Viewpoints, Fall/Winter 2013 - Sauder School of Business by UBC Sauder School of Business

THE ACCESS TO EDUCATION ISSUE

FALL/WINTER 2013 • VOLUME 33 • NO 2

A MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF THE SAUDER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AT UBC

Reinventing the apple Improving access to higher education

Together, we’re rewriting the rules of business. Get inspired at rewritetherules.ca

It’s time for business to go global and change the world.

Dominykas M Minsk, Belarus

It’s time for business to become more emotionally intelligent and focus on trust and respect.

James C Hong Kong SAR of China

Tomorrow’s leaders must create change proactively, not try to manage it retrospectively.

Shaun C

Tomorrow’s leaders must be aware of their personal values to better serve their community.

Minerva F

Success is measured by failing fast & designing ventures to solve problems people care about.

Paul C Vancouver. Canada Area

Success is measured by the future generations you are able to shape and inspire.

Enzo W Vancouver, Canada Area

Success is measured by one’s willingness to learn and their ambition.

Davy V Manchester. United Kingdom

Tomorrow’s leaders must be flexible enough to connect the dots to solve problems.

Catherine M Toronto, Canada Area

It’s time for business to reward employees for good ideas and not just good service.

Fang Fang L China

It’s time for business to focus on social and political issues that are central to business.

Punit L Dehra Dun Area, India

Success is measured by how much employees rave about their company when they’re not at work.

Wade C Saint Albert, Alberta

Tomorrow’s leaders must learn to care for the people they work with.

Felicia L Selangor, Malaysia

The access to education issue ALUMNI STORIES

6 55

Maryanne Mathias, MBA 2010

“Many parents are not happy about our extremely high entrance requirements. We would like to be able to meet more of the demand and make the entrance requirements less stringent.“ – DEAN ROBERT HELSLEY

Daniel Murphy, MBA 2012

IN EVERY ISSUE

Viewpoints from the Dean

Sauder Index

Newsworthy

Actuals

Insider Information

Earning Interest

Alumni in Focus

Class Notes

In Memoriam

Points of View

Cover illustration by Chalk It Up.

alumni@sauder.ubc.ca UBC Commerce/Sauder School of Business Alumni

COVER STORY

Reinventing the apple

From online courses to ﬂipped classrooms, and from China to South Africa, the way higher education is both accessed and delivered is fundamentally changing. In this issue of Viewpoints, we consider that how we learn may be changing in ways we never imagined.

MOOCs: hype or revolution?

His gift is diversity

Making better cities

Mentors give students an edge

Massive Open Online Courses allow us to ask questions such as “what if higher education was free and open to anyone, anywhere?” It’s already happening.

John Montalbano, BCom 1988, talks about his recent gift to Sauder and why diversity in business is crucial.

Grosvenor endows professorship in urban economics.

Twitter.com/ViewpointsMag twitter.com/ubcsauderschool linkedin.com/company/sauderschool-of-business-at-ubc

Calling Sauder alumni: How you can help a new graduate land a job they might not otherwise secure.

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

VIEWPOINTS FROM THE DEAN

Welcome to the new academic year

MARK MUSHET

Again this year, the media marked the beginning of the new school year with a torrent of features about the challenges, the difficulties, and the obstacles facing higher education.

Robert Helsley “This special issue of Viewpoints focuses on accessibility in higher education—what it means to be “accessible,” the successes and pitfalls, and the most pressing issues affecting access to higher education across the globe.”

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

THE WASHINGTON POST PUBLISHED A ten-part series exploring the cost of higher education emphatically titled “Tuition is Too Damn High.” “Will MOOCs kill university degrees?” asked The Economist. TIME Magazine dedicated a cover feature to the Class of 2025, noting that “Higher education has never been more expensive—or seemingly less demanding.” As TIME also pointed out, “handwringing about higher education is so common that it almost forms an academic discipline unto itself or should at least count as a varsity sport.” Into this fraught space we step with this special issue of Viewpoints focusing on accessibility in higher education—what it means to be “accessible,” the successes and pitfalls, and the most pressing issues affecting access to higher education across the globe. Cost, physical space, globalization, and rapidly evolving technology all play a role in accessibility, and in this issue we have tried to give you a road map to the issues and challenges. Rather than providing deﬁnitive answers, our goal is to start a conversation—with our alumni, donors, students, funding bodies (including governments), the business community, and our community at large—about the true meaning and value of accessibility, our role and responsibility as a leading public institution of higher learning, about how higher education is changing, and about the choices we are facing for the future. We look forward to your thoughts.

Also in this issue, we are featuring the new Professorship in Leadership: Women and Diversity, established through a generous contribution from John Montalbano, BCom 1988. The professorship will play a critical role in Sauder’s efforts to advance diversity in leadership. I was personally honoured to receive support from Grosvenor, who have established the Professorship of Cities, Business Economics and Public Policy. I will be the inaugural holder of this professorship, which is closely aligned with my research interests in urban and public economics and is designed to explore how we can create more opportunities in cities through economic development, innovation and entrepreneurship, while also addressing what can be done to make cities more sustainable and liveable. You can read more about Grosvenor’s support of the Sauder School on page 46. Lastly, this issue of Viewpoints is our ﬁrst in a new layout and paper-size format. We hope you enjoy it. ■ Sincerely,

Robert Helsley, Dean GROSVENOR PROFESSOR OF CITIES, BUSINESS ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY

OUR MISSION FOR VIEWPOINTS

Viewpoints Magazine is designed to nurture dialogue and relationships with our alumni and friends by ensuring that you continue to enjoy the practical beneﬁts of the school’s leading-edge business thinking. Viewpoints presents news, research and commentary that demonstrate the ability of our faculty and our graduates to deﬁne the future of business and to open doors for those who are connected to the Sauder School of Business. Your thoughts about this mission are always welcome. EDITORIAL Dale Griffin EXECUTIVE EDITOR Cristina Calboreanu EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jennifer Wah MANAGING EDITOR

DESIGN Brandon Brind CREATIVE DIRECTOR Deana De Ciccio ART DIRECTOR

PRODUCTION Spencer MacGillivray PRODUCTION MANAGER

Viewpoints Magazine is produced by Forwords Communication Inc. and published by the Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia 2053 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2 Tel: 604-822-8555, Fax: 604-822-0592. Viewpoints is published regularly for alumni and friends of the Sauder School of Business. We welcome the submission of ideas and articles for possible publication in Viewpoints Magazine. Email: viewpoints@sauder.ubc.ca For an online version of Viewpoints, visit www.sauder.ubc.ca.

The Sauder Index BY

JENNIFER WAH

Total average expenditure per student on university education in Canada in 2009: $31,103 Province with the highest expenditure per student: Alberta, at 46 per cent higher than the national average Percentage of international students in advanced post-secondary programs: 20.5 Dominant country of origin for international students in programs across Canada: China

Percentage of Canadians who have completed a bachelor’s degree or higher: 26 Percentage of similar post-secondary completion among OECD countries: 22 Percentage of Canadian adults who have not completed high school: 12 Rank of Sauder in tuition fee costs for completion of an MBA, in Canada: 6th Rank of Sauder among Canadian business schools in the 2013 Financial Times MBA rankings: 3rd

CHANGE OF ADDRESS Send change of address to Alumni Relations Office, fax: 604-822-0592 or email to alumni@sauder.ubc.ca ©Copyright 2013, Sauder School of Business. Editorial material contained in Viewpoints Magazine may be freely reproduced provided credit is given. ISSN 089-2388. Canada Post. Printed in Canada.

Percentage difference in tuition costs between Sauder and the most expensive MBA school in Canada: 51

EDITORIAL BOARD Dale Griffin (Chair), Sheila Biggers, Bruce Wiesner

Origin of the concept of an apple to represent education: Picked from the biblical Tree of Knowledge, AND used as payment to teachers in Sweden in the 1700s

CONTRIBUTORS Brenda Bouw, Cristina Calboreanu, Allan Jenkins, Claudia Kwan, Spencer MacGillivray, Andrew Riley, Thiago Silva, Jennifer Wah, Leanna Yip

Estimated number of apple species, worldwide: 8,000 Percentage of Canada’s apple crop grown in BC: 30

Cover illustration by Chalk It Up. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40063721 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO ALUMNI RELATIONS, SAUDER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 800 ROBSON STREET, VANCOUVER, BC V6Z 3B7

Most popular apple in the US: Delicious In Canada: Macintosh Value of economic activity generated by BC’s apple industry: $900 million

Sources: www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/81-604-x/81-604-x2012001-eng.pdf, www.rankings.ft.com, oncampus.macleans.ca, www.bctree.com, www.usapple.org.

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

NEWSWORTHY SAUDER IN THE NEWS

Research on shoppers going rogue For her study on customers behaving badly in retail environments, cowritten with Senior Associate Dean Darren Dahl, PhD student Lily Lin was featured in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Canberra Times, Fox News, The Vancouver Sun, BusinessNewsDaily and elsewhere. The study, which was published in June’s Journal of Consumer Research, shows retailers should consider admonishing queue jumpers and thoughtless store browsers. “Our study shows that retailers can play a key role in mitigating conﬂict by calling shoppers on bad shopping etiquette,” says Lin. “This is important because research shows retailers can get part of the blame for their badly behaved customers.” ■

Global Sauder study ranks world’s most efficient airports

Study on workplace injustice and taste focus of several international features

The Air Transport Research Society (ATRS), hosted by Sauder and led by Professor Tae Oum, was proﬁled in The Wall Street Journal (China edition), Sing Tao, Minneapolis StarTribune, The Vancouver Sun, Wings Magazine, Aviation Business, and on NBC12. The ATRS Global Airport Benchmarking Report compares operational and management efficiency, and cost competitiveness of 195 airports and 26 airport groups in North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania. Oum says the report shows that more efficient airports offer lower aircraft landing fees and passenger terminal charges, leaving more money in travellers’ pockets. ■

Professor Daniel Skarlicki’s research on how experiencing unfair treatment at work can sharpen the taste buds was proﬁled in Australia’s Herald Sun and Adelaide Now, China’s People’s Daily and Xinhua, The Huffington Post, Yahoo! Finance and Men’s Health. The study provides evidence that workplace stress has a physiological effect on people. “Our perception of the world is altered by stress—and we show how signiﬁcant the mistreatment of our fellow humans impacts us physiologically,” says Skarlicki. ■

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

Research shows rude customer treatment depends on culture A study on rude customer treatment and cultural differences led by Professor Daniel Skarlicki made headlines in The Huffington Post, The Globe and Mail, CBC, CTV and China’s People’s Daily. The research reveals that North American service workers are more likely to sabotage rude customers, while Chinese react by disengaging from customer service altogether. “Our research shows that culture plays a signiﬁcant role in how frontline workers deal with customer abuse,” says Skarlicki. “When service-oriented companies go global, they need to heighten their sensitivity to how culture in a new market can inﬂuence the performance of frontline staff and tailor their customer service operations accordingly.” ■

Research on BC fiscal management leads local news Ahead of the BC election on May 14, Associate Professor Tsur Somerville took a historic look at the performance of the provincial economy under NDP and Liberal governments. Somerville found that on average since 1991, BC ﬁscal performance, when compared to that of other provinces, was modestly better under the NDP. The research was featured in CBC, CTV News, The Vancouver Sun and National Post. ■

Prof. argues railroads never a substitute for pipelines Bloomberg Businessweek sought Associate Professor Garland Chow’s expertise on freight transport and security for their story on how the recent disaster in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec has intensiﬁed the safety debate surrounding transporting oil by trains. Chow explains that while railroads can serve as a “stopgap” to move oil while pipelines are being built, they can never be a substitute for pipelines. ■

When perks don’t work Sauder research, which shows that giving a free bump in service can backﬁre for retailers, garnered headlines in Yahoo! Finance, The Globe and Mail and BusinessNewsDaily. “Managerial wisdom guiding service and retail industries assumes that consumers get an uptick in esteem when they’re allowed to skip a queue or get an upgrade,” says co-author Assistant Professor JoAndrea Hoegg. But the researchers proved this is not always the case, as evidenced by a series of experiments that showed consumers experience social discomfort when singled out for spontaneous special treatment. ■

Sauder researchers attempt to define design Fast Company’s design section, Co.DESIGN, covers Professor Yair Wand and PhD candidate Paul Ralph’s quest to define “the design concept.” The feature highlights the research paper, “A Proposal for a Formal Definition of the Design Concept,” cowritten by Wand and Ralph, which aims to give a scientific definition of design. “Designers in many disciplines, especially software development, suffer from common misconceptions about the nature of their work, and exploring the meaning of design can help,” says Ralph. ■

Sauder research on workplace conflicts makes global headlines A large number of international media, such as The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, and Italy’s La Stampa, highlighted a study by Sauder PhD student Leah Sheppard, which suggests troubling perceptions exist when it comes to women involved in disputes at work. For the study, Sheppard and her coauthor Professor Karl Aquino asked experiment participants to assess one of three workplace conflict scenarios, all identical except for the names of the individuals involved. They found that when the scenario depicted female-female conflict, participants perceived there to be more negative implications than the male-male or male-female conflicts. ■

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

ACTUALS SEEN AND HEARD IN THE SAUDER WORLD

MARTIN DEE

MBA grad’s social enterprise scales new fashion heights with a little help from Michelle Obama

checked her social media notiﬁcations in July, she got a pleasant surprise and a lot of new fashionista followers. Her company, Osei-Duro, had been tagged in an Instagram photo of Michelle Obama. It turned out that the First Lady of the United States was photographed wearing Osei-Duro’s “strata panel skirt in green Rubiks” at a round-table discussion on education and technology in South Africa, part of the ﬁrst family’s tour of three African countries. Mathias cofounded Osei-Duro, a Ghana-based social enterprise, in 2009 with fashion designer Molly Keogh. The company produces distinctive women’s clothing and accessories, and emphasizes hand-dyed fabrics while offering employment opportunities and job training for women in West Africa. “We didn’t know Michelle was going to wear the skirt,” said a stunned Mathias. “We found out on Instagram after [design blog] Styled by Africa recognized our skirt and tagged us on an image of her wearing it.” After the impromptu cameo, Osei-Duro’s social media channels attracted a host of new followers and its website saw an increase in orders despite the skirt already being sold out.

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

“Her wearing the skirt means we are on the right track and our hard work is paying off,” noted Mathias. The skirt worn by Mrs. Obama is part of Osei-Duro’s 2013 collection “Light on Dark” and was entirely designed and produced in Ghana. The collection combines elements ranging from hand-dyed and batiked cotton, silk and rayon to locally sourced hand-woven cotton mud-cloth. It has been featured in high-end retail shops such as Barneys New York, and the skirt is available online at Anthropologie. “It felt great knowing that Michelle made an effort to support Africa-based designers while in Africa,” said Mathias. ■ OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO BY CHUCK KENNEDY

WHEN UBC MBA ALUMNA MARYANNE MATHIAS

First Lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks during a Google + Hangout on education at the Sci Bono Discovery Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, June 29, 2013.

UBC Net Impact Conference HOSTED BY THE SAUDER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, THE 11TH Annual UBC Net Impact Conference took place on April 19, 2013 at the Vancouver Convention Centre, bringing together over 150 of the brightest and most innovative MBA students and members of the Vancouver business community. This year’s event, entitled Sustainability: Accelerating Impact, focused on the role of business, government and community in progressing sustainability initiatives through collaboration. The full-day conference began with an opening keynote address from Coro Strandberg, a nationally recognized corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability thought leader, and closed with a keynote by Vancouver’s deputy city manager Sadhu Johnston, organizer of the Greenest City Action Plan. In between, speakers, including Sauder Finance Professor Kai Li and Associate Professor James Tansey, provided impassioned discussion on four moderated panels: CSR, Energy, Social Enterprise, and Diversity in Business.

