As the deadline for admission to our program approaches, I am receiving more and more phone calls and emails pertaining to where a candidate's application is in the admission process. I thought it may help a bit to run through that process with you so you have an understanding of the time, scrutiny, and people involved with evaluating your admission. 

• Step 1 : You mail off your documents (Application form, letter of intent) and notify your referees, GMAC or GRE organization, previous institutions, and possibly the TOEFL or IELTS that you are applying for our MBA Program. 

• Step 2: Your documents arrive in a mail room in a separate building from our program, please allow one day for processing in the mail room after your courier has confirmed delivery. 

• Step 3: Up to 48 hours after your documents have made their way to the mail room, they arrive at our admission's office, and our officer, Tammy Morin, begins to open and sort through the applications of that day. 

• Step 4: Within 48 hours of receiving your documents (we are now up to four business days from the delivery of your documents) Ms. Morin will send you an email to confirm she has received your documents and which pieces of your information is missing. She updates our system to show you are currently an incomplete application and which pieces are still missing. 

• Step 5: We wait for those missing pieces to arrive. This could take anywhere from 2-3 weeks depending on your referees, GMAC and undergraduate institutions. You are welcome to call or email Ms. Morin during this waiting period once a week to understand which pieces of your application are still outstanding. 

• Step 6: Application is complete (including $100 application fee payable by credit card should you wish), and Ms. Morin prepares your application for committee. She updates your status as "with committee". 

• Step 7: You entire application is sent to three committee members, one at a time. Depending on which committee members are on holiday, this could take anywhere from 3 days to two weeks. 

• Step 8: All three committee members have made their decision and your application is now passed back to Ms. Morin, who in turn hands it over to our dean of graduate studies for the final decision. (We are now, potentially, at the 6 week mark depending on how quickly the participating organizations and committee members were able to respond). 

• Step 9: Our dean of graduate studies approves the application and Ms. Morin prepares a letter notifying you of our decision. At the same time, she will email our decision to you. 

• Step 10: You now know whether you have been accepted or not into our program from anywhere to 2-6 weeks depending on processing time. 

Generally we operate on the 2 week timeline, but there are many players involved in this process, and if we are missing even one, it can be slowed down. Please continue to check in with our admission officer Tammy Morin (tmorin@unb.ca) on a weekly basis to track your application. In the meantime, if you have questions about the program, Sarah Craig, our recruiter (scraig@unb.ca), would be pleased to answer them! 

Check out our website at www.mba.unbsj.ca for more information. 

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It has now been six months since our 2011 MBA class of Innovation and Technology Management and Project Management students have graduated and we are pleased to report that 77% of those graduates who were available and seeking work are now employed in a range of industries across Canada. 

Where are our students working? 

Our alumni have been spread out amoungst a variety of employers, industries, and provinces. We have students presently working in education, finance, retail management, automotive, information and technology management, and non-profits. They are in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Some of our students returned home to continue to work in their family businesses, start their own business, or in postitions with international firms. Some of the employers who hired our 2011 gradutes are:

United Nations, Canadian Tire, Citco, Spielo, Ford Motors, Bank of Montreal, and Deloitte. 

We also have four alumni who have started their own businesses in Canada.

What is the breakdown?

The 2011 full time class consisted of 80% international students and 20% domestic students. Based on those figures, 71% of those students currently employed are international alumni and and 23% are domestic alumni. 

Who is still seeking?

We currently have seven students who are still seeking employment from the class of 2011 with backgrounds in sales, marketing, information and technoloy, and finance. For more information on their profiles please check out www.mbaheadhunter.com/unb or contact our employment coordinator; Sarah Craig at scraig@unb.ca

For more information on our program please visit our website at www.mba.unbsj.ca

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The University of New Brunswick Saint John's MBA program is an investment in your future. Our program has one of the shortest payback periods among Canadian MBA programs, with the biggest rate of return.

Tuition fees cover your education as well as professional development seminars, activities and tuition fees at partnering institutions in Europe and Asia.

This year we are pleased to announce a limited number of bursaries up to $4,000 each will be awarded to outstanding full-time candidates.  A separate application for bursaries isn't required.

To be considered, you must only provide your completed application by May 31, 2012.  Awards are assessed according to your Graduate Management Admission test (GMAT) score and Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA), as follows:

• 3.5 CGPA/GMAT 580: $2,000
• 3.7 CGPA/GMAT 600: $4,000

For more information on bursaries or the UNBSJ MBA Program please visit us at www.mba.unbsj.ca.

