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March 15, 2010
March 19 – MBA Program Starts
March 24 - Convocation and New Student Orientation
March 29 - Start of Spring Term
April 15 - Conversation with Wells Fargo President Felix Fernandez
In this issue of Dragonfire:
- More than 100 Crowd the Center to "Experience Drexel"
- Intel's Tripette to Welcome New Students to Drexel on March 24
- Newest MBAs Start March 19 with Intensive Four Day Residency
- Students Confer with Chairman of Aqua America
- University Brings Career Counseling Expertise Direct to Sacramento
- Full Barrels: Clothing Drive Off to Fast Start
- HRD Students to Attend ISPI Conference in San Francisco
- If He Can Do It...
- Speakers Series Concludes with Two Outstanding Regional Leaders
- Drexel Green: Students and Alumni to Get Hands Dirty on April 24
- Dean Oxholm Chairs Panel on Regional Sports and Entertainment Center
- "Hispanics and the Future of America" Lecture at the School of Public Health
- This Time, With the Photo
- Drexel Swirls
- Late Breaking News: Drexel Announces Its 14th President
More than 100 Crowd the Center to "Experience Drexel"
Maybe it was our reputation for excellent events. Maybe it was the renown of the community leaders who spoke — Randy Sater and Pat Fong Kushida. Maybe it was the chance to hear from Drexel's top people in career services and financial aid, for whom success in Sacramento is their top priority. Or maybe it was just the opportunity to talk informally with our students and faculty. Whatever it was, more than 100 guests got to "experience Drexel" on March 11 and learn what it would be like to become a graduate student in one of the nation's top-ranked part-time degree programs. For them — and for anyone interested in taking that all-important next career step up — it's now decision time. Convocation and new student orientation will be held at 6 pm on March 24. Two years from now, where do you really want to be? If you have any last-minute questions, contact Nancy Thompson at 916-325-4600.
Intel's Tripette to Welcome New Students to Drexel on March 24
Attend a leadership meeting of the Metro Chamber, the Cap-to-Cap Steering Committee, or the Board of LEED - Linking Education to Economic Development, and you'll find Leroy J. Tripette there. For years, he has been helping to shape the region's approach to building an educated workforce. It's a passion for him, and he's lucky enough to also have that as his job: external affairs manager for one of this region's largest corporations, Intel. Today Tripette is responsible for managing Intel's comprehensive relationships with school districts, universities and nonprofit organizations for the Greater Sacramento Region, and for the development, coordination, and implementation of Intel's community and education programs and grants.
For more than five years he was Intel's education manager, responsible for the development, coordination, and implementation of strategic K-20 education programs. We cannot imagine anyone having a better sense of how higher education can meet this region's current needs.
Newest MBAs Start March 19 with Intensive Four Day Residency
So you want to run a company, eh? At Drexel, that’s not just where we expect you to end up, but where you will begin! Our MBAs start their two-year program with a "residency" that puts them inside the c-suite on a team that is responsible for running an actual business, competing with other teams in the MBA class to see which can produce the best products in the best markets and generate the best returns over a period of six years, with all of the challenges that real businesses face. At the end, you will all "get it" — knowing what you’ll be learning and how you’ll be learning it over the next two years. It’s a unique start for a unique program, and it has received rave reviews from each of the 60-plus MBA students we already have in Sacramento. No wonder the LeBow College of Business is ranked in the top 10 nationally for its entrepreneurial approach to b-school education! (And if you’re still "deciding" about whether you want to be part of this next cohort, the bells are ringing! Contact Nancy Thompson asap!)
Students Confer with Chairman of Aqua America
Aqua America is the second largest publicly traded water utility in the country. Overseeing operations in 13 states, its chairman and CEO is one busy guy. But on March 10, Nicholas DeBenedictis sat down for 75 minutes to talk with Drexel students on two coasts — Sacramento and Philly — about the lessons he has learned in his rise to the top. His career has included more than a decade in government service with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources (DEP) and twice that working for electric and water utilities. Throughout it all, he has been deeply engaged in the life of his community and the leadership of a great many civic projects. How he fits it all in, what he's learned over the years, and why he does it — these are the things he discussed with our students, "beaming" into our Graduate Center from Philadelphia through our state-of-the-art videoconferencing system.
