President Bush Recognizes Robert H. Smith For
Philanthropy Supporting Humanities
President George W. Bush awarded Robert H. Smith, a key benefactor and namesake of the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, with the prestigious National Humanities Medal for 2008 for his philanthropic contributions to the humanities. Smith received his award during a ceremony on Nov. 17 at the White House East Room. In total, nine distinguished Americans, one museum, and a philanthropic foundation were honored for their exemplary contributions to the humanities and were recognized for their scholarship, literary works, philanthropy, and preservation efforts.

Smith is recognized “for his profoundly wise stewardship and generous support of our nation’s premiere institutions of historical, artistic, and cultural heritage. He has been a farsighted benefactor and a civic leader for all seasons.”
> Full Story

BusinessWeek Ranks Smith MBA Program Among Nation's Best - Top in D.C. Area and #3 for Research
The MBA program at the Smith School of Business emerges as the best in the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore region and an impressive No. 3 in the United States for research in BusinessWeek’s 2008 survey of “The Best B-schools.” The rankings, which are published every other year, were based on a survey of the graduating class of 2008, a survey of corporate recruiters and a measure of “intellectual capital” – the number of faculty articles published in a list of top 20 academic journals. Smith is ranked No. 26 in the United States and No. 3 in the intellectual capital category. The school has consistently ranked among the nation’s best by BusinessWeek since 1998.

“This ranking reflects our top intellectual capital and the profound influence that Smith faculty are having on evolving business models in an era of transformation and change,” said G. “Anand” Anandalingam, Smith School dean “As Wall Street moves closer to Washington, D.C., and business becomes more closely tied social, as well as economic, value creation – the impact of our students, alumni, faculty and programs will continue to grow within and without the region.”
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/rankings/

Smith Professor Peter Morici Testifies to Senate Committee on State of U.S. Auto Industry
Professor Peter Morici testified Nov. 18 at a U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs hearing examining the challenges facing the automotive industry. Morici joined a panel that included Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and the major players in the U.S. auto industry: Alan Mulally, president and CEO of Ford Motor Company; Robert Nardelli, chairman and CEO of Chrysler LLC; and G. Richard Wagoner Jr., chairman and CEO of General Motors; and Ron Gettelfinger, president of the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America.
> Full Story with Video

Smith Awards more than $50K to Chinese Entrepreneurs in International Business Plan Competition
On Oct. 29, the Smith School announced the final winners of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship's fourth annual China Business Plan Competition. The announcement puts a cap on the contest, which began early this year with more than 200 entries that judges narrowed to 20 semi-finalists before selecting five finalist teams. Robert Krapfel, associate dean of MBA programs at the Smith School of Business, named the winners at a final event and awards ceremony in Beijing at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management. The program was opened with remarks from Xia Yingqi, deputy director of Zhongguancun Science Park. The winners included: $25,000 grand prize winner, CreditEase, and $15,000 second-prize winner, Vendiamax. CreditEase facilitates peer-to-peer loans and Vendiamax combines vending machine services with point-of-purchase advertising. Winners were selected from the five finalist teams. Each team delivered presentations of their businesses and obtained feedback from a panel of judges in front of an audience.
> Full Story
> Related Story: 12 Students Travel to China with Dingman Center

Smith School Undergraduate IT Program Listed Among U.S. Top 10 by TechRepublic
The Smith School undergraduate information technology (IT) program was listed among the U.S. Top 10 in a special report released by the business technology news network TechRepublic on Nov. 3. The school was cited as among the nation’s best for students seeking leadership and managerial roles in the IT field, as well as for recruiters seeking the best talent.

The Smith School is highlighted for its effectiveness in preparing IS students to be effective leaders. In describing the strengths of Smith’s program, the report quotes Hank Lucas, chair of the decision, operations and information technologies department, along with a current student.
> Full Story

Ashoka Teams with University of Maryland as "Changemaker Campus" -- Smith School Leads Social Change Initiative
Ashoka, the world's largest network of social entrepreneurs, is launching a pilot program called "Changemaker Campuses" in which Ashoka applies its considerable talents and resources as a catalyst for positive social change to America's university campuses. Ashoka selected the University of Maryland as one of only four campuses across the United States to serve as the pilot program for its campus initiative. The University of Maryland is represented in this initiative by a team of students from across the entire university campus. The team is spearheaded by Melissa Carrier, director of venture investments and social entrepreneurship at the Smith School's Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, with Brian L. Nelson, a Tyser Teaching Fellow in the logistics, business and public policy department at the Smith School, as the faculty representative. Nelson is also the course coordinator for "Social Responsibility in Business," a newly required course for both Smith's part-time and full-time MBA programs.