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There are many criteria by which a potential MBA student measures up a program; content, specializations, internships, placement opportunities, global rankings, cost, program fit and of course, location. Ultimately, one of the challenges Canadian MBA programs face is selling a potential international applicant on our location. Canadian has many perks associated with post graduate employment opportunities; chief among them being the ease at which graduates can obtain a work permit and work toward their permanent resident status if that is a long term goal. It is a beautiful country, with lots of space to spread out and relax. However, one of the drawbacks is our winter weather and the perception that it is too cold in central and eastern Canada to enjoy the surroundings. One of my more recent conversations in Mexico consisted of a potential applicant inquiring as to our temperature range, and upon hearing the answer, shuddering and walking away.

It is cold here in Canada in the winter; as I write this post our current temperature outside is 3 degrees Celsius, with a rain snow mix. Later on in the week we are expecting to experience temperatures as low as -14 degrees Celsius. Despite this, we Canadian’s know how to continue to have fun even in the cold temperatures. We bundle up in several layers of clothing, including hat and mitts, and head outside to take advantage of all the winter season has to offer.

One of the favourite Canadian winter pastimes is pond hockey. We Canadians get a little crazy over our national sport of hockey. Many young men and women learn how to skate before they can walk, and dream of some day playing for the NHL. We proudly wear our favourite team`s colours, we bicker and argue over who is going to win the Stanley Cup, and quite often we spend our Saturday evenings watching `the game` together as a family.  This love of the game spills over in the winter into a sport we call pond hockey.

Pond hockey is played on any frozen surface available across Canada in the winter. Sometimes we play it on the lakes and rivers which freeze, other times we don`t have access to frozen bodies of water and flood public places on our own backyards in order to create rinks. We play it all day long, and in some cases hook up lights outside to play into the night. We use skates, hockey sticks, helmets, and whatever other equipment we have laying around. It can be as elaborate and teams of 10 competing against each other or as simple as two people facing off. The rules change based on the day and those participating, and the players come and go all day. There are often no bystanders, and no one enforcing the rules, just a bunch of guys and gals spending a cold afternoon playing.

Pond hockey is just a sample of what the great Canadian winter has to offer in good clean fun spent outside. We also ski, snowboard, skate, partake in sleigh rides, tobogganing, and there is nothing like a walk in freshly fallen snow.

As I watched my brother and his friends for a bit at the pond by my house on this past Sunday, my dog also decided to get into the action as seen in the video footage below. I hope you enjoy the footage, and have the opportunity to enjoy a Canadian winter or two.  

Pond_Hockey_in_Saint_John_-_YouTube.flv Watch on Posterous

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Exams are complete and module one has wrapped up. Students are now eagerly awaiting their marks and many have embarked on a two week holiday. Our students are taking time out to travel to the United States, back to their home countries, or for a lucky few, spending the holidays with fellow Canadians to experience everything the season has to offer. 

Our offices will be closed from the 24 December 2011 (Christmas Eve) until the 2 January 2012 (the day after New Years) to allow our faculty and staff time to spend with their families and loved ones. During that time you will receive out of office messages from anyone you email or reach out to.

Recently I had the opportunity to share the story of the Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens with alumnae from India. She mentioned that this story really explains the meaning of this season for those of us in North America.  

If you are interested in understanding the largest holiday in North America I invite you to check out the Christmas Carol Story either in book or movie form. 

I look forward to the many wonderful things that the 2012 year will bring for our program and chatting to potential students, current students, and alumni!

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The annual MacLean’s University Rankings are out and the University of New Brunswick has once again topped the comprehensive category as the sixth best school in Canada. For the third year in a row UNB has been recognized as a campus with strong research activity and a wide range of programs at the undergraduate and graduate level; including professional degrees.  

Maclean’s Magazine, the country’s only national weekly current affairs magazine and was recognized as Magazine of the Year in 2011, enlightens, engages, and entertains 2.4 million readers with strong investigative reporting and exclusive stories from leading journalists. The Annual University Rankings is now in its 20^th year. Maclean’s places universities in one of three categories, recognizing the differences in types of institutions, levels of research funding, the diversity of offerings, and the range of graduate and professional programs. In each category, Maclean’s ranks the institutions on performance indicators in six broad areas, allocating a weight to each indicator. Primarily Undergraduate and Comprehensive universities are ranked on 13 performance measures; Medical Doctoral universities are ranked on 14. …Read more…

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This summer we revamped our website to reflect the new changes to our program (Project Management Stream, our facebook and twitter handles, and of course our blog). We decided to also create some video footage of our program and our community, and began by focusing on inspirational leaders in our business community. Below are the first four in the instalment; designed to give you a taste of our leading companies and their culture.