Students were able to engage key leaders from companies across multiple industries over focused discussion at lunch and during the evening’s Accelerated Networking event. Participating sponsors included Shell, TD, FortisBC, AMS Sustainability, Vancity, CAPP, Spectra Energy, Hemisphere Energy, and the Sauder School of Business. ■

Sauder event gathers academics working to change the way we drive

Finance heavyweights lead UBC Summer Finance Conference

THE SECOND ANNUAL CONNECTED Vehicle Workshop, held on May 17, focused on how wireless technologies, such as using crowdsourcing for smart street parking, can improve driving in Canada. The full-day event, held at and co-sponsored by Sauder, is part of a large-scale research program aimed at revolutionizing Canada’s vehicles and roads by incorporating wireless networks and applications. The collaborative research project, called Developing Next Generation Intelligent Vehicular Networks and Applications, launched two years ago when the network, in which Sauder Associate Professor Garland Chow is a member, was awarded a $5 million grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and an additional $3 million from industry partners. The goal is to design wireless networks and applications for Canada’s vehicles and roads that support high-speed communications among vehicles and between vehicles and ground-based infrastructure. ■

A NOBEL PRIZE WINNER AND two former presidents of the American Finance Association were among close to 60 global scholars attending the UBC Summer Finance Conference 2013. The conference, now in its eleventh year, is by invitation only and draws top academics from all over the world, including the winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in economics, Professor Finn Kydland of the University of California, Santa Barbara. “We want the very best new ideas,” said Professor Ron Giammarino of the Finance Division, which hosted the event at Sauder School of Business from July 25 to 27. The seminar lineup covered all areas of finance, with research sessions ranging from “Are stock-financed takeovers opportunistic?” to “Rumor has it: sensationalism in financial media.” Twelve finance professors and five PhD students represented Sauder. “The conference provides a community for the finance faculty at UBC to meet with leading global scholars,” said Giammarino. “It also offers an informal way for us to share our work.” The conference is sponsored and supported by Sauder’s Phillips, Hager & North Centre for Financial Research. ■

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

RAISSA CHEU

ACTUALS SEEN AND HEARD IN THE SAUDER WORLD

Sauder takes part in UBC Alumni Weekend THE SAUDER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS WAS THRILLED TO participate in this year’s UBC Alumni Weekend, which took place on May 25, 2013, and included more than 60 events, tours and attractions across campus. Sauder hosted a pancake breakfast and a second event titled “Beyond the Briefcase... Sauder Celebrates,” featuring opportunities to hear from alumni who followed unconventional paths to success. Featured guests included Andrew McKee, BCom 2006, owner, Great Dane Coffee; Jennifer Martin, MBA 1982, owner, Sip Soda Company; Michelle Lei, IMA 2006, Director, Light Activewear; Graham Buksa, owner, Rayne Longboards; John Smart, BCom 1990, owner and Director, Momentum Ski Camps Inc.; Bonn Smith, BCom 2012, musician and songwriter; Jon Sharun, MBA 2009, Managing

Director, Venexo Corporation; Jordan Cash, MBA 2011, founder of Cartems Donuterie; Kim Villagante, UBC BA 2011, freelance artist; and Emma Smith, BCom 2011, founder of Zimt Artisan Chocolates. ■

Scotiabank Economic Forum ON SEPTEMBER 10, SCOTIABANK, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE Sauder School of Business and the Vancouver School of Economics, presented the Scotiabank Economic Forum, featuring Scotiabank Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Warren Jestin’s economic forecast for 2014. Jestin shared his views on commodity prices, the Canadian dollar, and the housing market, and provided the 350 attendees with an overview of the key economic and financial market trends—including inflation, oil, and activities overseas—that are likely to influence the Canadian economy through 2013 and 2014. 8

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

Jestin has been with Scotiabank since 1979, and is a popular public speaker and media commentator on economic issues in Canada and abroad. He travels extensively meeting with clients and experts from around the globe to keep pace with the latest economic, political and ﬁnancial market developments. He has also been a member of the C.D. Howe Institute’s Monetary Policy Council and has been involved with policy committees of the Canadian and Ontario Chambers of Commerce and the Toronto Board of Trade. Before joining Scotiabank, he earned a PhD from the University of Toronto, worked at the Bank of Canada and taught at several universities. ■

Student entrepreneurs are celebrated by the local business community MORE THAN 100 PEOPLE GATHERED FOR THE 5TH ANNUAL Entrepreneurship Luncheon at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel to celebrate the creativity of UBC’s most outstanding student entrepreneurs. The May 13 event hosted by Sauder’s W. Maurice Young Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Research Centre provided student teams the chance to present their business start-ups, many of which were developed in Sauder classes, to leading members of Vancouver’s entrepreneurial community. “Universities and their business schools have an important role to play in the entrepreneurship ecosystem,” said Robert Helsley, Dean of the Sauder School of Business in his speech which opened the event. “This is why we have created an environment for learning and mentorship at Sauder that empowers students to transform ideas into enterprises.” A number of the student teams presenting were founded in the innovative undergraduate course New Venture Design or graduate course Technology Entrepreneurship, which pair Sauder and UBC Applied Science students to invent new products, develop prototypes and ﬁle for patents. The student start-ups included: Agile Monitoring Equipment, which utilizes laser-based technology to detect and reduce the impact of pinhole leaks in oil pipelines. The oil industry currently has no solution to these leak problems. Torracell Energy is developing a next generation fuel cell that signiﬁcantly reduces weight, cost and environmental footprint—and increases continuous run-time and durability compared to other fuel cells and batteries. Aasith Quick-Dry Bag, which uses a mineral agent to quickly and effectively dry professional sports equipment, like hi-tech racing swimsuits, without the need for external heat or power source.

MTT innovation, whose product MTT LEAP is set to drastically improve image quality and luminance in cinema and other light-projection environments using energy efficient laser technology. VanAir Design, who have developed an enhanced door solution that provides a simple, easy and cost-effective ventilation pathway for enclosed spaces like offices. Good airﬂow is crucial for the health and productivity of office workers. TechB, whose mobile application TechBESS helps to detect and manage concussion. This app uses the same methods as the industry standard SCAT2, but features an improved and reliable tool to assess patients’ balance. Mountain Biotech, whose product BIOgen combines microﬂuidic technology with precision 3D patterning to create computer-designed biological tissues. Using this product for drug discovery should reduce clinical trials, unnecessary animal testing, and create huge cost savings per drug. Dr. John MacDonald, cofounder of MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates and former CEO of Day4 Energy Inc., was the keynote speaker at the event. He drew on his distinguished career in Canada’s technology community to provide advice for budding entrepreneurs. “Do what you want to do in life,” he Dr. John MacDonald said. “It will make you excited to get up every morning and seize the day.” He also encouraged start-up CEOs to pick their teams wisely and to be unafraid of hiring employees that might outshine them. “Star employees will make heroes of you,” he added. ■

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

ACTUALS SEEN AND HEARD IN THE SAUDER WORLD

Propelling Social Ventures Conference: Social entrepreneurs take centre stage at Sauder THE COAST CAPITAL SAVINGS INNOVATION HUB HELD ITS ﬁrst annual Propelling Social Ventures 2013 Conference on March 14 and 15 at the Vancouver Convention Centre. The conference brought together social entrepreneurs, the business community and social innovators to explore how various stakeholders can contribute to more social venture activity in British Columbia, Canada and beyond. “We have an amazing community of social innovators out here, and we want to make sure that Vancouver is on the map for social venture growth. The conference is one aspect of building that presence in the international community, while engaging thought leaders, innovators, ventures and students,” said Associate Professor James Tansey, executive director of Sauder’s ISIS Research Centre. Conference keynote speakers included Peter Van Stolk, founder of Jones Soda Company, and Taylor Conroy, founder of Change Heroes, one of seven social ventures gaining substantial support through Sauder’s Coast Capital Savings Innovation Hub. This ISIS-led accelerator program was launched last September with $1 million in funding from Coast Capital Savings through UBC’s start an evolution campaign. At 29 years old, entrepreneur and philanthropist Taylor Conroy raised $10,000 in three hours for a school in Kenya, simply by changing the way people think about giving. His motto: “destroy normal.” Recognizing the power of personal connections and persuading people to change a simple daily habit, Conroy’s social venture Change Heroes is set to reinvent philanthropy through something he calls “friend funding.” “All you have to do is convince 33 of your friends to donate $3.33 a day (the price of a latte) for three months. This adds up to

$10,000, which will fund the building of a school by our implementing partner, Free the Children,” he explained. Since starting Change Heroes a year and a half ago after selling his real estate business, Conroy, now 31, and his team have achieved signiﬁcant success. “We’ve raised $500,000 and funded 50 projects in nine developing countries, educating 50,000 children. Our goal for 2013 is to raise $10 million.” “Although Change Heroes is a fundraising platform, at essence it’s a tech start-up. We need to make revenue to cover our operations and make a social impact,” said Conroy, who has put away 10 per cent of his salary for charity since he was 21 years old. Before the conference, Conroy noted, “I’m going to talk about that tipping point that every social entrepreneur experiences—that moment of deciding, ‘okay I’m done with the strictly for-proﬁt world! I need to use my business acumen for the betterment of society or the planet.’” ■

Change Heroes is set to reinvent philanthropy through something he calls “friend funding.”

Sauder students take home first APEX case competition win A TEAM OF SAUDER STUDENTS WON THE PRESTIGIOUS APEX Business-IT Global Case Challenge 2013 in Singapore, becoming the first Sauder team ever to win the esteemed competition. The annual international undergraduate case competition, organized by Singapore Management University (SMU), is by invitation only. Twenty-four universities, including teams from HEC Montréal, Copenhagen Business School, University of South Australia, the University of Utah, and Seoul National University, descended upon SMU for five days beginning May 12. The Sauder team, JEP Innovators, consisting of Business and Computer Science major Peter Cheung, BCom students Jimmy Lin and Enzo Woo, and led by lecturer William Tan, nabbed the final from Simon Fraser University and University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

“I am very proud of our placing, but even more proud of the tremendous effort our team displayed when preparing for this event and during the competition itself—as the competing teams fought very hard for the prize,” says Tan. Enzo Woo also won the award for best speaker. ■

DON ERHARDT

Left to right: Robert Helsley, Dean, Sauder School of Business; Dan Gardiner, Sauder School of Business professor emeritus; Willis Turner, SMEI President and CEO

SMEI gift to advance sales and marketing research and teaching AFTER 40 YEARS OF DEDICATION TO the education of tomorrow’s leaders in sales management and marketing, Dan Gardiner retired from the Sauder School of Business in May, leaving a twofold legacy: the many students who learned from his expertise and a new PhD research award established in his honour. Thanks to a generous donation of $500,000 from Sales & Marketing Executives International (SMEI), The Sales & Marketing Executives International Dan Gardiner Research Endowment Fund has been created to support a PhD student who demonstrates a great passion for teaching and who is conducting research in the ﬁeld of sales and/or marketing. “SMEI is proud to have partnered with the Sauder School of Business for more than 60 years to help educate generations of sales and marketing professionals,” said Willis Turner, SMEI President and CEO. “Honouring the

contributions of educators such as Dan through the establishment of this endowment fund will allow his teaching legacy to continue.” The gift announcement was made at a reception recognizing the lifelong commitment and enthusiasm Gardiner brought to the classroom. At the time of his retirement, Gardiner was a senior instructor in Sauder’s Marketing Division and Program Director for the UBC Diploma in Marketing and Sales Management Program, which is run in cooperation with the SMEI. The SMEI Vancouver chapter has partnered with the Sauder School for more than 60 years to train professionals and entrepreneurs through this diploma program. SMEI is a worldwide professional organization devoted to providing knowledge, growth, leadership and connections between peers in both sales and marketing. SMEI is one of the biggest supporters

of the Marketing Department at Sauder through professorships and research awards in the Diploma in Marketing & Sales Management program and scholarships offered to students enrolled in the Bachelor of Commerce. “Through our collaboration with SMEI, we have the opportunity to foster new talent and prepare business leaders to meet the sales management and marketing needs of numerous organizations that are making a difference in our communities,” said Robert Helsley, Dean of the Sauder School. “Now, through this generous gift, we also have the opportunity to further inspire our students, and generate new knowledge in the ﬁeld of sales and marketing.” The Sauder School of Business is deeply honoured by SMEI’s support and continued partnership in investing in future generations of sales and marketing professionals. ■

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

SAUDER FACULTY INSIDER INFORMATION

Sauder professors awarded $1.3 million in federal government funding On September 16, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) announced that Sauder professors will receive 10 research grants totalling $1,303,815—the second highest SSHRC awards total in the School’s history. “SSHRC’s substantial support for Sauder’s research underscores the Darren Dahl importance of the work our faculty are doing to advance business knowledge,” said Professor Darren Dahl, Senior Associate Dean. “From entrepreneurship and economics to big data and consumer behaviour, our professors are examining how business is done and revealing ways it can be done better.” The awards will support a range of research including studies into alleviating privacy concerns in online social networks, the impact of team trust on employees, the relationship between ownership structure and performance in private companies, and the formation and dynamics of ethnic neighbourhoods. ■

Prof. Oum receives lifetime achievement award At the 2013 Air Transport News Awards, on March 17, Professor Tae Oum was awarded the George Iatrou Lifetime Achievement Award. The ceremony was part of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Sixth Worldwide Air Transport Conference. Oum is also the president of the Air Transport Research Society, the world’s leading academic society in the ﬁeld of air transport, hosted at the Sauder School of Business. “This will further stimulate me to be a better researcher and teacher with a renewed global perspective for building a better air transport system and healthy aviation industry,” said Oum. ■

Sauder leaps 10 places in the Financial Times ranking of executive education Sauder’s Executive Education rates among the world’s best in a ranking published on May 13 by the Financial Times, a leading UKbased business newspaper. The school gained substantially in the ranking, rising 10 places to 51st in the world for the quality of its open enrolment programs offered to management professionals. “This is a reﬂection of our staff and faculty’s dedication to providing relevant and impactful learning experiences that provide signiﬁcant value to executives and their organizations,” says Dean Robert Helsley. ■ 12

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

Faculty excel in major teaching and research awards Sauder professors were being applauded as among the best on campus in the 2012-13 University of British Columbia teaching and research awards. Lecturer Tamar Milne, of the Marketing Division, was awarded the 2012/13 UBC Killam Teaching Prize for her contributions to undergraduate teaching. Lecturer Paul Cubbon, also of the Marketing Division, was the winner of the 2012/13 CGA Graduate Master Teacher Award for his contributions to curricular development. The 2012 Research Excellence Award (senior category) was awarded to Professor Keith Head, of the Strategy and Business Economics Division, for his work as an empirical trade economist. Associate Professor Katherine White, of the Marketing Division, took the 2012/13 Research Excellence Award (junior category) for her work on social identity with respect to consumer behaviour. ■

Tamar Milne

Paul Cubbon

Keith Head

Sauder research inspires creativity-boosting app Associate Marketing Professor Juliet Zhu’s research on how ambient noise affects creativity has inspired the creation of a popular app— Coffitivity. The study, “Is Noise Always Bad? Exploring the Effects of Ambient Noise on Creative Cognition,” published in the Journal of Consumer Research last year, Juliet Zhu shows that a moderate level of noise promotes creativity, while complete silence, as well as loud, hectic environments, actually kills it. The Coffitivity app was included as one of TIME Magazine’s 50 Best Websites 2013, has 43,000 Facebook likes and inspired almost 8,500 tweets. ■

Business leaders join Sauder’s Faculty Advisory Board

Remco Daal

Albert Yu, MSc 1985

Tracey McVicar, BCom 1990

Remco Daal is President and Chief Operating Officer of Bentall Kennedy in Canada. Based in Vancouver, Daal has overall responsibility for Canadian ﬁnancial and operating performance. He joined Bentall in 2000 as Vice President, Portfolio Management. Previously, he held senior positions with CIBC Development Corporation and a private Toronto-based development company. Daal holds a BCom from Wilfrid Laurier and an MBA from European University. He also serves on the board of Parkbridge Lifestyle Communities.

Albert Yu is CEO Asia for BMO Financial Group, consisting of the Bank of Montreal and its related subsidiaries and affiliates. He joined BMO in January 2009 and he is based in Beijing, BMO’s Asia Headquarter. He is also a board of director of COFCO Trust in Beijing, and Lloyd George Management in Hong Kong. Prior to joining BMO, he was in New York responsible for a number of HSBC’s Capital Markets businesses in the Americas. Albert holds a MSc in Business from UBC and an Honors Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Windsor.

Tracey McVicar is a Managing Partner at CAI, a mid-market private equity ﬁrm. She is a former investment banker with RBC Capital Markets and Raymond James Ltd., and a graduate of the Sauder School of Business (BCom 1990, Leslie Wong Fellow). She is a Chartered Financial Analyst and has received the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. McVicar is a past winner of Business in Vancouver’s Top 40 Under 40 Award, the Association of Women in Finance’s PEAK Award for Knowledge and Leadership, and Business in Vancouver’s Inﬂuential Women in Business Award.

Harvard Law highlights Sauder research on private firms and cash policy

Where the environment and the economy meet, Sauder leads

The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation recently featured a Sauder study examining the cash policies of private US firms. Finance Professor Kai Li, who co-authored the paper with Assistant Professor Huasheng Gao and Professor Jarrad Harford, found that contrary to popular belief, Kai Li public firms hold more cash than private firms. The paper, “Determinants of Corporate Cash Policy: Insights from Private Firms,” will be published in the September issue of the Journal of Financial Economics. ■

On June 7, Associate Professor Werner Antweiler was celebrated for his achievements in the ﬁeld of environmental economics by the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, when they paid tribute to him at their international conference in Banff for his pioneering study, “Is Free Trade Good for the Environment?” Werner Antweiler The ground-breaking 2001 American Economic Review article is the second-most cited study in environmental economics of the last decade. “The beauty of the paper was that we connected theory and empirics very closely,” says Antweiler. ■ VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

Teachers everywhere are facing changes to the way learning is delivered. Assumptions about the traditional classroom experience are fading like chalk on a blackboard, making way for a new model for post-secondary education. 14

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

Reinventing the apple How access to higher education is changing Education is a basic human right, says the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And yet, the debate rages on: Is it a right or a privilege? And, when it comes to higher education, additional questions emerge. Who gets to attend university? Who decides, and based on what criteria? Who should pay? And how much? The questions seem simple, yet are critically important to consider and reconsider, especially now. Institutions of higher learning all over the world are grappling with the answers, knowing the impact of these choices on inspired individuals, visionary communities, companies, and a growing global economy. Read on, for a look at how higher education is challenged and changing.

In this section on accessibility: - Q&A with Dean Robert Helsley (page 16) - Paul Hollands / In his opinion (page 18) - Who gets in? / What Sauder is doing (page 21) - Around the world / Global trends (page 27) - The wired brain / Online education (page 33) - What it costs / The cost of learning (page 39) VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

Q&A WITH DEAN ROBERT HELSLEY

to promote student access, reduce barriers and increase affordability. However, there is a fundamental dilemma: the current combination of government funding and tuition fees does not cover the cost of educating domestic students. In order to increase access, there must be increased funding—whether that means additional government funding, increased tuition, additional resources raised by the School, or a combination of the above. Of course, there is the holy grail of increasing access by reducing costs without reducing quality—and we are exploring this possibility, as well. A new model we are exploring is providing a guaranteed “link” between non-commerce UBC undergraduate degrees and a one-year master’s degree in business. Under such a model, students could be admitted to any faculty at UBC confident that

they have a guaranteed place in a one-year master’s in business This year, around 7,500 students applied to first year of

the BCom program, and approximately 690 were admitted—less

course once they complete their BA, BASC, BSc, etc

than 1 in 10. The minimum grade average required for admission

is 84%, but the average for students admitted into the program

the best and the brightest students and providing educational

typically stands over 90%. Has Sauder become too competitive?

opportunities for British Columbians?

