Dean's Report 2014 - 2019

2014 – 2019

DEAN’S REPORT

12 16 19

DANIELS IN FOCUS

Strategic Priorities

CORE PRIORITY 1: STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Hard Work Pays Off at Solar Decathlon Rooms for Improvement Revved Up Race & Case

CORE PRIORITY 2: MARKET CONNECTIVITY

Center Offers Consumer Insights New Sales Leadership Center Voices of Experience Bailey Family Business Program Award-Winning Hospitality Program Endowed Dean Chrite Instrumental in Launching MBA Program in Afghanistan

CORE PRIORITY 3: FACULTY RESEARCH

Faculty Fellows Building Our Talent Pool

CORE PRIORITY 4: CURRICULAR INNOVATION

Master’s in Management Undergraduate Professional Development Program Executive PhD MBA@Denver The Denver MBA Entrepreneurship Compass Project

ALUMNI NETWORK

Increased Engagement and Philanthropy

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C O N T E N TS

8

FROM THE DEAN

An Overview

TABLE OF

3 4 6

From the DEAN

In this report, we celebrate just a few of the extraordinary accomplishments of the faculty and staff at the Daniels College of Business. In creating this publication, we also seek to affirm the long and rich legacy of Daniels as defined by its history of innovation and its future through the exceptional work of its current faculty and students.

In response to the recent and near-unprecedented disruptions impacting management education, in 2015, the Daniels College of Business created and coalesced around a strategic narrative, Daniels in Focus, providing the College with a road map through which Daniels would be positioned at the forefront of management education innovation, thereby preparing the College for a more competitive and uncertain 21st-century business school marketplace and global economy.

Daniels in Focus is centered around four discrete but intentionally integrative institutional priorities. The plan has catalyzed Daniels’ trajectory over the past four years and we are pleased to share some of the results of our efforts in this report. Some of the College’s most important accomplishments include: Overhauled the curricular content and structure of the College’s entire programmatic portfolio in an effort to shift the academic center of gravity from core courses to core experiences. Daniels’ incorporation of challenge-driven education redefines our unique approach to the marketplace.

Added two new graduate programs within the past 15 months including the creation of the nation’s fourth Executive PhD program, as well as an online MBA program.

With support from our external partners, the College has recently created a new Center for Sales Leadership, an Institute for Family Business and a cross-disciplinary research facility, Consumer Insights and Business Innovation Center (CiBiC), each representing new opportunities for engagement, scholarship and impact.

Added a new assistant dean for research and faculty development as part of the College’s effort to more effectively harness the energy, creativity and passion of our faculty toward the creation of high-quality and impactful scholarship.

Created a new undergraduate minor in entrepreneurship, anchored by one of the most popular courses on campus, Gateway to Business. As a result of Daniels’ commitment to curricular innovation—defined by the Madden Challenge and daily grinds—the College is redefining how business schools expose students to today’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

We have accomplished a great deal in five years. I could not have made so much change alone; I am deeply grateful to the faculty and staff at Daniels for all of their efforts and support.

Sincerely,

Recruited 32 exemplary new faculty members, 19 of which are tenured or tenure-track across the disciplines.

E. LaBrent “Brent” Chrite, PhD Dean, Daniels College of Business DANIELS COLLEGE OF BUSINESS | DEAN’S REPORT | 3

Daniels in Focus:

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

1

CORE PRIORITY #1

an unrivaled

STUDENT EXPERIENCE

The Daniels experience is structured to individuals, enabling students to become immediate value creators in a global marketplace. The experience is inclusive, exciting, demanding and fulfilling. Faculty interaction drives our stimulating, supportive culture, while personalized development allows our graduates to grow and thrive.

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2

CORE PRIORITY #2

market

CONNECTIVITY

Daniels’ ties to the business community are decades strong. After all, we’re more than a campus­—we’re part of Denver’s thriving, growing community. We provide broad access to our resources and intellectual capital, which cultivates strategic partnerships and opportunities, creating a vibrant hub that serves the public good.

3

CORE PRIORITY #3

faculty

RESEARCH IMPACT

Innovation and impact begins with our faculty, and we continue to attract the very best in the world. The knowledge produced by our faculty, combined with their demonstrable commitment to student and stakeholder impact, affirms their work at the intersection of academic rigor and market relevance.

