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headlines Upticks for (E)MBAs THE EMPLOYMENT PICTURE currently looks bright for students pursuing master's degrees in business, whether they're focusing on MBAs or EMBAs. n According to the results of the Executive MBA Council 2011 Student Exit Benchmarking Survey, grad- uates of recent EMBA programs enjoyed a 16.3 percent bump in salary and bonus packages from the start of the program to its finish. For students in the 2011 sur- vey, the average salary and bonus package at program start was US$135,323; by the end, it was $157,423. In addition, 37 percent of students in the survey reported receiving promotions during their time in the program. Judging by the 2011 survey, which included 3,212 students from 102 programs, EMBA graduates are also highly satisfied with their EMBA experiences. Using a ten-point scale, respondents ranked the quality of their programs at 8.4, their willingness to recommend their programs at 8.7, and their likelihood of supporting the program as alumni at 8.2. For more information, visit www.executivemba.com. n Similarly positive results were reported by the MBA Career Services Council, an association of career management offices and companies who hire MBA students. According to the organization's fall Recruit- ing Trends Survey, 70 percent of schools reported an increase in on-campus activity for full-time positions compared with last fall's activity. Forty-six percent reported an increase in job postings for internships. Increases in recruiting activity are occurring across most sectors. Over 40 percent of respondents reported growth in industries such as consulting, consumer products, energy, pharma/biotech/healthcare products, and technology. Real estate and government continue to be the weakest industries. In contrast, financial ser- vices showed a decrease compared with a surge last fall. The increase in recruiting activity was mainly driven by mid-size and Fortune 500 firms, with all other company types staying the same. Honors for Entrepreneurs THE 2012 EXCELLENCE in Entrepreneurship Education Awards were announced in Janu- ary by the United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE). Oklahoma State University took the prize for National Model Undergraduate Entre- preneurship Program, an award sponsored in 2012 by Texas Christian University. The University of Missouri Kansas City was named National Model Graduate Entrepreneurship Program; the University of Portland was recognized for its Outstanding Specialty Entrepreneurship Program and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for its Outstanding Emerging Entrepreneurship Program. The Special Recognition in Entrepreneurship Education Inno- vation award, sponsored this year by the University of South Alabama, went to the University of Utah. 14 May/June 2012 BizEd Also presented in January were the USASBE 2012 Entrepreneurship Lifetime Achievement and Advocacy Awards. Win- ners were Karl H. Vesper of the University of Washington, who took home the Max S. Wortman Jr. Award for Lifetime Achieve- ment in Entrepreneurship; Patricia Greene of Babson College, who won the John E. Hughes Award for Entrepreneurial Advo- cacy, which was sponsored by the Coleman Foundation; and Michael H. Morris of Oklahoma State University, who was named Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year. Jennifer Schnidman Medbery, founder and CEO of Drop the Chalk, was named Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, an award spon- sored by the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepre- neurship at The Florida State University.