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Fourteen Jenkins MBA students receive Supply Chain Fellowships

Fourteen Jenkins MBA students in the NC State Poole College of Management received Supply Chain Management Fellowships for the 2013-14 academic year. Two of these are continuing fellowships that they received in 2012 for their first year in the Jenkins MBA program. 

The fellowships awards, administered through Poole College's Supply Chain Resource Cooperative (SCRC), provide tuition support, financial stipends and benefits. The fellows also work closely with SCRC partner companies, applying their prior experience and classroom learning to complex supply chain projects.

It was that real world experience and the strength of the program’s supply chain management concentration that attracted these students to the Jenkins MBA program, they said in an email interview with Poole College communications.

First-year Jenkins MBA student Nick Summitt said he selected the Jenkins MBA program because of the “real world opportunities provided by the SCRC and my fellowship with Duke Energy Progress. NC State's strong reputation in supply chain was also a big factor.”

For first-year MBA Sebastian Naskaris, that real world experience includes working with Dr. Robert Handfield, SCRC director and one of the researchers working with NC State's Center for Environmental Farming Systems on a $3.9 million USDA/AFRI grant, "NC Growing Together." 

Lauren James, also a first-year Jenkins MBA student, said the opportunity to complete dual masters’ degrees – the Jenkins MBA and the master’s in industrial engineering in NC State’s College of Engineering – was an additional factor in selecting the program.

“The supply chain program is what drew me to NC State but the fellowship with Caterpillar is what sealed the deal,” said Caitlin Whalen, now in her second fellowship year. “The other schools I looked at did not offer the ability to receive work experience or to work on real projects for real companies instead of case studies.”

As part of her fellowship last year, Whalen worked on projects related to safety stock – the level of extra stock that a manufacturer maintains to reduce the risk of running out of materials needed for projection  – versus safety time or inflated lead time, and third-party logistics.

Weston Held, also in his second fellowship year, said the opportunity to work with SCRC’s partner companies, including those in the Fortune 500, was among his reasons for choosing the Jenkins MBA program. During his first fellowship year, Held “conducted market research and data analysis to provide an online supplier portal recommendations that met our client’s growing business needs. The final recommendation included benchmarking findings, portal mapping, portal functionalities and a web design for the suggested interface.

Steven Harrell, who is graduating in December 2013, said the Jenkins MBA program fit his goal: to prepare for a career transition.

“The ability to develop relevant project experience provided incredible value add to my educational goals,” he said. In his first year in the MBA program's supply chain concentration, Harrell worked with three companies on projects including a historical pricing model for strategic buying of synthetic commodities, a Cost to Serve model for a distribution center, and a marketing study focusing on the supply chain needs of independent pharmacies and pharmacists.

First year Jenkins MBA Supply Chain Fellows

Following are the first-year Jenkins MBA students receiving a Supply Chain Fellowship for the 2013-14 academic year. All expect to complete their Jenkins MBA program in spring 2015.

  • Mandy D. Althoff: Intended concentration, supply chain management and marketing. Althoff previously worked for Deloitte Consulting for one and a half years and Victoria's Secret, for nearly a year. She received her bachelor’s degree from Poole College in 2010 in business administration, with a concentration in supply chain and operations management. Althoff said she selected the Jenkins MBA program because it offered “the opportunity to collaborate with multiple companies in an academic environment.”
  • Clay Giese: Intended concentration, supply chain management. Giese previously taught in the North Carolina public school system for one year and for a private school in Kuwait for one year. He received his bachelor’s degree in Spanish and Latin American studies from Vanderbilt University in 2009 and his master’s in Latin American Studies from the University of Florida in 2011. He chose the Jenkins MBA program based on the strength and reputation of the supply chain program.
  • Steven Harrell, Jenkins MBA fall 2013, is completing a concentration in supply chain management. He previously was a general contractor for four years in his family’s construction company, Harrell Construction Company. After completing his bachelor’s degree program in accounting at Poole College in 2009, he worked three years with Faulkner/Haynes & Associates as a staff accountant and financial analyst for a manufacturers’ representative firm in Raleigh, N.C. The firm specialized in commercial HVAC and power design, engineering, service, and sales.

    Harrell said, “I had a fantastic experience in my undergrad education and knew several of the professors also taught MBA classes. NC State also offered a unique platform for real world engagement in the SC industry through the SCRC. Since a major goal of my MBA was to provide a career transition, the ability to develop relevant project experience provided incredible value add to my educational goals.”

  • Lauren James: Intended concentration, supply chain management with a dual masters in industrial engineering. James previously worked for Duke University Health System and PetSmart. She received her bachelor’s in business administration with majors in international finance and marketing from the University of Miami in December 2012. James said she the “Jenkins MBA offered real world experience. I also selected this school because of the dual MIE-MBA program.
  • Sebastian Naskaris: Intended concentration: Supply Chain Management, Sustainable Agriculture. Naskaris previously worked with FoodCorps as farmer and head cook. He received his bachelor’s degree from Bennington College in 2007.