4

CORE PRIORITY #4

curricular and programmatic

INNOVATION

While our programmatic portfolio will always uphold the DU tradition of a rigorous and holistic academic experience, our center of gravity is the marketplace—not the classroom. Mentoring and coaching build confidence and emotional intelligence, and help students find their footing as problem-solvers and leaders.

We integrate traditional pedagogy with the latest technologies— because today, market-ready also means technology-adroit.

DANIELS COLLEGE OF BUSINESS | DEAN’S REPORT | 5

CORE PRIORITY #1

STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Students are at the heart of everything we do at Daniels. The experiences our faculty and staff create are demanding and purposeful—or challenge-driven, as we call them—and designed to foster our graduates’ success. While they are too numerous to count, we have highlighted a handful of stories that reflect the rewarding opportunities we offer Daniels students.

HARD WORK PAYS OFF AT

Solar Decathlon

There were times they doubted the design, the deadlines and whether they would ever complete construction. But after more than two years, the hard work and perseverance of students from Daniels’ Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management and the University of California at Berkeley paid off. The team, led by Daniels Assistant Professor Eric Holt, won third place in the U.S. Department of Energy’s International Solar Decathlon competition, held in October 2017 in Denver.

Eleven student teams from around the world competed in 10 different categories that included architectural design, water conservation, energy production and even communication strategy. The DU/UC Berkeley team performed exceptionally well in the four that measured the overall efficiency of the home. The team finished first in appliances; second in energy; second in health and comfort, which tracks whether the home traps the cold and warm air it produces; and second in home life, which measures “We put something together that was an amazing finished product,” whether the house is capable of being a home. said Sam Durkin, the student project manager from UC Berkeley. “It really is the people who put their hearts and souls into the house that Daniels has been invited to compete in the 2020 Solar Decathlon Build Challenge, made it so special.” where 20 students will remodel a single-family home owned by the University.

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Race & Case

UP

REVVED

ROOMS FOR IMPROVEMENT

For 16 years, Daniels has hosted Race and Case, the nation’s only business ethics case competition and alpine ski challenge. After tackling a complex, real-life business case and presenting a solution to a panel of judges, students compete in a downhill ski race. The two scores are combined to determine the winning team.

In a direct response to the College’s strategic priority to provide an unparalleled student experience, a handful of renovation and construction projects were undertaken in the past two years. These include refurbishing a dedicated area for graduate students now called the Graduate Studio, constructing a recruiting suite for student interviews and enhancing the Marsico Investment Center with new technology and other improvements.

Within the Graduate Studio, the new Detterick Challenge Lab and the refurbished Reznikoff Conference Room are equipped with whiteboards, large monitors and two-way video technology to facilitate meetings with off-site clients and companies. Construction of these spaces was made possible by generous gifts from Daniels alumni James Detterick (MBA 2001) and the late Herb Reznikoff (BSBA 1967).

In 2017, the competition went international with a team from the London Business School flying in to compete. Daniels has hosted teams from all over the U.S., including American University, the University of Southern California, the University of Alabama, Purdue University, Rice University and Vanderbilt University.

In recent years, the cases, written by Daniels faculty about timely corporate issues, have included one focused on ethical and leadership issues at Chipotle Mexican Grill following incidents of food contamination, and another on CenturyLink following its acquisition of Level 3 Communications.

This year, Western Union became a partner in Race and Case. With the company’s input, students were asked to recommend opportunities that would allow Western Union to accelerate its growth potential in the global money transfer business, while weighing the ethical and reputational implications of their recommendations.

“This is a great opportunity for graduate business students to apply the knowledge they gain in the classroom in a practical and meaningful way, and gain helpful feedback from business leaders in the industry,” said Daniels Dean Brent Chrite. “Unlike other case competitions, Race and Case offers Colorado flair with the race element, making it a fun and unique experience for participants.”

The recruiting suite—the only space of its kind on the DU campus—is equipped with six interview rooms that can accommodate both in-person and phone/Skype interviews, as well as a spacious waiting/lounge area. The suite offers an improved experience for employers visiting campus and provides students with a dedicated space for interviews.

