A Gala Opening to MGA Games 2008

The MBA Games 2008 kicked off with a wonderful introduction ceremony by all the participating 14 business schools* around Canada. But more than the introduction it was the cheering that was noteworthy. Each team brought with it all sorts of props to cheer their team/business-school-be it drums, clap-makers, cow-bells. The atmosphere was full of fun, energy and thrill.

After the introduction event, there was a small social event at a nearby pub. The place presented an opportunity to network and make contacts with students from universities around Canada. (Business cards was one essential item on everyone's 'what to carry to MBA Games' list!)

The second day is the most jam packed one with many academic and athletic events happening.

The host school has done a great job in organizing the huge event and their efforts seem to be falling into place!

Good Luck to all the participating teams!

* The following business schools are participating

1. Dalhousie Faculty of Management (Dalhousie University)
2. Queen's School of Business (Queen's University)
3. Schulich School of Business (York University)
4. Telfer School of Management (University of Ottawa)
5. Ted Rogers School of Management (Ryerson University)
6. Desaultes Faculty of Management (McGill University)
7. Sobey School of Business (St. Mary's University)
8. Alberta School of Business (University of Alberta)
9. Odette School of Business (University of Windsor)
10. DeGroote School of Business (McMaster University) (Host School)
11. Sauder School of Business (University of British Columbia)
12. Université Laval (Université Laval)
13. Université du Québec à Montréal (Université du Québec à Montréal)
14. John Molson School of Business (Concordia University)

MBA Games 2008 - Here comes QSB

Everything is set for the MBA Games 2008 at Hamilton. The games start on January 3rd. The QSB team has been preparing since months to bring home the coveted Queen's Cup. Each constituent team of the QSB MBA Games team has been working hard to prepare for the tough competition at the MBA Games.

Good Luck QSB!

QSB Dean answers

Erin Pooley of Canadian Business magazine interviewed Queen's School of Business dean, David Saunders and the same featured in the October 22,2007 issue of the magazine. The following are some questions and key points out of the interview.

The Canadian economy is on a roll. Jobs are aplenty. Is an MBA still worth it?

An MBA is like an annuity. It's an investment, and the return on that investment is 12% to 20%, on average. Think about going to the bank and making an investment. Why on earth wouldn't you if you knew you could increase your salary that much?....

What about the flow of MBA students in and out of Canada?

More Canadians are going to business schools in the United States on scholarship as a result of changes in U.S. visa requirements, which have stopped students from other countries going. On the flip side, Canadian schools do not have the same visa restrictions, and we're now getting more applications from certain countries....

What's one of the biggest challenges for MBA schools moving forward?

How to teach the next generation of students. Whoever figures this one out first is going to have a leg up. They grew up with Facebook, the iPod and the BlackBerry. The challenge isn't really the tools, it's how to use those to further education....

Other Questions:

What are some of the biggest changes you've seen in business education in Canada over the past five to 10 years?

What's the next big trend in business education?

 

Catch the entire interview here

Commerce students help kids 'Break into Business'

Queen’s School of Business is buzzing with young entrepreneurs this week. A new camp, founded by two enterprising BCom students, teaches the fundamentals of business to kids with an entrepreneurial spirit.

“Break into Business” is a daycamp designed by Monica Walker and Alyssa Richard, both recent BCom grads, for students in grades four to eight.

Ali tenHove, an 11-year-old camper from Winston Churchill Public School, says Break into Business is like an adventure camp and a business camp at the same time.

Over the course of each week-long session, campers develop a business idea, a budget and a marketing plan before launching their business. The final day serves as an opportunity to reflect on lessons learned and also a chance to communicate their successes to parents via PowerPoint presentation.

Ali’s team, the Sweet 7s, came up with the idea of running a pizza and snack stand to cater to construction workers currently working on the Queen’s campus. For $3 customers got a slice of pizza, a cookie and a pop. “The construction workers were happy to get it because they were hungry.”

Ali, who aspires to a career wind-testing big buildings like her grandpa, says that business camp showed her all the potential paths that she could take with her career.

More at link

QSB Dean participates in launch of Principles for Responsible Management Education at 2007 UN Global Compact Leaders Summit

Queen’s School of Business Dean David Saunders was part of an international delegation to launch the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) at the 2007 Global Compact Leaders Summit held today in Geneva. The Principles were launched as part of the United Nations’ call for business schools and academic associations to do their part to advance corporate social responsibility worldwide.

The Principles of Responsible Management Education were presented to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and hundreds of leaders representing business, civil society, government, and academia from around the world. They are the first global guiding framework for academic institutions to advance the broader cause of corporate social responsibility and a call for the incorporation of universal values in curricula and research.