It is something we worry about, and we regularly hear

How does Sauder strike a balance between admitting

Serving the people of British Columbia is a central mission

concerns about student access to the School from our

for the School. However, owing to cross-provincial agreements,

constituents. Many parents are not happy about our extremely

undergraduate students in any Canadian province are entitled

high entrance requirements. We would like to be able to meet

to equal access to universities in all provinces. Thus, we treat

more of the demand and make the entrance requirements

all Canadian students as “domestic students,” although in fact,

less stringent.

clearly, the majority come from BC. Ideally, we would like to increase the number of “best and brightest” students we admit

Competitiveness is driven by the market for education, and

both from within BC and across Canada. As I noted above, this

we operate in a market in which global demand for business

will require additional resources. We have recently increased the

education is very high. In addition, domestic BCom seats are

number of international students we admit, but we ensure that

restricted because they are directly tied to government policies

they do not displace domestic students. The tuition international

and funding. We have a certain quota, or target, of government-

students pay covers the full cost of their education, and they

funded “seats” for domestic students and every year we are over-

receive no government funding towards their education.

enrolled relative to the domestic quota. We choose to admit more students than our quota provides for, and so we have to make up

that additional funding deficit from other sources.

the pool of high-quality international applicants. What is the

role of international students, and how will an increase in their Given that Sauder turns away thousands of applicants each

year, does the School feel any moral responsibility to improve access for qualified students?

The Sauder School Strategic Plan 2012 calls for increasing

number affect accessibility for British Columbians?

International students contribute an invaluable global

perspective to the classroom and the UBC community. They also Yes! We certainly feel a responsibility to improve access,

play an integral role in fostering intercultural understanding and

and it’s a priority for us right across the School. We are working

international engagement. The tuition fees paid by international

with the University and the Faculty Advisory Board on initiatives

students help fund initiatives that benefit all students. Moreover,

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

there is no relation between the number of international students

in China and increasing the number of alliances with leading

admitted and the accessibility of Sauder for domestic students:

international universities. What is the impetus behind this

there is a separate quota for each type of student, and the quota

expansion, and how will it affect accessibility?

for domestic students is determined by government funding and other internal resources, such as fund-raising, that supplement

domestic tuition fees.

connections will better prepare our students for careers in

in Vancouver. That is why we are creating new and more varied

Business education with a global focus and global

business, whether those careers span the world or begin and end In 2004, Sauder became one of the first faculties at UBC to

use broad-based admissions, which last year became the norm

options for our students to study in locations across the world

across the University. What is the role and impact of this initiative

and experience diverse business cultures. It’s also important

on accessibility?

to note that our alliances follow an equal exchange model, so

students from our partner institutions are not taking any spaces Broad-based admission was designed to address the access

away from domestic students.

challenges caused by sky-rocketing admission requirements, as well as to create a more well-rounded student body. We have

In addition, the newest partnership model with other leading

found that this change gives us students with a broader set of

global schools, like the recent agreement with Sciences Po

talents, provides a richer experience for all students, and enables

in Paris, will help expand student career opportunities and

us to educate more socially skilled and active business leaders.

networks globally, through degrees from multiple continents.

Without broad-based admissions, academic performance would

be the sole criterion for admission, which would have raised

ca) includes experiential learning, flipped classrooms, new

the minimum mean admissions average this year to over 92%.

approaches to classroom teaching, in-classroom adoption of

Using both academic and non-academic criteria—a combination

new technologies, and online learning. What role does flexible

of admissions average and personal profile score—as a basis for

learning play at Sauder?

admission allows us to welcome some students with admission

averages between 84% and 92%.

UBC’s Flexible Learning Initiative (flexible.learning.ubc.

We recognize that flexible learning will be an essential part

of the educational model moving forward, and we are embracing The Sauder School Strategic Plan 2012 states: “With one of

the changes and challenges.

the most selective undergraduate programs in North America, we are committed to increasing access by securing increased

We are exploring different options and piloting a number of

funding and tuition flexibility.” What does that mean in concrete

initiatives in flexible learning, such as flex sections of courses

terms for students seeking admission to Sauder?

required for the Commerce minor. The courses will involve

a combination of online learning and face-to-face sessions. Increased funding and tuition flexibility would make it

While there will still be in-person classes, there will be fewer of

possible for us to increase the number of domestic students

them, which provides greater scheduling flexibility for both the

we admit.

students and the School. A number of currently required courses for the Commerce major have switched to the flexible learning

UBC’s Policy on Financial Support ensures that no qualified

model, and initial feedback is very positive. We would stress that

domestic student will be prevented from starting or continuing

this is designed to improve student engagement and experience,

their studies for financial reasons alone. In addition, we are

and is not designed to provide education “on the cheap.” We are

committed to raising funds for scholarships and other financial

also designing more internet-enabled classroom experiences

support for deserving students to ensure that economic or social

for working professionals on programs such as the Diploma in

background is not a barrier to joining our school community.

Accounting and our EMBA in Health Care. This is designed to

increase access to these specialist courses for professionals The Sauder School Strategic Plan 2012 calls for building a

located farther from Vancouver. ■

“stronger global presence” by enhancing the School’s presence

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

Business schools face

“meaning of life” questions BY PAUL

HOLLANDS, BCom 1979

CHAIR, SAUDER FACULTY ADVISORY BOARD, PRESIDENT & CEO, A&W FOOD SERVICES OF CANADA

Viewpoints sought input from many thought leaders for this complex issue of access to higher education, including the Chair of Sauder’s Faculty Advisory Board, Paul Hollands, BCom 1979, who shared his personal opinions on some of what Sauder needs to consider.

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

IN HIS WORDS

A 15-year-old I know dreams of going to film school after he graduates high school. He has his sights set on UCLA, where only 30 students a year—or 3 per cent of those who apply—are accepted annually. What will it take to get in? Creativity, an extraordinary portfolio of film work, impressive letters of recommendation, and—surprising to some—a strong (but not perfect) GPA. Paul Hollands SO THE QUESTION I PONDER IS whether higher education should be an exclusive opportunity, whether your passion is for filmmaking or business? Isn’t it in everyone’s best interest—from those running a business like myself, to the promising young people around us? Don’t we all benefit from greater opportunities for higher education? As one of Canada’s top business schools, Sauder is obligated to look at the impact it can have on the lives of young people and British Columbia’s economy. It must find ways to reach students who clearly can be great contributors, but who do not have access to a top-drawer business school like Sauder. But today Sauder’s capacity is so restricted that many great potential students are unable to get access to this great institution. Resolving this issue is important. It’s a missed opportunity to have a bigger impact on the success of British Columbia, and on the lives of bright, young people. We’ve got to figure this out. And we’ve got to do that from a student perspective while ensuring Sauder is a viable and sustainable institution. Concepts such as technology-driven blended

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

learning or mostly-free Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) certainly shift the traditional business model of a postsecondary institution, and these are just a few of the issues the 33 business leaders who make up Sauder’s Faculty Advisory Board (FAB) wrestle with. How can we make ways for more students to learn more? What criteria do we establish for these students to be admitted? What should a top-rated business degree in Canada cost? To what degree should the government sponsor access to post-secondary education? Can we ﬁnd efficiencies and improvements through ﬂexible learning? Can we use online interfaces to increase capacity? Which funding models can we consider so research universities have a greater impact? Businesses today think about how people collaborate efficiently and effectively. When do I need to get on a plane and go meet with someone, or when can I do it virtually? That’s a version of the same question we are asking about higher education. When you layer cultural differences in this global economy—in both the business and learning arena—what is that effect?

It’s a lot to consider, and from the FAB’s perspective, two priorities emerge: acquiring long-term, sustainable funding, which is critical to the success of the School, and ﬁnding ways for Sauder to make a much bigger difference in the community and be much more accessible to more great students and potential leaders. One crucial piece of making the School be what it needs to be is charging market price for tuition. Sauder is a top-tier business school charging at least 40 per cent less than other top-tier business schools in Canada. The cost of educating an undergraduate is many times more than the revenue we gain from that student. We see a potentially great impact for this School, which makes it more valuable to everyone, including alumni. We need to do everything we can to make Sauder more accessible and reach more students. We aren’t afraid to be provocative, and make recommendations this community would expect from the business minds around our table. Now it’s time for, as they say in the movies: Action! ■

Who gets in?

Access to education, piece by piece

Feature Story - Accessibility

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

ACCESSIBILITY: WHAT SAUDER IS DOING

Broad-based admissions In 2003, Sauder introduced broad-based admissions at UBC in an effort to learn about our students both as learners and as leaders. In addition to excellent grades, outstanding candidates must possess great leadership, teamwork and interpersonal skills. Students must show an ability to set and achieve goals, deal with challenging situations, demonstrate solid communication skills, and be involved with the community. Since 2003 we have seen a three-fold increase in the number of students taking part in the greater Sauder community.

Employers value the extraordinary leadership and social skills our wellrounded graduates bring to their organizations.

Blended learning Blended learning is a strategy that combines face-to-face and online activities, and blends a number of learning styles to create an engaging learning experience for students. Examples of blended learning activities at Sauder include flipped classroom learning structures, face-to-face teaching and group-work, searching and analyzing information and resources online, conducting field research and presenting findings face-to-face or online, and collaborative or group concept mapping. This strategy focuses on active learning, emphasizes reinforcement of concepts and skills across different modalities and contexts, and fosters student engagement.

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

Flipped classroom takes learning to a new level at Sauder

The course, which typically has more than 600 students, is now structured around pre-class readings, online videos and activities, including self-assessment quizzes and discussions. Cubbon finds that students in the flipped classroom program have a better conceptual understanding, are better in applying knowledge in discussion and reflection, and are more satisfied with the learning experience overall. ■

THE GOAL OF THE FLIPPED CLASSROOM approach to teaching is to provide students with more time in class to engage with the course material, says Paul Cubbon, lecturer in marketing at Sauder School of Business, who is innovating the teaching method at the School.

Becoming fluent in global business

The course delivery structure is “flipped”—students view lectures online, and spend class time engaged in experimental learning. Cubbon, who uses this model for his COMM 101: Business Fundamentals pilot, spoke at a presentation hosted by the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology, which showcased two pilot projects that use flipped classroom concepts. The course delivery structure is “flipped”—students view lectures online, and spend class time engaged in experimental learning. When students are able to view online video lectures before a class, they come prepared to apply the content, says Drew Paulin, Manager of Learning Design at Sauder, who helped design the course pilot project. The learning experience is enhanced, he says. When designing flipped classroom courses, creating effective video content becomes crucial. Paulin and Cubbon used storyboarding, the sequential visualization technique developed for use in animation, to condense and define content. Bite-sized pieces are key, says Paulin.

THE UBC MBA WAS RANKED AS #1 IN North America for international mobility in 2013 by the Financial Times. “Our students move up faster and travel farther,” says Murali Chandrashekaran, Associate Dean, Professional Graduate Programs at Sauder’s Robert H. Lee Graduate School. “This is a result of our ongoing improvements in student recruitment, career services, and emphasis on global experience and diversity. We bring together the best students from across the world, and give them an international canvas on which to learn and work to provide them with the skills and opportunities they need to make a global impact.” Indeed, global learning experience is now mandatory for UBC MBAs. As part of a 12-day Global Immersion program, 30 to 40 students travel to partner schools—The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore in India, Copenhagen School of Business in Denmark, and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China—where they work on projects for multinational companies and organizations with fellow graduate students from partner institutions. The 12-day Global Immersion trip is the culmination of eight weeks of research conducted in Vancouver aimed at addressing business challenges posed to the students by companies in each of the global destinations, and seeks to introduce students to the business environment and practices of diverse countries, increasing

their global understanding and intercultural fluency. It allows them to learn international business strategy and build a culturally diverse international peer network. In addition, each year approximately 25 per cent of UBC MBA students also participate in the Outbound MBA Exchange program to study at one of Sauder’s 37 partner schools around the world and deepen their understanding of the international marketplace. Its Pacific Rim location provides Sauder with a distinctly global perspective on business. Sauder was the first Canadian business school to establish an MBA program in China. The UBC IMBA, offered in partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, was founded in 2001. In 2013, Sauder was also ranked #1 in North America for international faculty by the Financial Times. The MBA student body was ranked #5 in North America for international students by the Financial Times in 2013. ■

EMBA in Health Care DESIGNED EXCLUSIVELY FOR HEALTH care executives, the 18-month part-time EMBA in Health Care offers the broad leadership and management foundations of an MBA, applied to the unique context and complexities of health care management. Every year, students have the opportunity to travel to Europe as a class and engage directly with the health care system of the host country. They are taught through a week of blended learning consisting of lectures by European health care experts from a partner university and interactive site visits to health-care speciﬁc organizations such as hospitals, community care facilities, and government health offices. In 2013, a unique collaboration between Sauder and the Warwick Business School allowed students to gain insights from the UK health care sector and the UK pharmaceutical industry, as well as the UK governmental and political system. ■

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

ACCESSIBILITY: WHAT SAUDER IS DOING

Sauder Executive Education to benefit South African NGO

IN 2012, PATRICK NEWTON BONDO, the project director of a South African nonproﬁt, took to web searching for learning opportunities to enhance his work. The search ultimately landed him on the other side of the planet at Sauder Executive Education and the FRED ScholarsSM program, an initiative launched by FRED Inc., which connects non-proﬁt leaders from around the globe with world-class executive education. “When I spotted the Sauder course Meeting the Leadership Challenge, it struck me— this is exactly what I want to do,” says Bondo. Bondo leads the Outreach Social Care Project (OSCAR), which supports children, adults and young families in Pietermaritzburg, the capital of the KwaZulu-Natal province in eastern South Africa. The organization provides muchneeded services, such as food security, literacy training and HIV awareness. Having encountered challenges raising money to support OSCAR’s work using his current fundraising methods, he was keen to gain new managerial insights. “Unbelievable,” he recalls upon hearing that he had been selected as one of Sauder’s 2013 FRED ScholarsSM. “I was blown away,” he adds. Bondo travelled to Vancouver in May to attend Sauder’s premium Executive Education course Meeting the Leadership Challenge—an intensive six-day program focused on leadership style, and the development of organizational vision and goals. When interviewed half-way through 24

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

Clockwise starting from top left: Caregivers ready for photo after training; child-headed households with their uniforms and stationeries; Life Skills—OSCAR Project; GOGO (or Grandmother) looking after four orphans in Pietermaritzburg.

Bondo leads the Outreach Social Care Project (OSCAR), which supports children, adults and young families in Pietermaritzburg, the capital of the KwaZulu-Natal province in eastern South Africa. the course, Bondo said it was well beyond his expectations. “They’re giving me the keys to overcome any challenge I meet as a leader.” Sauder’s scholarship committee was equally pleased. “We were hugely impressed with the energy and verve with which Patrick and OSCAR are tackling South Africa’s overwhelming development challenges,” says Bruce Wiesner, Associate Dean, Executive Education. “This scholarship provides an opportunity for the School to build leadership capacity where it is most needed, but it’s not a one-way street.

Patrick’s determination and commitment will also be a great source of inspiration and learning for us here at Sauder.” Once back in Pietermaritzburg, Bondo’s goal is to share his Canadian experience. “Not everyone got the opportunity to come here, so I’m going to transfer the knowledge to the team and the community,” he says. Sauder Executive Education joined the FRED ScholarsSM program in 2012, along with a small group of prominent global business schools, including MIT Sloan School of Management, NYU Stern School of Business, and London’s Imperial College Business School. ■

Sauder students and young entrepreneurs develop local start-ups in Kenya When it comes to business innovation, East Africa is fast emerging as one of the world’s hot spots. Young entrepreneurs are changing the dynamics of the entire region. One example is Kenya, where a group of Sauder students and faculty travelled in early August to work with local businesses.

The course brings students together from both Sauder School of Business and Nairobi’s Strathmore University to teach and mentor local youth on how to develop business plans.

TWO MBA AND BCOM STUDENTS, together with Frances Chandler, Director, Research Support Services, and Senior Associate Dean Thomas Ross, travelled to Nairobi this summer as part of the Sauder Africa Initiative (SAI). The program, which started in 2006, helps young Kenyan entrepreneurs to start their own businesses through Social Entrepreneurship 101. To date, SE101 teams have taught over 225 youth. Past participants have built businesses including food outlets, event planning, consulting and graphic arts. The course brings students together from both Sauder School of Business and Nairobi’s Strathmore University to teach and mentor local youth on how to develop business plans. The students split into two teams, working with 30 entrepreneurs in Kibera and 22 in Mathare, two communities on the outskirts of Nairobi.

