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REAL 600 (equivalent to REAL 714) for Spring 2008

This course is part of the MS Degree in Real Estate. Enrollment is also open to all OCB graduate students. No Real Estate Pre-requisite Required (MBA students must be eligible to enroll in elective coursework in order to enroll in this course and must contact the MS Degree in Real Estate office or their academic advisor to register). This course is a pre-requisite for all other courses with the REAL pre-fix.

This course provides an introduction to professional practices in real estate decision-making. The course focus is on real estate enterprise management, real estate finance, public sector relationships, property regulation, and investment decision making with particular emphasis on the activities, roles and participants involved.

Topics include: real estate development, site selection, leasing and pricing strategies, finance options, investment analysis practices, real estate investment trusts, partnerships and asset management.

(3 credits) Monday nights, 6pm -9p.m. in Minneapolis REAL600 section 02; crn 23402, Instructor Thomas Hamilton.

MGMT714 (CRN # 22915): Strategic Overview of the Health Care System for Spring 2008

This course will provide students with an overview of the health care system, including the strategic positioning of providers, suppliers, insurers, and government within the health care system. It will build an understanding of how the customer/patient fits or does not fit into the existing system and define where the health care system is failing or supporting its stakeholders. It will also address the strategic processes necessary to institute change in the health care system.
Mondays, 6-9pm, Minneapolis

Business, Law and Ethics in the European Union (BLAW 714) for Spring 2008

This course combines classes in the US with a study abroad and face-to-face negotiation of a simulated business transaction with German students from a German university. The course surveys US, foreign, and international law as it relates to cross border business transactions including: commercial dispute resolution, trade regulation, contracting for the sale of goods, documentary transactions and trade finance, intellectual property and licensing, and business ethics and corporate social responsibility.

The primary project for the course is an export/import contract UST students negotiate with students from the Fachhochschule (University of Applied Sciences) in Trier, Germany.

Three classroom sessions prior to your departure for Europe. (Minneapolis):
Session 1: 9:00 am – noon, February 23, 2008
Session 2: 9:00 am – noon; 1 – 4 pm, March 29, 2008
Session 3: 9:00 am – noon; 1 – 4 pm, April 19, 2008

May 19 – May 31 travel to and study in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany.

Enrollment is limited to 15 students. For more information about the course or for application materials, go to the following website:http://www.cebcglobal.org/Services/StudyAbroad2008.htm.

GBEC714: Industry Studies: Nonprofit Sector (Spring 2008)

Are you interested in nonprofit or social enterprise management???? If so, you should plan ahead for enrolling in GBEC714: Industry Studies: Nonprofit Sector during spring semester, 2008.

This survey course builds on fundamental concepts from GBEC600, MGMT600, and other core MBA courses, and applies them to the nonprofit sector. Topics include sector size and diversity, governance and management, financing nonprofit organizations, giving and volunteering, accountability, and other matters pertinent to effective nonprofit management. This course is highly recommended prior to taking other courses in the nonprofit track. Instructor: Dr. Mel Gray is Professor of Business Economics in the Opus College of Business. His nonprofit experience includes directing a community development agency, funding and evaluating criminal justice programs, chairing the boards of three organizations, serving on an advisory committee of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, and serving on the Academic Advisory Board of the National Center on Nonprofit Enterprise. He is a member of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action and of the American Evaluation Association.

For more information, contact Dr. Gray at cmgray@stthomas.edu or 651.962.4301.

FINC 717: Aristotle Fund

Application Deadline for 2008-2009 Academic Year: March 30, 2008

We are currently in the process of selecting applicants for the 2008-2009 FINC 717 Student Managed Fund Class. This class of graduate finance students in the Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas manages an investment fund. This class was made possible by a generous gift from an anonymous donor to the University. The donor made a monetary gift to the University with the intention of this money being actively managed by graduate students. The students are Investment Managers for this designated piece of the University’s endowment fund (now called the Aristotle Fund).

This fund provides students with “real” money to manage and requires a serious commitment. The students selected for this course will inherit an investment portfolio from the current year's class on September 1, 2008. The student managers will be responsible for the performance of the fund from September 1, 2008 until May 31, 2009. Students registered for this course will be invited to observe the current year's class to prepare for ownership of the portfolio. The student managers as a group will invest the fund in whatever investments they choose as a result of research, visit with corporate management and the use of various investment-management services.

Before they are selected to join the investment team, students must first complete core courses in finance and investment theory. At a minimum, the student should have completed FINC 600 and have completed or be concurrently registered in FINC 713 in the fall of 2008. While the students will not take home any portfolio profits, they will gain strong credentials for their résumés and will have had the chance to work directly with leaders in the investment community.

