The culture of TMP brings learning to life
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A total experience

The TMP staff has taken a number of steps in recent years to nurture that connection. Most significant was the creation in 2002 of a full-time staff position charged with the development of TMP student life. To fill the post, Lyons chose Assistant Dean and Director of Student Affairs Megan Byrne Krueger '90, at that time the school's director of alumni relations.

"We were keeping up with registration and activities, but we really wanted someone to focus on the student experience here," Lyons says. "We felt that was important in building a sense of community at TMP."

Open communication between students and administrators is key to building an entrepreneurial culture that creates dynamic learning opportunities at Kellogg. Here, Dean Dipak C. Jain and, to his immediate left, Professor Robert Korajczyk meet with TMP students over dinner to exchange ideas.  Photo © Nathan Mandell

Some of the changes Krueger has instituted may seem modest but prove significant. For example, TMP now publishes a printed directory with students' photos and contact information. It also publicly salutes graduating students on the video screens in school hallways and posts their photos on the community bulletin board.

Other changes have reached deeper into the TMP culture. The most significant has been the creation of an orientation experience for part-time students. The goal, Krueger explains, was to build the same esprit de corps among the part-timers as the September Pre-Term orientation does for the full-time class.

"TMP students want the full MBA experience," says Krueger, herself a TMP alum. "They want the networking, they want the teams, they want the activities. Pre-Term sets that tone for the full-time program, and we felt the part-time students deserved that same sort of bonding experience."

But how to create that feeling among busy students working through the two-and-a-half to five-year program at their own pace? The answer was to break the orientation into units that would occur at different points during their time at TMP.

The result is "Conceptual Issues for the Manager," a program sequence that occurs during each of a student's first three quarters in The Managers' Program. The series includes academic workshops, feedback sessions and leadership self-assessment. "This lets them start with a core group of people who they will know as they go forward," Krueger says.

After the students have finished their core coursework — usually about five or six quarters into the TMP program — they can participate in TMP's Symposium on Managerial Leadership, which brings in top faculty and business figures to discuss current leadership issues. They can also take part in TMP's Professional Development Series, which highlights career-building skills like interviewing and résumé writing.

"It's an opportunity for students to work on the skills that will help them get to the next level in their career," Krueger says. "It helps them think about what their next steps are and how to take them effectively."

Finally, as students approach graduation, they are invited to take part in activities designed to engender a "class" spirit among students who may never have taken a course together. These include fall and winter social events for those who expect to graduate in the spring, and the selection of a graduation committee to coordinate a class gift and other commencement activities.

Emily Brinkmoeller is among those who have taken advantage of TMP's community-building activities. In addition to serving on the class gift committee, she has participated on the board of the Women's Business Association and chaired the silent auction fundraising efforts for The Managers' Ball.

"When I was investigating MBA programs, one of the things I liked about Kellogg was that it offered this well-rounded education," says Brinkmoeller, director of trade and business development for the World Trade Center Chicago.

"I had heard that you get out of it what you put into it. So I made the decision at the beginning to get as much out of it as possible."

Brinkmoeller notes that when she enrolled at Kellogg, she was a relative newcomer to Chicago, having moved to the city from Kentucky. Participating in extracurricular events, such as trips to Wrigley Field, evenings on the town and weekend leadership seminars, soon helped her to feel at home.

Lovie Smith, coach of the Chicago Bears, spoke at The Managers' Program May 17. His appearance was part of the Kellogg Symposium on Managerial Leadership series.  Photo © Mary Hanlon

"I definitely get the sense that Kellogg is a community," Brinkmoeller says. "There's so much to pick and choose from in terms of activities. If you make any effort at all to get involved, you're going to come out with a strong network. I feel like I've made some of my best friends here."

Lyons says TMP is already reaping the return on its investment in student culture. The vast majority of graduating students return to Kellogg to participate in commencement ceremonies — no small achievement, considering that many had completed their coursework up to nine months earlier.

"Even though they may have finished in the fall, they want to graduate with their class," Lyons says. "They've formed relationships with each other and they want to celebrate together."

They also want to reconnect with their professors and the TMP staff. Lyons and his colleagues say they enjoy unusually close relationships with TMP students, in part because the life of a part-time student can be so complex.

"We're addressing academic and professional and often even personal needs," Krueger says. "That's the kind of relationship we've built. Students often just want to come in and talk about things going on in their lives, which I think is great because it strengthens the sense of community. 

Francis, too, finds that her listening skills are often called upon as she registers students and advises them on their course choices.

"If they're going through some sort of a crisis at work or at home, they let me know," says Francis. "Sometimes an emergency might come up, and they start to panic and say, 'I can't do this — work and school. I can't do it.' They need to have someone reassure them that it can be done. I listen to them, and I help relieve their stress so that they can get back to work.

"These are working families. They need to know that after a stressful day, someone is there for them."

One 2006 graduate who can attest to that support is Mark Bumby. In April 2002, Bumby was on his way home from a TMP class when he stopped to help a fellow motorist change a flat tire. He was struck by a car, and both of his legs were crushed.  Bumby withdrew from Kellogg to recover from his injuries. He faced several years of rehabilitation and more than 20 separate surgeries to repair his legs.

Always there for students. The supportive TMP team includes, from left, Assistant Director of Admissions Emily Selden; Assistant Director of Student Services Patrick McCarthy; Associate Director and Registrar Sarah Francis; and Manager of Technology for TMP Amish Thakker   Photo © Nathan Mandell

About six months into his recovery, Bumby decided he wanted to return to The Managers' Program. "It was something I needed to be doing to keep my mind active," Bumby says. "I really enjoyed Kellogg and I needed the challenge." The TMP staff was there for him, he says, every step of the way.

"There was the emotional support, and the understanding," Bumby says. "If I needed closer parking to the school or some extra time to complete my assignments, everyone understood. I knew that if I needed anything, they were there. I can't overstate the magnitude of the help the TMP staff was willing to provide in my recovery."

That support — from the staff, faculty and other students — helps students emerge from The Managers' Program with arguably the best of all worlds: a strong professional and social network, a lifelong connection to Kellogg and a career that often blossoms with the development of new management skills.

"Every single day, I can bring some lesson in organization behavior or management back to my job," Brinkmoeller says. "You can always turn around and use something from your last lecture to build your team or motivate your employees. By using it right away, you reinforce it. I don't understand why anyone would choose to get their MBA any other way."

For Lyons, that's enough of a reward to justify his 34-year tenure at The Managers' Program. He knows students such as Brinkmoeller will stay connected to Kellogg, and that their careers will thrive as a result of their time at TMP.

"There's nothing like getting to know the new students, watching them go through the program and seeing them come back after they graduate," he says. "You get to see what they're doing professionally. You see how they've developed, and you can take a lot of pride in the value that Kellogg has clearly given them."