New for this year is that the course was extended by a week, making it one month in total, to provide additional time for business idea development. “The hope is that the entrepreneurs tell us what they need and we give them the tools to succeed,” Chandler said of SAI, which focuses on capacity-building and helping people start their own business. The initiative involves many hours of hard work and, according to Chandler, the teaching goes both ways. “Sauder students learn about survival, how businesses work here, and how it is to do business in a developing nation,” she says. “Every year, it turns out to be a lifechanging experience for our student groups,” she added. ■

See video at: www.sauder.ubc.ca/News/2013/ Sauder_students_and_young_entrepreneurs_develop_local_start-ups_in_Kenya

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

SAUDER STUDENTS by the numbers BCom Class Profile

629 27%

53% 47%

International students

Class size

Business Technology Management 1% Africa 1% Middle East 1% Europe 4%

Asia 30%

General Business Management 3%

Business & Computer Science 1%

Real Estate 4% Transportation & Logistics 5% Organizational Behaviour & HR 5%

North America 64%

Finance 28% Marketing 25% Accounting 28%

REGIONAL BACKGROUND

PROGRAMS SPECIALIZATION

MBA Class Profile

110 57% Class size

International students

28.5 5 years Average age

36% 64% Humanities 2% Economics 4% Computer Science 9%

Average work experience Science 12%

658 25-30 Average GMAT score

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

Other 2%

Social Science 12%

Average no. of countries represented

Business 30%

Engineering 29%

UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE MAJORS

Around the world

Global education: where we go from here

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – NELSON MANDELA

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

GLOBAL TRENDS: EXCERPTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Socioeconomic diversity and social mobility

UNITED STATES TUITION COSTS “THE COST OF UNIVERSITY PER STUDENT has risen by almost five times the rate of inflation since 1983, making it less affordable and increasing the amount of debt a student must take on. Between 2001 and 2010 the cost of a university education soared from 23% of median annual earnings to 38%; in consequence, debt per student has doubled in the past 15 years. Two-thirds of graduates now take out loans. Those who earned bachelor’s degrees in 2011 graduated with an average of $26,000 in debt, according to the Project on Student Debt, a non-profit group. More debt means more risk, and graduation is far from certain; the chances of an American student completing a fouryear degree within six years stand at only around 57%.” 1 “In 1962 one cent of every dollar spent in America went on higher education; today this figure has tripled. Yet despite spending a greater proportion of its GDP on universities than any other country, America has only the 15th-largest proportion of young people with a university education.” 1

Student loan debt In 2010, student loan debt outpaced credit card debt for the ﬁrst time. “Two-thirds of bachelor’s degree recipients graduated with debt in 2008, compared with less than half in 1993. Last year [In 2010], graduates who took out loans left college with an average of $24,000 in debt.” 2 On July 30, 2012, the US Congress approved legislation creating a new set of rates for federal student loans—making loans subject to a ﬁxed rate, and setting caps on all loans. 3

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

“Researchers at Georgetown University have found that at the most competitive colleges, only 14 per cent of students come from the lower 50 per cent of families by income. That figure has not increased over more than two decades. […]Most of the top private colleges rely on non-profit groups like Questbridge and the Posse Foundation to help them find promising disadvantaged students. However, some recruit heavily that way while others only take one or two students per year.” 4

eighth graders with below-average incomes but above-average scores go on to earn bachelor’s degrees, compared with 30 per cent of students with subpar performances but more money.” 5

Grade inflation “[…] a federal survey showed that the literacy of college-educated citizens declined between 1992 and 2003. Only a quarter were deemed proficient, defined as “using printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one’s goals and to develop one’s knowledge and

US campuses aren’t preparing enough mathematicians, engineers, and scientists to fulfill the needs of the military, government, and intelligence agencies or of the aerospace and defense industries.

“Thirty years ago, there was a 31 percentage point difference between the share of prosperous and poor Americans who earned bachelor’s degrees, according to Martha J. Bailey and Susan M. Dynarski of the University of Michigan. Now the gap is 45 points. […] Likely reasons include soaring incomes at the top and changes in family structure, which have left fewer low-income students with the support of two-parent homes. Neighborhoods have grown more segregated by class, leaving lower-income students increasingly concentrated in lower quality schools. And even after accounting for ﬁnancial aid, the costs of attending a public university have risen 60 per cent in the past two decades. Many low-income students, feeling the need to help out at home, are deterred by the thought of years of lost wages and piles of debt. […] Matthew M. Chingos of the Brookings Institution has found that low-income students ﬁnish college less often than affluent peers even when they outscore them on skills tests. Only 26 per cent of

potential.” Almost a third of students these days do not take any courses that involve more than 40 pages of reading over an entire term.” 1 “A remarkable 43% of all grades at fouryear universities are As, an increase of 28 percentage points since 1960. Grade point averages rose from about 2.52 in the 1950s to 3.11 in 2006.” 1

STEM education “US universities are projected to award twice as many business and social science undergraduate degrees as they are for the so-called STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math), according to a major McKinsey Global Institute study in 2011. Lagging STEM education spills over into the business world, too. In the privatesector economy, the average annual growth rate of US research and developmentrelated employment fell to 1.1 per cent in the pre-recession 2000s from 4.4 per cent in the 1980s to 3.1 per cent in the 1990s. One

readily observable outcome of the shrinking supply and demand for technological workers is the declining competitiveness of US advanced technology exports. In February 2002, the United States for the ﬁrst time bought more high-technology goods than it sold to the rest of the world. In the 12 months through February 2012, the value of high-tech imports over exports increased to $100 billion. And there are national security implications to our STEM education shortages. US campuses aren’t preparing enough mathematicians, engineers, and scientists to fulﬁll the needs of the military, government, and intelligence agencies or of the aerospace and defense industries, according to a 2012 Council on Foreign Relations report.” 6

FRANCE DIVERSIFYING THE GRANDES ÉCOLES “FRANCE IS EMBARKING ON A GRAND experiment—how to diversify the overwhelmingly white “grandes écoles,” the elite universities that have produced French leaders in every walk of life […] Because entrance to the best grandes écoles effectively guarantees top jobs for life, the government is prodding the schools to set a goal of increasing the percentage of scholarship students to 30 per cent—more than three times the current ratio at the most selective schools. But the effort is being met with concerns from the grandes écoles, who fear it could dilute standards, and is stirring anger among the French at large, who fear it runs counter to a French ideal of a meritocracy blind to race, religion and ethnicity. France imagines itself a country of “republican virtue,” a meritocracy run by a well-trained elite that emerges from a ﬁercely competitive educational system. At its apex are the grandes écoles, about 220 schools of varying specialties. And at

the very top of this pyramid are a handful of famous institutions that accept a few thousand students a year among them, all of whom pass extremely competitive examinations to enter. […] The result, critics say, is a selfperpetuating elite of the wealthy and white, who provide their own children the social skills, ﬁnancial support and cultural knowledge to pass the entrance exams, known as the concours, which are normally taken after an extra two years of intensive study in expensive preparatory schools after high school. […] But the schools fear that the government will undermine excellence in the name of social engineering and say the process has to begin further down the educational ladder. The state, they say, should seek out poor students with potential and help them to enter preparatory schools. Of the 2.3 million students in French higher education, about 15 per cent attend grandes écoles or preparatory schools. But half of those in preparatory schools will fall short and go to standard universities.” 7

CHINA INCREASING THE NUMBER OF COLLEGE GRADUATES “IN 1978 CHINA SPENT LESS THAN $2 billion on education, health, and other social investments. By 2006 that number was $117 billion, a 58-fold increase.” 6 “In 2007 China surpassed the United States in the numbers of college graduates focusing on science, math, engineering, and technology ﬁelds. By 2030, China will have 200 million college graduates—more than the entire US workforce. […] Chinese national goals are ambitious and inspiring. By 2020 China plans to: • Enroll 40 million children in preschool, a 50 per cent increase from today

• Provide 70 per cent of children in China with three years of preschool • Graduate 95 per cent of Chinese youths through nine years of compulsory education (that’s 165 million students, more than the US labor force) • Ensure that no child drops out of school for ﬁnancial reasons • More than double enrollment in higher education • Double the share of the working-age population that completes higher education to 195 million workers.” 6 “In 2010 China became the world’s largest provider of higher education—and will grant degrees to more than 200 million people over the next two decades. It’s improving its state-run universities accordingly. Today, China ranks sixth in the world among countries with the most universities ranked in the world’s top 500 universities.” 6

INDIA INCREASING THE NUMBER OF COLLEGE GRADUATES “BY 2017 INDIA WILL GRADUATE 20 million people from high school—or ﬁve times as many as in the United States. [...] India’s public investment in education grew from $11 billion a year in the late 1980s to $44 billion in 2008. [...] India is already producing more students with bachelor’s degrees than is the United States. Over the last seven years, India has tripled its output of fouryear degrees in engineering, computer science, and information technology.” 6 “The [Indian] government’s goal of enrolling 40 million Indians in college by 2020 will require spots for 26 million more college-bound students. India already confers more bachelor’s degrees than

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

GLOBAL TRENDS: EXCERPTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

the United States, and by 2020 will be conferring 8 million a year, compared with around 2 million here.” 6

GERMANY DUAL TRAINING “TEENAGERS NOT BOUND FOR UNIVERSITY apply for places in three-year programs combining classroom learning with practical experience within companies. The result is superior German quality in haircuts as well as cars. Dual training ‘is the reason we’re the world export champion,’ says Mrs. Schavan, the education minister. Azubis (trainees) acquire not just a professional qualiﬁcation but an identity. But the dual system is under pressure. The number of places offered by companies has long been falling short of the number of applicants. Almost as many youngsters move into a ‘transitional system,’ a grabbag of remedial education programmes designed to prepare them for the dual

China and India closing the gap with the US “Both China and India are closing the gap with the United States on the proportion of the world’s college graduates. From 2000 to 2010, the US share of college graduates fell to 21 per cent of the world’s total from 24 per cent, while China’s share climbed to 11 per cent from 9 per cent. India’s rose more than half a percentage point to 7 per cent. Based on current demographic and college enrollment trends, we can project where each country will be by 2020: The US share of the world’s college graduates will fall below 18 per cent while China’s and India’s will rise to more than 13 per cent and nearly 8 per cent respectively.” 6 “From 2000 to 2008, the annual pace of new science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—or STEM—degree awards from four-year colleges in the United States increased by 24 per cent, or about 98,000 graduates, to 496,000. Over the same period, China increased its yearly pace of STEM college degree awards by 218 per cent, to 1,143,000 graduates from 359,000. A similar pattern can be seen in Chinese graduate education. In 2007 China surpassed the United States in the number of science and engineering doctoral degrees awarded. India tells a similar story. The number of bachelor-equivalent degrees conferred there in engineering, computer science, and information technology more than tripled in the last seven years. There were nearly 220,000 such Indian degrees handed out in 2006, up from about 68,000 in 1999, according to a Duke University study.” 6

Youth unemployment in Germany and Austria is below 8 per cent, against 56 per cent in Spain and 38 per cent in Italy.

siblings of traditional universities, which account for about a quarter of students in higher education. More than 40 per cent of the students at such universities come from schools other than Gymnasien.” 8

system or another qualiﬁcation. Often it turns out to be a dead end, especially for male immigrants. And given that Germany produces far fewer university graduates than many comparable countries, some wonder whether the dual system is producing the right qualiﬁcations for the knowledgebased professions of the future. […] With the number of young people shrinking and the demand for skills rising, states are making it easier for dual trainees to get bachelor’s degrees, eroding the caste distinction between vocational and university training. BMW now sends a quarter of its apprentices to universities of applied science, the practice-oriented junior

“Ursula von der Leyen, Germany’s labour minister, likes to point out that the two European Union countries with the lowest unemployment, especially among the young, have dual-education systems: Austria and Germany. Like Switzerland, they have a tradition of combining apprenticeships with formal schooling for the young ‘so that education is always tied to demand,’ she says. When youths graduate, they often have jobs to walk into. With youth unemployment in Germany and Austria below 8 per cent against 56 per cent in Spain and 38 per cent in Italy, Mrs. von der Leyen has won Europe’s attention. Germany recently signed memoranda with Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Slovakia and

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

Spain to help set up vocational-education systems. […] Youths not interested in, or qualified for, university sign up for a programme in which they work three or four days a week for a firm that pays them and teaches relevant skills. The rest of the time they spend in school, completing mostly specialised courses. Chambers of commerce and industry associations make sure that the work and the teaching are matched. After three years or so, trainees are certified and, if they make a good impression, may stay as full-time workers. About two in three young Germans go through this system and into about 350 careers. Some end up in blue-collar jobs, others in sales and marketing, shipping and agriculture, or pharmacology and accounting. The practical nature of the education is an advantage, as is the mutual screening between potential employers and employees during training.” 9

Notes

UNITED KINGDOM TUITION FEES “FIGURES SHOW THAT 64 OUT OF 122 institutions plan to raise average costs for undergraduate degree courses starting in the autumn. Data published by the Government’s Office for Fair Access shows that universities in England are preparing to push up charges by as much as £900 per student. Experts claimed that some institutions had been forced to raise fees on popular courses to balance the books because of an overall slump in student demand nationally. It is only the second year that universities have been given powers to impose charges up to £9,000 for degree courses. In all, 94 universities are planning to charge the maximum amount for at least one course, compared with 82 a year earlier.” 10

AUSTRALIA TUITION FEES “AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES ARE SO chronically under-funded in their teaching activities that every domestic undergraduate is effectively subsidised to the tune of $1,200 by international student fees. That almost matches the commonwealth’s own subsidy for domestic law and business students of $1,765 a year. Glyn Davis, vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne, warned that this reliance meant that crashing international student numbers risked undermining the Gillard government’s policies to dramatically boost domestic university participation. […] An analysis of fees conducted by the University of Melbourne found that the total subsidy to domestic students from international students was $500 million a year.” 11

The future of student mobility “THE UK AND US ARE SET TO DOMINATE AS INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION HOST countries in 2024, while China, India, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will all be crucial student source markets in a sector that is predicted to grow to cater for 3.85 million international students, up from 3.04 million in 2011. These are the ﬁndings of the British Council’s latest report, The Future of the World’s Mobile Students to 2024, which was released in October. The two fastest growing source markets, China and India, will contribute 855,000 and 376,000 students respectively to the mobile student population, it says, by 2024. The two countries alone are expected to contribute 32 per cent of total global outbound higher education students within a decade. Germany is forecast to become the third largest sender of higher education students, with a predicted 139,000 outbound students, overtaking South Korea. Meanwhile, developing economies including Pakistan, Turkey and Indonesia will also emerge as important source markets. As expected, the US, UK, Australia, Germany and Canada will continue to be the largest host markets, suggests the British Council’s Education Intelligence unit. Globally, higher education enrolments will increase, albeit at a slower rate of 1.4% compared to the 5% to 6% seen in previous decades. India will be the fastest growing higher education enrolments market by 2024, leading the way with 12.7 million additional admissions nationally.” 12

Not what it used to be: American universities represent declining value for money to their students, The Economist, December 1, 2012

Tamar Lewin, Burden of College Loans on Graduates Grows, New York Times, April 11, 2011

Source: “[…] loans to undergraduates and graduate students, along with parents in the PLUS program, would be subject to a fixed rate plus the yield on the 10-year Treasury note […] Rates for loans taken out after July 1 of this year would be 3.9 per cent for undergraduates, 5.4 per cent for graduate students and 6.4 per cent for those receiving PLUS loans. The rates are fixed over the life of the loan but would change for new borrowers each year. In a compromise that pleased many Democrats who had initially been wary of using a rate that was subject to inflation and fluctuated with the markets, Congress set a cap on all loans: 8.25 per cent for undergraduates, 9.5 for graduate students and 10.5 for PLUS recipients.” – Jeremy W. Peters, Ashley Parker, An Unusual Feat in Congress - Student Loan Bill Breezes On, New York Times, July 31, 2013

Richard Pérez-Peña, Efforts to Recruit Poor Students Lag at Some Elite Colleges, New York Times, July 30, 2013

Jason DeParle, For Poor, Leap to College Often Ends in a Hard Fall, New York Times, December 22, 2012

Center for American Progress and The Center for the Next Generation, The Competition that Really Matters: Comparing U.S., Chinese, and Indian Investments in the Next-Generation Workforce

Steven Erlanger, Top French Schools, Asked to Diversify, Fear for Standards, New York Times, June 30, 2010

The Economist, Much to learn: Germany’s education system is a work in progress, March 11, 2010

The Economist, Ein neuer Deal? Germany’s vaunted dual-education system is its latest export hit, June 1, 2013

Graeme Paton, Most universities to raise student tuition fees in 2013, The Telegraph, January 13, 2013

Andrew Trounson, Julie Hare, International student fees keeping universities aﬂoat, The Australian, July 1, 2011

Nitya Rajan, 2024: UK and US to dominate as study destinations, thepienews.com, October 8, 2013

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

GLOBAL TRENDS by the numbers CHINA

UNITED STATES

Rate of inﬂation increase in the cost of university per student since 1983.

2/3

43%

2007

4.4%: 1980s 3.1%: 1990s 1.1%: 2000s

200 million

Percentage of all grades at four-year universities that are “A”s—an increase of 28 percentage points since 1960.

Average annual growth rate of US research and development-related employment.

of graduates now take out loans.

70% 1 trillion

Year that China surpassed the US in the numbes of college graduates focusing on science, math, engineering and technology ﬁelds.

Estimated college graduates by 2030— more than the entire US workforce.

6th

Rank among countries with the most universities in the world’s top 500.

Increase in college enrollment as a share of population from 1967 to 2010.

Total student loan burden.

$26,000 Average debt per student earnng a bachelor’s degree in 2011.

137.2% Increase in the average annual tuition, fees and room and board at a public college or university since 1964 (in 2011 dollars).

15th

America has only the 15th largest proportion of young people with a university education.

