MBA 2010-1
Learner Bulletin Nov 23rd, 2010 all links in blue
1. Welcome to your learner bulletin!: This is an informal update system designed by your cohort reps in cooperation with the MBA program office and our Dean, Pedro Marquez. Any questions about this bulletin should be directed to your Cohort Reps (contact info is at the bottom of this bulletin). 2. MBA 2010-1 Student Facebook group. We have started a Facebook group to support formal and informal communication across the streams and cohorts. If you have a Facebook account and would like to join, click here. 3. One Cohort, Three Rep Approach. Stu, Scott and Susan are communicating regularly and view Cohort A&B as one group in the context of our discussions and support. We hope that this perspective and approach will provide a more integrated and inclusive discussion especially given that members of both cohorts are now split into several learning streams. 4. France Residency Application due November 30th. More information and the application form can be found on Moodle under MBA resources. 5. Number of Residency 3 Exams. Some students reported finding conflicted information about the number of exams during Residency 3. The program office has confirmed that there is ONE exam in both locations (France and Victoria). 6. President’s Late Term Review. To assist in its review of President Allan Cahoon, the Review Committee invites all members of the University’s internal community—students, faculty, staff, and alumni—to share their perspectives on President Cahoon’s leadership with the Committee. Please submit your comments in confidence by December 3, 2010 to the Review Committee at boardofgovernors@royalroads.ca. Access to this confidential e-mail box is restricted. Anonymous submissions will be disregarded, so please identify yourself and your association with the University so that your input can be shared with the members of the Committee, all of whom have signed an oath of confidentiality. For the Review Committee’s Terms of Reference and other pertinent documents, please see MyRRU.
7. Student Emergency Funding. Susan has been looking into emergency funding options for learners. It has been a tough year for funding and there are no emergency funds left. Nevertheless it is important to know that RRU is committed to supporting students in every way possible. There are some In Course awards available for MBA students that could be applied for Feb 1 (competition to launch soon). More information on In-course Awards It is critical that anybody facing problems associated with paying their student account should contact Student Accounts. Any learner struggling to fund their degree should contact Rena and Financial Aid & Awards. 8. Corporate Finance Rewrite. A concern was raised about what would happen if some of our fellow learners did not pass Corporate Finance. The program office has confirmed they have discussed options with those learners who were not successful in passing BUSA 530. These learners will not be removed from the program but will have to take the revised finance course to complete the degree requirements. 9. BUSA 671 and 682 deliverables timing. Some students are concerned about the timing and workload of some assignments and on-line discussions on Dec 23 and 24. Being Christmas, there is the obvious conflict between family obligations and commitment to our degree. The Christmas break can be complicated for learners staff and faculty alike and everyone is doing the best they can to keep it as smooth as possible. Instructors have been notified to plan for a one-week break over the holiday season, and its up to each instructor to plan how to achieve that. 10. Convocation Update. On October 8th, Pedro visited the MBA students in the Leadership class, where many students shared there concern about not convocating on campus, and asked if more could be done. Since this time, Pedro has spoken with VP Academic Tom Chase, who led the committee in charge of convocation, where he shared our concerns. Our concern was addressed by the committee with the highest respect for the students. Pedro has clarified the details of the issue and proposed solutions which we have included here. Royal Roads University has decided to move its convocation ceremonies off campus. The reasons for this are entirely due to safety concerns for students, faculty and guests attending these events. We are all (students, faculty and University staff) in agreement that moving off campus is difficult to accept given the beauty of our campus and the emotional connection many of us have with it. Yet we also agree that compromising safety would be unacceptable. The safety concerns are regarding the tent used for the convocation ceremony. In the past, RRU has run the event in a large tent that is set up near the sea (by parking lot 3). With a growing student population the tent is no longer big enough to hold any more guests as it is already at maximum capacity according to fire regulations. Additionally, there have been safety concerns raised about having such a large tent set up near the sea (high wind potential). RRU currently uses the largest rental tent available in North America. The next size up is a circus tent that could cost $1M. At this point, this is not a tenable solution for the committee.
Pedro would like all students to know that he can now guarantee to the Cohort that the celebrations will be held at the Castle and grounds, immediately after the Convocation Ceremony at the Royal Theatre in downtown Victoria. 11. Questions, Concerns, Ideas? Please contact us anytime to get more information, express your concerns or to share your ideas on how we can continue to make our learning experience rich and rewarding.
Susan Wiens 403.598.1008 cell 403.347.7020 home susan.wiens1 skype
susan.wiens@royalroads.ca
Scott Dryden 604.807.9390 cell scott_dryden skype
Stuart Clark 604.346.5558 cell stu.clark skype
scott.dryden@royalroads.ca
stuart.clark@royalroads.ca