The Office: Graduate Admission

Back in the Saddle

Whew.  I am back in the office after my week in California.  Apologies on the fact that EVERYONE is late in posting this week - it's all my fault.  I actually do the publishing, and I hadn't done it for most of the week.  So if you were looking for the further adventures of BostonBlueHen, or Upstate on the Hill, or any of the others - it's my bad.  They're published now.

Also on the publishing front, I was just bugging Fellowship Chris to do a guest blog for me.  He's in the MPA/MS in Mental Health Counseling program, and one of the addenda to the big US bailout bill that was passed last week were provisions covering the coverage of mental health problems.  He's a little bit under water at this moment (the office is pretty thinly staffed today - it's travel season after all), but I hope to see it this week, while it's still topical. 

The office is pretty quiet this week - there are staff members off in Vermont/New Hampshire and Texas parts of the world today, and ED heads for Istanbul and Athens at the end of the week.  I hold down the fort on Thursday while the GMAC auditor is here (they audit their schools every 5 years - we're due).

Now, to sit down and actually get through the profiles of our entering class.  Whooo!  (I think it's going to be a particularly good one.)

I left my heart...2x

I was just writing in the title of this post when my Mac autocompleted it for me. I guess I'm predictable, and that I've already written it once before. Oh well.

I'm currently in lovely San Francisco, preparing for the Idealist fair later today. Around 2 I have a meeting with a prospective student who wants to learn more about the MS in Accounting. After that i have to figure out how to schlep my (minimalist - the prospectus being available to view and print and whatnot directly on the website has been immensely helpful to both students and those of us recruiting) materials up the two blocks to the venue. Granted, it's much better than last year, when I didn't realize that the 4 blocks I was staying from the venue was almost straight up - I can both plan ahead and not be running late. On the other hand, Taylor Street to the top of Nob Hill is even steeper than California St, so it will be...not so much fun. Ah well, it's only two blocks, 20 lbs of materials to carry or no.

Tomorrow morning I'm up bright and early to head to LA. I do the Idealist there tomorrow night.

I've been out and about the Nob Hill area this morning, and have a bunch of photos to load into the "On the Road" album once I get back. I have a gazillion pictures of Grace Episcopal Church - I promise to try to cut them down somewhat.

Now, to figure out of I get lunch before my meeting, or afterwards. Hm...

On the road

So my Friday was spent trying to get together our big travel schedule email - we really do try to not bug folks with too much email (really!), but we do like to get out and let folks who have expressed interest in our programs where we'll be through the fall, and where they might be able to see us in person.  My travel season started early (as noted) with Mexico City, but I think this week we start up the season in earnest.  We'll be at a number of the Idealist.Org fairs, some World MBA Tour fairs internationally, and a bunch of individual school graduate fairs. 

Actually, speaking of Idealist Fairs, I'm at one next week.  A week from tonight in fact!  Hope to see folks there!

JE is headed to NYC for a fair on Wednesday.  The location changed, since the fair is taking place at Columbia U, and the location they were going to be in will be hosting the presidential candidates the night after.  As a result, the Secret Service will be clearing the venue, and JE's fair got moved. 

OK.  I have work to do.  Kelly, Beacon411, and ShamrockSox should now all appear at the left, so you should be able to read up on their exploits as well!  Enjoy.

Leaving on a jet plane

So tonight, I get up about 3 am, grab my stuff and head to the airport.  Roughly a day later (I have some loooong flights), I'll be in Bangkok, Thailand.  I attend a fair there on the 6th, and go straight back to the airport to fly home (so I can make it to classes on Tuesday, and have a shot at getting homework done). 

I asked one of the classmates in my Development and Transition economics class (who is from Thailand) what I should see, since I'm in Thailand for only 30 hours.  He game me both some very useful advice (regarding taxis from the airport and tipping), and suggestions on what I should see if I don't collapse.  My professor (who does a lot of work in that part of the world) also made some suggestions, so I feel well armed for spending my "thaime."