Over the weekend of Oct. 31, the UM team attended a weekend retreat sponsored by Ashoka and the Dingman Center. Since its creation in 1981, Ashoka has selected over 2,000 leading social entrepreneurs from around the world as Ashoka Fellows, providing them with living stipends, professional support, and access to a global network of peers in more than 60 countries.
> Full Story

Smith Experts Offer Insight into Financial Meltdown
In a continued effort to foster understanding and curb worry in these times of financial uncertainty, the Smith School hosted its second Financial Town Hall meeting on Oct. 31. Focused on the theme of “Navigating your Career during a Financial Crisis,” top Smith alumni, professors and staff imparted practical wisdom on a gathered crowd of current students and alumni. > Full Story with Video The Smith School also held a "Teach-in" by faculty and Washington experts on Oct. 31 in Washington, D.C. > Full Story with Video

UPCOMING EVENTS

Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship & MTECH Co-Host
Global Entrepreneurship Week at UM
This week, Nov. 17-23, students across the University of Maryland campus are joining millions of other young people across the world in a quest to embrace innovation and creativity, and turn their ideas into reality.

A university-wide celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week led by the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (MTECH), a unit of the A. James Clark School of Engineering, and the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the Smith School of Business. . are jointly offering speakers, programs and activities designed to spark the imagination and fan the spirit of entrepreneurship. The week is co-sponsored by the University of Maryland Network for Entrepreneurs (UM-NET) which facilitates campus collaboration across the units of the university, and the Office of Research Administration and Advancement.

Nov. 20: Global Entrepreneurship - The View from China
Nov. 20: Keys to Building a Successful Company, by Phil Gross, first CFO of AOL.
Nov. 21: Pitch Dingman Competition.
Nov. 21: Ninth Annual University of Maryland $75K Business Plan Competition Kick-Off Lunch-time Speaker and Networking Event.
> Full Story

Fall Business Ethics Lecture Series
Each semester the Smith School hosts a three-part Business Ethics Lecture Series featuring corporate and government speakers. Join us in Van Munching Hall's Tyser Auditorium from 5:30 - 7 p.m. for the next lecture:

Date: November 19, 2008
Speaker: Jeremy Perler, RiskMetrics Group

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

Smith Speaker Series Welcomes Coach Gary Williams
The inaugural session of the Smith Speaker Series was launched with much fanfare on Oct.14. The speaker, Gary Williams ’68, is the head coach of the University of Maryland’s men’s basketball team. “What Gary Williams has done for the University of Maryland is unbelievable,” Dean Anand said. A 1968 marketing graduate, Williams returned to Maryland as head coach in 1989, inheriting a basketball team that had only won nine games the year before and finished last place in the ACC. The breakout for Williams came in 1994 when the Terrapins reclaimed a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Williams is now the most winning coach in Terps' history and has 12 NCAA Tournament berths in the last 14 seasons, seven Sweet Sixteen appearances, a pair of consecutive Final Four showings, and the 2002 national championship.
Video Highlights

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UM Tech Startup Wins $500K Global Security Challenge Competition
TRX Systems, a company founded by University of Maryland Professor and Associate Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering Gil Blankenship, nurtured in the university's tech company incubator and assisted by the university's Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute (MFRI), has won first place in the third annual Global Security Challenge (GSC) competition.

For winning, TRX Systems receives a $500,000 federal contract from the Technical Support Working Group (TSWG), the U.S. national forum that identifies, prioritizes, and coordinates interagency and international research and development requirements for combating terrorism. TRX qualified for the GSC final by making it through two earlier rounds of judging, the including co-winning the American Regional Semi-Final held at the University of Maryland in September.
> Full Story

Behavioral and Social Sciences Dean Edward Montgomery Serving on Obama-Biden Transition Team
The Review Teams for the Obama-Biden Transition will complete a thorough review of key departments, agencies and commissions of the United States government, as well as the White House, to provide the President-elect, Vice President-elect and key advisors with information needed to make strategic policy, budgetary and personnel decisions prior to the inauguration. The teams will ensure that senior appointees have the information necessary to complete the confirmation process, lead their departments and begin implementing signature policy initiatives immediately after they are sworn in.
> Full Story

