Advisory Committee to the Business Honors Program
Meeting Notes For January 26 th Meeting
9:00 AM- Dean’s Conference Room, CBA 2.104
Conference Call-In: 512-471-3099
Attendees:
Matt Landry ‘64
Michael Klein ‘78
Craig Wielansky ‘82
Scott Campbell ‘90
Glenna Sherafeldin ‘93
Boris Siperstein ‘95
Danielle Pfaffenberger ‘97
Jeff Ehrenpreis ‘99
Andrew Alleman ‘00
Tanmay Desai ‘01
Morgan Coleman- HBA president
Dr. Cox
Judy Amis
Lara Scheindlin
Adam Ward
Via phone:
Rob Honts ‘90
Robert Buchholz ‘92
Greg Gerstenhaber ‘97
Brian Lundrum ‘97
Monika Mann ‘98
Nandu Madhava ‘99
Robin Boesch ‘00
Joe Reske ‘00
Ramesh Dhanaraj ‘00
I. Welcome-New Members
Michael Klein, Boris Siperstein, Tanmay Desai
II. Comments by Dean May on Mitte Gift
-Scholarship funds will not be available until Fall of 2003 and operating income will not be available until
2004. However, the BHP can apply for funds to implement new ideas and changes through Dean May.
- Dean may sees it out task to create unique learning opportunities beyond the classroom and challenge
these wonderful students
- Our program needs to create programs that stress leadership and community service
III. Mitte Foundation News and Update
-the gift totals $14M ($10 million in cash from the Mitte Foundation over 20 years and $4M from the
McCombs gift to create an endowed fund)
-combined, these gifts will create 100 $5K annual scholarship for BHP students and 15 annual graduate
fellowships for the MBA program and $90K per year in operating income for the program
- requirements for scholarships: 3.5 GPA, U.S. citizenship, community service
- currently we have 270 of 515 students in the program with a 3.9 or better, so the process will be very
competitive
- to compete with the top schools and reach our goal on the top undergraduate program in the country, we
need to build the momentum created by the Mitte Gift in our excellence fund campaign drive
IV. Make A Mark
-Lynn Popiel, the student chair, continues to do an amazing job, but still needs help from our alumni in
securing gifts for the campaign
- if any AC member has contacts with Austin, Houston, or Dallas area business that might be willing to
donate prizes for the raffle, please email Lynn at lynnpop@mail.utexas.edu
- the MAM campaigns of the two previous years are being combined to create one fund. Combined, there has
been nearly $40K pledged. One $50K has been received, Dean May has agreed to match the funds.
- An individual or company is still needed to match this years campaign
V. Excellence Fund Updates
a. Scott
Two goals:
1. to get to $100k in money received to get matched by Dean May
2. to get 100% participation in the excellence fund from our AC
-this second goals creates a unified message from the AC that will have a great impact on the giving by
fellow alumni
-we have already hit one goal of having 25K pledged so that the fund will be officially recognized by the
university
b. Judy-
-the charter has been created and is in the final stages
-anyone who needs pledge forms can contact Judy or Adam
VI. Report from Communication Committee
-Most items are on target: Newsletter went out January 20 th, , email newsbytes will start in February
-The intro letters to alumni and parents are going to be pushed back to March to coincide with Faulkner’s
announcement of the We’re Texas Campaign success
VII. Alumni Relations
a. Area events- Steve Carlson
Events have been going well: first Houston event is scheduled for Feb. 28 th ; our goal continues to be to
increase attendance and to work towards creating formalized chapters
b. Other initiatives
Class Chairs- there are about 20 class chairs selected and in the process of contacting their former classmates,
the other half are still trying to be assigned
c. Website
Many changes have been made to the alumni website, such as info on Area Alumni Events, Class Chair info,
and links to the McCombs on-line directory. Scheduled for Feb. is on-line discussion boards and chat sessions
VIII. Recruiting-there will be an increased # of applicants this year thanks to the Mitte Gift and the following
efforts:
-Increased HS awareness: info was sent to every HS in TX and 300 private schools across the US
-Home for the Holidays recruiting: about 50 BHP students went to 60 HS in their hometowns over the holiday
break to talk with prospective high school students
-efforts that are on going or needing attention:
-Prospective Members Conferences: alumni are needed in Austin, Houston, and Dallas to attend these
events
-Alumni recruiting: alumni could aid in the admissions process by contacting students who have accepted and
answering their questions
-increase our out of state exposure-use HS rankings list as a starting point
-increase diversity in the program
IX. Excellence Fund Brochure
-many changes were suggested to the brochure, if any alumni have suggestions, please send them to Dr. Cox or
Adam
X. Report from Excellence Fund Oversight Committee
-one member has already been selected and many more visits are scheduled for March
XI. Vision Committee
-work completed
XII. Review Timeline
XIII. Next Meeting …
April 6th, 2002 in Austin
XIV. Dean Search
Letters need to be sent to those members on the search committee that have ties to the BHP to ensure that the next dean
is friendly to undergraduate education the idea of a BHP
Action Items until next meeting:
1. continue work on Communication Committee
2. have oversight committee in tact
3. alumni involvement in PMC and other recruiting activities
4. start a mentor program
5. rank publication effort
6. top 10% effort
7. dean’s selection committee
8. assign committees to new AC members