This is the only international recruiting I do this year (which is kind of a good thing - as much as I love getting abroad, it does play havoc with the homework), and I'm looking forward to it.  At the moment (and here is where I econ geek out a bit, or maybe it's finance geeking), American higher ed is looking like a really good deal for international students.  The dollar fell in value against the "loony" (the Canadian dollar), and is at low, currency-wise.  This means that foreign currencies go farther than they had, making American education relatively cheaper and of better relative value.  For some foreign students, it makes American education affordable where it may not have been before.  For others, it makes American education more attractive than education in the EU (and all sorts of other places). 

To some extent, higher education is already one of the leading American "export" industries, and the falling dollar makes US institutions even more competitive in the global educational market.  While no one can be sure that the low dollar valuation will continue long enough for someone to complete graduate (or undergraduate) studies, it does at least mean that the initial costs will be lower. 

So in other words, the cheap dollar is good news for the university.  It's bad news (on the other hand) for my ability to shop in Thailand.  Bummer.

Some people have bad hair days...

I have celebrity bad hair days, and that celebrity is Helena Bonham Carter.  Thank goodness I can put it up if I have to venture into public.

I've created a new category/tag for the stuff that is really only probably interesting to those interested in the Economics program.  Now that I'm halfway though classes, it's about time, yeah?  If you aren't into the Econ program, you may just want to skip to the end.

So, Econ.  I am battling the work/homework crunch at the moment - I have assignments weekly for both the Transitional & Development Economics (hereafter TDE) class and the Micro class (and have a full time job, a knitting circle, and a life to manage outside of that).  This week, I'm looking at having to be in the department's computer lab on Friday night or on Saturday (why yes, I DO know how to party) to get my TDE homework done, since I need to head to Vermont Sunday for fairs Monday and Tuesday.  As TDE is in the late slot Tuesday night, it also means I need to have the Micro homework done by Monday night.  I'll remember how to take derivatives yet!

Speaking of Micro, let me say for a moment that I'm enjoying the heck out of the Micro book.  Yes, you read that right.  The material aside, I have to say that the exercises make me laugh.  There was one question we didn't have to do on the homework on preference choices to the effect of: The Three Bears are trying to decide what to have for dinner.  Baby Bear's preferences are (honey, grubs, Goldilocks)... and it goes on from there.  I actually laughed out loud when I read it. 

And lastly in Econ news (for the department at least), the new faculty member, BP, announced the subject of his upcoming lecture (which I'd mentioned before) - and it's on Somalia (peri- and post-collapse).  I am totally there! 

Coming out of my little econ-induced bliss for a moment, I do want to mention to folks in Vermont that I'll be at some of the local fairs this week - Monday at Green Mountain and Southern Vermont, and Tuesday at St. Michaels.  If you're interested in any of Suffolk's programs, please get in touch or see me at the Grad Fairs!

OK.  Duty calls. 

Idealized

For those in the non-profit sector, Idealist.org is kind of monster.com; it's the big place to look for jobs (and volunteer opportunities, and actually, a bunch of other stuff.)  Anyway, they're holding a bunch of graduate school fairs "Graduate Degrees for the Public Good" (or as we generally refer to them, the Public Good fairs).  I think we're going to a total of 11 of them, all over the country.  I myself am headed to a bunch in California - last year it seemed like I was at MBA fairs all the time, this year, I'm quite happy about the fact that I will appear to always be at the Public Good fairs.

So, what's so good about the Public Good?  For me, it's the fact that I can talk about a wide range of programs.  At MBA fairs, you get (unsurprisingly), mostly students interested in an MBA.  You might be able to talk about the Finance or Accounting courses, and on a good day I could talk about Economics at least once, but for the most part, it's the same details over and over again.  Public Good fairs, I can talk about pretty close to anything.  Education?  Check.  Economic Policy?  Check.  Managing a non-profit?  Would you like that in MBA or MPA orientation, or do you specifically have a health care-oriented non-profit in mind, in which case I have MBA, MPA, and MHA options for you.  Criminal Justice?  Our criminal justice is not a standard cop-shop kind of program (and frankly, if that's what you're looking for, you will be disappointed).   Counseling?  Mental health counseling, or school counseling?  Oh yeah, and we have the only sociologically-oriented women's health program in the area, and possibly the only program of its kind in the country.