Find the podcast of this and our other conversations on our Preeminent Guest Speakers page.
University Brings Career Counseling Expertise Direct to Sacramento
Many employers are using behavioral-based interview questions. Their premise is that the most accurate predictor of future performance is past performance in similar situations. In a one-hour workshop called "Answering the Tough Interview Questions" held over dinner (Drexel provides so much food to our students!) before class one evening, Steinbright Career Development Center career counselor Bill Felty discussed the S.T.A.R. (Situational, Task, Action, Result) method of answering behavioral-based questions and provided specific interviewing tips. This followed two days of individualized counseling sessions with our students that included evaluation of self-assessment packages and job search coaching. Ask any Drexel student, and you will find that Steinbright is an enormously important resource for those seeking to advance with their current employer or to prepare for the next opportunity.
Full Barrels: Clothing Drive Off to Fast Start
One of the wonderful things our Sacramento graduate students have done is sponsor a public service project each month. We've done clean-ups, phone-a-thons, toy and blood drives, and runs for charity. This month, they're collecting professional clothing to donate to the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services (SFBFS). With the help of our landlord, AKT Properties, the clothing drive was extended to everyone in our building. The first week resulted in two full barrels. Shown here are Drexel students, faculty, and staff with an SFBFS representative as he came to swap barrels.
Left to right: Dr. Toni Carbo, teaching professor and iSchool program leader at Drexel's Center for Graduate Studies in Sacramento; Anna Forrest, executive assistant to the dean; Barbara Bernardin, student, MS-Library and Information Science, and clothing drive coordinator; Sivan Oyserman, student, MBA; and Larry McHone, SFBSF.
HRD Students to Attend ISPI Conference in San Francisco
With our focus on workplace learning and performance, the inaugural cohort of Drexel's MS in Human Resource Development will be attending the Performance Improvement Conference, April 19–22, at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis in San Francisco, California. The conference is being hosted by the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI). ISPI is the leading international association dedicated to improving productivity and performance in the workplace.
"It's exciting to see the ISPI conference in Northern California. Our students and local workplace learning and performance community will gain tremendously from this event," says Dr. Salvatore Falletta, associate clinical professor and associate program director for human resource development at Drexel University.
There are still a few seats left in the next HRD cohort in Sacramento, which will begin later this month. Those with questions should contact Dr. Salvatore Falletta or call him at the Graduate Center at 916-325-4600.
If He Can Do It…
Kyle Glankler is a busy guy. He's an active participant in the Metro Chamber and Metro EDGE. He works as a business development manager for Roebbelen Contracting, Inc. and a LEED board member. And Kyle is also a Drexel MBA student juggling a young (and growing) family with a demanding full-time job. Kyle is the third MBA student within the last year to welcome a new addition to the family, with the birth of Luna Cheri Glankler on February 21 (Luna is his second child).
How does he do it all? He's smart, energetic, and ready for the next step up in his career. And if you ask him, he'll say "I feel totally supported by my professors, my classmates, and my office. We're all family and we're all committed to success." You can send Kyle an email and ask him how he does it — and then give yourself the same chance to excel by applying now. There is still time to join our next class of Dragons!
Speakers Series Concludes With Two Outstanding Regional Leaders
Launched last October, our speakers series "What It Means To Lead: Coast to Coast Conversations with Business and Civic Leaders" will conclude with two regional icons: Felizardo "Felix" Fernandez, president, northern California region, Wells Fargo (April 15); and Scott Syphax, president and CEO of the Nehemiah Corporation, one of the largest nonprofit community development organizations in the country, and chairman and CEO of Township 9, the second largest urban development project in Sacramento (May 24). Both are intimately involved in the key questions affecting this region's economic and civic future. Both are responsible for the business operations of multi-million-dollar corporations that are among the best in the country. Both are totally engaged with their communities, with records of public service beyond anything reasonable to expect of anyone. How do they do it? Our students will have the unique opportunity to ask them about the personal side of their very public lives. Will you be in the room?
