Smith Business Magazine-Fall 2022-final-no bleeds - Flipbook - Page 15
Making It
Everyone’s
PHOTOGRAPH BY LISA HELFERT
Debbie Feinberg ‘96,
speaking at the 25th
QUEST Anniversary.
DECADES OF
PROVEN SUCCESS
How Maryland Smith is Collaborating to Bring Business to More Students
STORY BY CARRIE HANDWERKER
I
n May, National Student
Clearinghouse reported that
662,000 fewer students enrolled
in undergraduate programs in
spring 2022 than a year earlier,
a decline of 4.7%. But first-time,
first-year enrollment increased by
4.2% in the same period. Why the
overall decline yet increase in firstyear enrollment?
Experts say it has to do with
retention. To keep students,
universities and colleges need to
Smith is taking business
education beyond the walls
of Van Munching Hall.
12
/
SMITH BUSINESS
/
fall 2022
provide educational experiences of
real value to students. That means
offering transformational, crossfunctional programs that integrate
real-world experiences so students
can learn to think critically, tackle
complex challenges and solve the
world’s big problems—programs
that are larger than just one
discipline alone.
Figuring out the best
ways to offer integrated and
interdisciplinary opportunities
for learning and research is a
top priority for Prabhudev
Konana, dean of the University of
Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School
of Business. As one of the main
themes to emerge in the school’s
new strategic plan, it will be a
guiding principle going forward.
“Working together with our
counterparts on campus allows
for fuller learning, greater crosspollination of ideas, and leads to
broader societal impact,” he says.
“We’re creating a UMD
ecosystem,” says Victor Mullins,
Maryland Smith’s associate dean
for undergraduate studies. “We’re
designing purposeful partnerships
with our colleagues across campus,
keeping our students at the
forefront of our planning.”
That’s why Smith is taking
business education beyond
the walls of Van Munching Hall,
pushing past university silos,
to partner on new programs
Working together with
our counterparts on
campus allows for fuller
learning, greater crosspollination of ideas,
and leads to broader
societal impact.
—Dean Prabhudev Konana
that make for fuller learning
opportunities for all students.
These are the kinds of programs
that will attract the top students
to the University of Maryland and
prepare graduates for the new
world of work, readying them to
have a broad impact on society’s
biggest challenges.
The Smith School already has
an impressive track record.
rhsmith.umd.edu
Debbie Feinberg ’96
remembers getting a flier for a
new program during her first year
as a hyper-focused accounting
major. She was intrigued.
It was called the IBM Total
Quality Management Program,
later renamed the Quality
Enhancement Systems and
Teams honors program—QUEST—a
highly selective and intensive
three-year series of team-based
experiential learning courses and
extracurricular opportunities for
undergraduates studying business
or engineering. (Now, the program
is also open to students in the
College of Computer, Mathematical
and Natural Science.) It mirrored
the student experience in the
MBA program, bringing together
students from different disciplines
and emphasizing teamwork and
real-world consulting projects for
corporate clients.
“It was a bit out of my comfort
zone,” Feinberg says, “but I thought
maybe I could learn something else
and differentiate myself a little bit.”
She applied and got in.
“For the first time, I was in classes
with these engineering majors,”
she recalls. “We had different
points of view and different
backgrounds. But it really was
a transformative experience. It
dropped you in the deep end to
figure things out.”
rhsmith-editor@umd.edu
In her very first class, students
were tasked with designing and
building a hair dryer—something
Feinberg would have never done in
a traditional business class.
She credits QUEST as integral
in her successful—and often
unexpected—career journey that
took her from auditor, to QUEST’s
first director of corporate relations,
to strategy and operations
consulting. Feinberg then
completed a stint as a professional
organizer before returning to
accounting. For the last eight years,
she’s served as chief financial
officer of Parabilis, an alternative
lending company providing
working capital to government
contractors.
Now in its 30th year, QUEST
has become the gold standard of
multidisciplinary, hands-on learning
experiences for top students at the
University of Maryland.
One of the biggest
things I’ve taken away
from the program is
to say ‘Yes, I can try
this. I can do this.
If I fail, I fail, but I
probably have learned
something along the
way.’ And that approach
has worked out for me
over my career.
—Debbie Feinberg ‘96
In addition to QUEST, Smith runs
the cross-disciplinary Business,
Society and the Economy program,
part of the university’s 25-year-old
College Park Scholars program.
The two-year, living-learning
program for academically talented
incoming freshmen combines an
interdisciplinary curriculum with
hands-on learning and communitybuilding opportunities for students.
Feinberg says QUEST and
programs like it—that provide
opportunities for hands-on
collaboration with peers and
students take away from their
college experience. Participants
are highly sought-after for jobs
by corporate partners and, like
Feinberg, see long-term impacts
on their careers.
“One of the biggest things I’ve
taken away from the program is to
say ‘yes, I can try this. I can do this.
If I fail, I fail, but I probably have
learned something along the way.’
And that approach has worked out
for me over my career.”
She hopes more students have
access to those experiences—and
faculty in business and beyond—
really make the difference in what
like her, jump at the chance to
participate in something new.
EXPANDING OPPORTUNITIES
Since he took on the lead role in January 2021, Konana has
been working to forge new campus partnerships and build on
long-standing successful campus relationships and programs, like
the experience pioneered by QUEST.
Thanks to his efforts, top incoming undergrads have a new
opportunity to learn about business concepts and be a part of
a vibrant community in the Interdisciplinary Business Honors
program. Just launched this fall, it’s Smith’s first partnership with
Maryland’s Honors College.
“It’s a great way for us to bring some of the best and
brightest to the University of Maryland, who may otherwise go
elsewhere,” says Joseph Bailey, assistant dean for specialty
undergraduate programs.
The prestigious invitation-only program welcomed 63
freshmen this fall, more than half of whom aren’t majoring in
business. “That means that we’ve got many touch points with
students of many other majors who are going to be exposed
to business as a discipline and our thought leaders here on the
Smith faculty,” says Bailey.
Smith also just launched the Notation in Computational
Finance. The four-semester integrated learning experience
is geared toward students from the Department of Computer
Science who want to learn to manipulate financial data sets.
Students will apply analytical models and machine-learning
algorithms to tackle financial problems, as well as complete a
capstone project with academic and industry mentors.
Albert “Pete” Kyle, Distinguished University Professor and
Charles E. Smith Chair in Finance, is teaching the introductory
course this fall. The notation, he says, is incredibly relevant as it
satisfies a growing need from financial firms seeking students with
programming skills and a comprehensive finance background.
fall 2022
/
SMITH BUSINESS
/
13
