Dean's Report 2021

DEAN’S REPORT 2021

Isenberg School of Management

From the Dean Dear Friends,

I’m pleased to share this report with you as we work to move forward from the past year and a half of disruption. We have missed being together with students in our classrooms, rich conversations in the Business Innovation Hub, in-person speakers, and fun community events in Amherst, Boston, and beyond!

Although we grieve for what was lost, we are excited to be back together. Our months apart were not wasted, and I’m confident Isenberg will be better than ever. Our talented faculty and staff deftly adapted to remote working and teaching in the spring of 2020.

We drew on Isenberg’s long experience offering the acclaimed Online MBA program to ensure that all instructors had the tools they needed to support our students. Best practices and lessons learned are being carried forward, making us better than we were in spring of 2020. And although we very much missed sending our 2020 and 2021 bachelor’s graduates off with an in-person Isenberg Senior Celebration, we feel confident that they entered the workforce fully prepared to deal with challenges ranging from tricky spreadsheet formulas to massive market disruptions like the one we’ve been facing.

Our exceptional students go on to make big waves in their industries, and their success shines on us all.

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A L UMNI C OMMUNI T Y

Anne P. Massey DEAN AND THOMAS O’BRIEN ENDOWED CHAIR

B UIL DING R E P U TAT ION A ND P UR S UING G O A L S

Our exceptional students go on to make big waves in their industries, and their success shines on us all. I hope you enjoy learning more about what we’re doing to keep Isenberg at the top of their list of educational options, and, once they join our community, to prepare, encourage, and support them!

C R E AT ING G L OB A L CI T IZ E N S A ND INC L U SI V E L E A DE R S

The people who choose to attend Isenberg as undergraduates, master’s students, or doctoral candidates are ambitious, hard-working, creative individuals—you’ll read in this report about a few of them, including recent graduate Alannah Scardino, who served as Amherst Fire Department Student Force Deputy Chief while completing her degree. You’ll read about some groundbreaking alumni, including Greg Carvel, coach of the NCAA Championship UMass Amherst Hockey Team, who completed his MS in sport management in 1998.

AT T R A C T ING E X C E P T ION A L S T UDE N T S

In this report, you’ll read more about each of these priorities—what each involves, how we’re making them happen, and what plans we have to do even more over the coming year.

S U S TA INING FA C ULT Y E XC E L L E NC E

Enabling Career Success Inspiring Innovation in Teaching and Learning Sustaining Faculty Excellence Attracting Exceptional Students Creating Global Citizens and Inclusive Leaders

IN S P IR ING INNO VAT ION IN T E A C HING A ND L E A R NING

Throughout it all, we have not lost sight of the five priority areas we identified early in my tenure as dean. Our intent is clear—we’ll continue to advance Isenberg’s position among top business schools.

These focal priorities, individually and collectively, create opportunities for us to enhance our reputation among employers, recruiters, peer schools, prospective students and their families, and the general public:

E N A B L ING C A R E E R S U C C E S S

DE A N ’ S L E T T E R

DEAN’S REPORT 2021

ISENBERG PRIORITY

Enabling Success FromCareer the Dean To successfully launch our students as business professionals, we make certain they develop essential professional skills. Isenberg’s Office of Career Success, which houses Dear Friends, our Chase Career Center and Business Communication Program, offers resume guidance, interview prep, social media profilethis tips,report and works recruiters and I’m pleased to share withwith you as we alumni to organize educational workshops, events, and acareer work to move forwardnetworking from the past year and half fairs. of disruption. We have missed being together with students in our classrooms, rich conversations in the Business Innovation Hub, in-person speakers, and fun community events in Amherst, Boston, and beyond!

Finance Grad Helps Make Career Services Accessible 24/7

Although“Career we grieve for whatiswas we are excited planning notlost, just another service for to be back together. months apart were not mission students; it isOur central to higher education’s wasted, and confident Isenberg will be better than observes as a I’m source of economic and social mobility,” ever. OurDavid talented faculty and staff deftly finance adaptedgraduate to Kozhuk ’08.

The Isenberg is remote working teaching in the spring of 2020.

CEO andand founder of uConnect, based in Cambridge, We drewwhich on Isenberg’s longtoexperience offering the services is designed improve access to career acclaimedthrough Online its MBA program ensureplatform. that all virtual careertocenter instructors had the tools they needed to support our students.Kozhuk’s Best practices lessons learned are being initial and market survey a decade ago revealed carried forward, making us better than we were Students, in that career services were underutilized. he spring offound, 2020. And we veryengaged. much missed werealthough not sufficiently How do we turn sending our and he 2021 bachelor’s that2020 around? pondered.

“Asgraduates a studentoff at Isenberg, with an in-person Senior was Celebration, the ChaseIsenberg Career Center extremelywe valuable to me,” feel confident that they the workforce fully I made the he recalls.

“Butentered I was particularly motivated. preparedmost to deal ranging from tricky of with whatchallenges seemed like every career services resource, spreadsheet massivefits market disruptions andformulas not everytostudent that profile.” like the one we’ve been facing.

Engaging students in career services is the key to reversing resource underutilization, he emphasizes.

You have to make resources accessible 24/7. That, in turn, requires a virtual interface tailored to student priorities and their school’s identity and culture.

Career planning is not just another service for students; it is central to higher education’s mission as a source of economic and social mobility.

David Kozhuk ’08

Our exceptional students go on to make big waves in their industries, and their success $100K+ shines on us all.

Before launching uConnect, Kozhuk spent two-anda-half years researching his idea and its prospective market. That’s where advice from Chase Career Center’s Kim Figueroa made a difference. “As a graduate, I returned to Isenberg to recruit students,” he recalls. “Kim was a strong advocate of technology in tracking student and alumni progress. She was extremely supportive of my idea, especially through her take on my prototype and my market research.”

2020 TOTAL GIFT DONATIONS

in gifts to support new initiatives in the career and professional development space

Isenberg’s version of uConnect, renamed IConnect, is launching in fall 2021 to undergraduate and graduate students in on-campus and online programs. Plans for alumni to utilize the platform are also in the works and the Office of Career Success looks forward to being able to provide these valuable career resources and opportunities to the entire Isenberg community.

Visit the IConnect platform at success.isenberg.umass.edu.

These past four years have been transformative to my personal growth and professional character. Most of my accomplishments, I can confidently testify, can be credited to the guidance of the ambitious culture of Isenberg and the Chase Career Center.

As a freshman, I decided to go to the career fair with not a single idea how it worked or what to do, and it was such a great learning experience that by sophomore year I had gained so much confidence when speaking to recruiters.

I worked with Rachel from the Chase Career Center to optimize my resume, my elevator pitch, and my cover letter, which made me feel prepared going into the career fair.

