How could I not apply for a job like this? That was Joel Willchers immediate reaction when asked why he chose to run for the position of student regent on the University System of Maryland's governing board. This kind of opportunity does not knock very often, he adds.

Showcasing their business savvy for more than a dozen high-powered companies, 74 freshman College Park Scholars (CPS) students studied and made strategic recommendations for real-world companies. Each team illustrated its recommended strategy on a display board, which was evaluated by a team of judges, including a representative from the company. The Ryan Homes team won the 7th Annual Strategy Board Competition, held on Dec. 9, 2004 at the Smith School. Team members include freshmen Clara Abdurazak, Joe Green, Sohail Itani, Zachary Mellman, and Surya Shivakumar.

Smith School senior John Kim and sophomore Mary Rosa Connolly were surprised with a scholarship from the GEICO 2004 Achievement Awards on December 6. Shannon Hatfield, GEICO college relations manager, presented the oversize checks for $500 to the delighted students at a mechanical engineering class on Monday afternoon.

The Robert H. Smith School of Business is pleased to announce "Babyfones" as the winner of the Third Annual Undergraduate Business Plan Competition. Leading Babyfones are two recent grads, Sarah Vogel, a marketing major, and Dean Jephson, a finance major. "The business plan competition was designed specifically for undergraduate students at the university and it provides students with an educational experience aimed at helping them develop a new venture idea," said Mark Wellman, a judge for the competition and director of academic programs in entrepreneurship at Smith.

Three Smith School undergrads -- Mark Weinstein, Timothy Potter and Danhao Wu -- are among 25 University of Maryland seniors who have been named 2004 Merrill Scholars. The Merrill Presidential Scholars Program honors University of Maryland's most successful seniors and their designated university faculty and K-12 teachers for their mentorship. The program celebrates the connections between mentorship, scholarship and academic achievement.

The Quality Enhancement Systems and Teams (QUEST) retreat gave 75 incoming sophomores their first taste of life in the QUEST program. The two-day offsite experience is held at Camp Horizons in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and is a bit like a corporate retreat and a bit like a college class mixed up with a healthy dose of summer camp. The retreat is intended to help them feel like a community, says Amy Riesner, director of the QUEST program. Students are coming in to this very demanding program. The retreat helps them get to know each other and start learning to work together.

The undergraduate business program at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business is ranked among the nations top business schools by U.S. News & World Report in its America's Best Colleges 2005 report, released Friday, August 20. The Smith School, which is ranked #20 overall, also earned top-20 rankings in six specialty categories. These top specialty rankings are:

Four Smith undergrads had some extra spending money this summer, compliments of the Joseph M. Wikler Finance Case Competition, held in April. Nathaniel Zola, Michelle Donnelly, Julianne Kortz, and Zach Barratt each received $1,000 in prize money by earning first place in the competition, which was organized by Smith's finance department.

The Smith School community gathered on April 29, 2004, to honor exceptional undergraduate business students and professors at the Fourth Annual Undergraduate Awards Banquet, held at the University of Maryland University College Inn and Conference Center. "Tonight we celebrate the talent and energy of some of the leaders in the Smith School community" said Dean Howard Frank. "Please join me in congratulating them.." Milton T. Matthews '68, vice president and chief customer officer of Hershey Foods Corporation, served as the master of ceremonies for the event.

Twenty-six undergraduate business students from the Robert H. Smith School of Business Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE-UMCP) organization, a newly recognized student organization on campus, recently earned the title of Regional Champion. "In just one semester, SIFE-UMCP has proven itself to be a tremendously focused and passionate team of students who have worked very effectively together to promote business learning and access to business education both in our community and on campus," says Patricia Cleveland, assistant dean of undergraduate studies at Smith.