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Columns::May 19, 2003
Digest
UGA is a leading study-abroad institution
According to the newest edition of Open Doors: Report on International Educational Exchange, the University of Georgia is one of the leading study-abroad institutions in the United States.
The report, published annually by the Institute of International Education, is based on study-abroad statistics from 2000-2001. During that year, 1,229 UGA students studied abroad. For the total number of study-abroad students, UGA ranked 13th among all U.S. institutions that enroll more than 1,200 study-abroad students and 12th among
all research institutions.
“Last year the University of Georgia broke into the top 20 of American research universities in study abroad,” says Mark Lusk, associate provost for international affairs at UGA. “This year we are even closer to top 10 status. This marks UGA’s presence on the global scene as an international university of stature.”
Participation in UGA study-abroad programs has grown dramatically in recent years. In the 2000 and 2001 editions of Open Doors, UGA ranked 16th for the total number of study-abroad students with 900 and 1,058, respectively.
The report lists only the top 20 institutions in each category, and this is the first year that UGA was included among the top 20 research institutions for the percentage of students who study abroad.
Food services wins two national awards
Food services has won two first-place awards in the Loyal E. Horton Menu Awards program sponsored by the National Association of College and University Food Services.
Food services received the first place award for its residence hall standard menu as well as the first place award for residence hall special events for its chuck wagon dinner.
“UGA’s food service department has the distinction of winning more Loyal E. Horton Menu Awards than any other college food service program in the nation. With these two first place awards the department has now won an unheard-of number of 47 since 1987,” says Mike Floyd, head of food service administration. “Although neither first place award puts UGA in competition for the national grand prize, we are still honored to be recognized for our efforts.”
Grand prize award winners will be announced at the association’s national conference in Kansas City in July.
M.B.A. students win global competition
A unique product, a rock-solid plan and a well-rehearsed sales pitch helped a team of M.B.A. students from UGA’s Terry College of Business take home the grand prize and $100,000 in financing from the 20th annual Global Moot Corp competition held this past month at the University of Texas in Austin.
KidSmart’s plan for manufacturing and marketing the KidSmart Vocal Smoke Detector, a patented combination smoke detector-digital voice recorder, helped the Terry entrepreneurs beat 29 other teams from some of the world’s top business schools.
Matthew Ferris, Bruce Black, Kerry Moher and Doug Ghertner, who graduated from the 11-month M.B.A. program earlier this month, all intend to work for KidSmart full-time within the next two years, a goal that seems all the more attainable in light of their recent successes.
In the “Final Five” round, the KidSmart team beat new-venture ideas from the University of Texas, Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, the University of Oregon, and the University of Western Ontario. Among the other business schools competing were teams from Oxford University, the University of Michigan, the University of North Carolina, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago and the London Business School.
Gary Cadenhead, director of the Moot Corp program at the University of Texas at Austin, was impressed by KidSmart’s performance and optimistic about their chances as a start-up company.
“The KidSmart team clearly has a business idea that meets a burning need,” says Cadenhead. “They have a creative product and a strong management team. I see them doing very well in the marketplace.”
Moot Corp started at the University of Texas in 1984 and has become the world’s oldest and largest intercollegiate business plan competition. Teams compete with each other to convince venture capitalist judges to fund their ventures. They are judged on the quality of their business ideas, the strength of the management team, and the clarity and persuasiveness of their written plans and oral presentations.
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