Chase offered a range of workshops that helped me identify my strengths and feel confident while networking.

This program provided me with wonderful opportunities that helped me grow both personally and professionally.

The Chase Career Center is available to all students immediately upon entry into the school. In addition to offering assistance in mastering networking and interviews, Chase also helps with the technicalities of resumes and cover letters. This office has offered support even in my lowest times, when I had a tough time searching for an internship in the summer of 2018.

Isenberg gave me essential skills that helped me win first place in the 2019 Ethics Case Competition.

The Chase Career Center and staff were extremely resourceful and helped me gain confidence in my ability to speak during an interview. I met with an advisor via Zoom in order to review internship offer letters, along with asking general questions about how to accept offers. My career coach even introduced me to a previous student who had accepted an offer for the same role and I was able to connect with them later on!

BY THE NUMBERS UNDERGRAD CAREER OUTCOMES, BBA CLASS OF 2020

88%

$62,500

Placement rate

Average salary

MASTER’S DEGREE CAREER OUTCOMES FOR CLASS OF 2020

98%

$75,000

$131,388

Placement rate for MS Accounting majors

Average starting salary for MS Business Analytics grads

Average salary and signing bonus within three months of graduation for on-campus MBAs 3

A L UMNI C OMMUNI T Y

My primary goal during the program was to utilize all the resources around me efficiently and to make the most out of my time here, starting from talking to professors, tapping into the experiences my peers wanted to share, and taking advantage of all the career resources that are available to us through Isenberg.

B UIL DING R E P U TAT ION A ND P UR S UING G O A L S

Marketing, Spanish Minor Target Executive Intern

C R E AT ING G L OB A L CI T IZ E N S A ND INC L U SI V E L E A DE R S

Millena Ribeiro ’22

Operations and Information Management Financial Analyst, Dell Technologies

AT T R A C T ING E X C E P T ION A L S T UDE N T S

Spartacus Jean ’21

MS Business Analytics Financial Analyst, GlobalFoundries

S U S TA INING FA C ULT Y E XC E L L E NC E

Krishangee Gauree ’21

IN S P IR ING INNO VAT ION IN T E A C HING A ND L E A R NING

STUDENT CAREER SUCCESS STORIES

E N A BL B L ING C A R E E R S U C C E S S

DE A N ’ S L E T T E R

DEAN’S REPORT 2021

ISENBERG PRIORITY

From the Dean

Inspiring Innovation in Teaching and Learning Dear Friends,

I’m pleased to share this report with you as we

work to move forward from the past year and a half of disruption. We have missed being together with students in our classrooms, rich conversations in the Business Innovation Hub, in-person speakers, and fun community events Amherst, Boston, and beyond!

Both the content of our educational offerings andinthe modes through which we deliver them must always be innovative. Because of this, we must upskill our faculty Although we grievecurrent. for what was lost, we are excited and staff and keep our technology infrastructure to be back together. Our months apart were not wasted, and I’m confident Isenberg will be better than ever. Our talented faculty and staff deftly adapted to remote working and teaching in the spring of 2020.

We drew on Isenberg’s longhas experience offering theon innovation, In a year defined by the Covid-19 pandemic, Isenberg moved the needle acclaimed Online MBA program ensure that all analytics strengthening career and professional development services,to program flexibility, instructors had the they needed to support our curriculum, and improved virtual interactivity fortools graduate students. students. Best practices and lessons learned are being carried forward, making us better ONLINE than weINTERACTIVITY were in IMPROVING THE PATH TO AN ONLINE MBA AND ENGAGEMENT IN TWO YEARS spring of 2020. And although we very much missed sendingisour 2020 andAs 2021 off became thebachelor’s realities ofgraduates the pandemic The Isenberg Online MBA program with anfeedback in-person Isenberg Senior Celebration, we students clearer, faculty began offering known for its flexibility, so student feel through confident that they enteredonline the workforce fullymeetings, optional synchronous saying they would like to move the to deal challenges ranging from a bid to help them feeltricky more connected. program more quickly led toprepared the launch of with in spreadsheet to massive disruptions weremarket so successful that starting several initiatives to help them finish in asformulas These one we’ve been thisfacing. fall, faculty teaching online courses little as two years instead oflike thethe typical will be offering these virtual office hours three- or four-year plan. and gatherings, and/or optional virtual class sessions.

Innovating and Adapting Graduate Programs

Our exceptional DIGITAL TEACHING FELLOWS students go on to make big waves in their industries, and their success shines on us all.

The Isenberg Digital Teaching Fellows program was launched in spring 2020 to recognize faculty whose creative and effective use of educational technologies in course design and delivery have helped improve all types of courses, whether delivered face-to-face, online, or in a hybrid combination.

During the fellowship, they are responsible for sharing best practices with the full faculty, to enhance the school’s instructional quality across departments, programs, and teaching levels. After a successful first year, the new class of fellows was announced for the upcoming academic year.

2021-2022 DIGITAL TEACHING FELLOWS

Melissa Baker, HTM 2nd-year fellow

Carey Baldwin, OIM

Kerri Bohonowicz, Accounting

Matt Glennon, Marketing

Shirley Schmerling, OIM 2nd-year fellow

These fellowships are made possible by unrestricted gifts to the Dean’s Fund for Excellence.

Dean Massey

At the end of the semester when it came time to renew the license, Thomas asked the students what they thought about using the 3D space going forward. Their answer: Using the platform to support remote work was great and it exposed them to what some companies are also exploring, but they were looking forward to being back together in-person.

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The fellows had workshops, they had brown-bag lunches, they used Zoom, they coached people, they surfaced new best practices, they shared ideas … they even wrote a few research papers that have been published.

They were phenomenal.

Student clubs used the platform for their meetings—they could mill about and see one another by engaging with 3D virtual spaces on desktops or via virtual reality headsets. Users can design their own avatars and have them write on digital whiteboards, interact with digital 3D objects, or work on Microsoft documents along with others. The platform also has a variety of recreation areas. The students described it as being very similar to a video game.

B UIL DING R E P U TAT ION A ND P UR S UING G O A L S

Many of the strategies the first class of fellows introduced, along with others that emerged over the past year, have made Isenberg a better business school:

Dean Massey encouraged Gregory Thomas, Berthiaume’s executive director, to explore using 3D virtual workspaces to help replace the in-person opportunities. A small group of undergraduate and MBA students evaluated various platforms and ultimately selected Virbela as their favorite.

C R E AT ING G L OB A L CI T IZ E N S A ND INC L U SI V E L E A DE R S

Last year, the Master of Science in Accounting program established a new track to support people interested in switching to a career in accounting. The MS in Accounting Transitions Track is designed specifically for students with non-accounting backgrounds. This curriculum begins with foundational courses that prepare students for the advanced accounting concepts introduced later in the program.