Members of Daniels’ Executive Advisory Board generously funded the construction of the space.

DANIELS COLLEGE OF BUSINESS | DEAN’S REPORT | 7

CORE PRIORITY #2

MARKET CONNECTIVITY Daniels offers a superior student experience in large part because of its connection to the market and engagement with the community.

Each year, we gain more community partners eager to work with our students on projects.

While these opportunities occur in every program at Daniels, a few stand out.

NUMBER OF STUDENT PROJECTS 41

2014/2015 2015/2016

62

2016/2017

114

2017/2018

111 125*

2018/2019 0

1000

CENTER OFFERS

50

100

150

UNIQUE COMPANIES ENGAGING WITH DANIELS 875

800

900*

600 586

400 355

200 174

0

2014/2015 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019

*2019 ANTICIPATED NUMBER

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CiBiC Co-Directors Melissa Archpru Akaka, PhD and Ali Besharat, PhD

Consumer Insights

Do you ever pause to consider your loyalty to one brand versus another? What factors drive you to purchase a particular product line, whether it’s toothpaste, milk or laundry detergent?

Daniels’ Consumer Insights and Business Innovation Center (CiBiC) is exploring these and other questions related to human behavior and its impact on market offerings.

The interdisciplinary laboratory launched in January 2017, offering access to the latest technologies for data collection and analysis, and benefiting students, faculty and industry alike. Since then, CiBiC has worked with organizations like Danone North America, Leprino, Hyde Park Jewelers and GPT Industries, among others.

NEW SALES

Leadership Center

Being connected to industry entails collaborating with organizations and working to meet their employment needs. Recruiting, training and retaining dedicated, knowledgeable sales talent remains a critical need for businesses.

Daniels created the Sales Leadership Center (SLC) in 2019 to help address this challenge.

Building on the College’s tenets of ethical leadership, the SLC is well-positioned to become the regional standard in specialized sales education through research, teaching and outreach.

VOICES OF EXPERIENCE Since 2010, Daniels has brought industry leaders to the Denver community as part of its Voices of Experience speaker series to engage in meaningful conversations about the complex business challenges we face domestically and globally. The College has hosted CEOs from Crocs, Starbucks, Enterprise Holdings, NPR, Whole Foods, Arrow Electronics, Home Depot, the Denver Broncos and many other organizations over the years, allowing these significant leaders to share their experiences navigating the volatile and uncertain business world.

Bailey Family

BUSINESS PROGRAM

In March 2019, the College received a generous gift form the Bailey family to create the Bailey Family Business Program at the Daniels College of Business. Family owned and operated enterprises are a major economic catalyst in the Rocky Mountain region and across the nation. The Program’s mission is to provide outreach, service and support to area enterprises while educating the next generation of family owned and operated leaders. This represents an important next step in the evolution of the College and we are thrilled at the prospect of working closely with a variety of family business enterprises toward this end.

DANIELS COLLEGE OF BUSINESS | DEAN’S REPORT | 9

CORE PRIORITY #2

Pioneering Business for the

PUBLIC GOOD

Daniels’ market connections go beyond our immediate community to benefit Denver, the region and even the world.

Our vision is to pioneer business for good. The following stories demonstrate how we’re doing exactly that.

Award-Winning Hospitality

PROGRAM

ENDOWED For the past seven years, Fritz Knoebel has partnered with the Ethiopian Community Development Council’s African Community Center to prepare refugees and immigrants for jobs in the hospitality industry while providing DU hospitality management students with hiring and mentoring experience.

The award-winning program, called Ready for American Hospitality (RAH), recently graduated its 21st refugee/ immigrant class, and has been permanently endowed thanks to two generous donations. In response to a matching challenge grant from an anonymous donor, the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation awarded $500,000 to Fritz Knoebel in support of RAH. RAH is a 100-hour training program designed to champion the active job market in Denver and respond effectively to the training needs of refugees and immigrants. In 2016, faculty at Fritz Knoebel received the prestigious McCool Breakthrough Award from the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education. The award is given to individuals and organizations making significant breakthroughs and innovating demonstrable, significant improvements in teaching, learning or operations.

