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September 6, 2011

Dear Members of the Babson Community:

The 2011-2012 Academic Year is now underway ... and we’re off to a terrific start! I want to welcome to campus the Undergraduate Class of 2015, our transfer students, the Graduate Class of 2013, and our new Evening and Fast Track MBA students. A special welcome also goes to the new members of our faculty and staff, and to our executives and entrepreneurs-in-residence who are joining us for the first time.

My May message highlighted the many exciting activities taking place on campus during the summer—our busiest ever. From all over the world, entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs, educators, undergraduate and graduate students, high school students, academic conference participants, as well as young campers and athletes gathered at Babson for their respective programs. Now we are moving from a fast-paced summer to an even faster-paced fall.

There’s always a special energy and buzz in the early fall as we ramp up for classes and an ever-growing array of programs and activities. It’s also a time of great anticipation—and with good reason. This year we’re implementing a new MBA curriculum and faculty members are renewing the curriculum for undergraduates. The undergraduate school also is developing new ways for students to live, as well as learn, entrepreneurially. Babson Executive Education (BEE) has some great new offerings for training entrepreneurial leaders on campus and around the world. And, these are just a few examples of what’s ahead for the year.

From Day One: A Babson Signature Experience in Social Innovation

From Day One 2011On August 30, undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff embarked on a day-long series of activities focused on social innovation and what it means to be a change maker. Sponsored by Dennis Hanno, Dean of the Undergraduate School, Raghu Tadepalli, Dean of the Graduate School, and Cheryl Kiser, Managing Director of the Lewis Institute and the Social Innovation Lab, the program introduced students to resources and opportunities to influence their thinking about how they can make a difference. It was a great way of conveying the varied facets of social innovation and how these are embedded in the student experience in and out of the classroom.

Building on last year’s launch of From Day One, this year’s event engaged more people across the College in such activities as community service; a locally-sourced and sustainably-created lunch in partnership with Sodexho, as part of learning about the Babson Sustainable Kitchen; and 20 options for workshops and roundtable discussions on aligning profit and purpose with social entrepreneurs and leading corporate social responsibility leaders from Fortune 1000 companies. Throughout the year, follow-up programs will be held on the many ways to pursue social innovation.

Embedding Sustainability in Campus Life

Sustainability goes hand-in-hand with social innovation, and is increasingly embedded in the campus experience. We are seeing it on many different fronts this fall. Broadly defined, it is a different way of thinking about business and life—doing business and living in a way that leaves as many resources for the next generation as we use. Babson “walks the talk” on sustainability. Consider this remarkable achievement: FY 2010 carbon emissions on Babson’s campus were 19% below our FY 2005 emissions. We are well on the way to exceeding our 2015 goal of reducing carbon emissions by 25% below FY 2005 standards. Over the same period, Babson has reduced energy use by over 13%, despite a 3% growth in campus built square footage. To celebrate our progress, Babson is having an afternoon of sustainability activities at the Second Annual Sustainability Fair on Friday, September 9.

Another significant example of progress is the launch this fall of a new undergraduate certificate program on sustainability, building on our collaboration agreement with Wellesley College and Franklin W. Olin College. This initiative came from the faculty of all three schools and is exactly the kind of creative and far-reaching effort we had in mind when the tri-college collaboration was announced two years ago.

The certificate program is designed to give students a broad and interdisciplinary background in sustainability—drawing on traditional economic/business tools, considering societal and policy issues from the liberal arts perspective, and using technical approaches to analyze problems and design solutions. Students will be brought together for the first course this fall—team taught by Brad George from Babson, Beth DeSombre from Wellesley, and Jonathan Stolk and Ben Linder from Olin. Classes will rotate among the campuses—and students will study such issues as water usage, transportation, and waste, and how to approach these and other environmental issues holistically.

From there, students will take four courses toward the certificate, with at least one on each campus. Co-curricular activities will be available as well to increase the opportunities for student interaction. A capstone course will be offered in the spring of 2013, followed by the granting of certificates. Overall, our goal is to build a community around sustainability, with these students as entrepreneurial leaders having the skill sets to effectively address complex environmental problems.