AT T R A C T ING E X C E P T ION A L S T UDE N T S

CAREER SWITCHERS FLOCK TO NEW MS IN ACCOUNTING TRANSITIONS TRACK

Over the past year, the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship at Isenberg has dipped a toe in the 3D virtual reality world. Prepandemic, students interested in entrepreneurship and innovation regularly collaborated on ideas or had chance collisions when working in the Berthiaume Center’s Incubator Space, an area open 24/7 and equipped with reconfigurable tables, whiteboards, screens, study nooks, and light snacks.

Covid-19 put a sudden halt to these activities.

S U S TA INING FA C ULT Y E XC E L L E NC E

“You don’t need an analytics background walking in, but we’ll make sure you have top-notch skills and knowledge walking out,” says Traci Hess, associate dean of graduate programs.

Using VR to Encourage Entrepreneurial Connections

IN S P IR ING INNO VAT ION IN T E A C HING A ND L E A R NING

As employers continue to seek advanced analytics skills in their employees and new hires, Isenberg’s specialized master’s programs have added new analytics courses. Two new courses will be added to the MS in Business Analytics (MSBA) program this year. In Mobile App Strategy and Development, students will design and develop a market-ready mobile app. In Data Science for Business, students will use Python, a coding language used for extracting information from business data, and cutting-edge data science techniques to foster data-driven decision-making and drive business insight and innovation. A new Python course and a Data Science for Finance course have been added to the Master of Finance in Alternative Investments.

E N A B L ING C A R E E R S U C C E S S

NEW ANALYTICS COURSE OFFERINGS

DE A N ’ S L E T T E R

DEAN’S REPORT 2021

ISENBERG PRIORITY

Sustaining Faculty Excellence

From the Dean

The foundation of any great business school is its faculty, and we consider ours to be our greatest asset.

IN DEAN MASSEY’S WORDS:

Dear Friends,

“It’s becoming more and more difficult to attract and retain faculty, so I’m always thinking I’m pleased to share this report with you as we about, how can we make this a goodwork placetofor prospective faculty?

Andyear then, move forward from the past andwhen a half we get of disruption.

We have missed being together with them, how do we keep them? And how do we support them in their research efforts, students in our classrooms, rich conversations in the and how do we support them becoming better teachers?”

Business Innovation Hub, in-person speakers, and fun community events in Amherst, Boston, and beyond!

Accounting Research at Isenberg Secures National Status Although we grieve for what was lost, we are excited “Most weapart combine from to be back together.

Our often, months weretheories not An April survey by Brigham Young University psychology and economics in exploring wasted, and I’m confident Isenberg will be better than ranked Isenberg among elite accounting about practitioners Our talentedquestions faculty and staffhow deftly adapted to form programs for its research into theever. role of judgjudgments business. I’ve working and teachingininaccounting the spring and of 2020. ment and decision making (JDM) remote in accounting also seen accounting researchers draw We drew on Isenberg’s longJDM experience offering the practice. In the survey, Isenberg ranked #2 in on other disciplines, including evolutionary acclaimed Online MBA program to ensure that all the nation for research involving auditor JDM and needed neuroscience.” instructors tools they to support our and #5 in financial accounting JDM. Isenberghad thebiology students. also ranked #5 for JDM research across all Best practices and lessons learned are being Pierceyus adds thatthan Isenberg has been focused carried forward, making better we were in accounting topics. The rankings were based on although recruitingwe talented new missed faculty from top spring of 2020. And very much on faculty publications over the last decade over the pastoff decade. sending our 2020 doctoral and 2021programs bachelor’s graduates through 2020 in the top six accounting joura cohesive team;we our faculty are an in-person“We’ve Isenbergbuilt Senior Celebration, nals, as identified by The Financialwith Times. thought Most of our students feel confident thatnational they entered theleaders. workforce fully go into auditingranging and financial reporting prepared to deal with challenges from tricky “JDM research, which studies individual careers.

That’s after receiving a world-class to massive market disruptions judgment and decision making byspreadsheet stakehold- formulas from some of the top researchers in likeour thefield’s one we’veeducation been facing. ers in accounting settings, is one of judgment and decision making. In our gradutwo dominant research methods,” notes ates’ careers, that can make a difference!”

David Piercey, chair of Isenberg’s Department of Accounting. It is also interdisciplinary.

Students Recognize Beloved Faculty These faculty members are recognized by their students for the effectiveness and creativity of their instruction, as well as the impact they have, their mastery of their subject and scholarship, and their engagement in activities that improve the teaching experience.

Our exceptional students go on to make big waves in their industries, and their success shines on us all.

COLLEGE OUTSTANDING TEACHING AWARDS

Emily Heaphy, Management

TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARDS Nora Junaid, OIM

“She is one of the most dedicated and caring professors I’ve had the honor of learning from and working with. Her willingness to spend time personally supporting each of her students and continuously striving to improve their online learning experience demonstrate her passion for her students, TAs, and OIM. We’re so grateful for her!”

David Piercey, Accounting

“He made it feel like we were always involved even if it wasn’t live,” and “the asynchronous lecture videos were maybe the best supplemental material I had in any class.”

“I went into this course expecting minimal value, as HR is not a particular topic of interest to me.

Professor Heaphy managed, very effectively, to make the topic interesting and enjoyable; better, she made it relevant across disciplines keeping it in the spirit of an integrated practicum.”

Emily Must, Sport Management “It’s difficult to express the impact Dr. Must has had on my academic career because her kindness and generosity know no bounds.

She constantly inspires me to be a mentor to others, and she truly deserves to be recognized for all of the incredible work she has done for me and students throughout McCormack.”

Read more at isenberg.umass.edu/research.

Anna Nagurney Named Eugene M. Isenberg Chair in Integrative Studies HTM Professor Honored with Prestigious Research Award Albert Assaf, a professor in Isenberg’s Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM), is this year’s recipient of the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education (ICHRIE) Lifetime Research Achievement Award, which recognizes an ICHRIE member for lifetime leadership and contributions to scholarship and research in hospitality and non-hospitality journals.

Assaf’s wide-ranging research has appeared in the European Journal of Operational Research, Journal of Banking and Finance, Transportation Research part B, Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research, Annals of Tourism Research, International Journal of Hospitality Management, and Journal of International Marketing, among others. He is the editor of Tourism Economics and associate editor of three other journals. Assaf was recently named the Hadelman Family Faculty Fellow.

Anna Nagurney’s international reputation for research in the applied and theoretical aspects of network systems—particularly in the areas of transportation and logistics, critical infrastructure, and in economics and finance—has been built through nonstop publication of journal articles and books, frequent public keynote speeches at international conferences, and enthusiastic outreach to the public through interviews with journalists. Because of that reputation, along with her love of teaching and mentoring students, the university’s board of trustees voted in April to name Nagurney the Eugene M. Isenberg Chair in Integrative Studies.

