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March–April 2020
Dear Fellow Deans,

What a difference a virus makes! A month ago, we were merrily moving along our academic calendar, and literally overnight, the world as we knew it was upended. Like a light switch, we all flipped from on-the-ground operations to operating virtually. We have scrambled to ensure that our core mission is not compromised and here are some examples of that.

Regards,
Rajib Sanyal, PhD
Dean
ENGAGEMENT—
Asset: Alumni

More than ever, our alumni remain our vital asset, keeping our flag aflutter in the worlds they inhabit. Like many of you, I have been keeping them informed about changes at the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business, engaging them to mentor our students and arranging for them to be guest speakers and judges in our Business Plan Competition.

Firms Make a Beeline for Talent

Storied names from the corporate world have Adelphi’s Robert B. Willumstad School of Business firmly on their campus-to-hire-from itinerary! Names such as PwC, IBM, Merrill Lynch, EY and L'Oréal are just a few of the 250 organizations that regularly hire our students. A few months ago, we had managers from Canon visit us to hire for positions in their U.S. headquarters. This is the payoff from actively engaging employers with the School.
INNOVATION—
Experiential Learning

Our Innovation Center continues to engage corporate clients around the world on projects that have teams of business students working on them. Relying on Zoom, the internet, and other communication technologies, students are interacting with both managers and among themselves to complete projects in marketing, operations, and management.

Job Shadowing

The job shadowing program is now in its third semester, providing business students with insights into the world of work. Since its inception, 45 students have shadowed in a variety of industries, including finance, banking, insurance, marketing and the public sector. This semester, we have 14 companies partnering with the School. A key element is matching the firm and manager with the student’s professional interests.  Laura Riker , career services specialist, oversees this program.  Take a look at this video  to see students taking advantage of this valuable opportunity.
IMPACT—
The Virus Effect

The coronavirus has been an impetus for changing how we deliver our instruction and how we accommodate our students. We deliver our MBA program to cohorts who are healthcare professionals in area hospitals. They are the frontline fighters in this pandemic war. To enable them to meet the demands on their expertise and time, we have changed our classroom policies and schedules, beyond going virtual, to enable them to perform their duties to serve all of us.

Putting on a Value Tag

I have written often about our fantastic internship program which ensures that a minimum of 80 percent of our students graduate with at least one internship. Nearly all of the internships are paid. We decided to take a look at the monetary value of these internships. It came to a whopping $1.5 million over three years, keeping in mind the pay rate and the number of hours. This is, of course, a direct benefit—I will leave it to the economists to calculate the multiplier effect!
This e-newsletter is prepared by the Office of the Dean of the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business at Adelphi University.