected to offer explanations for my decisions and “just because” was not an acceptable answer.  From Day One, I was expected to offer reasons for my answers, which I have found in the real world to be the exact case.  People out here expect you to know what you are doing and they expect a good reason why you chose to act in a  certain way.

The second piece of significance I took from the CBU MBA was a new appreciation of the written word.  I must have written thousands of pages of documents and notes.  I knew how to write and I had been told rather frequently I had a knack for writing.  In the MBA program, my writing quickly became a    foundation to my program as I was writing major assignments weekly.  I was always kind of crazy because I love to write anyway.  Again, back to the real world where I have found writing to be paramount to whatever you do.  If you cannot write, you cannot communicate.  What you learn in the MBA program is how to decide what is of importance to decision makers.  They don’t care about the “who’s” and the “what’s”.  All they care about is what is going on right now that needs a decision.  Trust me, write a long drawn out summary of a problem to your boss and see what happens.  I bet you won’t get asked again for your input and you are quickly labeled as “long winded”, which is not a term of endearment!

All in all, these two things I mentioned above are the most significant things I took away from my MBA program.  You would expect it, but no, the class material was not something I took away.  Let me ask you this, if you learn a foreign language and do not speak it, what happens to it?  That’s right, you lose it.  Of course I don’t remember everything from my classes, I   didn’t really use all of it all the time.  I did learn how to look for the information I need and where to find it.  For example, I now know that when faced with financial problems, I go straight for the Finance books and, get this, I actually know where in the books to look!

Study and do well.  Work hard and it will pay off.  Remember, education is something they can never take from you.

Dan