“There is tremendous synergy to collaborations across schools and colleges at UMass Amherst,” Nagurney says. “The different intellectual perspectives, methodologies, and applications make exciting, novel advances possible, through the research of involved students and faculty, with gains also for education and practice.”

Endowed professorships and named faculty fellowship positions are funded by alumni, donors, and friends of the school and enhance Isenberg’s ability to attract and retain faculty members working on the cutting edge of business research.

Their success leads to recognition from peers and a reputation boost among potential students as well as the executives and hiring managers looking to recruit Isenberg graduates.

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Judgment and Decision-Making in Auditing, Accounting

How Brand Speech and Image Drive Consumer Social Media Sharing, Marketing

B UIL DING R E P U TAT ION A ND P UR S UING G O A L S

Sport Fans and Rivalries, Sport Management

Pandemic Impacts and Coping Strategies, Hospitality and Tourism Management

C R E AT ING G L OB A L CI T IZ E N S A ND INC L U SI V E L E A DE R S

Inclusive Leadership in the Workplace, Management

Risk in Commodity Markets, Finance

AT T R A C T ING E X C E P T ION A L S T UDE N T S

Pandemic Effect on Supply Chain Management, Operations and Information Management

S U S TA INING FA C ULT Y E XC E L L E NC E

Research at Isenberg makes an impact on the business world and society and advances knowledge in seven academic disciplines. Isenberg School faculty members are consistently recognized in national journals and in the media. Most recently our faculty have been focusing on:

IN S P IR ING INNO VAT ION IN T E A C HING A ND L E A R NING

FACULTY RESEARCH

E N A B L ING C A R E E R S U C C E S S

DE A N ’ S L E T T E R

DEAN’S REPORT 2021

ISENBERG PRIORITY

From the Dean Attracting Exceptional Students Dear Friends, Increasing accessibility and affordability is a top priority in building a diverse and talented student body at Isenberg.

IN DEAN MASSEY’S WORDS:

I’m pleased to share this report with you as we work to move forward from the past year and a half of disruption. We have missed being together with students in our classrooms, rich conversations in the Business Innovation Hub, in-person speakers, and fun community events in Amherst, Boston, and beyond!

“It means more than those with the top GPAs. It also means achieving diversity and attracting students with a commitment Although we grieve for what was lost, we are excited to be back together. Our months apart were not to bettering their communities.”

wasted, and I’m confident Isenberg will be better than ever. Our talented faculty and staff deftly adapted to remote working and teaching in the spring of 2020.

We drew on Isenberg’s long experience offering the acclaimed Online MBA program to ensure that all instructors had the tools they needed to support our students. Best practices and lessons learned are being women,making especially through their us better than weSport were Management in “Sports is a fantastic way to achieve social carried forward, courseAnd devoted to women in much the field.

I connected spring of 2020. although we very missed change,” observes newly graduated sport managewith many of2021 its speakers, its discussions, and my sending our 2020 and bachelor’s graduates off ment major Alannah Scardino ’21, who is spending fellow students. was a semester of self-discovery.

IsenbergIt Senior Celebration, we the summer as a VISTA cohort leader with Newwith an in-person York City–based Up2Us Sports. Scardino helps feel confident that they entered the workforce fully always intoranging the uncomfortable,” prepared “I’ve to deal with leaned challenges from tricky states service providers in sports-based youth development Scardino.

“Intomy freshman yeardisruptions I joined the universiformulas massive market programs with leadership, planning, teamwork,spreadsheet and ty’swe’ve volunteer Affiliated with Amherst’s like the one beenfirefighters.” facing. other skills. “My role is less training, more one-onFire Department, the group operates its own engine one support,” she explains. and conducts much of its own training. “It was really hard; you had to use your body and your brain “My five-year goal,” Scardino continues, “is to launch together,” Scardino recalls. “I also developed as a my own initiative, which I’m calling Rising Phoenix leader progressing to lieutenant and deputy chief.”

Enterprise Sports Program. It will serve girls in the And she excelled as a role model for women: When juvenile justice system. I’m building a team-based Scardino joined up as a freshman, one other woman curriculum that will foster growth and learning.” was on the force. The latest recruiting group comprises five women and five men.

As a sport management undergrad, Scardino’s top mentors were three professors—Matt Katz, Nicole Why is sports an exceptional catalyst for positive Melton, and Nefertiti Walker. “Matt recruited me social change? “For young people, it builds conin high school. I took three of his courses, including fidence and self-esteem,” Scardino emphasizes.

Sociology of Sport. I learned a great deal about “It’s so satisfying to make something of yourself networks and networking from him—in both theory through grit and hard work. You develop skills and and practice in my own career. Nicole and Nef furan understanding of your capabilities. And you learn ther opened my mind to leadership opportunities for the value of teamwork and community. Sports has always brought me personal growth and joy. I want others to experience those positives.”

Isenberg Student Works for Social Change

BY THE NUMBERS SCHOLARSHIP GROWTH IN 2020

Our exceptional students go on to make big waves in their industries, and their success shines on us all.

$715K+

30%

in scholarship funds awarded

increase in scholarship support

25%

increase in the number of awards

PITCH CONFERENCE FINDS VIRTUAL SUCCESS IN ITS FIFTH YEAR Launched in 2016, the Isenberg Pitch Conference grew from a student initiative to build relationships and networks, and expand business acumen in the field of finance. This year’s student committee represented members from Isenberg’s Investment Club, Finance Society, Smart Woman Securities, and Minutemen Investment Funds.

The purpose of the competition is to promote student research on the current standings of stocks and present their investments in a way that would make real investors feel that they would be making a sturdy financial decision.

This year’s entirely online event on April 8 expanded the geographical reach of its previous, nonvirtual forerunners. Among this year’s eleven competing teams, first-time entries from McGill, the University of

Wisconsin, the University of Colorado, and the University of Georgia joined returning competition from Isenberg, Harvard, Babson, Penn State, and other schools.

“The competition is just as much a networking and recruiting opportunity,” states Robert Feingold, the faculty advisor. In previous years, it took place in Boston to maximize networking and attendance by talent acquisition teams from investment firms. This year’s competition also attracted employers—via Zoom.

Feingold says that after the event, a number of Isenberg students were personally invited by employers to apply for internships next summer.

Mariceli Mota ’20 Accounting Forensic & Integrity Services Staff, EY

The competition is made possible by the Rupinder Sidhu Faculty Fellowship.

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“As someone who wasn’t exposed to these topics until my junior and senior year of high school, this experience has solidified for me the necessity of engaging with students at all levels and exposing them to the vast realm of finance,” she adds.