Babson’s “Eco Reps”—undergraduate students who are trained to teach sustainability to their peers—have created a Sustainability Module to be included in the First Year Seminar (FYS) curriculum. The Eco Reps designed the class to help entering students realize how their behaviors can have a positive impact on campus and in the world. The Module is an outgrowth of a project developed by the Eco Reps last spring. The Eco Reps developed “A Student’s Guide to Sustainable Behavior,” a case study, a quiz, and optional extra credit for the class, as well as a Teacher’s Guide for the FYS instructors. Eco Reps also will be organizing a symposium this fall, bringing together sustainability representatives from 20 schools for peer-to-peer reporting.

The launch of the Food Solutions Institute (Food Sol) is another example of the breadth of new approaches to sustainability at Babson. It began with an MBA student, Rachel Greenberger, who was passionate about the global food crisis and the unhealthy aspects of the business of food—inadequate access by many to healthy foods, the impact of obesity on health care, and sustainability issues around the way we source, grow, and manufacture food.

With Cheryl Kiser as her advisor, Rachel obtained a generous gift from Michael Bronner, the founder of Digitas and Upromise, to create Food Sol under the Babson Social Innovation Lab. Food Sol will convene business and other organizations in the food industry to look at aspects of the food dilemma—providing opportunities for our students, faculty, and staff to work together to develop solutions to serious environmental, social, and health issues linked to food. On October 24, Food Sol, with corporate and non-profit sponsors, will host the first annual Food Day at Babson, with activities that promote “smart action” around food production and consumption.

Championing Responsible Management Education

In May 2009, Babson became a signatory to the U.N. Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME)—one of the first colleges and universities to do so. PRME provides a framework to advance corporate social responsibility and incorporate these values into curricula and research. We have continued to be a leader in this area and were asked this summer by the U.N. PRME Secretariat to contribute to a book on inspirational practices for responsible management education.

A group of faculty, staff, and students have launched “30 Days of PRME,” which spotlights ten faculty, ten staff, and ten student—undergraduate and graduate—initiatives that embody PRME, so that the community can celebrate a number of the socially responsible actions we have taken and focus even more attention on responsible management education. Each day in September a different initiative will be highlighted on the News & Events page in Babson Announcements. This is yet another dimension of Babson’s leadership in preparing our students to create social and economic value everywhere.

More Great Rankings

Throughout the year I have kept you informed of the rankings we have received. We are accustomed to being ranked No. 1 in entrepreneurship education and we continue as the undisputed leader in the field. Increasingly, Babson’s leadership across multiple disciplines is being recognized.

The Princeton Review named Babson one of the best colleges in the Northeast, among the best 376 colleges in the nation, and #18 in the “lots of race/class interaction” category. The last ranking is especially heartening because it shows that students from all kinds of backgrounds and all over the world are engaging together in and out of the classroom far more than at other schools. There is no better preparation for succeeding in the global marketplace.

For the survey, the Princeton Review asked students to rate their own schools on several issues. Babson student comments include: “the knowledge of professors at Babson is only rivaled by their desire to see students do well” and “when I took a quick look at the curriculum, I was positive that whatever I wanted to study in business could be found at Babson.”

In its biennial ranking of the best U.S. business schools, Forbes ranks Babson’s MBA program #3 in Massachusetts, following only Harvard and MIT, and #44 nationally. The ranking focuses on the return on investment that graduates receive attending business school. According to ranking data, the Babson MBA 2010 salary is $112,000, up from the pre-MBA salary of $53,000. The total 5-year MBA gain is $57,000. Graduates can expect a payback on their investment in 3.7 years.

Great rankings attract great students and great students lead to more great rankings. Our incoming student profiles show that Babson continues to draw an outstanding student body from around the world.

Undergraduate Class of 2015: New Milestones

For the first time in history, Babson received more than 5,000 applications for admission to the undergraduate program—a 25% increase over last year. In total, 5,089 students sought admission to the Class of 2015. We have enrolled one of the largest, strongest, and most diverse classes in Babson’s history.

  • 490 students currently comprise the Class of 2015. An additional 35-40 students will join the Class of 2015 in January;
  • 71% of the students come from outside New England, representing 33 U.S. states and territories;
  • A record 47% are women, 27% are multicultural, and 28% are international citizens from 44 countries around the world.
  • The SAT average for enrolled students is the highest in the College’s history and nearly 20 points higher than last year’s average.

The incoming class brings the overall undergraduate enrollment at Babson to its highest ever—approximately 2,000 students. Here’s another impressive milestone: there will be more undergraduate women enrolled this fall than at any other time in Babson’s history.