 Ian Cavanagh, CEO Ambir Solutions: 

Ambir Solutions is an independent, Atlantic Canadian, values-based IT consulting and Application Development Outsourcing Services Company.  Well known in our community, their talented people are trusted to help our clients meet their business goals through the practical application of IT.  They have UNBSJ MBA alumni working within their organization and are strong supporters of the program. Ian's expertise is in Executive Management, Business Development & Strategy, Sales & Marketing, International Markets, M&A, and Venture Capital & Operations. read more

Watch the video

Gerry Pond, Chairman of Mariner Partners 

Gerry is one our most respected and cherished community and business leaders. He continues to be a strong advocate and mentor for the UNBSJ MBA students and alumni. He has over 40 years of experience in the communications technology industry and has won several prestigious awards. He was inducted into the New Brunswick Business Hall of Fame in 2007 and received the Top award in 2003. Gerry has been featured in Progress Magazine and continues to be a proven innovator and serial entrepreneur. read more 

Watch the Video

Richard Jones, CEO SHIFT Energy 

SHIFT Energy provides technology solutions and services to companies around the worked to manage their energy consumption. They have built a powerful IT - based application and wrap energy management analysis from professional engineering staff around the technology tool. Their CEO, Richard, has over 25 years of experience in integrated petroleum, natural gas distribution, and information technology firms. Prior to joining SHIFT Energy, Richard was the Maritime Regional Director for XWAVE, a division of Bell Aliant. read more

Watch the Video

Geoff Flood, President, T4G

T4G provides many IT services to clients; such as but not limited to business intelligence, cloud hosting and managed services, content management systems, infrastructure and security, and user experience and design. Their organization thrives on being nimble and flexible while providing complex IT solutions. Geoff, their President, is the visionary of T4G, and created the company in response to customer demands. He is a proud maritimer and graduate of St.X University. read more

Watch the Video

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Now that our newest intake of MBA students have settled down to the intensity of the one year MBA program here at UNB Saint John, we thought we would take this opportunity to show some of our past MBA classes having fun. 

See the full gallery on Posterous

Ring, Moshen, and Sylvia MBA Alumni '11 playing in the snow!

Our current students may not believe us that there is indeed time to socialize outside of the classroom and take in all the wonderful activites Saint John has to offer, so we are posting proof! 

See the full gallery on Posterous

We know that once module one is complete and our current class has the opportunity to adjust to the pace, they too will find time to enjoy each other's company and their surrondings. 

See the full gallery on Posterous

Almost the entire MBA Grad class of '11

All of these amazing pictures were taken by Moshen Albadar and I would encourage you to check out his website for more! 

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November 26 - New Dehli - Shang-La Eros Hotel from 2pm to 6pm

November 28th - Mumbai - The Leela Kempinski from 5pm to 9pm

November 30th - Hyderabad - The Taj Krishna from 5pm to 9pm

December 3rd - Bangalore - The Vivanta by Taj from 2pm to 6pm

You can set up a one on one meeting with her by emailing scraig@unb.ca. 

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Yesterday, myself, Michelle Scott, Stacey Cool, Laura Galbraith, Tammy Morin, Neil Franklin, Anne Marie Stephen, and a variety of other Faculty and Staff members of the University of New Brunswick Saint John Campus (UNBSJ) had the opportunity to attend a workshop presented by Saint John College on "Communicating for Success with International Students". The day kicked off with discovering our names in different cultures; in Portuguese I would be called:

Sarah Craig Arsenault Suttie Holt Craig Ferris

Or in Arabic it would be:

Sarah bint Michael bin Owen bin Craig

From there we moved into a discussion about some of our communication challenges we have experienced over the years with different cultures, analyzing why they occured, what the motivators were, and finally, how to communicate successfully. 

Throughout the course of the day I learned many important values of different cultures, and how some of my actions may be peceived by those of different values. Here is just a small recap of how Canadian culture compares to Chinese and Arabic:

Canadian Arabic Chinese

Induvidualism Family Family

Authority Questioned Authority Obeyed A bit of both

Status through personal merit Status through family Status through family

Plan Future Future is unknown Plan Future

Motivators: Motivators: Motivators:

- recognition of good work - High Status - Money

- Job satisfaction - Job Satisfaction - Recognition of Good Work

- Good Working Conditions - Loyalty - Job Satisfaction

Even though this training was fantastic, I know it didn't cover everything we need to know. So as we are working together, I would encourage you to be patient with me, and take the time to teach me a bit more about you so we can work effectively together!