Every day I am so grateful I chose to attend UMass Amherst and Isenberg. I received scholarships from UMass Amherst, EY, and the Public Oversight Accounting Board.

Without them I most likely wouldn’t have been able to pursue my goals.

The Association of Latino Professionals for America played a large role in my undergraduate experience. With them I was able to connect with students across campus with similar cultures and backgrounds.

It helped cultivate a sense of home for me on campus.

B UIL DING R E P U TAT ION A ND P UR S UING G O A L S

More than 50 middle school and high school students participated in the program both the first year and again during the spring semester of 2021, with most coming from the Amherst public school system,

“Despite being virtual, these classes were very useful to the students,” Varney says. “They were also very rewarding experiences for our members to give back to the community, educate young students on topics we are knowledgeable and passionate about, and home in on our teaching and presentation skills.

C R E AT ING G L OB A L CI T IZ E N S A ND INC L U SI V E L E A DE R S

“I put the curriculum together referencing the topics I wish I had known when I was in middle school,” says Abigail Varney ’22, who spearheaded the project as president of SWS.

and Varney says about half of the students were girls.

AT T R A C T ING E XC X C E P T ION A L S T UDE N T S

When the Covid-19 pandemic started during the spring of 2020, members of the UMass Amherst chapter of the Smart Woman Securities (SWS) organization, which focuses on women in the finance industry, decided to put together an online curriculum for community public school students called “Making Cents of Finance.”

S U S TA INING FA C ULT Y E XC E L L E NC E

Student Group Offers Finance Insights to Local Teens

IN S P IR ING INNO VAT ION IN T E A C HING A ND L E A R NING

E N A B L ING C A R E E R S U C C E S S

DE A N ’ S L E T T E R

DEAN’S REPORT 2021

ISENBERG PRIORITY

Creating GlobalFrom Citizens the Dean and Inclusive Leaders Dear Friends,

I’m pleased to share this report with you as we For graduates to succeed and ultimately lead in our increasingly diverse and global business world, work to move forward fromand theimmersive past year and a half they must have a broad range of intercultural experiences, international opportunities, disruption.

Wetohave missedan being together with experiences. Like the companies that hire our graduates, weofare committed advancing inclusive studentsand in our classrooms, rich conversations in the community at Isenberg and creating a better learning environment workplace.

Business Innovation Hub, in-person speakers, and fun community events in Amherst, Boston, and beyond!

New Curriculum Brings New Perspectives

Although we grieve for what was lost, we are excited back together.

Our months were not During the spring of 2021, two courses were launchedtoinbe support of Isenberg’s effort toapart present wasted, and I’m confident willinbe better than more inclusive perspectives to students. One class focuses on diversity and inclusionIsenberg in business Our talented faculty and staff deftly a broad sense, and the other zeroes in on issues relevantever. to women in the sport industry.

Both are adapted to working and teaching thebusiness spring of 2020. supported by active alumni who are invested in ensuringremote that Isenberg students go intointhe We drew oninclusion Isenberg’s experience offering the world with a solid understanding of the importance of diversity and in long the workplace. acclaimed Online MBA program to ensure that all instructors had the tools they needed to support our The examination of diversity and to succeed at the highest levels of this INTRO TO D&I IN BUSINESS students.

Best practices andindustry,” lessons learned are being Nicole inclusiveness was broad and deep.

Associate Professor Two years in the making, Introduction carried forward, making us better than we were in to inject that “It wasn’t just about race, gender, Melton says. “Who better to Diversity and Inclusiveness in Business and social status,” emphasizes Danielle insight on what it takes to succeed than spring of 2020.

And although we very much missed attracted fifty students from all seven Major, an operations andour information women currentlyoff dictating Isenberg majors, and was the brainchild sending 2020 and 2021leading bachelor’s graduates management major. “We devoted time, positive change in the industry?” and passion of three Isenberg educators with an in-person Isenberg Senior Celebration, we for example, to physical and mental who also taught the course: Sport The course came about through faculty feel confident that they entered the workforce fully disabilities, considering how companies Management Professors Nicole Melton and alumni engagement. “We feel prepared to deal with challenges ranging from tricky might become more accessible.” and Nefertiti Walker (also the Amherst the time is right to launch this new spreadsheet formulas to massive market disruptions campus’s vice chancellor for diversity, initiative, especially given the support WOMEN IN SPORT BUSINESS equity, and inclusion and chief diversity like the one we’ve been facing. and encouragement of some of our most McCormack’s Women in Business class officer) and Isenberg Director of Diversity and Inclusion Alaina Macaulay.

“That mix of students was itself an asset to learning,” remarks Macaulay.

“The students shared insights and asked questions based on their different perspectives and experiences. Finance and accounting students, for example, shared insights about wealth disparities.

Hospitality students described physical accessibility issues in hotels, restaurants, and other venues.”

featured case studies of women from across the commercial sports landscape who have succeeded in industry explaining strategies they have used to break into roles that have long been dominated by men.

notable women alumni,” says McCormack Department Chair Steve McKelvey.

ALUMNI SUPPORT The Women in Sport Business class came to fruition thanks to several women who have graduated from UMass and gone on to success in the sports industry, in particular LA28’s Zaileen Janmohamed, a 2005 MBA/MS dual-degree alumna of the program. Through donations of both time and money, Janmohamed helped spearhead the course with the instructors.

Karen Peters ’95 MS and Gloria Nevarez ’93 also financially support the class.

Our exceptional students go on to make big waves I am the marketing director for inwheretheir Isenberg Global Citizens, I can industries, use my passion of giving back and andto come their success marketing events for students to and help volunteer. I am also on the DEI Student Board where I work to on us all. shines promote diversity within the Isenberg “The goal of the course is to create this powerful baseline of perspective, insight, and confidence for women within McCormack, so they will have the support and knowledge they need

“UMass continues to be a pioneer in the education of the next generation of leaders in the sports industry, and there is no better time than now to provide a master class on the practical and professional development women need to navigate this business,” says Janmohamed.

Chrispen Chokureva Jr. ’22 Marketing & Sport Management

community, which is very important to me as a minority student.

Many alumni were invited to speak to the classes during the semester. Brianna Pina ’12, head of diversity and inclusion at MIT’s Broad Institute, a world leader in biomedical and genomic research, virtually joined the Intro to Diversity Class.

Current Study Abroad Programs: This year’s event virtually connected more than 125 students, 150 alumni, and 30 industry leaders to learn and question DEI in the business world. Panels covered topics related to inclusive leadership during a crisis and times of change, anti-racism, and intersectional allyship; all featured alumni and leaders in the industry. Students had the opportunity to apply what they learned in the panels in a case competition related to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Fifteen students were awarded ILS Certificates of Completion after attending all events and competing in the case competition.