Graduate School: One MBA, Four Distribution Channels

Babson introduces its new MBA curriculum this fall, utilizing our four different distribution channels—Two-Year, One-Year, Evening, and Fast Track, a blended virtual and online program. All four programs will share a curriculum based on Babson’s proven combination of deep functional business knowledge and our Entrepreneurial Thought and Action® methodology. With the option of four different distribution channels, there will continue to be graduate students on campus during the entire year.

  • In May, we enrolled 78 students in our One-Year Program; in August, we enrolled 162 in our Two-Year MBA Program. Both programs have attracted a large number of global students—48% for the Two-Year (the highest percentage in recent years) and 47% for the One-Year. This month we are enrolling 75 in the Fast Track Wellesley cohort and, for the first time, a fall San Francisco cohort of 30. We also have just enrolled 77 students in our Evening Program—a 54% increase over last year’s enrollment.
  • The Global Entrepreneurship Program, our partnership with two first-class universities that share our focus on entrepreneurial teaching and learning—EMLYON in France and Zhejiang University in China—will continue this fall. The Babson contingent doubled from last year’s enrollment to 24. In all, we expect 60 students will start with a semester in France before moving to China for a semester, finishing at Babson in the summer of 2012.

Our New Faculty Members Bring a Breadth of Experience and Expertise to Babson

This year we welcomed 13 new members to the ranks of full-time faculty. They bring a full complement of approaches and skill-sets to their work, and share a passion for teaching, dedication to students, and high energy levels. They are a very talented group of teachers and scholars, as you can see from a brief summary of their academic credentials:

  • Matthew Allen, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship and Research Director for the STEP Project, completed his doctorate at Cornell University, where he studied the effective management of human capital in entrepreneurial firms. He has worked at IBM and Hewlett Packard, as well as an associate at the accounting firm Ray H. Allen and Associates. He is particularly interested in the role of human capital in the effective management of entrepreneurial family firms.
  • Andrew Corbett, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, taught for a decade at Rensselaer Polytechnic and is currently a General Editor for the Journal of Management Studies. His research examines behavioral aspects of the entrepreneurial process and the role of individuals within strategic renewal and innovation efforts within organizations. His awards include Outstanding Professor of the Year (Lally School, Rensselaer, MBA Class) and the McGraw-Hill Innovation in Entrepreneurship Pedagogy Award by the Academy of Management.
  • Caroline Daniels, Full-Time Lecturer in Entrepreneurship, owns and operates Daniels Island Property and Whales Tales Children's Books on Nantucket Island. She taught global business and information technology strategy courses at the London Business School, Boston University Brussels, and Henley Management College. She also worked on global business and technology strategies for IBM, Apple, The Economist, The Financial Times, Ford of Europe, and other leading corporations. She wrote for The Economist and The Financial Times, published several books on globalization and information technology, and was awarded the International Association of Management Consulting Firms Award for Literary Excellence.
  • Sandra Graham, Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology, specializes in African American music and traditional popular music of the former Yugoslavia. She taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; University of California, Davis, where she initiated the first graduate program in ethnomusicology; the University of Ljubljana; the Music Academy of the University of Zagreb; and Davidson College.
  • Wendy Jeffus, Full-Time Lecturer in the Finance Division, has industry experience at Merrill Lynch and also has worked as a litigation consultant. She has taught courses in finance and international business at Boston College, Clark University, and Harvard Summer School. Her research interests include cross-border mergers and acquisitions and she has a particular interest in global markets.
  • Paul Juras, Professor of Managerial Accounting, taught at Wake Forest University, where he was a tenured professor before joining the Babson faculty. He has published articles in many journals including The Journal of Corporate Accounting and Finance, Issues in Accounting Education, The CPA Journal, and Strategic Finance. His current research interests focus on contemporary cost management systems. He serves as associate editor of the IMA Education Case Journal and is on the editorial board for the Journal of Managerial Issues.
  • Nathaniel Karst, Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics, specializes in applications of discrete mathematics to problems in wireless communications. His recent work includes patented contributions to the 4G cellular specification at Research in Motion, characterization of space-time block codes, and development of cryptographic key distributions for use in the next-generation smart electricity grid.
  • Phil Licari, Full-Time Lecturer in Operations Management, has over 30 years of experience with rapid growth and early stage medical device companies including as COO of ConforMIS, Inc., a producer of patient-specific orthopedic implants; COO of the producer of home dialysis systems, NxStage Medical; and senior executive positions with Boston Scientific Corp. and Roche Pharmaceuticals. His specialization included global supply chain management, manufacturing operations, and management of product development teams. He has taught at Babson and at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management as a part-time lecturer in Operations for the past year.
  • Sandra Metraux, Full-Time Lecturer in Marketing, has defined and delivered growth strategies for financial services companies in the U.S. and Canada. Her expertise is in strategy, branding, product design, promotion and distribution. She has been Executive Vice President of Marketing for National Financial, a division of Fidelity Investments; Senior Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Marketing for Investors Group (Canada); and Vice President of Retail Marketing for Fidelity Investments. She also is a frequent speaker for the financial services industry.
  • Wendy Murphy, Assistant Professor of Management, has taught at Boston College and Northern Illinois University. Her research focuses on mentoring and developmental networks, gender in the workplace, identity issues, and the work-life interface. She has published her work in several journals, including the Academy of Management Learning and Education, Career Development International, Human Resources Management, and the Journal of Management.
  • Shay Blanchette Proulx, Full-Time Lecturer in Accounting, was an Assurance Partner with the Boston PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Private Company Services Practice until June 2011. She has over 20 years of experience in public accounting, serving a wide range of companies in the retail, manufacturing, and professional services industries. Shay was the PwC recruiting partner for Babson for ten years, and has also served as an adjunct professor at the College.
  • Paul Schmitz, Full-Time Lecturer in History & Society, received his Ph.D. in American and New England Studies from Boston University in 2006. He has taught courses at Babson on the Modern American City, the History and Culture of American Business, and Race and Immigration. His research focuses on issues of ethnic identity within the Italian and immigrant communities of New York City.
  • Beth Wynstra, Visiting Assistant Professor of English, has taught courses on rhetorical theory, public speaking, modern drama, American theater, community-based theater, and acting. She has published work in Theatre Journal and Laconics, and her original one-act play Always, Gene was produced at the 2009 Eugene O’Neill Festival in Danville, California and in September, 2010 at the Irish American Heritage Center Theater in Chicago. She serves on the Board of the Eugene O’Neill International Society.

