Education: The Key To Career Advancement

Black Enterprise, Feb, 2000

THE CONSORTIUM FOR GRADUATE STUDIES IN MANAGEMENT

Founded in 1966, The Consortium for Graduate Studies in Management offers more than 300 full-tuition scholarships to 12 of the nation's leading business schools each year to qualified African, Hispanic and Native Americans. In the 33 years since its rounding, The Consortium has awarded scholarships to more than 3,000 minority MBA students. Ninety-five percent have gone on to work for Consortium sponsors (which include Hewlett-Packard, Kraft, General Mills, General Motors and Merck, to name just a few). Fortune 500 companies now employ more than 70 percent of Consortium graduates.

According to president and CEO, Dr. Phyllis Scott Buford, the Consortium is the best resource for corporations to find some of the most talented people of color for their top management positions. One prime example is Doris F. Givens-Simmons. As vice president in charge of quality management for Chase Manhattan Banks National Consumer Services department, she is a shining example of a Consortium alumna breaking down doors and succeeding in corporate America. Since graduating from New York University's Stern School of Business Administration in 1992, she has put her hard-earned business knowledge to use as a business professional with a clear locus on getting tasks done as efficiently and productively as possible,

"Winning the merit-based Consortium fellowship award gave me the chance of a lifetime" she explains. "Not only did the fellowship recognize my accomplishments and further validate my academic and leadership potential, but it also elevated my level of exposure to corporate recruiters."

A partnership of 12 top business schools and more than 160 corporations helps fired the Consortium. The Consortium fellows will attend one of the 12 sponsor schools. These leading institutions include: University of California-Berkeley, Dartmouth College, Indiana University-Bloomington, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, New York University, The University Of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Rochester; The University of Southern California, The University of Texas at Austin, The University of Virginia, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Consortium can be contacted by phone at 1-888-658-6814 or by visiting its website: www.cgsm.wustl.edu

THE PHD PROJECT

The PhD Project was created to remedy the severe under-representation of people of color in Americas business schools, and ultimately in the larger corporate community. It is going about this task by increasing African-Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans presence on business schoolfaculty. By diversifying the faculty, The PhD Project will: 1) encourage more people of color to pursue business degrees, and 2) better prepare all business students for todays multicultural work environment.

The PhD Project is an extensive marketing campaign to identify a population of the best and brightest potential Ph.D. candidates of color currently working in business. The Project invites a select number of these respondents to its annual conference, where they hear from professors and current doctoral students about the benefits of pursuing a business Ph.D. They are also able to meet with representatives from 80 major business schools.