31%: 1983 45%: 2013 Percentage point difference between the share of prosperous and poor Americans who earned bachelor’s degrees.

INDIA

Increase in output of four-year degrees in engineering, computer science, and information technology since 2006.

40 million

Estimated college enrollment by 2020.

Sources: The Economist; New York Times; Center for American Progress and The Center for the Next Generation, The Competition that Really Matters: Comparing U.S., Chinese, and Indian Investments in the Next-Generation Workforce; The Washington Post “The Tuition is Too Damn High.” 32

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

The wired brain #futureoflearning

“Online education is a signiﬁcant ‘disruptive technology.’ It allows existing institutions to provide a mixed-model, combining in-residence and online programs. This could result in the ability to reach more students. It could, potentially, result in higher facilities utilization. The online element of such mixed-model offerings could result in higher ﬂexibility for the students, again making such offerings more attractive.” – PROF. ROBERT A. HOWELL, TUCK SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

ONLINE EDUCATION

Millions of students are signing up for them. Scores of institutions of higher learning are offering them. Venture capitalists and philanthropists are pouring millions of dollars into them. Their for-profit providers are puzzling over how to make money from them. Their nonprofit providers do not want to make money from them. Educators are sharply divided on their merits.

CRISTINA CALBOREANU AND ALLAN JENKINS

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF MOOCS: Massive Open Online Courses. Which, depending on whom you listen to, will either massively disrupt higher education to its great beneﬁt or great detriment, or are soon-to-be-forgotten hype. The ﬁrst MOOC is widely accepted to be a course, Connectivism and Connective Knowledge (CCK08), developed in 2008 by Stephen Downes, senior research officer at the National Research Council of Canada, and George Siemens, an associate director of the Learning Technology Centre at the University of Manitoba. CCK08 attracted 2200 students who used RSS feeds and meetings on Second Life to discuss the course material. Downes and Siemens wanted to create an online environment in which learning would be iterative and collectivist. “Our goal was to encourage the development of learners through open and transparent learning, where the process of knowledge generation was iterative— improving on the ideas of other learners and generating new knowledge through continual…improvement,” says Siemens, quoted in Times Higher Education.

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

Despite Siemens’ and Downes’ intentions, most MOOCs today are neither collectivist or iterative. Partly this is because the concept of a MOOC is far broader than Siemens and Downes envisioned: a ﬁve-minute video in basic math rarely requires collaboration, yet qualiﬁes as a MOOC. This broadening of concept, making the MOOC more massive, appealing to even more students, is necessary for the business model of MOOC providers, but is also the source of skepticism about MOOCs on the part of educators. “Welcome to the college education revolution,” says American author Thomas Friedman, pointing out that the costs of getting a college degree have been rising faster than those of health care, so the need to provide low-cost, quality higher education is more acute than ever. “At the same time,” he says, “in a knowledge economy, getting a higher-education degree is more vital than ever.” High-speed wireless technology means, too, as he observes, that “the world has gone from connected to hyperconnected in just seven years. Finally, a generation that has grown

up on these technologies is increasingly comfortable learning and interacting with professors through online platforms.” MIT president Rafael Reif turns over the coin, in a recent TIME Magazine article. While acknowledging that “digital learning is the most important innovation in education since the printing press,” he argues that “the most important elements of a true education are transmitted most effectively face-to-face: the judgment, conﬁdence, humility and skill in negotiation that come from hands-on problem solving and teamwork; the perseverance, analytical skill and initiative that grow from conducting frontline lab research; the skill in writing and public speaking that come from exploring ideas with mentors and peers; the ethics and values that emerge through being apprenticed to a master in your ﬁeld and living as a member of a campus community.” It’s a challenging juggle for institutions of higher learning everywhere, but Andre Dua, a director with McKinsey & Company, a management consultancy, believes that demands from outside academia will require universities to cope.

The term MOOC was coined in 2008 by Canadian educators Dave Cormier and Bryan Alexander when describing the online course Connectivism and Connective Knowledge developed by two other Canadian educators, Stephen Downes and George Siemens.

No strict definition of MOOC exists. However, the main attributes are these:

MO O C Massive

Open

Online

Course

A MOOC can have a dozen students to tens of thousands. MOOCs with a focus on community and connections (called cMOOCs), such as the early MOOCs developed by Downes and Siemens, tend to be smaller. Other MOOCs, called xMOOCs, are designed to be massively scalable, but tend to be more didactic.

Can mean free/affordable, open to all, open-source content, or all of these.

MOOC content delivery is always online, but can be supplemented with physical study groups and varying degrees of synchronous or asynchronous online interaction with instructors and/or other students.

A MOOC can be a simple 10-minute video lesson or a year-long course taught by several professors, culminating in a proctored or peer-reviewed exam. It may offer university credit, a certiďŹ cate, or no recognition at all. Some MOOCs are always available and selfpaced; others proceed according to a scheduled lesson plan.

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

ONLINE EDUCATION

“Welcome to the college education revolution. Big breakthroughs happen when what is suddenly possible meets what is desperately necessary. The costs of getting a college degree have been rising faster than those of health care, so the need to provide low-cost, quality higher education is more acute than ever. At the same time, in a knowledge economy, getting a higher-education degree is more vital than ever. And thanks to the spread of high-speed wireless technology, high-speed Internet, smartphones, Facebook, the cloud and tablet computers, the world has gone from connected to hyperconnected in just seven years. Finally, a generation that has grown up on these technologies is increasingly comfortable learning and interacting with professors through online platforms.” – Thomas L. Friedman, Come the Revolution, New York Times, May 15, 2012

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

“[MOOCs are] more than just a distribution mechanism; done right, it promises students faster, more consistent engagement with high-quality content, as well as measurable results,” writes Dua in McKinsey’s Voices on Society blog. “This innovation therefore has the potential to create enormous opportunities for students, employers, and star teachers even as it upends the cost structure and practices of traditional campuses. Capturing the promise of this new world without losing the best of the old will require fresh ways to square radically expanded access to world-class instruction with incentives to create intellectual property and scholarly communities, plus university leaders savvy enough to shape these evolving business models while they still can.” The demand from China, alone, should be enough for many institutions to throw resources behind the idea. As the fourth-largest consumer of US-based free online courses, China has seen growth from 10 to 30 per cent in enrollment in higher education in the past 20 years. Fastcompany.com reported in October two major just-announced partnerships: one between edX and up to 10 leading Chinese universities to develop the largest online education platform in the country; the other with Coursera and Chinese internet company NetEase, who will launch a Chinese-language web portal for students there to explore Coursera content. Around the world, those invested in learning are calling for going beyond the current system of information and delivery—as author Thomas Friedman calls it “the professorial ‘sage on the stage’ and students taking notes, followed by a superﬁcial assessment.” He envisions a learning environment “in which students are asked and empowered to master more basic material online at their own pace, and the classroom becomes a place where the application of that knowledge can be honed through lab experiments and discussions with the professor.” Still others argue the fundamental relationship of learner to teacher cannot be

so eroded. Is online education revolution or hype? While the debate continues, MOOC providers continue to attract millions of students.

Notable MOOC Providers ALISON: Ireland, 2007. ALISON emphasizes “practical courses to take onto a job,” such as programming, ESL, and maths skills, rather than traditional academic courses. It claims to have provided 75 million lessons in more than 500 courses. Course providers include universities, businesses, individual experts and even other MOOC providers, such as Khan Academy. ALISON’s business model is to charge little or nothing to students, but to sell relevant advertising beside course materials. For a small fee, students can avoid advertising. ALISON also sells packaged curricula to organizations. Coursera: USA, 2012. A for-profit with Stanford roots, Coursera contracts with 107 universities to provide more than 400 free courses to 5.2 million users. Courses are provided online in the form of video lectures and reading. Successful completion of weekly assignments is required for certification or credit. Coursera has raised US$65 million in funding. While courses are free of charge, Coursera sells career services, verified course completion certificates, and course credits. EdX: USA, 2012. A non-profit joint venture between MIT and Harvard, EdX provides no-cost MOOCs from leading universities but also serves as a research platform for studying online higher education. Twenty-nine universities in 13 countries offer courses through EdX, including McGill and the University of Toronto. EdX strives to provide a multi-faceted experience to students. In addition to videos and tablet animations, EdX offers inline textbooks, tutorials that mimic oncampus discussion groups and discussion groups in which students can discuss material with instructors and each other. EdX open-sourced its platform in

2013, making it freely available to other institutions developing MOOCs. iversity: Germany, 2013. Iversity launched in October 2013, with 24 MOOCs in chemistry, physics, biology, engineer, philosophy, architecture and interdisciplinary studies. Its Future of Storytelling MOOC, provided by the University of Applied Science of Potsdam, attracted 29,000 students within two weeks. Course providers are mostly European universities and individual professors. MOOCs at iversity are currently free. Financing is provided by participating institutions, though the firm hopes to raise Series A funding by January 2014. Revenues will come from certifying successful course completion and by matching MOOC graduates with job opportunities. Khan Academy: USA, 2008. Khan Academy is a non-profit founded by engineer and hedge-fund analyst Salman Khan. It is funded entirely by donations, most notably by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, and Carlos Slim. Khan Academy MOOCs, all free of charge, are aimed mainly at primary and secondary-school students, with maths and physics lessons making up the bulk of the offerings. Most of Khan Academy’s 4,800 peer reviewed courses are low-tech conversations in which the student sees concepts being developed and explained through animations and doodles by an unseen speaker (often Khan himself). Udacity: USA, 2012. For-profit with Stanford roots. Courses are free, and students who complete courses receive a certificate. Some courses offer a proctored exam for a small fee. In August 2013, Udacity announced a partnership with Georgia Technical University and AT&T, through which Georgia Tech will offer a MOOC-based, online master’s degree in computer science for US$6,600, an 85 per cent discount from the cost of an on-campus degree. ■ MOOC Today, a Flipboard library of articles about MOOCs, is provided by the writer at https://flipboard. com/section/mooc-today-beYAkA

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

ONLINE EDUCATION

MOOC profile

The future is online:

27.2

the Warwick Business School model

Average student age

53% 47% Professional degree (MD, JD) 3%

Less than high school 1%

High school/GED 4% Two-year college degree 7% Master’s degree 34%

Doctorate 10% Some college 11%

Four-year college degree 30%

44%

Registered MOOC students surveyed who didn’t ﬁnish their course “An Early Report Card on Massive Open Online Courses,” The Wall Street Journal, October 8, 2013

contact details contact details contact details contact details

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

RANKED THIRD IN THE UK AND 13th in Europe of all European business schools by the Financial Times, the Warwick Business School (WBS) has a long tradition of providing distance learning for over 25 years. The University is the top provider of distance learning in the United Kingdom and the second in the world. With almost 2,000 students from 100 countries, the MBA by distance learning is one of the largest programs at the University. Largely taught online, the three-year program includes at least one three-day on-campus Warwick Week each year, involving lectures, case studies, group work, exam practice, networking and social events, along with careers and study skills sessions. Examinations take place through the British Council network across the world, from Vancouver and Toronto to Sydney and Durban. “You are learning wherever you are located,” says Ray Irving, Director of WBS eLearning. “Our online materials may be text, e-books, or multimedia, videos featuring Warwick academics, supplemented by discussion forums and commentaries moderated by online tutors. There are also interactive live online sessions in a virtual classroom we call wbsLive, where our academics deliver live lectures, seminars and presentations online and receive questions from the students in online virtual breakdown rooms.” “Distance learning is very important to us and we’ve been doing it for a very long time,” notes Irving, “so when people talk about the growth of online learning, it’s absolutely nothing new to us. Culturally, e-learning is second nature to us, and all our systems and processes are geared towards it.”

But, he adds, “The world is changing all the time, and we absolutely understand that we cannot stop. We have to change and improve our offerings continually.” To this end, WBS introduced innovations like wbsLive four years ago, and is adding new programs, including a high-proﬁle Corporate MBA for a leading global solutions provider in their Europe, Middle East and Africa regions, and a new Global Energy MBA delivered through a hybrid model. The three-year Global Energy MBA welcomes approximately 40 students each year and combines residential learning with self-study, and online sessions with face-to-face sessions. It includes site visits—for example, to power plants in Scotland—and two core modules developed speciﬁcally for this program and delivered in China and in Vancouver, at the Sauder School of Business. “We are absolutely committed to e-learning,” says Irving. “We have made sizable investments both in the technology infrastructure and the support for academics to facilitate e-learning.” He adds, “The future is online.” ■

www.wbs.ac.uk/courses/ mba/distance-learning/ www.wbs.ac.uk/courses mba/global-energy/

What it costs

The educational balance sheet is complex

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

THE COST OF LEARNING by the numbers

2013-2014 UBC Tuition and Financial Data

University revenues The student financial equation Your costs as a student, such as tuition, books, housing and food are one side of the ﬁnancial equation during your time at university. The other side of the equation is value: what you get in return for your investment and effort. This includes knowledge, problem solving capabilities, transformative experiences, lifelong connections, capability, resilience, a recognized credential… and a foundation for success in life.

The tuition you pay contributes to the University budget, but it is only one part of the revenue UBC has to operate. International tuition $11M

Ancillary dividends $10M

Faculty revenues $170M

Investment income $34M

Government grant $518M

Research overhead $42M International tuition $94M

Domestic tuition $33M

Government grant $67M

Domestic tuition $222M

VANCOUVER OPERATING BUDGET

Textbooks, supplies, student fees $1,700

Research overhead $1M

OKANAGAN OPERATING BUDGET

Tuition Domestic tuition $4,794

Living expenses $13,000

Domestic students pay a portion of full tuition because the Provincial Government subsidizes their education. We also contribute to domestic tuition from our other operations. International students pay full tuition because their fees are not subsidized by the University or the Provincial Government. DOMESTIC TUITION Tuition $5,000

Government subsidy $15,000

Contribution from University Operations $3,000

INTERNATIONAL TUITION

Textbooks, supplies, student fees $1,700

Tuition $23,000

Research funding Living expenses $13,000

International tuition $23,300

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

The University also receives significant funding for research. In fact, we received over $550 million in federal and foreign industry research grants last year. However this funding is restricted, which means that each grant or contract must be spent on a specific research project. Although restricted, this funding can provide indirect benefits to students. For example, individual researchers often hire our graduate students to work on their research.

How University revenues are used Campus infrastructure $92M

Student Services $11M

Administration $74M

Student Services $5M Central academic (library, IT, etc.) $16M

Research $1M Alumni/ Development $1M

Faculty allocations $533M

Student aid/awards $7M

Administration $16M

Central academic (library, IT, etc.) $113M

Alumni/ Development $25M Research $17M

Campus infrastructure $11M

Student aid/awards $55M

Faculty allocations $55M

OKANAGAN

VANCOUVER

Financial pressures The University is facing financial pressures. The impact of financial pressures FIRST, EXPENSES ARE UP. Utility costs are up due to inflation. Faculty and staff compensations are increasing to keep pace with inflation, and because we operate in a globally competitive environment to recruit and retain great faculty. At the same time, we continue to make significant investments in technology and experiential learning, as well as student support such as advising and counselling.

E X PE

increased expenses + flat or decreasing revenues = deficit Essentially, revenues are flat and expenses are up which can lead to a deficit, and we are not allowed to run a deficit. We are working hard to solve this financial issue in a way that does not impact our students.

What are we doing about it? A moderate tuition increase for students is part of the solution, but UBC is looking for additional, future-focused solutions that do not negatively impact students. We are committed to solving this issue while continuing to invest in teaching and research excellence.

NSE S

Your tuition increase

REVENUES

SECOND, REVENUES ARE UNDER TREMENDOUS PRESSURE. The government grant, which does not increase with inﬂation, is expected to go down. And revenues from the University operations are under stress. The dividend from student housing will be signiﬁcantly reduced through investment in more student residences. Textbook sales are also going down as the world goes digital.

DOMESTIC STUDENTS

NEW INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

RETURNING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

What else is UBC doing? Diversifying revenues We are diversifying revenues to become less reliant on public funding to support our mission. A number of academic initiatives are underway to help us achieve this goal.

1 2 Improving operational efficiencies

•

Enrolment Services has streamlined processes and reallocated resources. We now have a team of Enrolment Services Professionals who provide support throughout your time at university.

The Building Operations team has adopted a culture of continuous improvement resulting in over $1m in efficiencies.

•

Purchasing and payment services are being streamlined, which will result in reduced processing costs.

The future If we undertake all of these initiatives, what will UBC look like in 3–5 years?

4 5

• • • • •

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

Further internationalize the University. Great universities draw students from around the world to bring broader perspectives to the classroom. And, additional revenue is generated through full international student tuition, which helps the University cover inﬂationary costs.

Introduce flexible learning, which is the use of technology to learn material online, at your own pace, freeing up classroom time for engaged and enriched interactions. Flexible learning also creates a platform for non-UBC students to take UBC courses for a fee.

The Library is effectively managing copyrights, consolidating branches and investing in digital collections.

•

create more 12-month programs, and offer camps and programs for prospective students—all of which generate revenue.

UBC will increase the ratio of international students to 1 in 5 over the next ﬁve years. This will not impact domestic students as the number of places remain the same.

The University is improving operational efficiencies. What does this mean? •

Expand our summer course offerings for existing students,

Raise funds through our ambitious start an evolution campaign to provide resources to enhance aspects of university life that are not covered by government funding. Generous donations and alumni involvement is providing more student aid, improving learning environments, and extending the impact of research and community engagement.

Advocate with the government and the public in the interest of students. Working with the other BC research universities, we are a strong voice in the call for investments to increase the number of funded post-secondary spaces, expand student ﬁnancial aid to include grants, loan reductions, and graduate scholarships, and support for research and innovation.