Drexel Green: Students and Alumni to Get Hands Dirty on April 24
On the East Coast, Drexel has a history of its alumni (and their families) coming together with current students for service projects honoring Earth Day. In commemoration of Earth Day 2010, CAN-DU (Community Alumni Network of Drexel University), will host more than 100 volunteers working in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park cleaning up trash, planting trees, trimming bushes, and reminding everyone how lucky we are to have beautiful open places accessible to the public. For the first time ever, we'll be doing that here in Sacramento as well. Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, Drexel will work with the Sacramento City Parks and Recreation department, to have alumni, students, faculty, and staff participate in "14 Miles of Service," the annual preservation and beautification project along the Sacramento Northern Bike Trail. Drexel will be responsible for cleaning the section between Eleanor Avenue and Acacia Avenue near Richardson Village Park. The sun will rise on Earth Week at Drexel in Philly on April 17, and set on Drexel in Sacramento on April 24 — a transcontinental demonstration of the commitment to sustainability and responsible citizenship that underlie Drexel Green.
Dean Oxholm Chairs Panel on Regional Sports and Entertainment Center
Every year, the Sacramento Metro Chamber hosts the mayor of the City of Sacramento for a "State of the City" address — with over 850 attendees, it's the biggest civic luncheon of the year. This year, the mayor's report was preceded by a panel discussion of the options for replacing the Arco Arena with a modern civic center. The panelists were three of the twelve members of the mayor's special Task Force, and the chamber chose Dean Tobey Oxholm to be the moderator. The session was packed with information, and it set the stage for the Task Force report that was issued two weeks later. We were proud to be "at the table" on an issue so important to the future of the region.
"Hispanics and the Future of America" Lecture at the School of Public Health
One of the nation's foremost experts on the huge demographic shifts that are happening in this country — and the implications for the economy and society — recently presented a "Grand Rounds" lecture for Drexel's School of Public Health. It was a lecture that was surely aimed as much at California and Sacramento as it was at Philadelphia, where it was given.
In her talk, "Hispanics and the Future of America," Dr. Tienda considered the evolution of the Hispanic population, indicated how recent trends had diverged from the past, projected growth to 2030, and assessed its implications for the nation and the Hispanic population. The talk helped students, as well as physicians and public health professionals, identify and evaluate key social trends that will define the economic and social impacts the Hispanic community will have in the 21st century.
Dr. Tienda directs the Office of Population Research at Princeton University, where she is a professor of demographic studies. She is past president of the Population Association of America (PAA) and is a board member of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, the Sloan Foundation, the Jacobs Foundation of Switzerland, and Brown University.
Her lecture can be heard via podcast on the School of Public Health's website.
This time, WITH the photo…
In the last issue of Dragonfire, we ran an article about the exercise room (Reason #12 on the Top 10 Reasons to Become a Dragon) but didn't include the picture. No, we weren't trying to hide it — we just lost the shot. So here it is. Mens sana in corpore sano. (If you didn't get that far in high school Latin, you can look it up.)
Drexel Swirls
It's great to be located close to Napa, but it's even better to be located close to Clarkesburg — especially when one of our MBA students is a tasting room manager for a winery there! Thirty Drexel students, faculty, and staff recently spent a day touring the Old Sugar Mill and sampling wines of the Solomon Wine Company. By day's end, all were master swirlers! Outings to the San Jose Sharks and the Sacramento River Cats games are planned for the coming months.
Late Breaking News: Drexel Announces Its 14th President
On March 10, the Trustees of Drexel University announced that John A. Fry, currently president of Franklin and Marshall College, would be the next President of Drexel University. He will become the 14th President in Drexel's 119-year history, when he begins his term on August 1, 2010. Sacramento's Dean Tobey Oxholm, senior vice president of the University, commented: "I had the privilege to meet John Fry soon after I joined Drexel in 2001 when he was the University of Pennsylvania's executive vice president (which I would become for Drexel in 2008). He was a visionary and energetic leader then, and his tenure as president at Franklin and Marshall confirms his willingness to embrace the big ideas and succeed with every project he undertakes. It won't take him a minute to understand what we are doing in this region and see its potential. He is an excellent choice to follow Constantine 'Taki' Papadakis at the helm of our great university." Read the University's press release, issued Wednesday last week.
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