Networking with Tulane PMBAs

By: Jonathan Jouet

I recently attended a networking event for the Tulane PMBA program at the House of Blues Foundation room.  The event included current PMBA class members, faculty, alumni, and prospective students.  It was a great opportunity to exchange contacts and speak with many different people about my experience.  The food was outstanding and the company was friendly and fun.

When I arrived, I met a few prospective students.  We all sat around and talked about our jobs and what we did in our spare time.  The prospective students learned I am a current student and they had a lot of questions about my experience.  Some people asked about the curriculum, like the Global Leadership, Finance, and Management Training classes.  Others were more concerned about the quality of the professors and the amount of study time needed to be successful in the program.  As I talked about these things, I started to realize how many new professional contacts I have as a result of the program.  Professors and administrators aside, the most important contacts I have made are my classmates.  After being lock-step though the program for 2 years, you get to know everyone.  When we start a class and get assigned a project, people immediately look around and nod to their team members.  No one is left out and the teams are not fixed. I have seen lots of variation between groups from class to class.  We have become a tight knit class of professionals that are open to change and want to get the most of our experience from each other. I know these relationships will continue after the program is over.

I also met some of the alumni that night.  I got to hear from them about how their careers changed after getting the Tulane MBA. We talked about our future plans and the tools we picked up from our classes.  The best part, though, was talking about the professors and classes we shared and what we took away from those classes.  There are favorite professors among the students in the program, and talking about their exceptional ability to educate in accelerated classes speaks volumes to the quality of our education.   There is no way I could have learned Business Statistics without Russ Robbins, Finance without William Reese, Accounting without Beauregard Parent and Soliman Soliman, Economics without Claudiney Pereira and Mark Johnson, and Business Writing without Lesley Baker.  All of the professors I have had are all exceptional educators that teach the regular MBA and the PMBA classes.  Alumni and current students agreed, there is no difference between the PMBA and the full time MBA, it is the same exact program.  We all appreciate the late nights all of our professors commit to working professionals seeking advance degrees.

Finally, I got to spend some time speaking with the faculty and staff at the event.  I had some extra face time with my Global Leadership in Latin America professor, Eduardo Guzman (whom I had an exam for the next night).  I also spoke with Laney Armstrong, the Program Coordinator who arranges for the abroad trips that we can take as part of the Global Leadership classes.  I even spoke with John Randolph, the Director of the Master of Finance program, about a project I worked on for Global Leadership in the European Union.  I was happy to assist with the faculty and staff  in bringing in a new class for the PMBA program.  The faculty and staff motivated me to fill out my application for the PMBA when I attended a similar event two years ago, and I hope I was able to add to their efforts with our prospective students.  At some point, everyone that makes the decision to attend the Tulane PMBA program needs a little push.  I think the networking event at the House of Blues foundation room provided a peek into the benefits and excellence of our program.