The Opus College of Business last week welcomed its incoming class of Evening UST MBA students with New Student Orientation. All of the students had previously met one-on-one with their academic adviser to go over curriculum guidelines, program requirements, college and university resources but orientation is the official beginning of students new life as a working professional and graduate student at the University of St. Thomas!
The faculty and staff were excited as new students arrived for registration and the first event of the evening. Dean Puto gave an energizing welcome to the new students, stressing the importance of the collaborative culture at St. Thomas.
Corey Eakins, Director of the Evening UST MBA--and a program alumnus--spoke to the students about the transition into graduate school, using a hot YouTube video to bring a little humor to the important topic of creating your own success:
Students later joined faculty, staff and alumni of the Evening UST MBA program for dinner. Each table of had faculty and staff as well as an alumnus who could answer questions about the program and give insight from their own student experiences. We heard from a lot of students that besides the menu (we really did have an excellent meal) they most appreciated having alumni and faculty assigned to their table.
After dinner, each table went to an assigned classroom to meet with an academic adviser and faculty member. We enjoyed presenting each student with a UST MBA briefcase (they really are all the rage on campus) and then the faculty member ran a classroom simulation where students broke up into teams and came back together as a whole to discuss expectations and goals.
After the last students left, the advisers excitedly picked up all of the post-event surveys, anxious to see what everyone got out of the evening. Students shared with us that they loved hearing from the Dean, getting a chance to meet with other students and alumni of the program and that the culture of St. Thomas paired with our relevant academic offerings make us the perfect choice for their MBA. Success!
