February 2007

Welcome

Welcome to the February edition of the Michigan Campus alumni e-newsletter.  I have just returned from the live 2 ½ hour WJR broadcast of The Frank Beckman Show from Northwood University’s Griswold Lecture Hall.  The students that were interviewed did a wonderful job representing NU and it was great to have a few of our alumni call in to the show as well.  You can listen to a podcast of the show by visiting www.wjr.com.  You must allow pop-ups for the podcast to function properly.  You might also be able to hear clips from the show on WJR tonight from 7-8pm on the Lloyd Jackson show.

The alumni office is headed to the Cleveland Auto Show on Friday, March 2nd for the annual alumni and admissions reception.  We are expecting almost 300 guests in attendance and we look forward to seeing some of you there.  Our next big events are the Lunch with the President in Frankenmuth, Michigan on April 25 and the Outstanding Alumni Achievement Awards on the Michigan campus on April 27, 2007.  Please contact me if you are interested in attending either of these events.

As always...be sure to review the Alumni Events Calendar for more information about upcoming events.    

Julie Felske
Class of '01
Director of Alumni Relations
Felske@northwood.edu

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What's New on the Michigan Campus

Please click on the links below for the most recent press releases.

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Freedom Seminar

29th Annual Freedom Seminar to be held in Detroit
All Northwood Alumni are invited to attend the 29th annual Northwood University Freedom Seminar on April 19 – 22, 2007 at the Detroit Athletic Club and The Atheneum Suites Hotel in downtown Detroit.   The Freedom Seminar is an annual three and one-half day symposium on free market economics led by national and international academic and business leaders.  The purpose of the Freedom Seminar is to investigate current business and economic topics of utmost interest to the academic and business communities.  Northwood University students, alumni & friends are invited to attend the reception and any or all sessions. 

Please follow the link below for detailed seminar information:
http://www.northwood.edu/freedomseminar/

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What's New in Student Services

Student Life has a lot of events planned for the Spring Term.  We encourage alumni to get involved, please let us know if you are interested in participating in any of the following events.

  • Values Emphasis Week March 19th - 22nd
  • Northwood Idol - April 4th...Looking for Judges Alumni!  Can you be the next Randy, Simon or Paula? 
  • Domestic Violence Speaker - April 19th
  • Student Leadership Banquet - April 23rd
  • Resident Asistant Sign Up
  • Orientation Leader Sign Up
  • Easter Basket Donation to 60 children through out the City of Midalnd.
  • Senior Receptions
  • NU Pride Day -  May 9th
  • Student Government Association Outdoor Party - May 9th
  • And much more!!! 

Career Assistance Center

2007 S.E. MI Spring Career Expo
As a graduate of Northwood University, you are cordially invited to attend our 2007 S.E. MI Spring Career Expo.  This event is sponsored by the Career Assistance Center and Troy Offices.
DATE:        Tuesday, April 17, 2007
TIME:         3:00 PM – 7:00 PM
PLACE:      City of Troy Community Center
                 3179 Livernois
                   Troy, MI 48083
Alumni
If you are looking for a job or a new career opportunity, please join us.  For the most up-to-date listing of employers scheduled to visit us please follow this link: http://www.northwood.edu/apps/careers/list.asp?fair=21and click on the Registered Companies List.  This list is updated daily, so please check back often.

Employers
If you are looking to add quality employees to your staff, we would love to have you!  The 2007 S.E. MI Spring Career Expo is FREE OF CHARGE to employers!  We will provide a table, chairs, and a tablecloth at your request.  Electricity is available on a limited basis.  Please follow this link to register today: https://www.northwood.edu/apps/careers/addcompany.aspx?fair=21
If you have any questions regarding the Career Expo or any of our other services please contact us. 

Kim, Chris, Jenny and Tiffany
Career Services
NORTHWOOD UNIVERSITY
989.837.4320 - Direct
989.837.4499 - Fax
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What's New in Athletics

Northwood Athletics Hall of Fame Nominations Sought
Nominations for the Northwood (MI) Athletic Hall of Fame are still being accepted and encouraged.  If you would like to nominate an outstanding former student-athlete go to the following link to print off a nomination form.  Anyone is eligible to submit nominations.  Send the completed form to the Northwood University Athletic Office – Hall of Fame.