They Have Come to a “Great College to Work For”

This year Babson again participated in The Great Colleges to Work For survey, sponsored by The Chronicle of Higher Education. This survey recognizes institutions that have created exceptional work environments through a survey of each school’s faculty and staff. During the summer, The Chronicle released its comparative findings for the 310 colleges and universities that participated in this year’s survey. Babson was one of the colleges singled out as having a great academic workplace. Specifically, we were cited for excellence in facilities, workplace, and security. The survey data contain a wealth of information, which we will use to continue to improve in these and other areas.

Why does this survey matter? A great college to work for is a great college to be educated at because it attracts first-rate faculty and staff. It leads to a more cohesive community and enhances the reputation of the school—all of which is important to students, parents, alumni, and Babson’s partners around the world.

Save the Dates!

Back to Babson (B2B) Weekend, September 23-24, is Right around the Corner

This year B2B will feature the Alumni Leadership Awards dinner and ceremony, Alumni College sessions, Class Reunions, the Student Homecoming Competition, Alumni Games, the New England Harvest Festival, the Center for Women’s Leadership Alumnae Reception, athletic events, and much more. All of you are invited to join in what promises to be a great weekend. For more details on Alumni College and all of the B2B homecoming and reunion activities—and to register:

  • Alumni: Visit the Back to Babson page.
  • Students: Watch for an email from your dean in early September.
  • Faculty and staff: Click on the Back to Babson link in Smart Tools on the Babson Portal.

Before these activities take place, you are invited to participate in a Babson Executive Education focus group, workshop, and networking session entitled “Being An Entrepreneur in Your Family Firm,” on Thursday, September 22, from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Babson Executive Conference Center. To RSVP, contact Sarah Schwartz.

Family and Friends Weekend 2011 Will be Held on October 14-16

There will be a great array of events for students and their families, including the Undergraduate Awards Ceremony, Casino Night, a production by The Babson Players ... and much more. Members of our Boards of Trustees and Overseers, as well as the Global Advisory Board, will be with us and we will host the Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame induction ceremony and dinner. Watch for upcoming information on this wonderful opportunity to explore the campus and experience the best of what Babson has to offer.

Wherever You Go on Campus, You Will Feel the Energy and Enthusiasm ...

... and the forecast for the year ahead is for more excitement, more opportunities, and more ways for us to come together as a community. With outstanding students, faculty and staff, devoted alumni, parents, boards, and friends of the College—Babson is on the move.

All the best,

Leonard A. Schlesinger