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	New York Times.com – Nov. 18, 2008 – Business professor and economist Peter Morici is mentioned in a blog post as he testifies before the Senate Banking Committee on the U.S. auto industry, along with the heads of the “Big Three” U.S. automakers and the UAW union head. Read more.
	CNN: Lou Dobbs Tonight – Nov. 17, 2008 – Business professor and economist Peter Morici is interviewed about the economy. Read more
	New York Times Magazine – Nov. 16, 2008 – Research from Rosellina Ferraro, assistant professor of marketing, is profiled. She studies the effects of brief social encounters with brands. Read more
	NPR – Morning Edition – Nov. 13, 2008 – Finance professor Albert “Pete” Kyle is interviewed about the economy and the potential for continued credit problems for consumers. Read more and listen online
	CBS Evening News – Nov. 10, 2008 – Business professor and economist Peter Morici is interviewed on the economic crisis.
	ABC: World News with Charles Gibson – Nov. 7, 2008 – Professor Peter Morici is interviewed about the crisis in the U.S. auto industry.
	NPR – Morning Edition – Nov. 6, 2008 – Professor Peter Morici is interviewed about President-Elect Obama’s options for Treasury secretary. Read more and listen online

http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/news/inthenews/

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Hui Liao, department of management and organization, just won the 2009 SIOP (Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology) Distinguished Early Career Contributions Award from an international field of contenders. She will be awarded this prize at the SIOP annual conference in April.

Yuntao Dong, Robert Baum & Henry Sims, department of management and organization, received the "Best Paper" award from Cognition in the Rough, Academy of Management meetings, Anaheim California, August 2008: THE VENTURE CAPITALIST AS LEADER: THE INFLUENCE OF VENTURE CAPITALIST EMPOWERING LEADERSHIP ON ENTREPRENEUR STRESS AND PERFORMANCE.

Hugh Courtney, associate dean of executive programs, was a finalist for the "Best Paper" award at the Strategic Management Society meetings, October 2008, for his paper: "Models and Strategic Decision Making under Uncertainty," with Fred Van Eenenannaam.

Jeff Kudisch, department of management and organization, served as a member of the 2008 International Task Force on Assessment Center Guidelines that provided input into the revised Guidelines and Ethical Considerations for Assessment Center Operations that was recently presented and endorsed at the 34th International Congress on Assessment Center Methods in Washington, D.C. At the event he also delivered a presentation entitled, "Using executive coaching to leverage assessment center feedback: Tips for success" that was co-authored with Mark Poteet of Organizational Research & Solutions. Kudisch also led and served as moderator of an October MBA Forum entitled, "Making Talent a Strategic Priority: Are Organizations up to the Challenge? A Conversation with Regional Business Leaders."

At this fall's Mutual Assistance Program for States (MAPS) hosted by the Treatment Research Institute (TRI) Philadelphia, PA, as part of the "Organizational Design and Consolidation Strategies Meeting," Rafael Corredoira, department of management and organization, presented results of his study on addiction treatment clinic performance based on Maryland data and lead the discussion about the role of state agencies in moving their addiction treatment systems toward increased effectiveness.

Lemma Senbet, department of finance, was in charge of the awards for the 2008 Financial Management Association meetings sponsored by a variety of institutions. Ten awards were given – seven for best papers in seven finance area categories and three for best thesis proposals in three areas – based on evaluation by expert teams from around the world.

J. Gerald Suarez, associate dean of external strategy at Smith, represented the United States in Spain last month at a conference held by the Fundación Foro Jovellanos and the Club Asturiano de la Calidad.  Suarez was awarded the "Medal for Exceptional Civil Service" for his contributions and achievements. The award is honoring the achievements of the Spanish philosopher Jovellanos, the father of the Spanish Enlightment, and created by Salvador Dali. Suarez is one of only a handful of award recipients, including the King of Spain. Suarez worked in Spain as a visiting professor at the Asturias Business School for 10 years. (Related Story)

Raghu Raghavan, department of DO&IT, won a distinguished service award from the INFORMS Telecommunications Section for his years of dedicated service to the section. Raghu has served on the board of the INFORMS Telecommunications Section since 1998. The award was presented at the INFORMS annual meeting in Washington on Oct. 12.

Michel Wedel, department of marketing, was appointed to the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of Consumer Research. He is now one of only a handful of people who are on the editorial boards of all four of marketing’s consensus top four journals.

Roland Rust and P.K. Kannan, department of marketing, co-chaired the 17th Annual Frontiers in Service Conference at the Smith School. The conference drew 326 participants from 41 countries. Fifty-eight percent of the attendees were from outside the U.S.

A new Duke University working paper compiled the most influential scholars in marketing worldwide for the period 1997-2006. Michel Wedel was first in number of articles in the top four marketing journals, and Roland Rust was tied for fifth. Rust was first in the number of articles that were among the five most cited papers of the year in one of the top four journals. The paper also compiled an overall index of influence, including number of top four articles, citations, best article awards, and editorial service. Rust placed second on this metric, and Wedel placed seventh.

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State Benefits Office Wellness Fair
The State Benefits Office is sponsoring a Wellness Fair hosted by the the UMCP Employee Benefits Office on Monday, Dec. 1, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Stamp Student Union, Colony Ballroom). Stop by for flu vaccines for $10, a seated massage, blood pressure screening, body fat analysis, oral hygiene information and many other interesting bits of information. Visit www.uhr.umd.edu or call 301 405 5651 for more information.

