Drumrolls….

Please join me in welcoming Mathew Colphon (Blue Cohort) and Rob MacAdams (Green Cohort) as our class Ombuds!

We are looking forward to working closely with you to make the program experience a memorable one.

Congratulations!!!

MBA & MM Programs office. 

We are currently experiencing significant technical issues with the Connect Learning Management System. The response is a large coordinated effort which includes all available resources including senior members of UBC IT and the two key vendors involved, Blackboard and Oracle. We are focusing on both rapid service restoration during outages and longer-term stability.

Updated information will be posted on our bulletins site at http://bulletins.it.ubc.ca and we will provide email updates as soon as new information becomes available.

***Please note the following policy is in place for use of the Graduate Breakout rooms.  This and other policies can also be found on your Connect site under the “Academic Policies” tab.***

All students should be aware that there are over 300 students eligible to use the Graduate Breakout Rooms.  The booking policies are in place ensure that all students have equal opportunity to use these rooms.

1. Graduate Breakout Rooms are for the use of all Sauder Graduate Students: MBA (Full-Time & Part-Time), MM, MMOR, MScB and PhD.
2. Graduate Breakout Rooms must be booked via the Sauder web site:
   http://booking.sauder.ubc.ca/
3. Students who fail to arrive for a room booking within 15 minutes of the booked start time will have their booking cancelled and the room will be released for booking by others.
4. Rooms can only be booked for groups of two (2) or more. These rooms are not intended for individual study, however if a room is free, it may be used for individual study until the group who has booked the room arrives or another group of two (2) or more wishes to book the room.
   *Please see below for individual study space options and alternative group study spaces.
5. Each booking must not exceed 4 hours.  On the day of their booking, groups wishing to extend the time in their room can do so ½ hour before the end of their initial booking, provided the room has not already been booked by another group.  An additional two (2) hours can be added for a total of 6 hours.
6. Bookings must be made by a member of the group who intends to use the room. The room will be booked under this student’s own name. Students cannot book rooms for other students.
7. Upon leaving the room, ensure the whiteboard is wiped clean, the table and chairs are in order, and any garbage is properly disposed of. Most importantly, to prevent unauthorized entry into the Graduate Breakout Rooms, ensure the door to your room is locked as you leave. Please see the MBA & MM Programs Office Reception if you encounter an issue with the door lock.

Additional Individual and group study space is available to all students for the following:

•  Canaccord Learning Commons
• Education Library

The above space can be booked online via: http://booking.sauder.ubc.ca/

•  Koerner Library
• Irving K. Barber Learning Centre
• Woodward Library

The above space can be booked online via: http://www.library.ubc.ca/booking

The nominations are in! The following students have accepted their nominations for class Ombudspersons’.

Blue Cohort

·        James Lee

·        Karol Krochmal

·        Leslie Mao

·        Matthew Colphon

·        Oana Dan

Green Cohort

·        Alex Moret

·        Boaz Ron

·        Juan Delgado

·        Kyle Peterdy

·        Rob MacAdams

·        Keith Phillips

·        Susan Dong

Please vote the person you feel would best represent your cohort to staff and faculty n no later than 11.59 pm on Sunday, Sept 8 .  More information on the role can be found on the original blog post.

Blue Cohort, please vote HERE.

Green Cohort, please vote HERE.

Best wishes,                                                                                                              

MBA & MM Programs office

The program is a comprehensive set of learning modules in new cultural and business environments. The variety of formats correlates to the complexity of management issues and the skills required to be an effective leader within a global context. The program will create the opportunity for transformative learning, raising self-awareness around intercultural fluency, international business strategies, ethics, leadership, and social responsibility. You will gain new theoretical and practical knowledge to test the applicability of frameworks in new and different contexts.

To deliver these objectives students will travel to one of four locations and embark on solving on problems facing local businesses in collaboration with students from leading institutions. At each location participants will learn about local business practices, cultural norms and success drivers.  The focus for all teams will be to secure an understanding of the intersection of strategy planning and execution, leadership, organizational culture, and tight coupling across the various value chain activities.  Teams will learn to appreciate the roles played by local institutions, historical and cultural differences, infrastructure, dramatically different demographic and educational profiles of customers/employees, and developing strategies for successful change leadership in global markets.