We will be a more efficient organization as we continue to simplify our processes with a focus on the student experience. We will be more vibrant in the summer, with more academic programs and more services. We will be more international, with students from a broader pool of countries and social backgrounds. We will offer more ﬂexible and personalized learning, using multi-channel delivery mechanisms targeted to different types of learners. We will continue to advocate for Federal and Provincial Government investment, but will be less dependent on public funding.

But what about you, today? The next 2 to 3 years will be very challenging financially, and increasing tuition by 2% for domestic and returning international students, and by 3% for new international students is a necessary reality. However, we are working hard with students to reduce the total cost of their education, and there are several initiatives underway.

Increasing financial aid for continuing students We have redeployed a large fraction of the student ﬁnancial aid away from entry scholarships and into support for continuing students.

Using course packs to reduce total costs of education

Reducing textbook costs We are reducing costs to students by offering used books and rentals programs. You can save 25% buying a used book, 45% renting a new book and 55% by renting a used book. This year, the total savings for students will be $750k.

We utilize the Library’s electronic resources to support the production of course packs that save you money. We were the ﬁrst Canadian university to exit the Access Copyright license and we expect that we will see signiﬁcant cost savings for students.

Reducing time to graduation All faculties are working on streamlining the curriculum as much as possible to allow students to graduate faster while meeting all learning outcomes.

Adding student beds to reduce housing costs

Increasing childcare spaces to reduce costs for students with families The shortage of childcare solutions in BC can be a huge issue, particularly for our graduate students. Over the last ﬁve years, we have increased Vancouver childcare spaces from 500 to 700.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

We are adding 2,500 beds on the Point Grey campus, saving students housing and commuter costs while also strengthening the overall university experience. To ﬁnd similar rental rates you often need live 40–60 minutes away from the campus.

Improving terms & conditions for student debt We are working with the student association in lobbying the Provincial Government to reduce interest rates and improve payment terms.

Yes, UBC is facing budget pressures and constraints. But, there may be ways the University can better support your experience and help you ﬁnancially, so we would like to hear from you. Please submit your comments and thoughts through the tuition proposal website found on students.ubc.ca. The comments received are read, compiled and submitted to the Board of Governors for review. Your voice counts.

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

His gift is diversity BRENDA BOUW PHOTO BY MARK MUSHET BY

John Montalbano, BCom 1988, was in his mid-teens when he first felt the barrier of having a diverse background. The son of Italian immigrants spent his youth comfortably mixing with kids from different cultures at school and on the sports fields of East Vancouver. His dad was a janitor and his mother flipped burgers to help support the family—jobs not unlike the parents of his peers.

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

THEN HE TOOK A PART-TIME JOB AND STARTED PLAYING soccer in Kerrisdale, a wealthy and, at the time, mostly white neighbourhood. While Kerrisdale was only about five kilometres west from his home, Montalbano felt like the poor, immigrant kid in this upper-class community—a different world from the one in which he was raised. “It was nothing anyone ever did to me. It was something I woke up one day and felt,” recalls Montalbano. “It had a profound impact on my confidence for a number of years. Some of the things that came naturally seemed unnatural because I was out of my comfort zone.” Montalbano overcame his insecurities, and aggressively pursued a career in finance. Today, he is CEO of RBC Global Asset Management Inc., a division of the Royal Bank of Canada that manages nearly $300 billion on behalf of individual and institutional investors globally. He attributes his impressive career trajectory to having mentors and sponsors who held strong beliefs that success is possible for people of all backgrounds. That vision is behind his recent $2 million donation to establish the Montalbano Professorship in Leadership: Women and Diversity at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. The professorship will enhance learning and engage the community in a discussion around diversity in leadership, including women and people from different cultural backgrounds. The objective is to influence perceptions and practice in business, both at home in Canada and around the world. “Despite all the best intentions by the world’s leading organizations, women and minorities are still not finding their way to leadership roles in acceptable numbers,” says Montalbano, who has a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours from UBC and is a Leslie Wong Fellow of the UBC Portfolio Management Foundation. “If we can solve this in Canada, it becomes a competitive advantage.” Today he serves as the Chair of the Finance Committee for the UBC Board of Governors and is on the Sauder Faculty Advisory Board. He is also on the board of UBC’s Bureau of Asset Management. The professorship program will generate leading research and will be a forum to disseminate new ideas to the academic community and general public through various channels including reports, public lectures and social media. Sauder has committed to secure additional resources to support and enhance the work of the professorship and increase its impact. That includes scholarships for PhD and MBA students, as well as a fund to support outreach activities. Montalbano’s employer, RBC Wealth Management, has agreed to support the outreach program through a $125,000 sponsorship gift. For Sauder, the professorship program is an important first step towards its ultimate goal of a permanent endowed centre for leadership studies. “If we are successful, we will touch so many people at so many different levels,” says Montalbano. The timing is right for the professorship, says Montalbano, as a growing number of studies show diversity is key for global competitiveness.

“I think it’s a very exciting time for people of diverse backgrounds to get into business,” he says. “The world is hyper competitive, you need great leaders, you need great executives, you need creative thinkers. The ability to attract and retain those type of leaders will be wholly dependent on the type of infrastructure you build to support growth within the organization.” The donation is the latest in a long list of contributions Montalbano and his family are making to the Vancouver community. Montalbano is a founding director of the Take a Hike Youth at Risk Foundation, a program run out of his alma mater, John Oliver Secondary School, that gives troubled teens a chance at getting their lives back on track. He is also a trustee of the Killam Trusts, which is largely devoted to scholarships at the graduate and postgraduate levels awarded at Killam institutions in Canada. Montalbano is also an investment committee member for the Canada Council for the Arts. His wife Dana Montalbano also serves on the boards of the Community Arts Council of Vancouver and Arts Umbrella, a not-for-profit education centre that supports arts education for kids. She also takes their two young sons, ages 6 and 8, to Crabtree Corner on Fridays, when they don’t have school, to pack sandwiches and hand them out to single mothers in need. “Among our family, we are really trying to develop a culture of giving,” says Montalbano. It’s a lesson Montalbano learned as a young boy from his mother, who was always donating money to various causes, despite their modest family income. “She really opened the door to empathy for me through her feeling that, although we don’t have much, there are a lot of people who have less and our job is to help,” says Montalbano. His philanthropic skills were sharpened later in life by his mentors, including businessman Milton Wong as well as Art Phillips, Bob Hager, Rudy North and Dick Bradshaw—founding partners at Phillips, Hager & North Investment Management Ltd., which was acquired by RBC in 2008. It was also the financial gift Wong, Murray Leith and Michael Ryan provided to fund the UBC Portfolio Management Foundation (PMF) that inspired Montalbano’s decision to donate money towards education and thought leadership at Sauder. As a graduate of the PMF program, Montalbano has first-hand knowledge of how additional resources can change a student’s educational experience. “That really shaped my view of what universities could do if they have the funding,” he says. Montalbano is looking forward to seeing the impact his namesake professorship will have on students and future leaders when it comes to championing diversity in business. “To have research of such global relevance, done by a leading academic here in Vancouver at the Sauder School is something that excites me greatly,” he says. ■

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

Making better

New Grosvenor professorship for Sauder Dean With the generous support of Grosvenor, the international land holding and investment firm, the study of what makes cities economically sustainable and successful will be the focus of a new professorship established at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. Dean Robert Helsley will now hold the title of Grosvenor Professor of Cities, Business Economics and Public Policy. The firm provided $630,000 to fund the new professorship for nine years. “GROSVENOR IS AN EXTREMELY thoughtful firm with a broad view of the foundations of their business. They devote significant resources to the study of cities and how their health and vitality is related to the business of real estate overall,” said Helsley. “Having their support for a professorship that so closely describes my interests as a researcher is a great honour.” Helsley’s research focuses on the fundamental economic foundations for urban growth and productivity. His work examines why businesses tend to cluster in cities and how this impacts entrepreneurship and innovation. He also explores the effect of economic growth on real estate markets, and the economics of urban sprawl, blight and redevelopment. “The world is increasingly urbanized, and with urbanization comes a whole host of positive and negative effects,” said Helsley about his area of study. 46

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

Left to right: Dean Robert Helsley, Andrew Bibby, Chief Executive, Grosvenor Americas, and Barbara Miles, UBC Vice-President, Development & Alumni Engagement

“I will be investigating how we can create more opportunities in cities through economic development, innovation and entrepreneurship, while also addressing what can be done to make cities more sustainable and liveable.” Helsley’s research into the economic factors stimulating growth and migration

will have international applications. In particular, he notes that his research may aid in looking at the rapid pace of urbanization in emerging markets and whether the new mega cities that are arising in China and other countries are sustainable. “Grosvenor’s decision-making about

cities

to empower research into urban economics “I will be investigating how we can create more opportunities in cities through economic development, innovation and entrepreneurship, while also addressing what can be done to make cities more sustainable and liveable.” – DEAN ROBERT HELSLEY

real estate is informed by our knowledge that value in urban environments is driven and supported by investments into cities themselves,” said Andrew Bibby, BCom 1980, Chief Executive, Grosvenor Americas. “We are conﬁdent that our support of this new professorship will result in ideas that can be building blocks for better urban

environments, which is embodied in our strapline, Living Cities.” In addition to research, the Grosvenor professorship will support Helsley in a variety of outreach activities including speaking engagements on the future of the British Columbia and Vancouver economies.

Grosvenor’s commitment helped the Sauder School to establish the Centre for Urban Economics and Real Estate as one of the preeminent academic and training resources for real estate within British Columbia and Canada. Grosvenor has also supported an internship program, graduate scholarship, robust research agendas, and has provided valuable expertise through mentorship, speaking engagements and employment for Sauder graduates. Helsley has led Sauder since July 2012, when he returned to UBC from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. At Haas from 2008 to 2012, Helsley served as Professor and Chair in Real Estate Development and was the Co-chair of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics. During his previous tenure at Sauder he was an inﬂuential leader, serving for different periods as Senior Associate Dean, Faculty and Research, Director of the UBC Centre for Real Estate and Urban Economics, and Chair of Urban Land Economics. ■

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

MENTORS GIVE

Despite the laughter, Jason Chong, Jenny Ma, Stefan Harvalias, Nicole Israll and Ealeen Wong take seriously their participation as role models in Sauderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Brand Management Mentorship Program. All working now in Toronto, these graduates were photographed in the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s downtown business district on a crisp fall day. 48

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

STUDENTS AN EDGE BY

ALLAN JENKINS PERRY ZAVITZ

PHOTOS BY

When three hundred graduates compete for a single position as a new brand manager or investment banker, what gives one of them the advantage that lands them the job? Excellent grades from an excellent school help, but that hardly narrows the ﬁeld. Intelligence and energy? Yes, but intelligent, energetic people abound on business school campuses. Seeking the edge that will make the difference, Sauder students are turning to the career mentorship programs offered by Sauder’s Business Career Centre. These competitive programs match students with mentors: professionals, often Sauder graduates, who can coach them on industry speciﬁcs, interviewing skills and career building.

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

“It’d be very tough to be in my position today without Sauder’s brand management mentorship program,” says Dave Rusli, BCom 2008, communications manager at Carat, who is now a mentor himself. “Graduating from the program gave me all the skill sets required to succeed, ﬁrst at Mindshare [a media agency] and then as an assistant brand manager at Unilever.” Stefan Harvalias, BCom 2008, associate brand manager at Kraft Foods, and also a mentee-turned-mentor, agrees. “It’s a highly competitive and confusing path to try and navigate alone. Not only did [mentorship] help me to solidify essential career development skills, it gave me the opportunity to interact directly with management at top tier companies and truly understand the expectations of the industry.”

Brand management mentors open Toronto doors Brand management openings are ﬁercely competitive, so landing a position at a major consumer packaged goods (CPG) is already a long shot. For Sauder students, the odds can be even longer, according to Brand Management Mentorship Program Director Tim Silk. Many CPG companies, most of which are based in Toronto, simply ﬁnd their talent on their doorsteps by recruiting from Eastern business schools. A Sauder BCom alumna and successful brand manager, Mariko Takeuchi, decided to try to even the odds in 2007 by creating a brand management mentorship program for Sauder BCom students. “Mariko knew the students had the basic skills to do the brand manager job. What she did was focus on the communication and interview skills required to get the job,” says Silk, a former product manager himself. “She did a fantastic job of mentoring them in the ‘language and lingo’ of the industry, its frameworks and idiosyncrasies. She trained them in case interviews and taught them how to answer the questions that would be thrown at them in an interview.” The technique worked, and Sauder graduates started landing jobs in major CPG companies. Encouraged by Takeuchi’s success, Sauder formalized the program into the current Brand Management Mentorship Program (BMMP), which helps equip Sauder students with the right job seeking skills for the CPG industry. The BMMP has a core group of six mentors, plus other mentors who help in certain areas. Each mentor is an experienced brand manager and is a Sauder graduate. Moreover, all were once mentees. During the year-long program, the mentors teach and coach the mentees about what they must know to successfully interview for a brand management opening. “The mentors teach them industry frameworks,” says Silk. “They teach them behavioral interviewing skills. They make them practice case interviews based on industry trends and practices, the stuff only industry insiders know. And they coach on resumes.” Entry to the Brand Management Mentorship Program is competitive. Last spring, only 15 of more than 40 applicants were accepted. 50

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

The application process starts with a 90-minute “Day in the Life of a Brand Manager” information session. The mentors describe the industry and its values, challenges and opportunities—and its 24/7 demands. “If you are a 2nd year BCom student, you don’t know what brand management is. You may think you know, but that is only as a consumer,” says Silk. “What we do at the information session is make the industry transparent.” Applicants must submit a resume, cover letter and transcripts. If shortlisted, Silk and the mentors invite them to an interview round. Once accepted, the mentees work to the standards of the industry, with the mentors imposing strict deadlines, insisting on full participation and demanding hard work. “The program intensity is definitely tough, and at the end of a stressful week the last thing you feel like is a weekend of academic case studies,” says Emma Livingston, a 2nd year MBA student. “The mentors are dead serious about needing to take this seriously and they definitely called people out for being late or unprepared.” But the hard work is meant to pay off—and it does. “I would not be in my position today without having gone through the BMMP,” says Nicole Israll, BCom 2009, a brand manager at Colgate and now a BMMP mentor. “This program dramatically improved my CV and my interview skills, gave me the confidence and structure I needed to … secure interviews with tier one CPG companies.” According to Silk, the program’s success is the result of former mentees coming back to mentor aspiring brand managers. “This program is successful because of the experience and dedication of the mentors and the fact they are giving back to the School out of the goodness of their hearts. They are extremely busy, they have lives of their own, they have their careers to manage, and yet they are giving back. They want to see other Sauder students succeed and have the same opportunities they had.”

Finance mentors “pay it forward” “Giving back” also motivates the mentors of the Finance Mentor Program. “I think the common denominator for all the FMP mentors is that, at some point in their careers and lives, they have benefited from someone giving them good advice,” says Malcolm Smillie, director of the program and business development manager at Sauder’s Business Career Centre. “I think there is a very strong element of paying forward. And that is great to see, because they are helping a new generation of professionals. It is very heartening from that perspective.” The 44 finance mentors are a diverse group. Most are Sauder alumni, although many are not. Their professional experience covers the range of financial services, and some have upwards of 30 years experience in business. Unlike the Brand Management Mentorship Program, which pairs the entire group of mentors to the entire group of mentees, the FMP followers a one-mentor-to-one mentee system. Once

paired, the mentor and mentee follow the program according to their mutual convenience and timing. Smillie gives the mentors a curriculum covering areas such as interviewing skills, industry trends, and required technical skills. Beyond that, he urges mentors to challenge the students. “We really hope mentors will stretch the students in ways they would not be stretched in their academic work,” says Smillie. “We want students to think about how they will be addressing real world issues they may face in their first job, such as a new associate at an investment bank.” How the relationship develops is up to the two partners. “The mentors and mentees meet at least 30 minutes or so every two weeks, but we have had situations where the student is invited to the mentor’s offices for a day or more, or invited to tour facilities. It can be much more than there is on the curriculum.” The one-mentor-to-one mentee approach offers the opportunity for a lasting relationship. However, that requires a careful process of matching the student to the industry leader. “We have gotten to where we can reverse engineer from what we know about the mentors,” says Smillie. “We look at their specific fields within finance, and ask about their main area or areas of interest. So we know what the mentors can do. Moreover, this being our second year, we now can see the fit from last year.” “However, it’s a long process to ensure the greatest possible overlap between the interest of the student and the expertise of the mentor,” says Smillie. Diane Emanuel, Managing Director of Scotiabank Global Banking and Markets, is an FMP mentor and a fan of the program. “I was very impressed with the maturity, motivation and grit of my mentee. Sauder clearly does a great job in preparing its finance students for the rigors of a career in this field. But a mentor can provide a window into the real world of a career in finance that you can’t always learn in business school. Having a mentor as a guide and a sounding board can be invaluable early on in a career. I also think I gained as much from the experience as my mentee.” ■

Sauder Professional Mentorship Programs Sauder offers four professional mentorship programs. Capital Markets Training Program (CMTP): a series of investment banking workshops for 3rd year BCom students and 1st year MM and MBA students. Finance Mentor Program (FMP): helps 3rd and 4th year BCom and MBA students understand career opportunities in ﬁnance. Program streams include Women in Finance, Capital Markets and Commercial Banking. Brand Management Mentorship Program (BMMP): provides 2nd and 3rd year BCom students and 1st year MBA students with the skills and understanding of brand management to ace the interview and recruitment process. Strategy Consulting Mentorship Program (SCMP): helps BCom, MM and MBA students prepare for and interview with top strategy consultancies.