More at link

Queen’s Introduces Canada’s First Masters of Global Management Program

Program answers corporate Canada’s call for deeper international perspective

KINGSTON, ON – Queen’s School of Business today introduced Canada’s first-ever Masters of Global Management (MGM) program, further strengthening the School’s mission to prepare future business leaders for success on an international scale.

“In our ongoing dialogue with leaders of national and multinational corporations in Canada and abroad, Queen’s School of Business identified the need for managers with first-hand knowledge of cross-cultural business practices,” said Dean David Saunders of the program.

The curriculum and structure of the 12-month MGM were designed based on input from recruiters and students. To apply, students are required to have an undergraduate degree in business. This puts Queen’s a stride ahead of most European and international MGM programs, which typically spend one year on business fundamentals followed by one year on cross-cultural components. With its first class starting in September 2007, Queen’s MGM students begin and end the program with four months at Queen’s campus in Kingston, Ontario. In between, they spend a four month long placement at one of ten partner institutions around the world. All partners are top-tier business schools in their own countries, including Mannheim, Maastricht, Peking University, and Helsinki School of Economics.

More at link

Queen's School of Business Opens Dubai Campus

First Canadian b-school with executive education facility in United Arab Emirates

KINGSTON, ON, May 25, 2007 –Queen’s School of Business today became the first Canadian business school to open an executive education facility in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Courses at the facility, run in collaboration with the Dubai International Finance Center (DIFC), will begin in October 2007.

“As a world leader in business education, we are pleased to bring the Queen’s School of Business approach to managers and executives in this high growth region of the Middle East,” said David Saunders, Dean of Queen’s School of Business. “Queen’s Dubai participants will benefit from the academic excellence, exceptional experience and international reputation that are the hallmarks of every Queen’s program — be they in Canada or with one of our strategic partners around the world.”

Queen’s Dubai will begin by offering programs in strategy, leadership, finance, marketing, human resources and governance. Taught by award-winning Queen’s School of Business faculty, the courses are designed for managers in Dubai seeking professional development.

More at link

Queen's Scholarship-naa

Received a mail from Queen's admission committee stating...

Dear ..,

......I regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you an entrance scholarship to the Queen's MBA program.

....If you do encounter difficulty with your financing, it may be possible to grant you a one-time deferral to the session beginning May, 2008..............

Regards,


I, obviously, didn't accept the deferral option.

Shipment or a 'payload of future'?

pay·load [pey-lohd] –noun : the part of a cargo producing revenue or income

Finally the well awaited shipment arrived. I got to know from the weight of the shipment, as mentioned in the tracking email from Fedex, that its gonna be one huge bundle and YES it was.
The packet contains the information we have been waiting for since days: you name it, its in there-accommodation, fees schedule etc. But what we had not expected was that there will be study material also in it.
Going through the study material, one can firmly say that it is something which will enable a smooth transition from an engineer to a MBA-something that will help us glide through the MBA course: a "payload" of future.

Happy days about to end!

I just got a notification of a courier for me on its way from Kingston-thanks to L. As far as speculations go, it might contain some books to read, some optical discs, some assignments and work books and some questionnaire. So its time to get into the Queen’s robe and start feeling the warmth of a North American MBA!

Good luck to myself

Do-did-done! 2/3rd of the pie baked!

After the get-set-go-signal, I went ahead to submit the Visa Application.
The process was very smooth.
The application accepting officer asked me to get a xerox of the first page of the passport where the picture is pasted. Then she asked for all the documents one by one and then tagged them and put in one folder/bag. The total amount was INR 5741 including courier charges and service tax, which you pay after reading the terms and conditions of VFS.

Time taken to submit the application form: approx 35 minutes even though I was the only person there.

Got a receipt number which I can use to track where the passport has reached. It can be used on the VFS's website (http://www.vfs-canada.co.in/visatracking.html) to track your passport. One can also track the passport by sending the following as an SMS to 7333: "VISA CD {passport#}". Also got the attested copy of the passport back.

The lady told me that if everything goes ok, the passport should reach me back in 4-5 working days with a request letter for a medical examination. I have to re-submit my passport after 10 working days (approx 2 weeks as sat, sun is holiday) along with the attested xerox copy of passport, the letter from embassy (which comes with the passport and has medical examination instructions on it), payment receipt and INR 170.