¾ Southern Africa Service Learning Experience ¾ Business in Italy ¾ Culture and Tourism Management in Europe ¾ HTM Cesar Ritz Swiss Study/Work Program

A management student from the Class of 2023 said, “I loved the panel on Anti-Racist Orgs and Leaders; it definitely left me thinking and I feel I took the most away from that panel. It pushed the conversation further than what normally occurs when discussing business ethics and DEI, which I truly valued.”

A representative from ILS sponsor Dell provided us with this feedback: “This is a bleeding-edge conference focused on the topics that drive the ‘why’ of someone choosing to join a certain organization/firm/ etc. It is chock full of learnings that young professionals and working professionals alike can glean from these sessions. It is SO IMPRESSIVE to hear students leaning in, asking critical questions, and getting fired up.”

Alongside EY’s premier sponsorship, support from RSM, Dell, Deloitte, Grant Thornton, Wayfair, BDO, BNY Mellon, KPMG, PWC, and TJX allowed Isenberg to develop and present the event.

STUDENTS LEARN ABOUT STUDY ABROAD OPPORTUNITIES DURING INTERNATIONAL NIGHTS HELD IN ISENBERG

Visit isenberg.umass.edu/ils to learn more.

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Leadership Summit was able to remain a marquee event supporting Isenberg’s goal to provide students with the tools, content, and networking opportunities to better understand the importance of diversity, and to help them learn the skills and capabilities of inclusive leadership.

B UIL DING R E P U TAT ION A ND P UR S UING G O A L S

In its second year, the Inclusive

C R E AT ING G L OB A L CI T IZ E N S A ND INC L U SI V E L E A DE R S

Inclusive Leadership Virtual Summit

Studying abroad is one of the most valuable experiences one can have at Isenberg. Students who study abroad consistently describe the experience as life-shaping, and it is something that employers and graduate schools love to see on resumes. Each Isenberg shortterm program combines class time with a study abroad experience led by our faculty. Scholarship funds for traveling abroad are key to provide equitable access to any student who wants to expand their global perspective. Trips for the spring 2022 semester will go on as planned unless the UMass International Programs Office declares it unsafe to do so.

AT T R A C T ING E X C E P T ION A L S T UDE N T S

International Opportunities

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DEAN’S REPORT 2021

MOVING FORWARD

Building Reputation From the Dean and Pursuing Goals Dear Friends,

I’mbest pleased to share this report with you as we Why does reputation matter? We want a seat at the table with the business to move schools in the world, and how we rank among our peers is crucial to work meeting this forward from the past year and a half of disruption.

We have missed being together with goal. Reputation is a virtuous cycle allowing us to attract the best students and students our classrooms, rich conversations in the top-caliber faculty, enhance career development and success for students and in alumni, Business Innovation Hub, in-person speakers, and fun and facilitate pride in the Isenberg brand. We are committed to excellence, with all members of the Isenberg community—students, faculty, staff, andcommunity alumni— events in Amherst, Boston, and beyond! engaged and dedicated to rethinking and improving all we do. Supporting initiatives that underly our priorities will make our vision a reality.

Although we grieve for what was lost, we are excited to be back together. Our months apart were not wasted, and I’m confident Isenberg will be better than ever. Our talented faculty and staff deftly adapted to remote working and teaching in the spring of 2020.

We drew on Isenberg’s long experience offering the acclaimed Online MBA program to ensure that all instructors had the tools they needed to support our Isenberg has achieved remarkable success over the past decade, students. rising in national rankings and attracting world-class students and Best practices and lessons learned are being carried faculty members. But we must not lose momentum as we strive to forward, making us better than we were in spring of 2020. And although we very much missed continuously improve and innovate. sending our 2020 and 2021 bachelor’s graduates off with an in-person Isenberg Senior Celebration, we Cross-departmental committees within the school are dedicated feelwill confident that they entered the workforce fully to driving underlying initiatives that support each priority, and to deal with challenges ranging from tricky continue to evaluate the best ways to meet our goals. Here prepared we spreadsheet formulas to massive market disruptions present the initial objectives within each of the five priority areas. like the one we’ve been facing.

These projects will kick off our vision to advance the school’s reputation and propel Isenberg even higher among the top tier of public business school programs. We look to our supporters to join us in making these goals and projects come to life:

Taking Action on Isenberg Priorities

Our exceptional students go on to make big waves in their industries, and their success shines on us all.

ENABLE CAREER SUCCESS

INSPIRE INNOVATION IN TEACHING AND LEARNING

SUSTAIN FACULTY EXCELLENCE

Expand resources and staff.

Create a ‘technology sandbox.’

The needs of students and alumni for career and professional development have increased tremendously and the Office of Career Success works tirelessly to support our community with both career services and training in business and professional communications. Additional staff and resources will enable us to effectively expand our services across programs and to alumni.

This will be a dedicated space where new and emerging technologies are available for our faculty, staff, and students, providing support for the testing of new systems and pedagogy.

Increase funds for titled faculty positions and grants.

Continue creating Isenberg digital assets.

Detailed online guides support students 24/7 in preparing resumes and cover letters that stand out, formatting effective LinkedIn pages, and getting psyched up for interviews.

Continued support for the Teaching Fellows.

This fellowship program is designed to recognize faculty whose creative and effective use of educational technologies in course design and delivery can help improve all teaching, whether delivered face-to-face, online, or in a hybrid combination. Fellows are responsible for sharing best practices with the full faculty to enhance the school’s instructional quality across departments, programs, and teaching levels.

A titled position is the most meaningful honor we can bestow on our faculty and allows us to retain and recruit the best teachers and scholars. Funding for grants supports research and teaching activities, such as attending conferences to expand connections and showcase our exceptional talent amongst our peers.

Development of a behavioral lab for faculty and doctoral student research.

Encouraging and supporting groundbreaking research projects enhances Isenberg’s reputation among peers and increases the school’s name recognition when research is cited in the press.

ATTRACT EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS Launch Dean’s Academy.

The small, cohort-based program for high-achieving students will involve designated classes and exclusive opportunities to attend workshops and seminars with industry thought leaders.

Increase scholarship and fellowship funds.

Scholarships for undergraduates and for high school summer programs (including at the Mount Ida Campus) keep Isenberg accessible to all students, and fellowships attract promising graduate students who break new ground in business research.

CREATE GLOBAL CITIZENS AND INCLUSIVE LEADERS Support students beyond the classroom.

Use Life Design and the design thinking model to support the whole student on their path to success. Isenberg is committed to helping students achieve balance, both in school and once they become business professionals. We are developing programs and resources and dedicating space to help students manage stress and build resiliency.

Strengthen relationships.

Bring together our faculty, students, and local community organizations for events like the Inclusive Leadership Summit, the Women of Isenberg conference, and the new Advancing Women in Leadership Series.