Learn more about Sauder’s mentorship programs at: www.sauder.ubc.ca/Careers/ For_Students/BCom_Students/ Career_Development_Programs

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

Earning Interest BY

ALLAN JENKINS

Time management of overachievers Not enough time in your day? Not enough in theirs either, but they got it done.

Gustave Flaubert

Charles Darwin

Winston Churchill

Benjamin Franklin

Occupation: writing, on which he spent 10 hours a day.

Scientist: 4 ½ hours per day at desk.

Occupation in 1930: writer and backbench MP. Six to 10 hourworkday.

Publisher, inventor, diplomat. Eight hours per day at work.

10 a.m. Wake up, ring for valet, ﬁll pipe, go through mail, converse with mother.

7 a.m.: Get up, take walk

7:30 a.m.: Wake up, breakfast, read and dictate in bed.

5 a.m.: Rise, wash. Contrive day’s business and take the resolution of the day; prosecute the present study [his lost struggle to be free of vices], and breakfast. Ask “What good shall I do this day.”

11: Light breakfast of eggs, vegetables, fruit or cheese, and cold chocolate drink. Noon: Lounge or walk through woods with family. 1: Begin writing.

7:45: Breakfast 8: Work in study

11: Get out of bed, take walk, enjoy whiskey and soda.

9:30: Go to drawing room, read family letters aloud.

1 p.m.: Three-course lunch.

10:30: Return to study

3:30: Work in study, correcting proofs.

Noon: Another walk.

7: Dinner.

12:45: Lunch with family, read newspapers, answer letters.

9: Continue writing.

3: Lounge on sofa.

1 a.m.: Go to bed.

4: Another walk. 4:30 Return to study. 6: Rest while wife reads aloud. 7:30 Tea while family eats dinner, backgammon. 10:30: Go to bed.

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

5: Another drink, nap. 6:30: Get up and dress for dinner. 8: Dinner, drinks, cigars. Midnight: Work in study, usually dictating copy to secretaries. 1 a.m.: Go to bed Churchill tailored his work day to circumstances. When ﬁnancially distressed, which was often, he would often write after dinner for several hours.

7:30: Work. 11:30: Read, or look over my accounts, and dine. 1:30 p.m.: Work. 5:30: Put things in their places. Supper. Music or diversion or conversation. Examination of the day. Ask “What good have I done to-day?” Sources: Lapham’s Quarterly, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, The Last Lion: Alone.

9 business apps we like The little programs that get us through the workday: some widespread, some up-and-coming. Dragon Dictation (iOS) Lets you dictate texts, emails, blog posts and memos, then forward them to mail accounts, Facebook, Twitter or SMS. (Almost) hands free. Expensify (iOS, Android) A personal and enterprise app to keep all business expense records in one place. Lets you scan receipts, keep time sheets and record mileage expenses (even using GPS!). In the US, users and companies can use PayPal to accept and make reimbursements.

Evernote (iOS, Android) Knowledge management app that lets you take and keep notes, memos, and photos, plan itineraries and save web pages for future reference. Offers collaboration features. FlightTrack Pro (iOS, Android) While the basic premise of watching flights on a map in real time may be geeky, FlightTrack Pro lets you do much more. Covering more than 1,400 airlines and 3,000 airports, the app gives you gate and baggage claim info, flight delay forecasts, seating info, alternative flights and terminal maps.

IFTTT (iOS) Short for “If This Then That,” IFTTT lets you easily automate events happening in more than 70 “channels,” such as Facebook, Dropbox, or your email. For example, you could instruct IFFT to automatically drop email attachments into cloud storage and list them in a shared spreadsheet, or automatically save FB photos into Dropbox. Pronounced “ift” as in “gift.” OpenTable (iOS, Android) Need to book dinner with clients for tonight, but don’t know the city? With OpenTable, it’s done. TripIt (iOS, Android) TripIt organizes your travel plans to give you a single, detailed itinerary. Automatic imports and updates, affinity point

tracking. Also keeps up with your friends’ public itineraries, alerting you if your paths are going to cross on the road. Uber (iOS, Android) Need a nice ride, fast? Uber lets you book high-end sedans, SUVs or luxury cars in 33 North American cities. Cars arrive in minutes and the fare is only slightly more than a taxi. With your credit card already stored in the app, payment and expensing is automatic. Wi-Fi Finder (iOS, Android) Free wifi is can be essential, yet not always easy to find. Wi-Fi Finder finds and gives you directions to nearby free (and paid) hotspots. 650,000 locations updated through crowdsourcing. Offline database available.

6 MOOCs to consider The Science of Everyday Thinking (edX.org/U. Queensland) Explores why people believe weird things, how we form and change our opinions, why our expectations skew our judgments, and how we can make better decisions. Introduction to the Music Business (edX.org/Berklee) Survey of key aspects of an evolving industry from

recording, publishing and distribution to legal issues confronting music commerce. Unethical Decision Making in Organizations (Coursera/U. Lausanne) A seminar on the dark side of the force will teach you how strong organizational contexts push good people towards unethical decisions. You will also learn how to protect yourself and your organization against such forces.

Making Better Group Decisions (Coursera/U. Maryland) Learn about different voting methods and fair division algorithms, and explore the problems that arise when a group of people need to make a decision. Introduction to Communication Science (Coursera/U. Amsterdam) As social beings, we cannot exist without communication. The course extends beyond the

boundaries of communication science itself, exploring dimensions of history, sociology and psychology. Game Theory (Coursera/U. British Columbia) The course covers the basics: representing games and strategies, the extensive form (which computer scientists call game trees), repeated and stochastic games, coalitional games and Bayesian games (modeling things like auctions).

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

Un partenariat pour Sauder Sauder partners with renowned French university to launch first international dual degree Sauder has partnered with French university Sciences Po (l’Institut d’études politiques de Paris) to offer the University of British Columbia’s first international dual Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Arts degree. Beginning in September 2014, students will pursue the four-year program, studying two years at each institution and earning degrees from both. “SAUDER PROVIDES STUDENTS WITH transformational international experiences that open them to new perspectives and opportunities,” said Brian Bemmels, Sauder’s Senior Associate Dean, Academic Programs. “This partnership with Sciences Po will give students immersive experiences equipping them for careers in the global marketplace.” The dual BA/BCom follows the launch of UBC Faculty of Arts’ dual BA with Sciences Po, which took its first cohort in September. Together, the two dual degrees with Sciences Po are the first international dual degrees for undergraduates to be offered by UBC. Students enjoy a spring day on the Seine.

Sciences Po is a research-intensive and internationally focused university, highly regarded for its education of new leaders. UBC’s dual degrees with Sciences Po are the first dual undergraduate programs to be offered by the influential French school with a Canadian university. New York’s Columbia University is the only other North American institution to offer a similar dual degree with Sciences Po. Students in both the dual BCom/BA and BA study for the first two years in France and complete their programs with two years at UBC’s Vancouver campus. Fluency “Love padlocks” on the Pont des Arts.

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

in French is not required. Upon graduation, students will be automatically eligible to enter a master’s program of their choice at Sciences Po. Students in the dual BCom/BA program will gain insight into global business practices through ﬁrsthand exposure to the economic environments of Europe and North America. At the conclusion of the program they will earn a BCom from UBC’s Sauder School of Business and a BA from Sciences Po. ■

Sauder Global Alumni Network Gain insight into fellow members of the alumni community

Daniel Murphy Degree and Grad Year: Full-time MBA, 2012 Current home city: Dubai, UAE Sauder volunteer role: Alumni Representative Professional ID: Vice President, Middle East – EllisDon Construction

Business motto or philosophy: Burn the bridge. You need to focus on what you want in your life and career and then eliminate all other options so your only choice is to succeed. In business today, it’s important to… Network and develop strong relationships.

Alter ego: Farmer Dan. There’s a part of me that yearns to live in the country and live a simpler life. Greatest extravagance: Travel. I try to make the most of living on the other side of the world by traveling and exploring new countries and cultures.

Most valuable thing learned since graduation: Stay open to unseen possibilities. It is important to not be ﬁxed on a certain ﬁeld or outcome because you risk shutting yourself off from valuable opportunities.

Person you admire most and why (living or historical ﬁgure): Warren Buffett, because he demonstrates that you can be successful, a good person, and lead a balanced life all at the same time.

Eureka moment: Meeting my ﬁancée.

Trait you admire most in others: Integrity.

Biggest risk you’ve ever taken: Moving to Dubai.

Talent you would most like to have: It’s more of a skill than talent, but I would love to learn about car mechanics and be able to ﬁx or restore cars.

Greatest achievement to date: Becoming a Vice President of EllisDon at 36.

Last book you couldn’t put down: An Invisible Thread—Laura Schroff.

Most listened to: Jay Z and CBC’s As It Happens podcasts. Gadget of choice: BlackBerry Q10. Yes I still use a BlackBerry. Your best-kept secret (What most people don’t know about you): In my twenties I spent two months biking solo across Canada. Favourite journey: The one I am on now. I have always wanted to live in a foreign country and challenge myself professionally and currently I am doing both. Where will you be in 10 years? I hope I continue to be challenged and fulﬁlled in my career, take chances, and remember what’s truly important in life.

WANT TO BE PROFILED IN OUR ALUMNI IN FOCUS FEATURE? Please contact us at alumni@sauder. ubc.ca and we’ll be in touch.

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

CLASS NOTES

1970s

Dear alumni, From Vancouver to Hong Kong and from London to Karachi, the Sauder community includes more than 36,000 alumni in 76 countries. Each of our alumni holds a piece of the School’s history as well as its future. The connections that hold our community together are our School’s most meaningful strength. We want to hear from you! So tell us your story, share your news, and send us

Jeanne G. Elliot, BCom 1974 Retired for 20 years, busy volunteering, gardening, some travel, and attending various reunions: family, Victoria High School, friends. Best wishes to the Commerce Class of 1974.

your photos. Whether you just got the job of your dreams or are still finding your way, took a trip around the world or have been enjoying the comforts of home, got married or became a parent—fill us in on your family and career, accomplishments and interests. We’ll print your news in the Class Notes section of Viewpoints Magazine, which is consistently ranked as one of the most popular segments of our publication. Through the Class Notes, you will share your story with fellow alumni and current students, reconnect with old classmates, and stay connected as a vital part of the Sauder community. We’re looking forward to hearing from you! Viewpoints Magazine

1940s Barbara Leonard, BCom 1948 My story is pretty typical of the era (UBC 1948). I decided that radio work would interest me, so I found a job at the local station (CJVI), writing commercials, doing some on-air work, and enjoying my fellow workers (all were a lot of fun). Four years later (in 1952) I married Tony Leonard, an Englishman, who had spent ﬁve war years at sea with the British Merchant Navy, then had immigrated to Canada and joined the R.C.N. We had three daughters, and spent a year in Halifax, three years in Kingston, Ontario, and then returned to Victoria. Tony left the Navy and opened his own dry-cleaning business, which he still has. Our daughters are married and living in Victoria, and we have six grandchildren and two great-granddaughters. Family life is very important to us, and we get together often. I belong to organizations such as the P.E.O. Sisterhood and Probus Club, and play golf and bridge. 56

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

1960s Pamela Yokom, BCom 1968 After graduating in 1968, I was hired by Procter & Gamble in Toronto as their ﬁrst woman in management. Upon meeting and marrying another member of the marketing department, I left P&G in 1975 and joined Currie Lehman Consulting, now Canadian Marketing Associates. In 1979 I moved to Young and Rubicam, then the largest advertising agency in the world, where I spent 12 years in positions of increasing responsibility, ultimately becoming Senior VP for New Business. In 1990 I joined my husband in his private marketing consulting agency, and in 2000 we both retired—John to pursue his passion for boating and me to pursue my interest in art. In 2004, I graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design. I currently share an artist’s studio, where I paint large abstracts which have been purchased by both private and public collectors.

Bruce Gillespie, BCom 1976 As his management consulting firm, ReWerx, continues its growth as it heads into its 20th year, Bruce has another project. A new restaurant opened to great fanfare in Victoria on August 18, 2013. It pays homage to the earliest writings on CX (customer experience) from the late 1880s when Harry Johnson, the guru to the hotel and restaurant sector, broke new ground in New York. His then “Little Jumbo Saloon” defied all odds and became a New York landmark. Victoria’s new “Little Jumbo” is located in historic Old Town on lower Fort St. and is a team effort. Shawn Soole, the General Manager, is one of the topten mixologists internationally; two other financial partners round out the equation. The designer of this amazing prohibition era look-alike space is Sara Gillespie who operates Vancouver-based Live by Design. A mid-life crisis? No, Bruce’s first foray into restaurant launches occurred during his last year of his BCom; he was then on staff at Mulvaney’s on Granville.

and marshaling activities with our three children Emily, Thomas and Charles, all of whom seem on their way to stable careers and life cycle events.

1980s

Rod Bergen, BCom 1977 I retired from the Jim Pattison Group after 14 years. Spent a year traveling and started a new career with Power To Change as Executive Director of Ministry Services. Kelvin Hoyle, BCom 1978 After my BCom, I took the teacher transfer year and have been retired three years from a teaching career. I taught for 32 years, ﬁrst in North Van, then Terrace, and my last 28 years in Vancouver. My 18-year old son and 20-year old daughter are now in university, studying engineering and business.

Leigh Mathews, BCom 1979 I recently joined Jardine Lloyd Thomson Canada as COO. JLT is a Global Insurance Broker listed on the London Stock Exchange. This appointment has followed a 33-year career in the ﬁnancial service industry, primarily banking and insurance. I reside in West Vancouver with my lovely wife Barbara pursuing sailing, skiing,

Lindsay Ryerson, MBA 1985 Lindsay Ryerson has taken on the role of President and CEO of Contigo Systems, a ﬂeet management company based in Yaletown in Vancouver. Lindsay welcomes hearing from his colleagues from the MBA class.

Barbara Hill, BCom 1982 We moved from Toronto to London, England in 2012 as my husband was transferred with his company. We have been here just short of two years and have loved every minute! Lots of travel throughout the United Kingdom and Europe and so many things to see and do. We are now off to New Jersey in the USA (another transfer to head office)—starting with a rental apartment in NYC to check it out as an investment. Life is full of surprises—the challenge is capitalizing on them!

Michel Belland, BCom 1987 Mr. Belland is now managing the Global Services Business for Europe, Middle East, and Africa for Interface, a global carpet manufacturer. Living in Atlanta, GA, USA working from his offices in London, UK and Amsterdam, NL.

Mason Loh, BCom 1982 Mason Loh, Q.C. was awarded the Governor General Caring Canadian Award, presented in the photo by the Honourable Lieutenant Governor Judith Guichon. The award recognizes Canadians who have made a signiﬁcant, sustained and unpaid contribution to their community, in Canada or abroad. Mason was recognized for his extensive volunteer services to a broad range of causes, including the promotion of cross-cultural understanding and assistance to new residents to overcome language and cultural barriers.

Christopher Domitter, BCom 1988 I have been with Standard Chartered Bank for seven years—ﬁrst as Head of Corporate Affairs in Japan, then Head of Brand & Sponsorship and Sustainability in Korea, and currently in charge of regional strategic communications development in Hong

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

CLASS NOTES Kong. An integrated corporate brand campaign that I directed in Korea recently won a grand prix at the Busan International Ad Awards. I am still quite active in photography, having held an exhibition in Seoul last year and planning a project this year in Hong Kong. Please see some samples of my ﬁlm (not digital!) work at http://domitter.net.

on the other. Kevin lives in the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver, while looking forward to ﬁnding the girl of his dreams and raising a family.

1990s Morgan Tam, BCom 1991 Morgan Tam, CGA, CIA, ﬂexes her regulatory compliance muscles as Manager, Compliance and Risk at AltaLink, Canada’s only fully independent transmission company. She enjoys weekends in the Rockies.

Kevin Wishlow, BCom 1991 First a Commerce degree, then Law and Medicine…now, his summers are also full of wakesurﬁng and playing beach volleyball. Good to see that many years of post-secondary education can lead to a wonderful combination of personal satisfaction and pure fun! Personal philosophies include, “Work hard, play harder” (unknown; Gretchen Wilson?) and “Imagination is more important than knowledge” (Albert Einstein). Currently leading a double life as a focused and dedicated Emergency Physician on one hand, and fun-loving athletics enthusiast

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

I’ve had the unique opportunity to work with some amazing individuals and be part of their growth journey. Personal: My husband Barry and I recently celebrated our 3rd anniversary but are already almost empty-nesters as my step-son will be heading to university soon. Charlie, our energetic dog, is sure to keep us busy with lots of walks out at Spanish Banks. It’s hard to believe that 20 years have passed since graduating from the UBC MBA—lots of fun memories and still making new ones with the great friends I made during the program. Happy 20th to all the 1993 MBA grads!

