Orientation is a bit more serious for students in the new Master of Management Studies: Foundations of Business program than it was for the freshmen who arrived at Duke two weeks ago.
The inaugural class of 100 students got to the Fuqua School of Business at 8 a.m. for a day of info sessions, speeches, get-to-know-you games and coffee breaks. They wouldn’t leave until about 8 p.m.
Orientation is a bit more serious for students in the new Master of Management Studies: Foundations of Business program than it was for the freshmen who arrived at Duke two weeks ago.
The inaugural class of 100 students got to the Fuqua School of Business at 8 a.m. for a day of info sessions, speeches, get-to-know-you games and coffee breaks. They wouldn’t leave until about 8 p.m.
And Monday was only day one of what will be a week-long process of team building and workshops, capped off with a Friday night accounting review. And then a party. Followed by another three-hour accounting class Saturday afternoon.
“You are about to embark on a very rigorous course of study,” said Kathie Amato, associate dean for the MMS: Foundations of Business program. “We will give you the skills you need to be successful the rest of your life.”
The one-year business masters program prepares students for entry-level corporate jobs through courses in subjects such as finance and marketing, Amato said.
President Richard Brodhead put the demanding nature of Fuqua’s programs in a slightly different way.
“I know people whose spouses are students in Fuqua,” he said. “Too bad for them.”
Amato said the rigorous coursework, combined with job-hunting, networking and training in communication skills outside of class, will help prepare students to enter a “very tough job market.”
To help students find jobs despite the economic climate, Fuqua staff has been in contact with many businesses, said Bill Boulding, Fuqua deputy dean and J.B. Fuqua professor of business administration.
“As we took this concept to a wide variety of employers, all of them were excited,” he said.
But individual students are ultimately responsible for their own success in both the program and the job market, he added, touching on a theme echoed by both Brodhead and Amato.
“So now it’s up to you,” Boulding said. “We will do our part, and you do your part.”
Despite the suits at the front of the room and the Fuqua name tag around each student’s neck, the speeches sometimes strayed from strictly business.
“Looking at the bleak world outside, we created a shelter or sanctuary program,” Brodhead said to laughter from the seated students. If the economy stays down and students cannot find jobs, “maybe next year we will create another program,” he added.
Following speeches by Brodhead and Boulding, Amato gave students a taste of the challenges they will face in the coming weeks.
“Does anybody know what a cold call is?” she asked.
After a student correctly explained that a cold call is a call made by a salesman to a potential customer he or she does not know, Amato demonstrated the Fuqua faculty’s version of the technique.
Picking out a student at random, Amato asked him for the name of one of the courses he will be taking next week.
“Business economics,” the student replied.
Amato rewarded the student’s correct answer with a Fuqua keychain, warning the group that next week, the questions will be harder and there will be no prizes.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.