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DEAN CHRITE INSTRUMENTAL IN LAUNCHING MBA PROGRAM IN AFGHANISTAN Finalized in late 2016, Daniels’ forged a relationship with Herat University in Afghanistan following a grant from USAID, the federal organization that works to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential. With a focus on gender equity and diversity, Daniels faculty served as mentors to faculty at Herat University for the past two years, helping them co-create a new MBA curriculum oriented toward building local capacity and employability, while also building the capacity of the Herat University faculty.

“This is entirely consistent with DU’s strategic plan, Impact 2025, which outlines the University’s longstanding commitment to developing inextricable community connections on the local, regional and global levels,” said Daniels Dean Brent Chrite, who has helped universities in developing countries establish curricula and training for business students for more than two decades.

Having already worked with faculty at Afghanistan’s flagship university in Kabul, Chrite was approached by the bilateral organization FHI about partnering

with Herat. Daniels faculty, including Ali Besharat, Ali Boyd, Paul Seaborn, Kent Bradley, Amy Phillips, Dave Cox, Dan Baack, Aaron Duncan, Franco Marini, Kerry Plemmons, Lisa Victoravich, Stephen Haag, Kevin O’Brien, and Jack Strauss, worked with Herat faculty for two years using a blended learning model that included synchronous and asynchronous teaching and learning; virtual classroom engagement and face-to-face meetings between Daniels faculty and the 12 MBA faculty from Herat.

In line with the program’s focus on gender equity and diversity, the Herat partnership has engaged individuals from around DU, including Director of University Teaching Virginia Pitts and staff from the English Language Center. Additionally, two out of the 12 faculty from Herat are women and over a third of the program’s first cohort was female—a rare statistic for a university in Afghanistan. While the grant that helped fund the partnership ends in June 2019, those involved in the program believe that it’s wellpositioned to prosper moving forward.

DANIELS COLLEGE OF BUSINESS | DEAN’S REPORT | 11

Faculty Fellows Me

Daniels recently established the Faculty Fellowship Program to recognize and support young faculty and their research. The first five fellows named to the program are Melissa Archpru Akaka, Stephen Haag, Aimee Hamilton, Tricia Olsen and JP Tremblay.

a lissa kak Archpru A

Stephen Haag

“One of the hallmarks of a great university is the extent to which it can support, enable and fund the research and creative endeavors of its most critical resource, its faculty,” said Paul Olk, senior associate dean for faculty and professor of management. “Moreover, these awards are designed to facilitate a unique and potentially enduring relationship between the Faculty Fellow and his or her donor as a result of this process.”

Each Daniels Faculty Fellowship totals $50,000 over three years, providing the recipient—who provides an annual report to his or her donor—with a research stipend. Daniels thanks the following donors:

Aime n e Hamilto

Tricia Olsen

JP Tremblay

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Christopher (BSBA 1994) and Heather Blake (BSBA 1995) Elizabeth (MS 1998, MS 2016) and Ali Machado (MBA 1998) Steve (MSB 2006) and Elaine Musick, founders of Destiny Capital The Executive Advisory Board in Dean Chrite’s honor The Marcus Fund These awards assist the University of Denver in recruiting exceptional young faculty, thereby assuring the long-term academic vitality of both DU and the Daniels College of Business. Increasing the number of fellowships, professorships and endowed chairs remains a critical priority for Daniels.

building our

FACULTY RESEARCH

TALENT POOL

CORE PRIORITY #3

As

Bar

techno and us

MS,

Shahram Amini Assistant Professor, Finance

Ana Babic Rosario Assistant Professor, Marketing

Amini’s research areas include product market structure and managerial incentives, corporate actions and subsequent market reaction, IPO markets, market efficiency and financial econometrics.

Babic Rosario’s research centers on technology-mediated consumption practices such as electronic word-of-mouth and online social interaction. She is interested in ways to maximize the effectiveness of social media monitoring and investment strategies, such that they improve firm performance.

