First Semester Reflections: Professors and Courses

The professors I had this past Spring have been great.  They were all unique and brought something different to the table.  The differences in personality and teaching methods kept us on our toes.  Every professor was committed to seeing us succeed.  They went out of their way to provide assistance when needed.  They made themselves readily available to us, though some were more readily available than others.  I felt comfortable talking to the professors about any topic.  I believe they are genuinely concerned about us as students and foster an environment that encourages both personal and academic growth.  I will briefly summarize my experience with each of these professors.

Dr. Raja Kali - Economics of Supply Chain and Retail
Dr. Kali is a great professor.  He will challenge you to think about various economic issues.  Many of the topics in the course relate to current events.  For example, we talked about the Greece situation throughout the semester.  We also talked about Google and the financial collapse.  In order to be successful in the course you must read the posted articles and understand the economic concepts covered in class.  Dr. Kali will call on you in class, so you should be prepared.  He won't let you off the hook.  You have to come up with something.  There is no group work in this class, the grade depends solely on you.  What I enjoyed most about the class was the discussion and the interaction.

Dr. Christian Hofer - Retail and Consumer Products Supply Chain Management
Dr. Hofer is also a great professor.  He is definitely very excited about transportation and logistics.  His enthusiasm for the subject matter is very encouraging.  He will engage you in class, so come prepared with lots of questions.  This course has a custom book with chapters from different books put together specially for this class.  There are some inconsistencies in notation between the varying chapters from different books, but nothing terribly confusing.  If you do your homework and pay attention in class there is no excuse for not doing well in this class.  Dr. Hofer presents the material in a very straight forward manner.  He doesn't try to trick you.  Make sure you understand the details of the material, the test questions can be very specific.  There is plenty of group work in this class so make sure to get involved and do your part.  You will be penalized for not participating.  What I enjoyed most about this class was the openness of the case files.  Some of the cases were very vague which allowed us to be creative in our solutions.

Dr. Tomas Jandik - Financial Markets and Valuations
Dr. Jandik grew up around Prague.  He is also a big Pittsburgh fan, he loves the city and all the sports teams in the city.  Dr. Jandik is a very good teacher.  He is direct and illustrates the pitfalls of finance succinctly.  He uses many examples throughout the semester.  His tests are part take home, but they can be quite tedious.  There is also a project for this course, make sure you get started on this early.  He gives you plenty of time to get it finished.  To be successful in this course make sure to attend class and go over his PowerPoint presentations.  The books is mainly used for practice problems and reference.  Another resource that you must be familiar with is www.damodaran.com, you will not do well if you do not use this site.  What I enjoyed most about this class was the daily encouragement and affirmation.  Every class period would start out with Dr. Jandik saying, "We are going to have a wonderful (great) class and you will learn very much today." 

Dr. John Aloysius - Business Analytics
This course proved challenging for some.  Dr. Aloysius uses many examples to show the application of various analytical processes.  Dr. Aloysius does a good job with his examples, make sure you pay attention to all the details and ask questions.  He also uses Excel software add-ins.  If you are not familiar with Excel, you need to take the MBA Math online class prior to enrolling.  It gives you a quick tutorial on the main features, as well as useful practice.  The key to success for this class is if you don't understand something make sure you ask questions.  The homework assignments are also very helpful.  The homework is assigned as group work.  Make sure you contribute to the group and fully understand every problem or you will have trouble in this class.  What I liked most about this class is that it forced me to adapt.  I had forgotten how to effectively study and this class was a driver in making me more dynamic.  I think this is good for anyone, even though it may not be a pleasant experience.

Dr. Tom Jensen - Retail Consumer Marketing
Dr. Jensen is very knowledgeable about marketing.  He has lots of experience and background in the field.  To succeed in the class you must go to class and pay attention.  You must also work well in groups and read the book.  The group work in this class is very interesting.  There is a simulation program called MarkStrat that is used for group work.  It requires you to develop a strategy and implement the strategy.  You compete in a market place against the other groups in the class.  Dr. Jensen is very energetic and loves when you bring creativity to the class.  He encourages you step outside the box and gain perspective.  What I enjoyed most about this class was the group collaboration.  It was fun and challenging at times, but it made us work together as a cohesive team.