Suggestions:

• Try to keep different types of documents separate:IT Returns separate, Statements separate. The other way of tagging by person also works. I tried both-the only thing that is required is one should know which document is where!
• Use Post-Its and binder clips to categorize documents according to person and to create an index. The CA's consolidated report comes handy. A report similar to CA's can be created by the applicant himself.
  
• Photo clicking facility is also available at VFS.
• Verify your name and Passport number on the receipt that you get after payment.
  

Keeping my fingers crossed for the passport and hoping for the best!

An enlightening chat session

Had a chat session with one of the immediate seniors-of the Class of 2007!

• Exchanged information on the current hot topic-Queen's ranking in FT2007 and +/- of Queen's
• Placements as of now
• Issue of class diversity (lot many Indians admitted!)
• Personal tête-à-tête!
• Pre-MBA prep info!

Security Deposit Receipt Received

Received the official hard copy of the receipt for the CAN$2000!

Edu Loan sanctioned!!

Finally got my Education Loan sanctioned!!

Thanks Dad and Mr.Banga.

1st appointment with Visa counselor

I decided to take the services of the counselor at the Canadian Education Centre (CEC) in Bangalore. The charges are INR 2500 for 2-3 sessions.
I had taken some documents for the first appointment which were as according to the VFS's checklist and also what CEC's desk-lady had sent me. I got them verified and noted the instructions that the counselor mentioned. I also got some of my questions answered. I had filled the Personal Information Form, Questionnaire and the main application form roughly. She verified the same and suggested modifications/improvements.

Important Note: No original documents are to be submitted as whatever is submitted is not returned back in case of a visa reject.


Questions answered:

• On a student's visa, can I go to some other country like USA, or if required India and then go back to Canada to resume my studies? Student Visa/Permit are usually Multiple Entry Visas. This means that during the time frame of the validity of the visa, the visa-holder can go in and out of the country any number of times.
• Is a Temporary Resident Visa required for me? No

Important points noted during the session: (xerox of document wherever applicable)

• On applying for a 1 yr Student Permit, usually 3 months extra student visa is granted, making it a total of 12+3=15 months Students Permit.
• If Mutual Funds and Stocks are being added to the Liquid Funds, then their value with the Net Asset Value (NAV) /price-per-stock as on a specific date should be mentioned along with.
• For LIC Insurance Policy, the original policy (whose size is usually > than A4) has to be xeroxed
• For Mutual Funds, get the profile page of the person in case the mutual funds statement doesn't show the name on whom the funds are. {Case of online share trading accounts}
• For immovable property, sale deed and valuation report by Charted Accountant to be attached.
• #If possible, get the xerox of the security deposit draft. In case the draft was paid from a bank account, a printout of the debit is a plus.
• Its beneficial to make a 2 page Statement of Purpose(SoP) by the Applicant mentioning the background, the reasons for choosing the stream/specialization and college, future plans. This has to be in sync with the CV and the Visa Questionnaire.
• #If a complete profile of the applicant can be created, it shows that the applicant is strong. It can include all academic certificates, extra curricular certificates, score cards, mark-sheets (GMAT, TOEFL etc), appointment letter of company, salary revision letters, promotion letters, performance letters.
• (Very Imp Point) Immigrant status of applicant(s) in country where applying (point 6a of form IMM1294B of Student's application): Since I am in India and am submitting my application in India, so this has to be "Citizen" since I am an Indian
  

Following documents are required for the applicant, parents (if supporting) and sponsorer (if any)

1. #Pay slip for last 6 months
2. IT returns for last 3 years
3. Letter of employment from employer stating the date of joining
4. Bank-statments for last 2 years: In case some huge credits are there, it has to be explained with proofs. The term "huge" is a relative term w.r.t. the normal quantum of transactions and balance.
5. Letter from Bank manager stating bank account number, name of account-operator, date since holding the account and balance as on a specific date.
6. A statement showing clearly the different types of liquid separately for each person. The fixed assets can be clubbed together. (This statement works like an index and is very useful)
7. Statement of support mentioning the school's name and the program being attended.

Other documents required:

1. Letter of acceptance by college
2. #Receipt of security deposit
3. #^Loan sanction letter (if using loan)

Some contradictory/debatable points during the discussion

• Gold is not counted as a liquid asset: My CA who makes reports for Immigration told me that gold is counted but the counselor has opposite views
• Assured Value is taken for LIC Insurance Policy rather than Surrender Value

#Optional documents
^Case of loan: It is not necessary to include loan in the liquid assets. In case your assets' value is matching the figure of tuition+living expenses+to and fro travel expenses. Only the xerox of loan sanction letter is to be submitted.