Toby Barazzuol, BCom 1992 Celebrating the ﬁrst birthday of our son Cosmo and the 15th anniversary of my company Eclipse Awards. Also, launching the Awesome Awards, the world’s ﬁrst open source recognition program. Being selected as a BALLE Fellow and visiting Harvard and the White House to cultivate sustainable business, social justice, and vibrant local economies. Onwards good people! www.theawesomeawards.org

Heather Lehmann, MBA 1993 Professional: This year my business partners and I celebrated our company’s 10th anniversary. Our consulting ﬁrm, Navigo Consulting & Coaching (navigo.ca), specializes in helping organizations deﬁne clear strategies, develop effective leaders and implement transformative change. My personal passion is coaching leaders and

Mauro Manzi, BCom 1995 Mauro Manzi recently moved back to his native BC along with his wife Luisa and children Matteo and Elianna, after being appointed Senior Vice President, Paciﬁc Region for TD Canada Trust and Chair of the TD Paciﬁc Mortgage Corporation. Mauro has worked for TD for nearly 20 years, most recently as a Vice President— Branch Banking in Toronto. Prior to that role, Mauro was a District Vice President in Commercial Banking where he led a team in Surrey and Langley, managing the Fraser Valley market. Having grown up in East Vancouver, Mauro and his family are happy to be back in BC and now call Surrey home. Mauro also has roots in that community, having served as a Director for the Surrey Board of Trade.

has amazing stamina to keep up with me and all my hobbies and endeavours. Here’s a photo composite of my two “little ladybugs” for a recent assignment, enjoy! Richard Game, MBA 1997 I’ve left the leading global agency in search optimisation to launch the next big thing in digital marketing strategy technology, and keen to hear from like-minded Commerce grads at the same stage in their careers—get in touch! Richard Game richard@cressive.com. Rob Schonfeld, BCom 1995 After over a decade at Disney, I left to join Activision Blizzard in early 2012 to build and run the new Global Digital & Mobile Sales organization.

Tiffany Lee, BCom 1996 After graduation, I spent some time in commercial real estate, international trade, asset management, hotel management, and event planning—and now I’m a music theory instructor. But my most important role now is being a mom to two little girls: Alicia and Clarissa. Aside from this, I’m also pursuing my photography certiﬁcation from Langara College and currently have about 1.5 years to go before completion of the 4.5 year program. Perhaps my next career move will be into photography— there’s always so much to learn and to do, which is why my interests take me on a constant whirlwind of activity. My husband Max has been extremely supportive and

2000s

John Lefebvre, MBA 2002 I left my position as President of Suntech Power Corporation at the end of 2012 and in January 2013 started Cynergy Global LLC, a management consulting business targeting the renewable energy markets globally. We recently had our third child in March, our second boy—Avery, and moved to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico in August for a year to learn Spanish and be closer to my clients in Mexico City. Hasta luego!

SHARE YOUR NEWS Class Notes are easier than ever to submit. Simply ﬁll out the online form at www.sauder.ubc. ca/alumni/classnotes

Marcus (Ming) Xu, MSc (Business Admin.) 2002 We welcomed my second daughter Katelyn into our family. And with all the support from my wife and my family, I started my own asset management ﬁrm: MY Capital Management Corp.

Jason Prasad, BCom 2003 I just ﬁnished my MBA Degree with First Class Honours at the London School of Business and Finance. My dissertation will be published by an academic journal later on this year! Thank you UBC for building my strong business foundation. Matthew Burns, MBA 2006 Got married in September 2013 to wife Rebecca (formerly Colpitts). Moved into new home in Signal Hill in Calgary with family in January 2012. Son Gavin celebrated his third birthday in June 2013. Continue working for University of Alberta Office of Advancement focusing on the Greater Toronto Area.

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

CLASS NOTES

Janice Cheam, BCom 2006 We started Energy Aware Technology out of Comm 486 New Venture Design at Sauder and all of a sudden it’s eight years in business! What originally started as a wireless display that provides real-time energy consumption data has evolved into a web and mobile app, energy monitors, and some pretty neat features that will help make your home smarter and more energy efficient. www.energy-aware.com

watching our six year old son fall in love with skiing, xc mountain biking, as well as all the after-school activities. We ﬁrmly believe that if you can show young kids that movement and physical health are important, it will become a way of life for them. It was this passion for youth physical literacy that encouraged us to start a company called Hard-Core Kids earlier this year. Hard-Core Kids is dedicated to bringing exclusive outdoor, adventure and sporting equipment deals to our next generation of youth. We are also trying to create a community that shares and promotes activity through our social presence by posting examples of kids excelling and enjoying athletics and movement. With Hard-Core Kids we are hoping to take some of the expense out of sports, making life a little easier for parents. www.Hard-CoreKids.com

Warren Tartif, BCom 2008 In the past year I got busy crossing things off my bucket list. I got my sailing license, I traveled to the Caribbean, and I am running the Seattle Marathon at the beginning of December. If all goes well, I’ll be launching my new company early next year. I’m excited to transition into a more entrepreneurial lifestyle. I’ve considered returning to Vancouver to head my startup. Maybe I’ll see some of you then!

2010 +

Yizhuo Cui, BCom 2006 Great year for travel!

Kambiz Asrar Haghighi, MBA 2007 My wife and I have become very passionate about youth physical literacy through 60

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

Summer Xiu Li, BCom 2007 After receiving a BCom in Finance from UBC, I started working for a world-leading chemical tankers shipping company in Singapore. I was sent to job training in Rotterdam and Houston in 2008 and 2009, now I have been working as a ship operator in the head office in Bergen, Norway for 4.5 years. Besides work, I have been doing a lot of hiking in Norway, enjoying the beautiful nature of Scandinavia, traveling to two or three countries in Europe every year and of course visiting families in China twice a year. Missing UBC and Vancouver and hope to travel back for a visit soon.

Oben Sert, BCom 2010 Marrying the love of my life. An outstanding venue at an amazing place (Istanbul).

Vancouver Island. Her group of two completed this in six days. Experience this amazing trail through Terri’s WCT video: http://m.youtube.com/ watch?v=scLwJi1UaAg&desktop

Audrey Timmermans, ECM 2010 Got to hang out a lot with Claire Hanna from my ECM 2010 cohort as she was hired for a volleyball season in Brussels. Took that opportunity to rediscover my own country while taking her to visit cities. Ran a 20 km race. Worked like crazy, traveled around Europe and the US, visited friends abroad. Took the time to be with my family. Went trekking in Lapland at a time when there were only a few hours of darkness a day. Did not sleep a lot, reﬂected back on my life, connected with people, made a meaningful encounter. Decided to enjoy every day that life is offering me. I hope all is well with you and wish you all to live such meaningful moments!

David Fawkes, MBA 2012 Since graduating in May last year, I left my position at CIBC in order to join Accenture as a Senior Consultant in their Financial Services Strategy practice. Since joining in September, I have had the opportunity to engage in projects that are truly transformational in nature, dealing with both the strategic challenges that financial institutions are facing, as well as the operational challenges they face as they address this rapid change, whether internally or externally generated. My degree from Sauder, where I specialized in strategy and marketing, has given me an invaluable base of knowledge to draw from, enabling me to add value immediately to my firm and more importantly to our clients. I continue to support Sauder’s penetration into the highly competitive field of strategy consulting by participating in the alumni-run Strategy Consulting Mentorship Program, an excellent program that places multiple Sauder MBA and BComs every year into the top firms in the industry. Besides these activities, my wife and I have tried to keep ourselves busy by taking in the sights and sounds of Toronto, which, by admission, is a required distraction to help us forget, even if only temporarily, that we are in Toronto and not the beautiful West Coast, which we miss dearly.

SHARE YOUR NEWS Class Notes are easier than ever to submit. Simply ﬁll out the online form at www.sauder.ubc. ca/alumni/classnotes

Terri Jonuk, Executive MBA 2011 Terri completed the challenging and rewarding 75-kilometre West Coast Trail hike this August 2013. The WCT is part of Paciﬁc Rim National Park on

Julia Liang, BCom 2012 I left Vancouver in February and took a trip to Yellowknife with family for a chance to see the spectacular northern lights. We had never seen anything like it—streams of green lights dancing in the vast sky. I then took a trip to Taiwan, my “hometown,” to visit relatives. Then on to Sydney—an incredibly beautiful city. The highlight was the cruise and the dinner I had opposite the Sydney Opera House. A short sunbathing trip to the Gold Coast followed. After all the fun, it was time to get serious with ﬁnding a job in Shanghai. One of the lessons I learned was how important it is to network. You could never know when and who would lead you to your dream (often unposted) job. Secondly, I learned to use LinkedIn wisely—it’s important to know LinkedIn as well as you know Facebook. I actually got my current job at Adidas because a Sauder alumna recruiter of theirs contacted me. Another lesson is the importance of having a personal brand. An interview is just as personal as any other conversation you would have on a daily basis. Other than the achievements on your resume, what is going to make the interviewer remember you is your personal brand. I am currently working as the Marketing Coordinator at the Adidas NEO label, doing Global Product Marketing. My seven-person team is very international, consisting of individuals from China, Germany, Hong Kong, Australia, the Netherlands and Canada. We work closely with the Design team to serve markets on a global scale— including China, North America and Europe.

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

CLASS NOTES Moreover, the Shanghai China Headquarters are awesome! Traveled again in October, this time to Frankfurt and Prague. Get in touch with me when you visit Shanghai! And say hi to my little sister, Michelle Liang, when you see her in class!

Timothy Yu, MBA 2012 After ﬁnishing my MBA, I served as the Director of Marketing for Recon Instruments, and then Director of Creative Operations for Aritzia. However, at the beginning of this summer, I managed to secure a deal with UBC and the Graduate Student Society to take over the muchloved Koerner’s Pub. We have since undertaken a full renovation and opened our doors on October 15th. Our vision is to bring a quality pub and bar to the UBC student community—something that I believe has been missing for some time.

Frankie Cena, BCom 2013 While I have only been an alumnus for a few months, I have been blessed with numerous 62

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

opportunities since my time at Sauder. Just a few weeks after graduation I became a model for one of North America’s largest clothing retailers—American Eagle. In May of 2013, I ﬂew to New York City with 20 American Cast Members and we shot for the Back to School Campaign. I can be seen in stores worldwide. I also had the pleasure of singing for thousands of people on The X Factor Stage in LA and meeting Simon Cowell that evening. My performance (and the audience reaction) can be found here: http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=Bktl6ldoVX8 More highlights can be found on my website: www.frankiecena.ca

Sean McNulty, BCom 2013 My highlight of the year has been being hired in the Capital Markets Group of CIBC World Markets on the Global Currencies Desk upon completion of my degree in April 2013.

Contact us Is your information missing or incorrect? Kelly Hanson, BCom 2013 I started with PepsiCo as a co-op student and feel I’ve been on an epic adventure ever since. I moved to Calgary this year to experience headquarters and have had incredible growth opportunities in both my work and personal life, ranging from leading a task-force for a segment of a national project to bicycling to Banff with friends on my ﬁrst ride over 250k. This month I found out I will be moving to Edmonton to take on the role of Senior HR Representative for North Alberta, just four months after my technical gradation date! The attached photo from a hike called Cirque Peak sums up this summer for me: it captures the feeling of being on an adventure... on top of the world.

Just let us know by emailing alumni@sauder.ubc.ca a

Become a Sauder School of Business alumni contact Be a contact for Sauder School of Business and fellow alumni in your city, country or region. Help counsel prospective students, advise new graduates, welcome summer interns and arrange alumni events. To volunteer, contact us today!

We can be reached at: Tel: 604-822-6801 Fax: 604-822-0592 e-mail: alumni@sauder.ubc.ca We always appreciate your feedback on events and programs in support of alumni activities.

IN MEMORIAM

Audrey Edith MacMillan (Née Butler) BCom 1954 Suddenly and peacefully on May 9, Audrey Edith MacMillan passed away after 81 years. A Vancouver native, graduate of Britannia High School and majoring in retail management, Audrey was an active member of her undergraduate class. She joined the Alpha Phi sorority and helped start apparel sales in then UBC “Varsity Shop.” Upon graduating she began working at the Hudson Bay Company and in 1959 she married Douglas MacMillan, BCom 1955, raising their children Bruce (BCom 1982), Jane (UBC BHK 1994) and Ross (SFU BA Psych 1992) in Montreal and North Vancouver.

In 1985 she returned to work, taking over management of her family business, Progressive Engineering Works, after the passing of her father. Upon retirement she moved to Little River near Comox, BC, where the Butler family had settled a generation earlier, moving from Brigus, Nﬂd. Little River was where she was happiest, building a homestead and garden that she loved to share. A Celebration of Life amongst the rhododendrons in Audrey’s garden was held on May 20, where family and friends from BC, Alberta, and the US shared memories and stories of her legacy. ■

James Beresford Warren, Sr., Emeritus Associate Professor of Marketing The Sauder School of Business is sad to announce that James Beresford Warren, Sr., Emeritus Associate Professor of Marketing, died on March 5, 2013. He was born December 17, 1921 in Seattle, Washington to Captain Charles Beresford Warren and Loletta Coutts Warren. He graduated from Garﬁeld High School, where he played football, the University of Washington, and the Graduate School of Business, University of California, Los Angeles. He was a veteran of World War II, spending three years with the US Coast Guard undertaking convoy duty in the AsiaPaciﬁc Theater. Upon leaving the service, he spent some years in northwest industry. After which, he completed his degree at the University of Washington, was on the Dean’s List, and became a teaching assistant. He then went on to UCLA Graduate School, where he became assistant to the Dean and achieved the position of top of his class. He was invited into Beta Gamma Sigma, a

national scholastic honorary fraternity. Subsequently, he was invited and accepted a post at the University of British Columbia. During his tenure at the University, he was very active in industrial associations and became a director of several and consultant to many. He was President of the Northwest Business Administration Conference, a past Director of St. George’s School, Vancouver, past Director and honorary life member, Sales and Marketing Executives, Vancouver, past director, University of Washington Alumni Association, and honorary lecturer, Banff School of Advanced Management. He authored a number of articles on the pulp and paper industry and northwest lumber industry. His academic career spanned more than 30 years. While at UBC, he developed a highly successful three-year diploma program for executives in British Columbia. That program, now approximately 50 years old, is still ﬂourishing and plays

a prominent role in the relationship between Sales and Marketing Executives and UBC. He is survived by his sons Bruce Warren of Bothell, Charles and James Warren of Seattle, and Jan Warren Decker of Magnolia, Texas, along with three grandchildren. He was an honorary member of the Seattle Tennis Club, a membership spanning 80 years (1933), and a longtime member of the UBC Faculty Club. He was also a lifelong avid sailor, dating back to a charter membership in the Seattle Flattie Association, and a former member of the Seattle Yacht Club. ■

VIEWPOINTS FALL/WINTER 2013

POINTS OF VIEW

Whatever it takes “No matter what path you choose, no matter what dreams you have, you have got to do whatever it takes to continue your education after high school.” That was the message First Lady Michelle Obama delivered to high school students at a recent event at Bell Multicultural High School in Washington, DC, part of a broader initiative to grow the number of low-income students graduating from college.

Sheila Biggers “A large population of welleducated people makes for higher labor productivity, an economy that can support high-skilled work and industries, and a greater ability to absorb new technologies that improve living standards and boost economic competitiveness.”

IN TODAY’S GLOBALIZED KNOWLEDGE economy, a university education has become more critical than ever. And the impact of a university degree goes beyond the well-documented positive effect it yields on the individual level. Study after study has shown the vital importance of human capital for the economy—as noted in a recent report from the Center for American Progress and the Center for the Next Generation, “a large population of well-educated people makes for higher labor productivity, an economy that can support high-skilled work and industries, and a greater ability to absorb new technologies that improve living standards and boost economic competitiveness.” For all these reasons, access to higher education is critical for individuals and communities alike. In this issue of Viewpoints, we explore some of the challenges and opportunities related to accessibility. The Sauder School itself, as a highly competitive institution of higher learning, is confronted with these challenges as we attempt to balance supply and demand. As Dean Robert Helsley explains starting on page 15, we at Sauder do recognize our responsibility to improve access, and it is a priority across the School. I urge you to read more about

Sauder’s work on accessibility in this special issue of Viewpoints. We also recognize that, for many of our students and alumni, the issue of access extends beyond access to higher education. Despite progress made in the last few decades, challenges remain in access to leadership roles, which still do not reﬂect the full diversity of our society and communities. And that is why I am particularly excited about the recently created Professorship in Leadership: Women and Diversity, established thanks to a generous donation from Sauder alumnus John Montalbano. The Professorship will enhance learning and engage the community in a discussion around diversity in leadership, including women and people from different cultural backgrounds. I invite you to read more about the Professorship in Leadership on page 44, as well as the Grosvenor Professorship in Cities, Business Economics and Public Policy, on page 46. We are deeply grateful for the support of our alumni and friends in the business community, whose donations help us provide an environment where students have their lives, ideas and perspectives transformed by their educational experiences. ■ Sheila Biggers ASSOCIATE DEAN, DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT

FALL/WINTER 2013 VIEWPOINTS

Alumni Career Services Here for you every step of the way The Hari B. Varshney Business Career Centre offers lifelong career support to Sauder alumni. Whether you are looking to kick-start your career, make a career change, or take your career to the next level, we can help. Visit sauderalumnicareers.ca to access a wide range of tools and resources designed to help you achieve your career goals.

sauderalumnicareers.ca

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

One-on-One Coaching Webinars Job Postings Career Management Resources “Office Hours” Online

HELP DEVELOP

THE BUSINESS LEADERS OF TOMORROW The Hari B. Varshney Business Career Centre is your connection to over 3,700 students and 34,000 alumni from the Sauder School of Business.

Hire

Enlighten

Start now

Share your career, industry and company insights with students at one of our events.

tel 604.822.8545 careercentre@sauder.ubc.ca sauder.ubc.ca/careers @UBCSauderTalent

Mentor Develop future business leaders through one of our mentorship programs.

Recruit and hire fresh talent by hosting a company information session and posting job opportunities onlineâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;all at no cost.