PhD, Finance, Virginia Tech PhD, Economics, Virginia Tech BSc, Electrical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Iran

PhD, Marketing, HEC Paris, France MBA, Marketing, Zagreb School of Economics and Management, Croatia BA, Economics and Management, Zagreb School of Economics and Management, Croatia

Valerie Bartelt ssistant Professor, Business Information and Analytics

Doina Chichernea Associate Professor, Finance

rtelt’s research interests primarily involve social behaviors and decision-making using information communication ologies, information communication technology adoption se, and health information technology adoption and use.

Chichernea’s research interests are in the area of empirical asset pricing, with a focus on providing insight into various sources of risk that generate patterns in returns.

PhD, Information Systems, Indiana University MS, Business, Indiana University , Immersive Mediated Environments, Indiana University BS, Music, Wheaton College

Conrad Ciccotello Director and Professor, Finance Ciccotello’s primary research interests are in law and finance, with an emphasis in financial intermediation and services.

PhD, Finance, Pennsylvania State University JD, Law, Suffolk University, honors MBA, Business, St. Mary’s University BS, Materials Engineering, Lehigh University, highest honors

PhD, Finance, University of Cincinnati MBA, Finance, University of Toledo BBA, Finance, Academy of Economic Studies, Romania

Tianjie Deng Assistant Professor, Business Information and Analytics Deng is conducting research to apply data mining techniques to derive process models and theories from event streams.

PhD, Computer Information Systems, Georgia State University MS, Human Computer Interaction, Georgia Institute of Technology BS, Software Engineering, Nanjing University, China DANIELS COLLEGE OF BUSINESS | DEAN’S REPORT | 13

Andrew Detzel Assistant Professor, Finance

Kelsey Dworkis Assistant Professor, Accountancy

Ryan Elmore Assistant Professor, Business Informa and Analytics

Detzel researches investment performance as well as the economics that determine the rates of return on financial assets, including fixed income.

Dworkis’ research interest is in managerial accounting and behavioral decision-making.

Elmore’s research interests include stat in sports, nonparametric statistical meth and energy efficient high-performance computing.

PhD, Finance, University of Washington

Eric Holt Assistant Professor, Real Estate and Construction Management Holt’s research focuses on the homebuilding industry; software and technology used to build homes and workforce development for the construction industry.

PhD, Construction Management, Purdue University MS, Construction Management, Purdue University BS, Building Construction Technology, Purdue University

Zlatana Nenova Assistant Professor, Business Information and Analytics Nenova’s primary interests are in the areas of operations management, data mining and health care analytics.

PhD, Business Analytics and Operations, University of Pittsburgh MA, Applied Statistics, University of Pittsburgh BS, Mathematics and Accounting, Guilford College 14 | DEAN’S REPORT | DANIELS COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

PhD, University of Southern California BSBA, University of Kansas

PhD, Statistics, The Pennsylvania State University MS, Statistics, Miami University BS, Mathematics, Morehead State University

Sung Soo Kim Assistant Professor, Management Kim’s research focus is in values-based management, leadership and employee engagement.

PhD, Management, McGill University, Canada MA, Education, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities BS, Biology Education, Seoul National University

Andrew Schnackenberg Assistant Professor, Management Schnackenberg’s research interests include examining the firm’s information sharing tactics on outcomes such as stakeholder perceptions of organizational trustworthiness, legitimacy, reputation and credibility using concepts such as transparency, symbolism and rhetoric.

PhD, Management, Case Western Reserve University MBA, University of Adelaide, Australia BS, International Business University of Nevada, Las Vegas

ation

tistics hods e

Rosanna Garcia Walter Koch Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship Associate Professor, Marketing

Anthony Holder Associate Professor, Accountancy Holder’s research interests include work in financial reporting, accounting standard setting, compensation, managerial incentives and earnings management, governance and ethics.

Garcia’s recent research and teaching focuses on sustainable innovations and the role of trust in sharing communities that evolve in societies driven by the benefits of co-sharing of assets, and on the introduction of ‘resistant’ innovations to a reluctant marketplace.

PhD, Accountancy, University of Cincinnati MA, Accountancy, Wright State University BA, Accountancy, Park University CPA

PhD, Marketing, Michigan State University MBA, University of Rochester BS, Chemical Engineering and BA, Business Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara

Drew Mueller Assistant Professor, Real Estate and Construction Management Mueller is primarily interested in regenerative development, which focuses on social justice and environmental sustainability in the built environment.

