The Wall Street Journal's Ranking System and the Texas MBA Program
By David Wenger
The Wall Street Journal recently released its annual ranking of MBA programs at business schools across the U.S. and the world. As many know, the ranking business is flourishing, and McCombs currently participates in about 30 different rankings, providing information and statistics to a variety of publications and institutions. Each year, however, the WSJ survey in particular raises questions from the UT Austin business school community. Here are the answers to a few of those questions.
Get the full story.

In the News: MBA Graduate Named Among Top 25 Consultants
Consulting Magazine, August 2007
Consulting Magazine named Romil Bahl, MBA ’92, one of the top 25 consultants for 2007. Bahl is managing director of the California-based Infosys Consulting. The magazine reported that Infosys completes 94 percent of projects on time and within budget, which is about twice the industry average.
Get the full story.

In the News: H-E-B Acquires Five Albertsons in Austin
KVUE-TV, Sept. 12, 2007
H-E-B announced that it is acquiring five Albertsons stores located in Austin, Round Rock and West Lake Hills. H-E-B is the region’s leading grocer and is trying to fend off Wal-Mart, which is now the area’s second leading supermarket. “If you look at the [companies] H-E-B has run out of town over the years, it’s a pretty long list,” said Larry Turner, McCombs finance lecturer and former executive at Kroger, one of the nation’s largest grocery retailers. “It really just comes down to who is delivering what the customer wants.”
Watch a video of the story.

McCombs Grad Competes to Carry Olympic Torch in 2008
McCombs graduate Kendall Combs, BBA ’01, hopes to carry the Olympic torch during the run up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Combs has been working in China for the past four years, and he recently became the business development director for a global manufacturing group. Combs is taking part in an online competition to become one of eight expatriates living in China to have the honor of carrying the torch.
Vote for Combs.

In the News: Courting Younger Business School Students
Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 17, 2007
Common wisdom says the successful MBA student has five years of post-college work experience. While 26 or 27 remains the average age of entering students at many top programs, business school officials are looking to shatter the myth that there’s an age associated with the model applicant. The idea of courting motivated students to business school through a deferred admissions program isn’t entirely new. In an effort to increase diversity among its MBA student pool, the McCombs School of Business already has the Jump Start program, an arrangement in which six corporations agree to take on admitted students for three years after they graduate college, after which time the students start school.
Get the full story.

Construction at Executive Education Center Reaching Finishing Stages
If you weren’t one of the approximately 40 faculty or staff members to take the tour through the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center in the previous few weeks, rest assured the construction is moving along swimmingly. The facility is on schedule for a “soft” opening in July of next year, followed by the real deal in August, according to Will Shepherd, senior project manager, the tour’s guide and enforcer of the construction-zone dress code.