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In the sunshine and surronded by signs of Canada Day, the University of New Brunswick Alumni Association annouced an exciting new project, The Bridge Network. It is a Mentoriship project which will connect students, alumni, and the communtiy, and it will assist international students in breaking through Saint John's nepotism.

Larry Hachey, Outgoing President of the UNB Associated Alumni, annouces the Bridge Network

Often, when I speak of nepotism, I receive a blank stare, but read on and you will recognize the concept. Neptoism is defined byWikipedia as "favortism to friends or relatives regardless of merit". This concept is alive and well in Saint John where it is a combination of skills, experience, and who you know that will make settling here a successful endeavour. I am not suggesting that friends and relatives are not qualified to fill a position, but I am suggesting that in order to have your resume seen, and considered seriously, it certaintly helps to have a friendly face doing the reading. Saint John is not the only city which has deeply engrained nepotism, in fact in many cultures it is accepted and embraced as the best method for doing business. However, due to the size of the city, the strenght of history of its residents, it does present as a large challenge to newcomers seeking to settle here. 

Today's annoucement signals hope for those students seeking to make those critical connections. As Larry Hachey, outgoing president of the UNB Associated Alumni explained, 

"this project will be about connecting students to one of our 6000 alumni to allow them the opportuntity to explore different career paths, provide advice and encouragment when needed, and connect the students with strategic volunteer opportunities. The Career exploration and much of the mentorship will occur in a speed dating style, so our students have the opportunitiy to make connections with many of our alumni at once." Hachey also went on to recognize Saint John's nepotism by describing success in Saint John being defined as "who you know".

And, as if to demonstrate their committment to volunteerism, they also presented Jennifer Carhart, Principal of Hazen White St. Francis School a $25,000 cheque to put toward the redevelopment of their mentor room. A room used by student mentors from UNBSJ, as part of the Promise Partnership, who are assisting the elementary students in their school work, and allowing them to dream about postsecondary education. 

From Left to right: Dr. Robert McKinnon, Principal Jennifer Carhart, Larry Hachey, and Councillor Peter McQuire

Come the fall, the UNB Alumni Association will be making further annoucements about timelines, volunteering, and its first intake. However, in the meantime if you want to get involved as a mentor please feel free to reach out to Mary Duffley, Alumni Program Manager: mary.duffley@unb.ca. I am very excited to see this project take place as I feel it is the link we have been missing to help our students make meaningful connections to our community. The spin off benefits are endless. 

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Saint John, New Brunswick, home of the University of New Brunswick Saint John Campus (UNBSJ) and the one year executive Masters of Business Administration Program (MBA) is a little city that feels big. Saint John proper is home to about 69,000 citizens, which grows to approximately 100,000 when one includes the bedroom communities of Quispamsis and Rothesay. We have two major shopping malls with around 100 retailers in each, and many of the big box stores that are typical to Canadian cities; a Walmart, Costco, and Target (coming soon). We have taxis and city buses, two hospitals, and even some ethnic grocery stores. We have a lot of historical architecture which makes the city unique, and of course we are right on the water. Ten years ago, I would have stopped this blog post at that statement and said something like;”you can get everything you need”.

Myself (Sarah Craig) and Dan Dorion (Faculty of Business Professor) outside the new commons building

Events that rival Toronto or Vancouver

In 10 years this city has come a long way. We now have a booming Information Technology Sector hosted in the downtown core, fantastic restaurants featuring a variety of foods, vibrant night light, and a host of cultural activities to indulge in on a weekly basis. I could go on forever about what the city has to offer, but instead I would like to focus on two inspirational events which occurred just this week that highlight how fantastic Saint John is.

Inside the New Commons

Sun, Air, and Energy – The Hans W Klohn Commons Building

This week I had the absolute pleasure of attending the ceremony for the naming of UNBSJ’s new Common’s building; the Hans W Klohn Common’s Building. I have to admit I joined the university once construction was already underway and missed the initial excitement around the start of the project. All I was seeing was dust, mess, and a heck of a lot less parking close to warmth on those cold winter days. However, on June 6th, the University was invited to attend a press conference and see the inside of the building. As soon as I walked in I felt lighter, refreshed. It is an amazing open space, all windows and white, and it will earn the silver LEED standard for environmental sustainability. This building will host work stations, meeting rooms, SMART classrooms, a library, and some of the best coffee in Saint John from Java Moose. It will truly be a unique space for students to gather, work, and socialize.

