Full-Time

MBA Student

Orientation

August 14-25, 2017

Orientation Overview

Welcome to the University of Pittsburgh’s Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of

Business! We are delighted to welcome you to orientation, the start of your

journey as a Katz student. Perhaps you are wondering, “Why am I here a full

two weeks before classes begin?” The answer: We go the extra mile to ensure

you will be ready to hit the ground running when class begins on Monday,

August 28.

Ready. That’s a word you will hear a lot during orientation. It speaks to Katz’s

overall mission, which is to prepare you to be leaders who will make an

immediate impact at global organizations of all types and sizes. Maybe you

aren’t ready to take that next step in your career now. But you will be, come

graduation. Your transformation begins during orientation, where we will

focus on three primary topics:

Academic Rigor: At Katz, you will be subjected to an academic pace

and deep subject immersion unlike anything else. Orientation will

introduce you to our many experience-based learning programs and

global business opportunities. You will complete foundational

workshops in excel, statistics, finance, and accounting.

Career Management and Academic Advising: At Katz, our holistic

approach to advising will help you secure the right career at the right

company. Orientation offers an introduction to different career paths,

an alumni networking session, and workshops about communication

skills and networking taught by top industry experts.

Student Culture: At Katz, collaboration and teamwork are essential to

practically every class. At orientation you will complete a community-

building workshop as a member of a multicultural-learning team and

will build camaraderie during social events such as our student

Gateway Clipper cruise.

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As a Katz student, staying connected to your peers and classmates is one of the

best ways to be successful in the program. Please download the KATZ READY

app for your smartphones (search KATZ READY in the app store) to receive

push notifications on important student matters. Please also follow Katz on all

the social media channels: Facebook (KatzBusiness), Twitter (@KatzPittBiz), and

LinkedIn.

Orientation will set you on the right path as you work toward earning an MBA

or MS degree and securing a position that fits your professional objectives.

2017 Full-Time MBA Student Orientation Schedule

Please note that these sessions are mandatory for all MBA students

except where noted.

Monday, August 14 William Pitt Union (WPU) Assembly Room, unless otherwise noted

Dress: Smart Casual

9–9:30a.m. Registration & Continental Breakfast

Receive Multicultural-Learning Team (MLT)

assignments for group activities

9:30–10a.m. Introduction to the Full-Time MBA/MS Student

Orientation Bill Valenta, Assistant Dean for MBA, Masters

and Executive MBA Programs

10-10:45 a.m. MBA Student Services Overview, Simone Jurinko,

Senior Graduate Student Advisor

Management Simulation Capstone Course Overview;

Joe Pieri, Director for MBA Programs

10:45-11:15 a.m. Student Leadership, Christopher Staten, President of the

Graduate and Professional Student Government; Julian

Ferrante, President of the Katz Student Executive Board

11:15am-12:15pm Academic Integrity and Professional Code of Conduct,

Joe Pieri; Sandra Douglas, Director for Specialized MS

Programs

12:15–1:15p.m Katz Community Luncheon; Posvar Hall Patio

1:15-3:15pm Corporate Card Game; Candace Castleberry,

Head of Diversity & Inclusion at Twitter

3:30–5:30p.m. Strengths Finder Workshop,

Industry Professional Heather D’Alesandro

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5:30p.m. End-of-Day Wrap-Up, Mike Chott, Student Events

Coordinator

5:30–8:30p.m. Exemption Exams (optional), 114 Mervis Hall

Tuesday, August 15 Location: 2400 Sennott Square, unless otherwise noted

Dress: Smart Casual

8:00 –8:30a.m. Registration & Continental Breakfast

8:30-11:30 a.m. Global Collaboration: A Critical Leadership Competency,

Industry Professional Judy Shen-Filerman

11:30am-12:15pm Assurance of Learning and Program Goals, Rabi Chatterjee,

Associate Dean for Masters and Executive Programs

12:15 –1:15 p.m. Community Luncheon, Posvar Hall Patio

1:30–3p.m. Experience-Based Learning Initiatives,

Joe Pieri, Director for MBA Programs,

Bill McShane, EBL Program Manager

1:40 p.m. —Global Opportunities and Global Competency

Assessment, Professor Ravi Madhavan and

Jacqueline Saslawski, International Business Center

2:10 p.m. — Woodcock and BNY Mellon Fellows Program,

Christy Malone

2:20 p.m. — Consulting Field Projects, Professor Bud Smith

2:30 p.m. — Six Sigma Projects, Professor Jim Kimpel

2:40 p.m. — Portfolio Management Practicum Course,

Professor Akin Sayrak

2:50 p.m. – Entrepreneurial Opportunities, John Riley,

University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute

3:00 p.m. – Case Competitions, Simone Jurinko

3:15-5:15p.m. Preparing and Presenting Powerful Presentations

Industry Professional Randy Dean

Wednesday, August 16 Dress: Casual

8a.m. Registration & Continental Breakfast, Mervis Hall Atrium

8:30 a.m.-2pm Rowing Program, Three Rivers Rowing Association

(90 River Front Dr, Millvale, PA 15209)

