A group of Smith School students from Zurich recently had the opportunity to tackle one of the most pressing problems facing organizations in China today. An outgrowth of China's blistering economic growth has been a challenge in recruiting and retaining skilled workers. Multinational organizations in particular are often caught up in bidding wars where the prevailing attitude among professionals and skilled laborers is that the company offering the biggest paycheck holds their loyalty – at least for the moment.

Undoubtedly the one of the most anticipated events of the Smith MBA program, the annual MBA Case Competition puts strategic thinking and analytical skills of full-time second-year MBA students to the test. The six-day competition started on Friday, Jan. 25 when 20 teams of students received a case about Teva Pharmaceuticals. Students went through three rounds of competition and the final four teams competed for a grand prize of $1,000 per person.

The Part-time MBA Association invited all MBA students, alumni, faculty, and administration to attend "Secrets to C-Level: Leveraging Business Contacts & the Smith Community to Launch Your Career into the Executive Stratosphere on Oct. 28, 2007. The event, held in the Colony Ballroom of the Stamp Student Union, featured the executive vice president and chief information officer from Fannie Mae, Rahul N. Merchant. Merchant has held these positions since November 2006.

A gift from a recent Smith School graduate will ensure the future of the schools Quality Enhancement Systems and Teams (QUEST) Honors Fellows Program annual Innovation and Consulting Conference. QUEST Executive Director J. Gerald Suarez announced the gift at this years conference, held Dec. 6, 2007. The evening event is organized to give students opportunity to present their consulting projects to more than 250 business, nonprofit and government clients; faculty; parents; and peers.

On Friday, Nov. 30, a group of first- and second-year Smith MBA students traveled to the headquarters of the investment firm Calvert in Bethesda, Md., to learn about the Calvert Fund, a socially responsible mutual fund. This field trip dubbed The Calvert Trek was organized by the Smith Net Impact Club, whose mission is to make a positive impact on society by building a community of leaders who use business to improve the world.

On Nov. 13, 2007, Friis Arne Petersen, Denmark's Ambassador to the United States, gave a lecture at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business to an audience of undergraduate students and faculty members. Petersons lecture, titled Denmark in the World Politics, Economy and Energy, centered around Denmark's relationship with the U.S. and its role in the global community.

Jim Lager, Government Accountability Office deputy ethics counselor, shared his experiences and discussed what drives behavior, compliance-based thinking and regulation with 75 Smith students on November 7. His lecture was the third and final installment of the Robert H. Smith School of Business's Business Ethics Lecture Series for fall 2007.

A group of first- and second-year Smith MBA students traveled to the New York City area on the Finance Associations annual Wall Street Trek, Nov. 8-9, 2007. The trip is designed to allow Smith Students interested in pursuing careers in capital markets to attend discussion and informational sessions with Wall Street professionals. The goal is to expose the students to a variety of jobs inside the industry and give them the opportunity to network with Smith alumni who are currently employed in capital markets.

A group of first- and second-year Smith MBA students traveled to the New York City area on the Finance Associations annual Wall Street Trek, Nov. 8-9, 2007. The trip is designed to allow Smith Students interested in pursuing careers in capital markets to attend discussion and informational sessions with Wall Street professionals. The goal is to expose the students to a variety of jobs inside the industry and give them the opportunity to network with Smith alumni who are currently employed in capital markets.

The Second Annual Nationwide Fisher National Biz Quiz Challenge took place at Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business from October 25-27, 2007 and Smith was well represented. A group of Smith undergraduate students - senior Leslie Lin, and juniors Eric Liang and Ademola Sadik - traveled to Columbus for the competition and advanced to the semifinals, placing fourth overall out of 18 schools.