School of Business Named to 2011 'Best 300' List

For the seventh consecutive year, Oswego's School of Business has earned a place among The Best 300 Business Schools, the Princeton Review’s annual guide to the top graduate business schools.

The Princeton Review cited the School of Business for small class sizes, professor-student interaction, team activities, knowledgeable faculty and engaged alumni, among other measures.

“It’s a testament to the dedication of our faculty, the engagement of our students and the active involvement of our alumni,” said School of Business Dean Richard Skolnik, who pointed out the school has made the list each year since it began as the “Best 143” MBA-awarding schools in 2005.

The dean noted that campus-community-alumni interaction is crucial to School of Business value and achievement. The Oswego Alumni Association co-sponsors the annual alumni symposium, where 10 accomplished professionals were invited to campus to interact with students and faculty.

“There is a triangulation of contact that is established among students, faculty and alumni,” Skolnik said. “It’s that culture of engagement that is passed on from one class year of students to another.”

The Gordon A. Lenz Family Foundation Center for Finance, Insurance and Risk Management in the School of Business, established by a major gift from Gordon A. Lenz '58, will support the first dedicated four-year program to focus on insurance and risk management studies in the SUNY system. It will become one of only a handful of college centers for a discipline that has increased in prominence and importance as the nation seeks solutions to current health care issues.

The spirit of engagement benefits the Oswego community as well:

* Students help residents with tax returns as part of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.

* Students in Free Enterprise is working with PathFinder Bank to launch financial literacy classes on campus.  SIFE also is working with Ginny Donahue ’88 of On Point for College, a Syracuse-area organization the helps first-generation college students get into school, stay there and succeed afterward.

* The Phi Beta Lambda student business organization will help Literacy Volunteers of Oswego County with its annual fundraiser.

The Princeton Review surveys graduate students every two years at AACSB-certified, MBA-awarding business schools. The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business challenges its accredited institutions to maintain high standards and to continuously improve.

— Jeff Rea ’71

PHOTO CAPTION:
Pei-Chang “Jessie” Wu '03, asset manager for Neuberger Berman in New York speaks with Paloma Sarkar M ’11, left, during the annual School of Business Symposium Oct. 19. Dean Richard Skolnik said the symposium is one of many factors that helps the School of Business maintain its high standing in the Princeton Review.