Expand international opportunities.

Provide more funding for study abroad programs to increase accessibility for all students and create a new global experience course.

Increase support for students.

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Student Council was launched in 2020 to give students the opportunity to bring forward solutions to solve challenges that they are encountering first-hand.

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Dean Massey

B UIL DING R E P U TAT ION A ND P UR S UING G O A L S

The question I always ask is ‘how might we sustain and advance our reputation for excellence in all we do?’

Excellence in terms of the quality of our students, the quality of our faculty and their research, the career placement of our students, what recruiters think about the graduates they work with, and how companies feel once students are working for them for a few years.

C R E AT ING G L OB A L CI T IZ E N S A ND INC L U SI V E L E A DE R S

AT T R A C T ING E X C E P T ION A L S T UDE N T S

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DE A N ’ S L E T T E R

DEAN’S REPORT 2021

RISING PROFILE

Alumni CommunityFrom the Dean Online MBA Alum on Managing the Ocean Spray TikTok Phenomenon

Isenberg alumni occupy positions of power and innovation across every industry.

They use the knowledge, skills, and networks they develop during their studiesDear Friends, at the undergraduate and graduate levels to make big impacts in their own companies and beyond.

I’m pleased to share this report with you as we work to move forward from the past year and a half missed being togetherhas with Isenberg plans to resume in-person alumni events starting this year, particularlyof disruption. We haveOcean Spray Cranberries navigated rich conversationsand in the looking ahead to June 2022, when we hope to host a re-imagined business students in our classrooms, two eras—“pre-Nathan” “postNathan,” remarked Melanie Business Innovation Hub, in-person speakers, andDiBiasio, fun leadership awards event. Watch your email and check in at isenberg.umass.edu/ the company’s senior digital manager of community events in Amherst, Boston, and beyond! alumni to stay connected and keep Isenberg up-to-date on your career milestones. precision marketing, during a virtual visit These are just a few of the amazing alumni we’ve been following this past year. to Isenberg this spring. The 2016 graduate Although we grieve forofwhat was lost, we are the school’s Online MBAexcited program explained the were post-Nathan to be back together. Our monthsthat apart not era began on September 25, following video post wasted, and I’m confident Isenberg will be bettera than on TikTok by 38-year-old Nathan Apodaca. ever. Our talented faculty and staff deftly adapted to With Fleetwood Mac in the background, in the spring of 2020.

In the year of Covid-19, UMass Amherst’s NCAA men’s ice hockey remote working and teaching the post captured him hitting on a bottle experience offering thewhile championship was a shot in the arm for the entire campus, and it had We drew on Isenberg’soflong Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry to work.that By the acclaimed Online MBAlongboarding program to ensure all end of the particular impact for Isenberg—15 of the team’s 21 players were Isenberg month, post had generated instructors had the tools they the needed to support our37 million student-athletes. They represented six of the school’s seven majors, including 800,000+ likes, propelling high students. Best practicesviews and and lessons learned are being accounting, finance, marketing, management, OIM, and sport management. profiles for Nathan and Ocean Spray. carried forward, making us better than we were in “Isenberg is a magnet for high-quality, high-character kids,” noted head “It transformed our brand overnight,” spring coach Greg Carvel, himself a 1998 sport management MS grad. “They are of 2020. And although we very much missed observed DiBiasio, whose focus at Ocean our 2020 and Spray 2021 has bachelor’s graduates off extremely focused students and athletes. Getting into Isenberg is itself sending an been social media marketing with an in-person Isenberg Senior Celebration, we accomplishment. The school helps us attract quality people.” since she joined the company in 2011.

Nathan, our messaging feel confident that they“Before entered the workforce fully targeted women overranging 45. Sincefrom September, tricky we have In his five years as head coach, Carvel (far right in team photo) has beenprepared to deal with challenges focused on younger consumers, 18 to 34.” a change agent extraordinaire. When he arrived as head coach in 2016,spreadsheet formulas to massive market disruptions The experience, DiBiasio facing. the team was in disarray. In his second year, the team posted a 12-win like the one we’ve been observed, underscores improvement. In his third, it made it to the national championship game. the importance of Last year, the playoffs were cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic, user-generated content.

“Before Nathan, I but this spring the team repeated its trip to the Frozen Four tournament, approved everything on this time winning it all. “We attract the right people, but we’ve built the right our social media sites. culture as well,” he observed. “That means holding everyone to the highest Now we feel more standards. There are no shortcuts; everyone must play at their absolute comfortable sharing best and support one another. Everything comes down to relationships unedited, organic content from both users and respect; how you treat people. We live by those values every day.”

Champion Hockey Team Is in Business

Our exceptional students go on to make big waves in their industries, and their success shines on us all.

Senior goal keeper Matt Murray said, “We believe in our work ethic and in one another.” A native of Alberta, the dual sport management/finance major credited Carvel’s program for much of his personal growth.

Junior forward and sport management major Bobby Trivigno agreed that Carvel’s leadership is instrumental. “Everyone on the team—coaches and trainers included—commits 100 percent to our core values,” he said. “Our coaches and staff care more about you than most bosses in business.”

and influencers on our own sites, which feels much more authentic and real.”

The startup, noted Jace, was three years in the making. And the idea for the business gestated earlier in a “slow burn” over an additional three years. Eventually, avocation became vocation.

“Jace is both a wine geek and a certified sommelier,” emphasized Kaden (on left in photo, pictured with his brother). “That is reflected in the 68 different wines that we import.” The brothers source their products directly from fifteen growers in Italy, one in Germany, and one in the United States (Oregon). That entails overseas buying trips with a translator. “It’s a people business—a business based on relationships and mutual respect,” added Jace. “We look for dedicated stewards of the land who champion its location and vintage conditions.”

Remembering Honored Alumni GEORGE R. DITOMASSI ’57

The former chairman and president of the Milton Bradley Company and Isenberg alumnus and donor George Ditomassi died on May 31.

He joined Milton Bradley—the company that is known for Monopoly, Chutes and Ladders, Twister, and Candy Land, among many other iconic games and toys—in 1960 as a production trainee, and became president and chief executive officer of the company in 1985.

He was named chief operating officer of the games and international divisions of its parent company, Hasbro, in 1990, before becoming president of Hasbro International in 1997. Ditomassi was inducted into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame in 2004.

He continued supporting the university and Isenberg, including a major gift toward the Business Innovation Hub. In 2007, he helped his UMass class raise $160,000 for its fiftieth reunion. “Getting a business degree at UMass not only enabled me to run a major corporation, but also taught me to focus on relationships and the importance of truly loving what you do,” Ditomassi has said.

