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U. MBA program ranks 1st for post-graduate employment
The Rutgers Master of Business Administration (MBA) program has the highest employment rate in the Big Ten. Bloomberg attributed this ranking to the program’s professors, curriculum and wide variety of networking opportunities. GEORGETTE STILLMAN
Stephen Weiss correspondent
The full-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at the Rutgers Business School ranks No.1 for employment rates after graduation out of any Big Ten schools, according to U.S. News and World Report.
According to a Bloomberg Businessweek survey, 98.3 percent of Rutgers’ full-time MBA program students gain employment within three months of graduation. The article attributes this high rate to talented professors, a strong curriculum and the network of connections with companies in the surrounding tri-state area.
Dean Vera, the assistant dean and director of the Office of Career Management, said the fact that 75 percent of Rutgers Business School students had jobs at the time of graduation contributed to the ranking. These students typically had high salaries and good career trajectories by the time they left Rutgers.
The program focuses first and foremost on readying students to become competitive MBA candidates on paper, as well as honing students’ networking and interviewing skills, he said. “Companies come to us looking for supply-chain talent, we are also very successful in corporate
finance, we are successful in pharma-marketing and we are successful in consumer packaged goods marketing. So we have specializations that help build the brand,” Vera said. About 35 percent of the Rutgers Business School MBA program graduates go into the pharmaceutical industr y each year, he said. Beyond pharmaceuticals, Rutgers is strong in ever y area of industr y New Jersey has to of fer. “I am from New York, so I can very much appreciate the diversity of the economy of New Jersey,” Vera said. The University’s administration is also taking a look at new ways to improve the curriculum, he said. “In terms of employment, we are taking a look at helping students get better and better at online branding, job searching, using social media more effectively and we are also helping students get better at video inter viewing,” Vera said. Academics alone do not create employable graduates, he said. It is important to combine those skills with experience. The number one thing prospective students are looking for when it comes to a full-time MBA program is employment, he said. Being ranked highly in employment makes the program more appealing to alumni and prospective students. See employment on Page 4
35th N.J. Film Festival returns to Rutgers Alexandra DeMatos Copy editor
The New Jersey Film Festival is returning to Rutgers for the second time in the event’s 35th year, taking its place as one of the longest-running festivals in the state. The festival was founded in 1982 by Albert Nigrin, a professor in the Department of Cinema Studies, who continues to run the festival to this day, which is presented by the Rutgers Film Coop/New Jersey Media Arts Center (NJMAC) in association with the Rutgers University program in Cinema Studies. Starting as a revival program, the festival began premiering independent films created in New Jersey in the new millennium, Nigrin said in an email. Now young filmmakers get to interact with professionals and have gone on to work on some of the filmmakers’ projects. Submitted works are screened by a panel of judges that includes
media professionals, journalists, students and academics, he said. “We received over 280 (films) for this festival and the interns selected 50 films from these to be viewed by a final jury,” he said. “They pick the finalists, which are being screened at our festival.” During the selection process, each piece is scored with respect to the following categories: Originality, creativity, production values and performances, he said. About 20 filmmakers will be appearing in the New Jersey Film Festival Spring 2017 screening, he said. Most filmmakers try to participate in multiple festivals and want their film to be seen as many times as possible. Rutgers students are involved in many aspects of the festival, from helping to run the event as interns to having their own works screened. Daniel Natale, director of “Bad Tidings,” screening on Feb. 12 and Zuzelin Martin Lynch, director of “Craving Cuba,” screening on Feb. 3, are both Rutgers graduates. Charles
de Agustin, the director of “Doggie,” is currently a first-year in Mason Gross School of the Arts, he said. Morgan Sanguedolce, a School of Arts and Sciences junior, said she is not a film student, but started working for the festival because she loves films and finds independent films to be very interesting. “I think it’s important for students to experience film festivals because it will expose them to ideas and perspectives that can’t be found in movie theaters, films produced outside of Hollywood that aren’t affected by mass media and big budget studios,” Sanguedolce said. She said that the New Jersey Film Festival is different from others because it is not limited to one weekend, and instead branches several weekends over the course of about two months, which allows more people and more films to be included. Working on the festival also offers Sanguedolce the opportunity to See festival on Page 4
The 2017 festival will screen films by about 20 filmmakers, all with diverse themes and subjects. Last year the event drew an estimated 5,000 attendees. NEW JERSEY FILM FESTIVAL
VOLUME 148, ISSUE 130 • University ... 3 • opinions ... 6 • Inside beat ... 8 • Diversions ... 9 • SPORTS ... BACK