Black, White, and Glam

Last night I walked the red carpet on Prince William Street into the second annual Live Life! Uptown Saint John Awards. Tickets were only $45 and included a drink and d’oeuvres from our very own Decimal 81. When my husband and I arrived on the second floor of the building we were blown away by how stunning the event was. It was hosted in a large room overlooking the Bay of Fundy, and was completely painted white. It had a center stage were live models acted as mannequins, and every ten minutes all night long the Master of Ceremonies would yell Vivant and they would strike a different pose. It was truly a collection of the hip and trendy (which made me wonder how I got there!) and was the most unique event I have seen anywhere in North America (and I have been to Vegas). Judith Mackin from Punch Productions was the brainchild of this event.

A Model 

More Amazing Things on the Horizon

Although these are just two samples about why Saint John is a great place to Live, Work, and Play there are many more events, spaces, and cultural events on the horizon that will further prove my point. All once has to do is pay attention, put themselves out there a bit to join in the fun. 

Jeff Roach, our Social Mentor, acting as a model

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Project Management is one of the fastest growing areas of employment in North America and appeals particularly to individuals with backgrounds in engineering, operations, and technology.

UNB Saint John MBA has introduced a new stream in Project Management this year with courses in:

-          Management of Innovation

-          Project Management Theory

-          Project Management Methodology

-          Project Management Communication and Team Leadership

-          Project Planning, Monitoring, and Control

-          Commercial Law and Project Procurement Management

The program is capped off with an experiential term where you implement the skills learned in MBA. The work term counts as project management experience for your PMP or CAPM certification application through the Project Management Institute. 

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Why Social is Critical to the Job Search
Social is changing the way people seek out new opportunities and the way in which recruiters fill those vacancies. (Without out sounding too dire, it is a whether you like it or not scenario). 
 
1. The global labour market is available at your fingertips, from anywhere, 24hours a day, 365 days a year. I am not only referring to online job boards and monster.com, I am also speaking of LinkedIn job boards, Tweets, Blogs, and yes even Facebook can be helpful.

2. Recruiters will google you. I know, it is a legal grey area, it makes HR folks Squirm, but it will happen. Do you even exist? If you do, have you developed your personal brand to help you stand out from others? Can an employer understand from your online presence what you bring to the table?

3. Remember when it was that who you had shook hands with could be your next employer? Now it is who is following you on twitter, reading your blog, or engaging in a dialogue with you through social media. I am not suggesting it isn’t still important to meet these people one on one; what I am saying is that you must now do both!

4. Of course, the final point is because employers want employees who have a familiarity with social media. Not all companies today want to be social, but it is really only a matter of time before companies must engage, or lose their customer base. It helps to hire people who can already find their way around social, as it is more than a one person job, it is many people from the company who must engage.

Even Though They Are Students, They Do Not Automatically “Get It”
After this lightening strike I sought, with the assistance of my colleague Michelle (@mscottnb), to offer our existing students some support on how to be social. It turns out that just because someone is a student, that does not mean they are already social, and if they are, that they understand how to use it to their advantage. This came as a big surprise to us young and old folks alike. It also turns out, that despite the presentation gave by Jeff, not everyone wanted to be social. This is O.K. too, I recognize it is not for everyone.

One on One Mentoring
Our next challenge was to understand how to train our students to be social, and we needed to do it fast. Thankfully Jeff Roach was interested and willing to take up the challenge through his new company, Sociallogical. The students who recognized the opportunity and took us up on the offer will begin meeting with him one on one this week. They will be receiving personalized training based on their level of social to date, and I for one am looking forward to the conversations which will follow.

The Future of Social in the MBA Program
The wake up call experienced by the MBA Program several weeks ago will have a long lasting effect. Already we are asking ourselves how to integrate this training into the bread and butter of the program, to offer all students the opportunity to graduate with the competitive edge that is social. It may be morphed into the professional development portion of our program, or maybe into the curriculum. We are open to suggestions from the Saint John Community and beyond. So if you have thoughts on what that would look like, or have experienced training yourself, or even have an MBA and what to share your thoughts on social as part of the program, I would love to hear from you.

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Please be Patient

While we work to give you relevant information

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