At the University of Maryland, recycle all bottles, cans and paper:

• All glass bottles (regardless of color)
• All plastic #1 and #2
• All metal cans (aluminum, tin, and steel)
• All office paper and newspapers
• All junk mail, magazines, post-its, folders
• All cardboard-- brown corrugated cardboard, ordinary cardboard boxes, and pizza boxes

Recycle FAQ: www.environment.umd.edu/recycle.html

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eSmith Portal Transition to MySmith at MyUM is Complete After a year of development and more than six months of testing, Smith IT is redirecting all traffic bound for the eSmith Web portal to the campus MyUM portal. MySmith, the Smith School's tab on the campus portal, contains new versions of the tools from eSmith including remote access to Windows Applications via Citrix, single sign-on access to iNotes and other Domino-based systems, and single sign-on access to Blackboard and other campus systems. This transition of hosts allows Smith IT to focus on the Smith-specific services on MySmith without having to operate the rest of the portal infrastructure. The old eSmith was originally launched in Fall, 2001 under Sandor Boyson, then Smith School CIO, in an effort to extend the resources of the Van Munching Hall computer labs to the emerging remote school populations. MyUM is online at: http://my.umd.edu

IMPORTANT CHANGES TO OUR BLACKBOARD PROCESSES!
As you probably already know, the old Smith Blackboard environment merged with campus ELMS a couple of years ago to better leverage capabilities of the system and provide a uniform environment for all UMCP students. System administration duties have been redistributed since then and are now shared with central OIT. Security auditors, the Registrar and the campus legal office have all been involved to ensure the integrity of student data (SIS) and have established several new policies and procedures toward that end. Smith IT has been working with them to make certain that our college is in line with campus policies regarding Blackboard.
> How does this affect Smith Blackboard users?

Request Your Blackboard Course Sites Now!
The system is ready for your Winter and Spring 2009 requests. Beat the rush! Campus requires instructors to please request their Blackboard course sites every semester. This allows us to ensure that everything is set up exactly as you would like the very first time.

Please use the ELMS** course request form to submit course requests. You will find the ELMS form when you log into Blackboard system and look in the “Common Tasks for Instructors” frame or at https://learningonline.umd.edu/elms-mgmt/. It's VERY easy to use. Use your Directory ID and password to login, select the semester and a list of everything you’re listed to teach will appear. One click and that course site request is submitted. If a course is not listed there, you can click a link at the bottom and fill in some blanks with course name/number and section information. ** Our Blackboard system is also referred to as "ELMS" (enterprise learning management system) campus-wide.

Smith IT also maintains an additional Course Request form. It has been used for years by our faculty/staff to request courses. There are more blanks to fill in, so takes a little longer, but it allows flexibility for some special circumstances such as if you are a new or adjunct faculty who does not have an active UM Directory account yet. You can find the Smith form at www.rhsmith.umd.edu/blackboard/courserequest.html

Update your Virus Protection
Our installations of McAfee are set to automatically update virus definitions, however, when security exploits are announced, this needs to be done more frequently. To protect your computer please manually update your McAfee virus definitions as soon as possible. To do this,
1. Right click on the red "V" in the taskbar at the bottom right of your computer screen.
2. Choose "update now" and it will update to the latest version of "dat."
Of course, new viruses or "exploits" are most likely being created, so you should routinely manually run McAfee updates daily.

Update your Windows Critical Patches
If you have a computer with our software image (such as your office computer), that pc is set to automatically update critical Windows patches overnight. We recommend that you remain logged into Novell overnight, and THEN RE-BOOT YOUR COMPUTER IN THE MORNING. This will download the latest critical patches available for Windows, and when you re-boot your computer in the morning they will be installed.

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Are You Doing for Others During the Holiday Season?
Send your stories to Angela Toda (atoda@rhsmith.umd.edu) in the Office of Marketing Communications. UM is looking to profile good holiday deeds in its next "Between the Columns" newsletter.

Web Site Updates
As a reminder, with the launch of the new Smith School Web site all Web updates are being processed by the Office of Marketing Communications. Please coordinate with your designated Web Contact or send updates directly to webupdates@rhsmith.umd.edu. 

Tracy Wu, Smith China office, gave birth to a boy Xiao "David" Shu on July 23, 2008. David weighed 6.8Kg (approx. 18 pounds).

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Smith Newslink Inside is a production of the Office of Marketing Communications in cooperation with the Office of Administration.

Editor
Alissa Arford-Leyl

Contributors:
Office of Marketing Communications
Smith Media Group
Office of Administration
Office of Smith IT

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