Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/72038
Plan ahead for valuable networking and learning opportunities. With more than 60 programs being planned, AACSB events will be spanning the globe in 2012–2013. From Bangkok to Chicago, and Vienna to Jakarta, participate in AACSB events to connect with academic peers and industry experts in a small- or large-scale event that facilitates the best learning environment. Here's a sample of events taking place in the upcoming year: Advisory Council Seminar Annual Accreditation Conference Asia Pacific Annual Conference Assessment Conference: Quality Through Effective Curricula Management Associate Deans Conference Bridge Programs B-School Communications and Development Symposium Business Accreditation Seminar Deans Conference Department Chairs Seminar Europe Annual Conference Faculty Management and Qualifications Standards Seminar International Conference and Annual Meeting (ICAM 2013) Lessons for Aspiring Deans Seminar Strategies for Delivering Online/Hybrid Courses and Degree Programs Symposium for New Associate Deans Teaching Business Ethics Seminar Teaching Effectiveness Seminar Find out why more than 5,500 of your peers have attended these or other AACSB events and start planning for the upcoming year at www.aacsb.edu/event MBA Virtual World and Other Winning Ideas THE GRADUATE MANAGEMENT Admission Council (GMAC) recently announced the winners of its Manage- ment Education for Tomorrow Fund's Ideas to Innovation (i2i) Challenge. The challenge invited schools to submit ideas that answered the question "What one idea would improve graduate management education?" GMAC chose 12 schools to receive a share of US$7.1 mil- lion to set their ideas in motion. The largest award—$1.7 million—went to the Rady School of Management at the University of California San Diego and international management consulting firm Rembisz & Associates. The partners sub- mitted the idea of creating a virtual world, modeled on the popular virtual world Sec- ond Life, where MBA students can design their own virtual avatars and meet and interact in real time. The project's goal is to provide an immersive virtual environment where students can collaborate in global teams, socialize, network, receive coaching, and attend seminars. "This visionary project could drastically, and positively, alter the MBA experience," said Robert Sul- livan, dean of the Rady School. The project will be housed in Rady's Center for Executive Development and directed by Clark Jordan, assistant dean. Jordan also notes the project's potential as a research vehicle. "We will have the capability to observe groups of people, in real time, facing challenges together," he says. The first phase of the project, the cre- ation of the virtual world, will begin imme- diately. The official launch of the project is slated for early 2013. The University of Waterloo's Conrad Business, Entrepreneurship, and Technol- ogy Center in Ontario, Canada, received the second largest grant—just under $1.7 million—which it will use to develop the Virtual Incubation Program, a global online network to support new business development. Syracuse University's Whit- man School of Management in New York received $850,000 to create a program to transition military veterans back into the work force. For information about all 12 winning ideas, visit GMAC's i2i Challenge Web site at www.gmac.com/ why-gmac/giving-back/met-fund/met-fund-i2i-challenge- grant-winners.aspx. BizEd July/August 2012 57