2:30-4pm Rowing Program Debriefing; Thomas Murray,

Fortius Management Founder and Certified Coach,

2400 Sennott Square

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Thursday, August 17 Location: Mervis Hall

Dress: Casual

8:00am Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:30-9:30a.m. Career Management Overview, Melissa Shapiro,

Director of Career Management, 118 Mervis

9:30-11a.m. Employer Insights Panel, 118 Mervis

11–11:45a.m. Luncheon

12:00 – 2:45 p.m. Applied Improv Workshop; Joe Pieri; Sandra Douglas;

The Steel City Improv Instructors

3:00pm Load buses for Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh

3:30–9:00 p.m. Corporate Team-Building Event,

Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Snacks and Dinner Served

Joe Pieri; Sandra Douglas; Educational Consultant Fran Kick

and the Staff of the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh

9:00 p.m. End-of-Day Wrap-Up, Mike Chott, Student Events

Coordinator

Buses Return to Oakland/Shadyside

Return shuttles will drop off at: Mervis Hall; Centre Avenue and North

Craig Street; Centre Avenue and South Negley Avenue; South Aiken Avenue

and Fifth Avenue. If returning to Mervis Hall, Oakland, or Shadyside is not

convenient for you, please drive or Uber to the Children’s Museum. The

address is 10 Children’s Way, Pittsburgh, Pa 15212.

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Friday, August 18 Location: William Pitt Union, main floor

Daytime dress: Business Professional.

Evening dress: Business/Dressy Casual. No jeans please.

9:30a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast

10:00 a.m. –noon Keynote Speaker: Case-in-Point, Case Interview Workshop,

Industry Professional and Author Marc Cosentino,

William Pitt Union Assembly Room

12:00 –2:00 p.m. Alumni Networking Luncheon, Ballroom

2:00-3:00 p.m. Blue Blazer Ceremony for MBA Students, Assemb ly Room

7:30 –11:00 p.m. Dinner Dance on Gateway Clipper Fleet, Station Sq uare

(optional)

*Buses to the Gateway Clipper will leave from Mervis Hall at 6:30 p.m. We

will load the boat from 7:30 -8 p.m. The boat will sail at 8 p.m. sharp. If

returning to Mervis Hall, Oakland, or Shadyside is not convenient for you,

please drive to Station Square. Return shuttles will leave Station Square

immediately after the event and will drop students off at multiple locations:

Mervis Hall; Centre Avenue and North Craig Street; Centre Avenue and

South Negley Avenue; South Aiken Avenue and Fifth Avenue. You will

receive two drink tickets good for beer or wine. Soda is free. After you use

your drink tickets other drinks may be purchased at the bar. Please bring

proper identification with you; U.S. license, ID or passport. Proper ID is

required for service of alcohol. No outside food or beverage is permitted.

Attire is business casual or dressy casual. Staff, faculty, alumni, second-year

MBA students and Masters of Accounting students will also be in

attendance. The address is 350 W Station Square Dr, Pittsburgh, Pa 15219

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Academic Workshops –Week Two The second week of orientation is devoted to your academic preparation.

Please bring CHARGED LAPTOPS to all sessions.

Academic Workshop Materials Materials for the following workshops can be found by visiting Student Net.

Please follow these instructions.

All materials have been posted on this website. http://tinyurl.com/jreuzdz

If you would like to print a copy prior to the workshop printing to the Mervis

Hall Team Room area printers is free, but please print responsibly.

You are expected to come prepared to each workshop.

Accounting Workshop (Professor Elise Boyas): The assumption of the

accounting course is that you already have some working knowledge of

accounting principles. This workshop is designed to ensure that you have the

foundation to successfully complete the core accounting course. Even if you

already have a solid accounting background, your attendance will allow you to

refresh your skills and to assist your fellow classmates who may need your

assistance. Please reference Ivy Software for this lecture.

Probability & Statistics (Professor Prakash Mirchandani): Your statistics

course is predicated upon the assumption that you already have a relatively

strong math foundation. Professor Tadikamalla will walk you through the

fundamentals of probability and statistics so that you are fully prepared for this

course, typically taken in your first term. Please note: This workshop is a

mandatory pre-requisite and is required for the enrollment of Statistical Analysis.If you

do not attend the workshop, we will have to drop you from Statistical Analysis. It is

highly recommended to print the available workshop material for this course.