I admit to being a little on the scattery side.  I don't find comfort in repetition.  I like talking about all kinds of different things, and meeting people interested in a variety of topics.  That, and as the kind of person drawn to the idea of making the world a better place, I like the very IDEA of the Public Good fairs. 

So anyway, if you're in one of the cities the Public Good fairs are coming to, I recommend you check them out.

Travel schedule coming together

OK, clearly I am dating myself with the fact that after yesterday's travel meeting I've been wandering around humming "One night in Bangkok" (for those too young to remember or simply outside the US, it was a hit single from an otherwise floptastic musical called "Chess").  But anyway, yes, I am coming to Bangkok, if only for about 2 nights for an MBA fair.

It's still to early to have a definitive travel schedule, but I can tell you some of the places the Suffolk University grad offices are going to be (the travel schedule will be going up on our website in the next few weeks).  Once I have official days/times/events/addresses, you'll be able to find those on the website.

Aside from the normal events in Boston, we'll be in New England in general at fairs in New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island and Connecticut (though we're still waiting to see exactly what fairs are offered in the last two).  Outside of New England, we'll be on hand at 10 Idealist.org "Graduate Degrees for the Public Good" fairs - NYC, DC, Chicago, Nashville, Philly, Minneapolis, San Francisco, LA, San Diego, and Greensboro. 

And then there's the MBA fairs - Milan (Italy), Nagoya and Tokyo, and Istanbul (which sadly, I won't be going back to this year - I have a personal engagement to be at the next day) are all on the international roster.  Domestically, we'll also be seeing people in Virginia, upstate New York, Michigan, and central Pennsylvania. 

Thank goodness we've got our new Admissions Counselor getting up and running - as it is, the office is going to be a little lonely through the fall.  I'm fortunate in that my schedule allows me to not miss many classes, but TB and ED are going to be out meeting all kinds of people!

Profiles and smiles

Whew!  I finished up with our graduate profiles on the entering Spring 2007 class this morning - and I'm pleased to note that we're enrolling more AHANA (African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American and Native American) students this spring than last year (and the second most in the past 5 years - which, when combined with our record fall enrollment is good news for us).  We're also bringing in more students from out-of-state as well.  It's nice to see our efforts in recruiting for a diverse entering class actually show up in numbers and statistics.

Tonight, a number of us are headed over to the Marriott in order to attend the MBA Consortium fair - you can get information on some of the best MBA programs in the Boston area, all in one location.  ED is moderating a panel, and I'll be helping out HC at the table, accompanied by one of the people from the MBA office.  I'm looking forward to seeing some prospective students.  I should mention, though the MBA fair is specifically geared toward MBAs, if you're interested in other programs (such as the MS in Finance or Economics or Accounting), you should feel free to stop in anyway - the panel on Financing your MBA is also applicable to many other grad programs, and a number of the schools there will be able to speak to the other graduate programs they have besides the MBA. 

Where does the morning go?  Back to work!

Yes, finally...

OK, I finally had a chance this morning to upload the photos from Greece and Turkey, so they've been added to the "On the Road" photo album.  You may notice there aren't any photos from the fair in Istanbul - mostly because I never had a moment to take any! 

We're preparing the office for the holiday.  The Graduate Admission office closes at 1pm tomorrow (Wednesday, November 22), and does not re-open until Monday, November 27th.  We'll be back up and running on the 27th, so if you have any questions about application materials, information session dates, or anything else...just be aware that no one is around for the next few days. 

For students interested in our Masters in Graphic Design, I thought I'd mention that the MAGD program is starting up a Pre-Graduate Accelerated Summer Program (PGASP), similar to the PGASP program for the MA in Interior Design.  Just a note.

Time to get back to it all. 

New photo album

So, rather than giving every place we go to it's own album, I've set up a photo album for Suffolk on the Road.  Click the table to check it out.

HC is still in Chicago, and TB and I were talking about next week.  Next week, as you can see from our travel schedule, is an all out bonanza - I think there's even a day when all five of us are out on the road or actively participating in fairs.  (Fortunately, as this is also mid-term week, one of my professors is good enough to let me take the exam early, and I get home just in time to take the other one.)  TB is getting ready to hit the West Coast, and ED is preparing for Quito and Bogota.  So much to do!