Gia Nardini Assistant Professor, Marketing Nardini’s research focuses on consumer behavior in the domains of consumption experiences and decision-making.

PhD, Economics, Colorado State University MA, Economics, Colorado State University MS, Real Estate and Construction Management, University of Denver BBA, Finance and Environmental Studies, Emory University

Craig Wallace Department Chair and Professor, Management Wallace is primarily interested in predicting and explaining facets of performance and effectiveness by integrating individual-level theories of personality, motivation and emotion with higher-level organizational constructs such as leadership and climate.

PhD, Industrial Organizational Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology MA, Industrial Organizational Psychology, University of West Florida BS, Psychology, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

PhD, Marketing, University of Florida BS, Marketing, University of Florida

Nathan Waddoups Assistant Professor, Accountancy Waddoups’ research focuses on how management controls such as feedback and financial incentives influence employee behavior.

PhD, University of South Carolina MAcc, Brigham Young University BS, Brigham Young University DANIELS COLLEGE OF BUSINESS | DEAN’S REPORT | 15

CORE PRIORITY #4

CURRICULAR INNOVATION UNDERGRADUATE PROFESSIONAL

Development Program MASTER’S IN

Management With the guidance of new Management Department Chair Craig Wallace, Daniels introduced a reimagined Master of Science in Management (MSM) in 2018. The MSM takes a deep, experiential dive into leadership, starting with an initial four-day trek into the Colorado wilderness. The hiking experience lays the foundation for the year ahead, as students learn how to be leaders of self, leaders of teams and leaders of organizations.

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Recognizing that the marketplace for entrylevel business jobs is highly competitive, Daniels launched its Undergraduate Professional Development Program in fall 2017 to prepare undergraduate students for the job search and interview process following graduation.

The program, developed by the Offices of Undergraduate Programs and Career Services, is now a required component of the Daniels undergraduate Core Curriculum.

Designed to teach students the skills necessary to succeed as young professionals, the program includes workshops that range from interview preparation and salary negotiation to dining etiquette and networking. It also offers students opportunities to polish their cover letters and résumés, attend a career fair and participate in mock job interviews.

While substantial en several are notewort

Executive PHD Daniels’ AACSB-accredited Executive PhD program launched in fall 2018, providing students an opportunity to develop rigorous applied research skills necessary to address the complex problems facing business today.

The program’s three-year blended format allows students to earn a doctorate while continuing their full-time careers. The University of Denver is only the third university in the nation to offer a PhD program through an executive format.

“We know there are business leaders who aspire to earn a PhD in order to enhance their skill sets, however, the rigidity of a traditional program in business makes it impossible for them to pursue a PhD without leaving the workforce,” said Lisa Victoravich, associate dean and program director. “The Daniels Executive PhD bridges the gap between academia and industry, enabling business leaders to make evidence-based decisions by conducting research.”

nhancements have been made to every program at Daniels since Dean Chrite’s arrival, thy as they are either completely new or significantly revamped.

MBA@DENVER

Launched in January 2018, the MBA@Denver is Daniels’ online MBA, designed to accommodate professionals who need the flexibility to continue working while pursuing an MBA. On average, students are 36 years old with 10+ years of professional full-time work experience. With a variety of backgrounds, MBA@Denver students are entrepreneurs, CEOs, COOs, senior managers, middle managers, and service members and veterans.

Most students live within 300 miles of Denver, with roughly 30 percent residing in other states. Nearly 220 students are currently enrolled in the program.

The MBA@Denver program offers three tracks: a general MBA, a finance concentration and a marketing concentration. Students focus on core business challenges designed to help them become indispensable to their organizations and develop the leadership skills needed for career acceleration. Students and faculty meet weekly in live, online classes via the 2U technology platform in an intimate seminar-style setting. In between live class sessions, students study interactive course content created by Daniels’ faculty.

Additionally, students meet for immersive, in-person classes where they develop leadership skills, participate in action-learning activities, and network with peers, corporate partners, entrepreneurs and faculty members.

The experience includes a visit to DU’s campus, New York, Austin, Italy, South Africa and other locations.