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Time Value of Money Workshop (Professor Frederik Schlingemann): The

workshop prepares students for the core finance class (Financial Management

1) and offers an important toolset for subsequent finance electives. The

workshop will introduce students to the concept of valuation, in which cash

flows, the timing of cash flows, and risk are the main three ingredients. The

workshop starts with a single-period explanation of net present value

calculations. Next, it develops the tools needed to incorporate the timing of

cash flows in multiple-period valuation decisions, which include annuities,

perpetuities, growing versus non-growing cash flows, interest rate conversions,

and inflation adjustment. The workshop will include many practice examples to

be discussed in class and for students to work on individually. Please note:

This workshop is a mandatory pre-requisite and is required for the enrollment of

Financial Management 1.If you do not attend the workshop, we will have to drop you

from Financial Management 1.

Business Math (Professor Pandu Tadikamalla): Students who experience

difficulty with their courses frequently find that the quantitative courses are

their biggest stumbling blocks. This course prepares you for the level of math

skills required to successfully complete your courses. Professor Tadikamalla

will work to ensure that you feel as comfortable as possible in undertaking the

quantitative challenges of selected courses.

Excel Workshop: Beginner to Intermediate to Advanced (Professor Dennis

Galletta): A large portion of your quantitative work will utilize Excel.

Whether you consider yourself a novice or an expert, Professor Galletta will

take the time to ensure that your Excel skills are “Katz Ready.”

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Monday, August 21 All sessions in G8 Cathedral of Learning unless otherwise noted

8:30pm-11:30pm Math Workshop, Part 1, Professor Pandu Tadikamalla

(Topics covered: solving quadratic equations, solving a system of

Linear equations, limits of functions and introduction to

differentiation.)

11:30 a.m.-12:30p.m. Lunch on your own

12:45-3:45 p.m. Statistics Lecture 1, Professor Prakash Mirchandani

(Topics covered: set theory including complimentary sets, union

and intersection of sets, mutually exclusive and all exhaustive sets;

counting rules including permutations and combinations,

introduction to probability theory, joint probability, independent

events, Venn diagrams, Bayes’ Rule (conditional probabilities), use

of tree diagrams.)

Tuesday, August 22 All sessions in G8 Cathedral of Learning unless otherwise noted

8:30–10:30a.m. Time Value of Money, Part 1,

Professor Frederik Schlingemann

(Topics covered: discussion of course syllabus, introduction to

corporate finance, net present value rule)

10:40–11:40a.m. Accounting Lecture 1, Professor Elise Boyas

11:45a.m. –12:45p.m. Lunch on your own

12:50–3:50p.m. Statistics Lecture 2, Professor Prakash Mirchandani

(Topics covered: random variables (discrete and continuous),

expectations including mean and variance, discrete probability

distributions including hypergeometric (sampling without

replacement), binomial and Poisson distributions, continuous

distributions including the exponential distribution)

5-7pm GPSG Picnic and Cookout, Cathedral o f Learning Lawn

More information can be found at:

http://gpsg.pitt.edu/gpsg-orientation-2017/

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Wednesday, August 23 All sessions in 120 David Lawrence Hall unless otherwise noted

8:30–10:30a.m. Time Value of Money, Part 2,

Professor Frederik Schlingemann

(Topics covered: single and multiple cash flows)

10:40 a.m.–12:40 p.m. Excel Workshop, Part 1, Beginner to Intermediate,

Professor Dennis Galletta

12:45a.m.–1:45p.m. Lunch on your own

2-5pm Math Workshop, Part 2, Professor Pandu Tadikamalla

(Topics covered: continuation of differentiation with applications in

economics and operations; including finding the extreme points

(minimum, maximum and inflection points) of univariate non-

linear functions, partial differentiation of bivariate functions,

integral calculus with applications to probability distributions,

arithmetic and geometric series with applications in finance.)

Thursday, August 24 All sessions in 120 David Lawrence Hall unless otherwise noted

8:15a.m. Morning Coffee Service Available

8:30–10:30a.m. Time Value of Money, Part 3,

Professor Frederik Schlingemann,

(Topics covered: interest rate conversions and exercises)

10:40–11:40a.m. Accounting Lecture 2, Professor Elise Boyas

11:45a.m.–12:45p.m.Lunch on Your Own

1-2pm Library Resources Workshops, Alice Kalinowski,

Business Liaison Librarian

2-4pm Excel Workshop Part 2, Advanced,

Professor Dennis Galletta

Friday, August 25 All sessions in Mervis Hall unless noted.

8:30a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast

9a.m. - 12p.m. Job Seeker Workshop, Career Management Team

(Topics covered: Elevator Pitch, Interviewing, Art of Storytelling,

Career Fair Overviews)

Noon –1p.m. Lunch

1:15–3p.m. Professional Student Photos; location TBD

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Notes

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