If you are interested in participating in this fund, send your resume, a letter establishing your personal objectives in working with this fund, two letters of recommendation (one must be from a UST faculty member) and a copy of your transcript to the address below. The course is limited to twelve students and admission to the program is competitive. Select students will be asked to attend a personal interview in April. The students selected for this class will be notified in early May. Please send your application materials by March 30, 2008 to:

Attn: Dr. Mary S. Daugherty
The Aristotle Fund
University of St. Thomas
2115 Summit Ave., MCH 350
St. Paul, Minnesota 55105
Email – msdaugherty@stthomas.edu
651-962-5122

You invited to attend a class if you are interested in applying. Please contact Dr. Mary Daugherty for dates/times to visit.

Great Books (BETH 706) for J-term 2008

THE GREAT BOOKS SEMINAR: GREAT THINKERS WHO SHAPED BUSINESS CIVILIZATION

This one week, three-credit course is based on the world-renowned Aspen Institute Executive Seminar. It uses selected writings of great classic and contemporary thinkers as a beginning point for an intensive, focused discussion with peers on the enduring ideas and ideals of world civilization, the problems and opportunities of today and the issues to be faced in the years ahead. In a sense, the readings function as case studies in leadership and leadership values.

The readings revolve around such universal human concerns as justice, rights, liberty, equality, power, leadership, democracy, and community. Discussion and debate are spirited as students get to know one another in a retreat-like environment.

Orientation, Closure, Instructors: A one-hour orientation is held about six weeks prior to each seminar and a one-hour closure session is held about six weeks subsequent to each seminar. Past instructors have included Professor Kenneth Goodpaster, Dr. Nona Mason, Professor Patricia Hedberg, Professor Charles Reid, Doug Baker, Dean Maines and Merritt Marquardt.

For whom is this program designed? The nature of the discussion and study topics requires that participants be at or near the completion of their MBA degree. Designed to serve as the culmination of the degree program, the Great Books Seminar will provide participants with unique insight and perspective that will last long after they receive their diplomas.

This seminar qualifies as a three-credit management concentration course for MBA students. It may qualify as an elective for other St. Thomas graduate business programs; students should first seek approval from their advisors. View a sample syllabus.

The seminar is limited to 20 participants, with priority given on a first-come, first-served basis to current students. If space is available, the seminar will be open to alumni. We are able to offer alumni reduced tuition.

Seminar Dates and Cost: The week-long Great Books Seminar is held at an off-site conference center. Participants stay at the site during the week to make the most of the learning experience.

January 2008 Session
• January 6-11, 2008
Moderator: TBA
• Mandatory Orientation for January Session:
November 29, 2007*, 4 - 5:30 p.m. Minneapolis Campus

*Orientation scheduled by appointment for those who register after November 28. Registration closed after December 15.

• Closure meeting for January session:
February 14, 2008, 4 - 5:30 p.m., Minneapolis Campus

Seminar Cost J-Term '08 :
Tuition (3 credits-MBA students)**
Lodging & meals
Aspen books/materials, etc
TOTAL

**(Tuition Law Students 3 cr.TBA)

A $400 nonrefundable deposit will be incurred one week following the orientation session. Cancellation rates will be imposed on a rolling basis. Room and board contracts and royalty fees require this policy.

For more information, please call (651) 962-4211 or cobethics@stthomas.edu.

ENTR707, Innovation and Corporate Entrepreneurship – Spring Semester, 2008, Thursdays, Minneapolis Campus with Dr. Laura Dunham.

Classical economists made no distinction between the manager and the entrepreneur. That statement alone makes this elective very attractive for anyone in management or on a career path toward management who is interested in entrepreneurial-thinking strategies for the future. It’s an excellent addition to your “management toolkit” regardless of industry or organization.

Course description – Designed for entrepreneurs, managers and consultants interested in creating and reinforcing entrepreneurial responses with established organizations. Course examines how managers affect the nature and rate of innovation through organizational culture, structure, communication, reward and control systems. Emphasis placed on how individuals initiate, launch and manage ventures within corporate settings. Course integrates theory and practice through the use of readings, discussions, cases, field work and projects.

MGMT 805: International Business (spring 2008)

Are you ready for a flat world?

Companies today face an increasing variety of choices about where to locate different value-creating activities. This course explores the opportunities and challenges associated with conducting business in a global context. The goal of this course is to provide the foundations for understanding the external global environment facing a multinational enterprise (MNE), and the internal challenges of managing an MNE. Specifically, this course examines the following topics: the forces behind globalization, the different cultural, political, legal and economic environments in which global businesses operate, the tradeoffs between global and local strategies, the alternatives available for coordinating activity in an MNE, and the unique challenges involved with managing people in a globally dispersed organization.

The course will be discussion-based, incorporating cases, current events and application of concepts to your own business.

Professor Mary Maloney
Mondays 6-9pm, Minneapolis Campus