A question asked to me by someone w.r.t. loans: "During the submission of Visa Documents , Can i mention that I have applied for Loan and the processing is underway or is it mandatory ( for a successful visa stamping ) that I should show them the Approval or Pre Approval?". The question is tricky!
Answer: Visa officials need to have a proof of your financial stability -proof of tuition fees and living expenses. If you have enough funds over and above the loan to satisfy the 90k$ i dont think it should have a problem. That time you dont even need to show that you are applying for loan. But consider this situation. you apply for loan.god forbid-the loan gets rejected, but you have a valid visa.then? So its not good to do that.I will say , in fact the application can be rejected! Its hard truth, though a speculated one.

Earlier discussion with Visa counselor available here

FT rankings raise eyebrows-questions galore

The FT rankings for 2007 are out and to everyone's surprise, Queen's doesn't list anywhere in the top 100 Business Schools in the world! This has raised many eyebrows and numerous questions.

1. Reputation
2. High acceptance ratio (number of people selected:number of people applied)
3. Jobs for foreign students

.....

Points to note for getting a demand draft in foreign currency from Indian Banks

Some points to note for making a demand draft in foreign currency.

1. Usually banks take 2-3 hours time from the point of submission of demand-draft application to the point of handing over the demand draft to you. I didn't knew this and had to travel across Bangalore to get the draft. (in case you have an ICICI saving's acount and you are getting the draft from non-home branch, be careful as you are eligible for only one non-home branch per month without any charges. Don't know about other banks!)
   
2. You need to have a documentary proof as to why do you need a demand draft in foreign currency. I carried a xerox of the Queen's Admit letter which had come in the courier.
3. Instruct in the demand draft application the currency required clearly and also check the same when you receive the demand draft. There is sometimes a confusion between US$ and Canadian$.
4. Mention clearly the Payee's name and verify the same when you receive the demand draft. Bank officials can be careless at times. For my case it was important as "Queen's" is very different from "Queens".

Also, take a xerox of the demand draft for records before you send.

Ah! something finally! ($2000 sent)

Finally I sent my Can$2000 security deposit to Queen's along with my completed Personal details and photographs. It will reach the Queen's office most probably on Tuesday, February 6, 2007 in case the DHL people don't want to loose it on the way like last time.

This is the first written confirmation from my side, accepting the Queen's admission offer!

What the heck?

Since the start of 2007, mails and forwards have been pouring describing 2007 as a unique year-unique in a sense that all holidays fall on weekdays (atleast for the Indian holiday system). I was happy to know and had also forwarded the same mail to many others. But never knew it will affect in a negative sense.

I couldn't get the Can$2000 draft for Queen's yesterday as was fixed up with work. I thought that I will get it today. The weekday holiday schedule of 2007 finally hit me, for the first time. The bank was closed today as there was some holiday.

My earlier efforts to get the draft on a Saturday were in vain as the ICICI Bank doesn't deal in forex on a Saturday! The work's pending since many days and its been a week since I received the courier containing the official admit letter in print.

There have been delays in the loan processing work because of the way holidays are spread in 2007, specially for banks.

Keeping my fingers crossed that tomorrow is not another day in the non-weekend holiday calendar.

Accommodation @ Queen's

The queries about accommodation during Queen's MBA course have been in discussion since very long. Till date there are 9 guys and 2 gals who have confirmed joining the Queen's MBA by paying the CAN$2000 initial deposit.
Now the questions are

1. When to start scouting? How early?
2. How?
3. How many together in one place/sharing?
4. Outside campus accommodation vs inside (Queen's Graduate Residence)
5. Only Indian or mixed? (let the Queen's diversity point get in every dimension of a student's life!!)
6. All guys/mixed!
   

The first question is one which is being asked again and again with some people of the opinion that the scouting can be done in a day or two even after reaching Kingston.
The second question found some reply, thanks to R: Check out the Queen's University's accommodation classified page/listing service @ http://notes.queensu.ca/ALSWeb.nsf
The third remains a personal option-single, 2 in1, 3 in 1, 4 in 1, 5 in 1 or even 6 in1
The fourth question has multiple views about the benefits of staying inside and outside. But staying outside has surely some benefits w.r.t. the money part of it.
The fifth question has been just raised by one of the current students.
The sixth point-ah! the controversy between thinking, belief and fantasy!

Links:

• Queen's University Residence: https://housing.queensu.ca/residence/
• Queen's University General Residence Info: https://housing.queensu.ca/residence/apply/gradapp.pdf
• Queen's Residence Fee Schedule: http://www.queensu.ca/registrar/fees/res-grad.html
  

Happy Hunting!