6 minute read
INVESTING IN FUTURES
FOR DEDICATED STUDENTS, THE GROSSMAN SCHOOL DELIVERS TOP RETURNS
Story by Sara White Photogarphy by Bailey Beltramo
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“It started with a yes, really,” says Lily Merchant ’24 of the success she’s experienced in her first two years as an undergraduate in the Grossman School of Business (GSB).
Merchant’s drive, fueled equally by curiosity and fear of missing out, offers an ideal complement to the experiential opportunities afforded by the Grossman School, from guest speakers and panel discussions to mock interviews with alumni, networking events, case competitions, and site visits to top companies. Entrepreneurship programs encourage students to develop ideas into ventures, and the Professional Engagement & Knowledge Systems (PEAKS) program tracks participation in projects and activities to help students build their resumes.
The Pitch
Merchant’s upfront investment of time led to a teaching assistant (TA) position in BSAD 002 - Professional Development Series I, an uncommon opportunity for a first-year student.
“I was super involved in class my first semester and the professor saw that,” said Merchant.
When she learned that the TA for BSAD 102 couldn't attend class, Merchant offered to help and gained a chance to participate in upper-level course projects, including the Grossman School’s well-known mock interview rounds with local entrepreneurs, community members, and UVM alumni. Her interviewer, from BTV-based Pivot Marketing, was so impressed that she recruited her for an internship.
Merchant’s experience of the power of the Grossman School network is not uncommon. Students who’ve competed to solve complex family business cases in the renowned Schlesinger Global Family Enterprise Case Competition are now working at Amazon, GE Capital, Google, Johnson & Johnson, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, PayPal, PwC, Unilever, Wayfair, and Zoom, among other companies.
Metrics of Success
Merchant spent the summer mastering paid search optimization on digital ad campaigns at Pivot, developing a portfolio of new skills and certifications and a clearer focus on her business values. The marketing skills she gained will enhance her work this fall as a venture analyst with the UVM Catamount Innovation Fund, a Shark Tank-style competition that provides startup capital and consulting to students with winning business pitches. But what Merchant values most about working with the Catamount Innovation Fund is more personal.
“At Pivot, a lot of the performance and the success stories are numbers on a screen,” Merchant said. “In the Catamount Innovation Fund, we run participants through this accelerator program, where we give them rounds of funding based on their meeting business goals and coach them through creating a business plan, business pitches. I love to see more of the human side of it.”
Business Value(s)
Caring for people and the environment and having the ambition to make a positive impact on society and the economy are commonly shared ideals among students in the Grossman School, said Pramodita (Dita) Sharma, professor and Schlesinger-Grossman Chair of Family Business in the Grossman School.
Grossman is an AACSB-accredited business program, a credential synonymous with the highest standards in business education and earned by less than 5% of the world's business schools. The school’s consistent success, Sharma believes, can be attributed to stable and visionary leadership, strong support from top UVM administrators, the focused dedication of faculty and staff, and generous philanthropic support.
“Faculty are dedicated to top-class teaching, student development and success, knowledge creation, and research activities,” said Sharma, adding that a deeply committed and engaged Board of Advisors supports student career development, academic programs, and experiential learning.
The undergraduate program combines depth of knowledge in the functional disciplines of accounting, business analytics, finance, and marketing with a broad understanding of entrepreneurship, global business, and sustainability. Experiential learning is supported through student-managed equity and asset funds from generous donors. The program’s specialized concentrations and themes allow for an education well-suited for today’s rapidly changing world, said Charles Schnitzlein, the Steven Grossman Endowed Chair in Finance at the Grossman School.
Chief among these changes, said Schnitzlein, is the significant shift in the Earth's climate and the potential to begin to address the damage that's been done over the past few decades through sustainable business practices. As director of the top-ranked Sustainable Innovation M.B.A. Program, he’s observed that many students come to the Grossman School because of their values and because they have deep concern about sustainability in all of its manifestations, from the environment to social justice.
The core theme of sustainable business practices is integrated into all of Grossman’s undergraduate and graduate degree programs, research, and extracurricular activities. Even the Master of Accounting program incorporates sustainable accounting and cryptocurrency knowledge with foundational concepts in auditing, taxation, and law.
From Merchant’s perspective, GSB was the ideal choice to meet her career goals. ("I knew my future self would thank me," she says.) She’s come to rely on the connections she’s made, her faculty mentors, and guidance from the academic advisors who have helped her develop a plan for all she wants to accomplish as a business administration major with a marketing concentration, global business theme, Spanish minor, and involvement in 12+ organizations on campus.
Future Forecast
Merchant soon hopes to add experience with UVM’s Academic Research Commercialization program—an innovative new incubator connecting UVM professors with talented students who can help bring their ideas to market—to her resume. She’s got an internship on tap this fall with UVM Athletics, analyzing ticket sales data. Long-term, she’s focused on a career in consulting, project management, or real estate.
— Charles Schnitzlein
Steven Grossman Endowed Chair in Finance
With motivation like Merchant’s and the assets the Grossman School provides, that's a venture with potential for a high rate of return.
The Bottom Line
Visions like Merchant's become reality in part through philanthropic investment in the University of Vermont’s Grossman School of Business. Steven Grossman ’61 recently made a second historic gift that will launch an era of excellence for the school that bears his name. Grossman’s personal philanthropic investment builds upon the success of the Grossman Family Foundation’s historic 2013 gift that transformed business education at the university. This original gift created great momentum for further investments in the quality of the Grossman School faculty, facilities, programs, and scholarships. A series of matching gift challenges sparked an additional $18.8 million in philanthropic contributions from more than 350 other donors. When the latest gift’s $5 million challenge match component is met, Steven Grossman and the Grossman Family Foundation will have contributed or incentivized gifts to the Grossman School in excess of $75 million.
Donors have helped elevate the school's status among business schools in the U.S. and around the world. The Grossman School was recently ranked among the top nine business schools internationally and top three in the U.S. for positive social impact by the World Economic Forum, Davos, and included in the top 50 business schools for graduate entrepreneurship studies by Princeton Review. It garnered a Top 10 Better World MBA ranking from Corporate Knights and recognition as the top “green MBA” program in the U.S. by Princeton Review. The Family Business Program is ranked among the top 25 in the world and top six in the U.S. by Family Capital. UVM