THE DENVER MBA

Students in the Denver MBA (full-time) take part in experiential curriculum, designed to provide them the skills—and opportunities to practice those skills— that employers want most. Instead of completing a series of traditional courses to complete a degree, Denver MBA students compete in four challenges, including building a startup, supporting an organization working for the social good, solving a corporate problem and traveling outside the U.S. to work across cultures.

Each challenge is in a real-world environment. The student teams are competitive, because research shows teams function best in a “tournament” environment. Just like in the real world, there are winners and losers. Each challenge offers a chance to work with a new team.

The model is powered by a personal growth agenda combining career services, academic advising and executive coaching. A key component is one-on-one professional development and leadership coaching by licensed, practicing executive coaches. Going into each challenge, students have integrated personal growth and career pathway plans—developed with a coach and a career advisor—to gain the skills and competencies their résumé needs. At the end of each challenge, students’ progress is assessed by a personal coach, peers and others via a 360 review, which informs a new plan for the next challenge.

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CORE PRIORITY #4

Innovation for the

NEW AGE

ENTREPRENEURSHIP Less than two years ago, the Entrepreneurship Program at Daniels served only 37 students who primarily took research courses and read case studies. Now, the program boasts 157 students enrolled in an entrepreneurship minor, and anticipates 250 students by fall 2019. These students are launching their own businesses, competing for investment dollars, receiving invites to international incubators and earning solid profits.

Under the leadership of Entrepreneurship Director Stephen Haag, Daniels launched the entrepreneurship minor in 2017, and developed innovative collaborations with units across campus, new competitions and funding opportunities for young entrepreneurs, and partnerships with some of Denver’s underrepresented populations seeking to participate in the city’s vibrant economy.

One-day workshops—called “Grinds”—are sandwiched between the first and final courses of the entrepreneurship minor. These workshops are offered on Saturdays and are taught by entrepreneurs and experts who Haag personally recruits. Students enrolled in the minor must take 12 of the 30 grinds, and they don’t have to interrupt the rest of their weekday course load to take them.

Compass Project In conjunction with the Entrepreneurship program, all first-year Daniels students are required to take the “Gateway to Business” course, which focuses on how to launch a business and requires students to split into teams to design a mobile app. Following this experience, students can participate in the Madden Challenge to compete for a chance to present their final product to a panel of investors.

In 2016, the Madden Challenge opened up to include Denverarea high school students—as part of something called the Compass Project—who compete on teams alongside Daniels students. The high school students receive a MacBook Air and all necessary software to participate in the Madden Challenge, as well 20 hours of instruction and mentoring from Daniels students.

“High school students participating in the Compass Project and the Madden Challenge are able to master their tech skills in a live, competition environment,” said Entrepreneurship Director Stephen Haag.

“While it enables students to build a portfolio of projects and showcase their marketable skills, this program is much more. We find that our students end up with teamwork, presentation and communication skills, that better prepares them for careers.”

Daniel’s Dean’s Circle Event, 2015

Executive Summit in the Rockies, 2015

Undergraduate Mocktail Hour with Alumni, 2018

Daniels Annual Snow Ball, 2018

Kendra Scott Alumnae Event, 2017

Alumni Event with DU Hockey Coach Jim Montgomery, 2018

AlumniNETWORK

Over the last five years, Daniels alumni have increased their engagement with the College philanthropically, physically and virtually. This is the result of meaningful programming and interaction with University Advancement and Alumni Engagement staff. Several key programs resonate deeply with Daniels alumni—including Snow Ball, Voices of Experience and the LEAD Mentor program—enabling them to connect back with campus and pursue opportunities for lifelong learning. Several honors have been awarded to our alumni by departments on campus as well as by the Daniels Alumni Advisory Board. Three alumni committees—Student Development, Alumni Engagement and Ambassador/Membership— help our alumni population maintain strong ties to Daniels.

Alumni Engagement 2015 – Present 5,000*

2019 2018

4,700 4,559

2017 2016

4,408 4,037

2015 1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

*2019 ANTICIPATED NUMBER

DANIELS COLLEGE OF BUSINESS | DEAN’S REPORT | 19

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