Location and Faculty Leads:

Denmark
Faculty Lead:  Professor Blake Hanna
Partner Institution:  Copenhagen Business School

India
Faculty Lead:  Professor Murali Chandrashekaran
Partner Institution: Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

Shanghai
Faculty Lead:  Professor Steve Alisharan
Partner Institution: Shanghai Jiao Tong University – Antai College of Economics

Kenya
Faculty Lead:  Professor Tom Ross
Partner Institution:  Strathmore Business School  

Selection:

Global Immersion provides students new experiences in an unfamiliar business environment. We highly encourage students to choose locations that present a new and unfamiliar culture.   Your choice in location should reflect your eagerness to be immersed in an unfamiliar and challenging setting.

To maintain the integrity of the experience and quality of learning, participants will be equally distributed across the four locations.  We have been able to accommodate students’ top choices in the past.  However, should one or more particular destination have an overwhelming popularity, we will devise a fair and transparent system to match participants to destinations. Our goal is to accommodate each participant’s first choice, and we look to your understanding and flexibility should we assign you to your second or third choice.

Please review the visa information below for the respective countries.  Every MBA participant has a unique travel history and citizenship; therefore it will be each participant’s responsibility to choose a location that will issue a visa to you in a timely manner. Below are links to the local consular offices:

Danish Consulate
http://canada.um.dk/en/about-us/danish-consulates-in-canada/danish-consulate-in-vancouver/

Consulate General of India
http://www.cgivancouver.org/

China Visa Application Service Center
http://vancouver.china-consulate.org/eng/

Kenya Consulate BC
http://www.kenyaconsulatebc.ca/kenyaconsulatebc_008.htm

Travel Planning:

Do not make arrangements for flights or accommodations until your destination has been confirmed and the MBA Office has sent instructions on next steps.  Due to infrastructure, safety and logistical issues, students destined to Kenya and India will be required to stay in pre-booked hotels. Students going to China and Denmark may select and book their own accommodations; however, you will be given a suggested area once your destination is confirmed.

Accompanying Family or Friends: 

This is an intensive academic group based experience.  You are welcome to have friends or family join you on location once the official program has ended.

Estimated Cost:

Estimated cost is $5, 000 CDN per participant. This estimate is the total costs for the program. Included in this estimate is $500 CDN for some group meals and transport which the MBA office will arrange on your behalf.  Payment details will be shared once your destination is confirmed.

Key Program Dates:

Please note that the Business Writing Workshop previously scheduled on Tues, Sept 10 has now been moved to 2-4pm on Thurs, Sept 12. As such, the Creativity class (BA 562 002) has been moved up to run from 2-4pm (not 4-6pm) on Tues, Sept 10.

Both changes are reflected on your class calendar on Connect.

Please note that the Business Writing Workshop is not required for all students to attend, but rather is on a drop-in basis for those students who would like additional feedback or clarification on the written aspects of their case memo. You will receive feedback on your case memo early next week which will help you determine if you should attend this workshop.

Please also note that you only need to attend the BA 562 Creativity class section that you are registered in. You will have all 3 sections showing on the main class calendar on Connect, because with 3 sections it doesn’t fit neatly into the Green/Blue cohort groups. Please just attend the section you’re registered in.

Any questions can be directed to askmba@sauder.ubc.ca

Your MBA Society will be coming in to speak to you about the society roles and sharing information on how to get involved.

They will also be sharing information on the MBA Games and MBA Games Representative positions at this time.

Date:

Wednesday, Sept 11 noon – 12.45 pm – Green Cohort

Wednesday, Sept 11 4.00 pm – 4.45 pm – Blue Cohort

Room: HA 133

Feel free to bring a bagged lunch to eat during the session. We hope to see you all there!