The second annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Saturday, September 29 as part of the Auto Show/Homecoming festivities.

Hall of Fame (PDF)

Athletic News Stories

The Northwood basketball teams saw their 2006-07 seasons come to an end last week, with each team finishing the year with nine victories. Senior Curt Ludtke (Ada, Mich.) was named GLIAC North Division Player of the Week late in the year, the second time in his career he has earned that honor.  On the women’s side, Sara Bilunes (Holt, Mich.) scored her 1,000 career point recently.  She played the final two years of her career at Northwood and ranked second on the team in scoring both seasons.  The track and field teams also recently completed the indoor portion of their schedule, with the men’s team placing fifth and the women’s team finishing ninth at the GLIAC Championships.  The spring season gets under way the first week of March, with the baseball, men’s tennis and softball teams all traveling to Florida.

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What's New in Academics

What’s New in the Honors Program

The Northwood University Honors Program is now offering outstanding students the opportunity to earn a Certificate or Diploma in Honors while pursuing their major field.  Small, rigorous classes emphasize critical thinking and problem solving skills as well as promote the kind of creative and individual approaches that make for self-starting business managers and entrepreneurs.

These young people are looking to gain every possible competitive edge to be successful in the dynamic, global economy.  If you took Honors classes, you can help.  Would you like to return to campus to share your experience with a group of Honors students in an informal talk?  Or, would you like to mentor one of these bright, energetic students and share your business and career advice?

For more information about the Northwood University Honors Program, to share your thoughts or suggestions for Honors alumni activities, or to arrange a visit, please contact Dr. Margaret Colarelli, Director of the Honors Program, at (989) 837-4259, or at colarelli@northwood.edu

Management Information Systems

Each year, the Management Information Systems seniors on Northwood’s Michigan Campus work on a development project for an actual business entity.  They spend three terms, designing, developing, and delivering a business system for a client.

The client for the 2006/2007 school year is the Midland Center for the Arts (MCFTA).  The seniors are developing an Event Management System (EMS).  The EMS will automate an existing paper process used to plan and control various events.

The Northwood MIS Students will develop a centralized database as part of the new system that will allow department and/or member groups to have access to event data at all times.  Data flow will be monitored in a specific order as an event planning process is completed.  Users of the system will have more efficient access to event data, eliminating the need to search through paper forms.  New reports and system outputs will allow better data delivery and coordination for event management.

The senior year project is a valuable tool which allows are graduating students to improve their skills, fortify knowledge obtained from previous courses, and experience real industry challenges and pressures.

Bill Anderson
Chair, MIS Curriculum
Anderson@northwood.edu

International Business Department

The International Business Department has been trying to fine-tune its curriculum to meet the challenges and demands of the rapidly-changing global business environment.  To this end, we have been listening to our Advisory Committee members, who represent the industry and the community at large.  In response to their suggestions, and based on our own research, we have identified the KSAs (knowledge, skills and abilities) that we would like our graduates to acquire.  We have also drafted a mission statement, and made some recommendations to the VP of Academics regarding changes to the curriculum.  These are appended to the end of this report.

As for latest developments, the International Business Association, which is the student organization for IB majors, is planning Global Week, an annual celebration of world cultures and diversity.  We hope to hold it during Spring term.  The cultural artifacts of various countries represented at Northwood, including costumes, arts & crafts, music and food will be showcased during Global Week.  There will also be guest speakers and other events yet to be finalized.  The students are also planning a trip to Canada, which will be a good experience for several of our international student members.  We are also trying to organize a dinner with families of expatriates for our students, where students can hear first-hand about their experiences in foreign countries.

Mr. John Torgerson, Global Business Development Manager for Dow Corning, spoke to IB students about the intricacies of marketing in foreign countries.  He shared several of his experiences, and the students found his talk extremely entertaining and informative.