ARTHUR ELKINS ’57 On June 8, former Isenberg associate dean, faculty member, graduate, and donor Arthur Elkins died at age 85. A 1957 Isenberg marketing graduate, Elkins joined Isenberg’s management faculty in 1963 after earning an MBA from Columbia University and a PhD from Indiana University. He taught strategy and policy at Isenberg for 24 years, serving as head of its Department of Management in the late 1970s and as associate dean in the early 1980s. “Art was a very friendly colleague who knew how to get things done,” observed Isenberg management professor D. Anthony Butterfield. “Along the way, he wrote one of the first books on business and social responsibility. It was adopted at a lot of business schools.”

Elkins (second from left in photo) retired from Isenberg in 1987 to join his wife Barbara full-time in their Northampton-based business, WEBS, which sells yarns and other weaving supplies. During the next 15 years, the couple grew the business into a national leader in its field.

Marketing In-Person Races Through a Pandemic “I love events because you have to execute,” observes marketing grad Lucy Diaz ’01. “They have built-in timelines that drive your activities.”

Diaz is vice president of brand marketing for Tough Mudder, the organization that presents obstacle course races around the country ranging from 5k challenges to the 24-hour World’s Toughest Mudder. She took on the role in January, when the company was coming out of a year of cancelled races and gearing up to restart events safely during the spring.

“I participated in our first event in Atlanta, which was a blast,” Diaz says. “You get out there and see such an endearing side of humanity. Tough Mudder is definitely more about the journey and experience than the results.”

Diaz explains that her marketing team had to figure out new ways to communicate to participants that they should sign up. “Our message evolved to be, we want to see you back out there in the mud—people are having fun and you need to be part of it!”

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“Starting our own business has been scary but liberating,” confessed Jace Chaffee. A 2008 Isenberg finance grad with a second major in economics, Jace took the plunge early in 2020 along with his brother Kaden Chaffee, who graduated from Isenberg in 2010 with a degree in marketing.

Their startup, Boston-based Vine Farmer, imports and wholesales wines from growers in Italy and Germany for sale to retailers and restaurants in Massachusetts. Vine Farmer also collaborates with a second firm in a “retail outpost” for nationwide distribution directly to wine lovers.

B UIL DING R E P U TAT ION A ND P UR S UING G O A L S

Entrepreneurs Start Wine Import Business

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DEAN’S REPORT 2021

THE ISENBERG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has the top-ranked public undergraduate business program in the Northeast, according to the 2021 U.S. News & World Report rankings report. Founded in 1947, Isenberg is AACSB accredited and has 3,800 undergraduates majoring in seven business disciplines, ranging from accounting and marketing to sport and hospitality and tourism management. Almost 2,000 students are enrolled in nationally and internationally recognized on-campus and online graduate programs. The school’s 48,000 alumni live and work in more than 80 countries, and many of them serve as mentors, guest lecturers, and network connectors for Isenberg.

From the Dean Dear Friends,

I’m pleased to share this report with you as we work to move forward from the past year and a half of disruption. We have missed being together with students in our classrooms, rich conversations in the Business Innovation Hub, in-person speakers, and fun community events in Amherst, Boston, and beyond!

Entrepreneurship Recognized by Princeton Review

#1 Public Business School in the Northeast for our:

For the first time, UMass Amherst has earned recognition on Princeton Review ’s annual roster, Top Schools for Graduate Entrepreneurship Studies. In the publication’s 2021 list, the Amherst campus ranks 40th among the top 50 colleges and universities. Isenberg’s Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship is the hub for entrepreneurship at UMass Amherst.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Although we grieve for what was lost, we are excited to be back together. Our months apart were not wasted, and I’m confident Isenberg will be better than ever. Our talented faculty and staff deftly adapted to remote working and teaching in the spring of 2020.

We drew on Isenberg’s long experience offering the ¾ Undergraduate Program acclaimed Online MBA program to ensure that all ¾ Online MBA instructors had the tools they needed to support our Program students.

Best practices and lessons learned are being ¾ On-Campus MBA Program carried forward, making us better than we were in ¾ Part-Time MBA spring ofProgram 2020. And although we very much missed sending our 2020 and 2021 bachelor’s graduates off with an in-person Isenberg Senior Celebration, we feel confident that they entered the workforce fully prepared to deal with challenges ranging from tricky PRIDE POINTS spreadsheet formulas to massive market disruptions like the one we’ve been facing.

3,800

3.96

1306

20th

3rd

15%

Total

Average GPA, Entering Class Fall 2020

Average SAT, Entering Class Fall 2020

Anniversary of the Online MBA Program

Largest School on Campus

UMass student body enrolled at Isenberg

Non-Tenure

Endowed Professors

MASTER’S STUDENTS

FACULTY

1,978

1,795

183

Total

Online

On Campus

DEMOGRAPHICS

Total Tenure

ACCREDITATION

First Generation, 20%

Male, 59% Female, 41%

Our exceptional students go on to 68 15 make45big waves in their industries, and their success shines on us all.

The Isenberg School of Management is accredited by AACSB, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The requirements of AACSB accreditation make it the highest standard of quality (only 25 percent of U.S. business schools achieve AACSB International accreditation). Alumni of AACSB accredited schools are among the world’s most influential leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs.

A L UMNI C OMMUNI T Y B UIL DING R E P U TAT ION A ND P UR S UING G O A L S C R E AT ING G L OB A L CI T IZ E N S A ND INC L U SI V E L E A DE R S AT T R A C T ING E X C E P T ION A L S T UDE N T S S U S TA INING FA C ULT Y E XC E L L E NC E IN S P IR ING INNO VAT ION IN T E A C HING A ND L E A R NING E N A B L ING C A R E E R S U C C E S S DE A N ’ S L E T T E R

Isenberg School of Management University of Massachusetts Amherst 121 Presidents Drive, Amherst, MA 01003 www.isenberg.umass.edu

From the Dean Dear Friends,

I’m pleased to share this report with you as we work to move forward from the past year and a half of disruption. We have missed being together with students in our classrooms, rich conversations in the Business Innovation Hub, in-person speakers, and fun community events in Amherst, Boston, and beyond!

Although we grieve for what was lost, we are excited to be back together. Our months apart were not wasted, and I’m confident Isenberg will be better than ever. Our talented faculty and staff deftly adapted to remote working and teaching in the spring of 2020.

We drew on Isenberg’s long experience offering the acclaimed Online MBA program to ensure that all instructors had the tools they needed to support our students. Best practices and lessons learned are being carried forward, making us better than we were in spring of 2020. And although we very much missed sending our 2020 and 2021 bachelor’s graduates off with an in-person Isenberg Senior Celebration, we feel confident that they entered the workforce fully prepared to deal with challenges ranging from tricky spreadsheet formulas to massive market disruptions like the one we’ve been facing.

Our exceptional students go on to make big waves in their industries, and their success shines on us all.