*Please read below for an important message from Murali regarding the September 18th Truth & Reconciliation Commission*

Dear Graduate Students,

You have likely seen some information about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the national event they are holding to raise awareness of the Indian Residential School System that operated in Canada from 1875 – 1996. The event will take place in Vancouver from September 18^th – 21^st.

While the majority of undergraduate classes at UBC have been suspended on Wednesday September 18^th in order to encourage students to participate in this event, we have made the decision to run graduate classes (MBA & MM) as scheduled that day. Our programs run on a different timeline to the rest of UBC, and with the condensed nature of the learning it makes it very difficult to cancel a full Wednesday of classes at Sauder because of the need to then run numerous make-up classes over your lunch hours and after regular class hours in an already very full schedule.

The decision to run classes this day was not made lightly, is not meant to detract from the importance of the TRC event, nor prevent you from participating outside of class time.

The majority of events and activities associated with the TRC National Event are ongoing and not specific to Sept. 18^th – you will find a full listing of events here: http://irsi.aboriginal.ubc.ca/events/. The main activities associated with the TRC take place from Wed Sept 18^th – Sat Sept 21^st at the PNE Exhibition Grounds – we encourage you to explore the Saturday schedule for activities you may wish to participate in.

We also encourage you to learn more about the important issues of reconciliation by visiting the TRC on-campus exhibits, which are available over numerous days:

• Museum of Anthropology – Sept 18 – Mar 2: MOA Speaking to Memory: Images and Voices from St Michael’s Indian Residential Schools
• Belkin Art Gallery – Sept 6 – Dec 1: Witnesses: Art and Canada’s Indian Residential Schools
• UBC Robson Square – Sept 13 – Sept 27: Inquiry: Talking about Indigenous rights through classroom debate

In addition, there is a Reconciliation Walk taking place on Sunday, September 22 in Vancouver. The walk is being organized by Reconciliation Canada, a project established as a collaboration between the Indian Residential Schools Survivors Society and Tides Canada Initiatives Society.  There will be live entertainment, storytelling and dance before, after and along the walk route. The walk starts at the Vancouver Public Library, loops around downtown, and ends at Science World.

If you would like to get a taste of the TRC event on Wednesday Sept 18^th over your lunch hour the First Nations Longhouse at UBC is holding an all-day installation called “Weaving together First Nations’ traditional knowledge and UBC Biology”. There will be numerous displays to explore and it’s a short walk from the Henry Angus building.

The multi-day nature of the TRC event combined with numerous on-campus options should give you ample opportunity to engage in this important conversation, and we encourage you to consider what your participation will look like outside of class hours.

Sincerely,

Murali

A friendly reminder that the Westlake Lanes case discussion and introduction to the CSM track is scheduled tomorrow from 8am to 4pm at HA 098 (basement).

Please note that lunch is scheduled to run from 12pm to 1pm (1 hour) and lunch is not provided.

Attendance is mandatory. Dress code is business casual as we have speakers in the afternoon. (business casual = no jeans, t-shirts and sweatshirts but simple blouses/shirts, khakis, pants/knee length skirts are acceptable)

Dear 1st year FT MBA student,

We are happy to advise that we are ready to assign lockers!

The MBA program has 82 half-sized lockers available for student use. Most are on the 1st floor, a few are on the 4th floor. As decided by the current MBAS Executive, these lockers will all be assigned to 1st year MBA students only; 2nd year students are not eligible.  However, as there are more students than lockers, selection will be made by lottery.

If you wish to go into the draw to have a locker, please click on the link below and enter your email address to access the sign-up form. Please enter your name and student number by September 8^th, 2013.

http://www.surveyfeedback.ca/surveys/wsb.dll/s/1g2ae6

Please note that you will only be able to sign in once to enter your details. Students will need to supply their own lock.

If you are currently occupying a locker, please ensure that you remove your lock and locker contents before 8:00am on Monday, 9^th, 2013. Any locks left on the lockers after that time will be cut off.

Lockers will be assigned initially for September – December 2013 only. Once the new MBAS Executive is selected in December, we will ask for their feedback as to how they wish to assign lockers from January 2014 onwards.