Dr. Jay Chandran, Chair of International Business, will be going to Wuxi, China, to teach a mini session in International Management over Spring break.  He said he is looking forward to the experience, and hopes to learn as much from it as the students at SYU- Lambton College whom he will be teaching, if not more.  Dr. Chandran will also be attending an International Management Conference organized by the Singapore Management University in July, where he will present a paper entitled: New Perspectives for Management Education: Developing the Undergraduate Curriculum.  Again, he expects this to be a highly enriching experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities students are expected to acquire:

  • Knowledge of cultural, economic, political, legal and other environmental differences that exist in the different markets of the world, and how they affect the conduct of business.
  • the skill to communicate with colleagues, customers and other organizational stakeholders in different countries.
  • The ability to deal with the managerial, organizational and environmental challenges in different countries.

Mission Statement
To prepare students to successfully deal with the various challenges they may confront in the rapidly-changing global business environment, and to provide them with the credentials needed for a successful career in International Business.

Recommendations

  • Re-designate all International Business courses with an “INB” prefix.  This will give the major greater visibility and a well-defined identity, making it easier for prospective students to recognize IB courses in the catalog, and for prospective employers to identify them as IB courses in the transcripts.
  • Introduce a 300-level Survey course (4 credits) in International Business, which will give students an overview of the various sub-disciplines such as economics, finance, law, management and marketing.  We consider this necessary preparation and groundwork for students who subsequently take the specialized courses in these areas later.
  • Introduce a specialized 300-level course in Inter-cultural Business Communication, as this is an extremely important component of International Business that is not covered in sufficient depth in existing courses.
  • Introduce a Capstone course for IB majors because:  a) all majors should have one, and b) it will allow us to bring together the various elements from all the different courses, fine-tune problem-solving and critical thinking skills, and plug any knowledge gaps.
  • Require all domestic IB majors to spend a minimum of one term abroad, immersed in a foreign culture, preferably in a country that speaks a language other than English.  This is a suggestion that came from the Advisory Committee on the Michigan Campus.  This will serve to further differentiate and legitimize the program.

Dr. Jay Chandran
Chair, International Business Curriculum
Chandran@northwood.edu

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Eye on Business

The purpose of the Eye on Business section is to provide you with interesting websites to add to your “favorites” on your computers, as well as to provide you with key economic data at a glance.

CEOExpress : http://www.ceoexpress.com
Detroit Economic Club : http://www.econclub.org

  Present – February 27, 2007  Previous Year – February 27, 2006 
Dow Jones Industrial Average 12,275.36 11,097.55
NASDAQ 2,407.86 2,307.18
Price of Crude Oil ($ per barrel) 61.46 58.06
Price of Gold 672.5 503.4
Prime Interest Rate 8.25 6.75
Average Home Mortgage Rate 6.22 6.15
Value of U.S. $ relative to Euro 0.7557 0.8324
Value of U.S. $ relative to Yen 118.45 115.71
U.S. Budget Deficit 248 Billion 319 Billion
Quarterly GDP 13,449.9 billion 12,573.5 billion

 

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Save the Date!

Upcoming Events

March 2 – Alumni Reception at The Cleveland Auto Show
March 22 – Business After Hours in Troy, Michigan
March 27 – Mind Prime – Women Leading Women, Saginaw, Michigan
March 28 – Alumni Speaker Series, Midland campus
April 17 – NU Southeastern Michigan Career Expo in Troy, Michigan
April 19 - 22 – Freedom Seminar in Detroit, Michigan
April 25 – 5th Annual Lunch with the President
April 27 – Outstanding Alumni Achievement Awards on the Michigan Campus

Please click below for additional details and a complete list of upcoming events: Alumni Events Calendar

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Feedback

Your suggestions and feedback are vital in our planning of this newsletter and our alumni events and services.  Please complete the online feedback form by clicking on the following link: 

Online Feedback form

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Northwood University
Alumni Office
4000 Whiting Drive
Midland, Michigan 48640
Toll free: 800.622.1007
alumni@northwood.edu