    Naskaris said he “chose (Poole College) because of the Supply Chain Fellowship. My fellowship gives me the one of a kind opportunity to work on a new $3.9 million USDA/AFRI grant with The Center for Environmental Farming Systems, "NC Growing Together" (NCGT). I am using my developing business acumen to help scale up local food supply chains and make opportunities for small/medium scale and transitioning farmers in N.C. This aligns with my mission to sustain sustainable agriculture by building and supporting the businesses that will make its produce accessible to all. Learning supply chain management from Dr. Handfield and working on this initiative were an opportunity I could not pass up.” 

  • Jessica Newsome, Jenkins MBA 2014, is completing concentrations in finance and supply chain management. She had 12 years prior work experience before entering the program, working for PPD, Inc. and COResearch, and was self-employed. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2000. She said she selected the Jenkins MBA because “the emphasis on technology and real-world projects/learning was an ideal way to distinguish myself as an MBA job applicant.” In her first fellowship year, she worked on a distribution center benchmarking study for an SCRC business partner. “The project helped to strengthen my project management, leadership, and client engagement skills in addition to gaining hands on supply chain-related experience.”
  • Marilyn Nolte: Intended concentration, supply chain management. Nolte previously was employed for 10 years as a programmer/data analyst with Blue Cross Blue Shield, Bloodhound Technologies, Affiliated Computer Services, Utilipro and EDS, and for six years as an ice skating professional. She received her bachelor’s in management from the Georgia Institute of Technology in June 1997. Nolte said she selected the Jenkins MBA program because of its location in Raleigh, N.C., and the supply chain program.
  • Justin Simpson, Jenkins MBA 2014, is completing his concentration in supply chain management. He previously worked for four years with Leonard Buildings and had a summer internship with Kuehne + Nagel Integrated Logistics. He received his bachelor’s in mathematics from NC State in 2007.

    “I selected the Jenkins program for two reasons. First, the real world experience working with real companies. Second, I will never forget hearing Dean (Steve) Allen say, in an information session, “We teach our students how to get things done," which aligns quite well with my personal mantra.” In spring 2007, Simpson worked on a project with an SCRC partner company, doing a cost-benefit analysis of opening a distribution center in Southeast Asia.

  • Nick Summitt: Intended concentration, supply chain management. Summitt previously worked with Deloitte Consulting for three and a half years, focusing primarily on the health care industry, both in the federal and commercial practice. He received his bachelor’s in marketing and finance in 2007 from the College of William and Mary, after which he worked for two and a half years in the corporate sales division of a small agency that represented public speakers. He selected the Jenkins MBA program because of the “real world opportunities provided by the SCRC and my fellowship with Duke Energy Progress. NC State's strong reputation in supply chain was also a big factor.”
  • Sandra Tompkins: Intended concentration, supply chain management. Tompkins previously worked four years for The Body Shop. She received her bachelor’s in business administration from NC State Poole College in 2009. “I loved NC State University from my time as an undergrad,” she said when asked about her decision to enroll in the Jenkins MBA program, “and the MBA supply chain program was highly recommended.”
  • Emily Tuttle, Jenkins MBA 2014, is completing concentrations in supply chain management and finance. She completed an internship in summer 2013 with BB&T. Prior to entering the MBA program, she had worked two years at the UNC-Chapel Hill Neuroscience Center and completed a Blue Cross Blue Shield Corporate Compliance & Ethics Internship in summer 2009. She received her bachelor’s in business administration from Meredith College in 2010. “I selected the Jenkins MBA because I liked the smaller class-size, the real experience available by working with outside companies, and the association with the SCRC,” she said.

    In her first fellowship year, Tuttle said, she was one of two teams working on “an interesting project” – researching and making recommendations for assuring that a new intranet would be easy to understand and navigate.” Her team’s project was tied to a project another Jenkins MBA team was doing for the same company related to a marketing campaign. “It was interesting talking to companies' procurement individuals to see how the different companies in different industries use their intranet in multiple ways and to come up with … our recommendation.”

  • Drew Widman: Intended concentration, supply chain management. Widman previously was an international supply chain business development manager at epcSolutions for two years. He received his bachelor’s in business administration from Appalachian State University in 2012, with a concentration in international business and minors in supply chain management and German.

    Widman said that he “found NC State University's Jenkins MBA program to be the most attractive amongst other competitive business schools because of the opportunities available to interface with industry leaders and to work hands-on with corporate partners of the SCRC. Most important is this program's investment in the professional and personal growth of its students, and as a result, I am confident that I will enter the workforce as an articulate, business savvy, and effective decision maker.”

Second-year Supply Chain Management Fellows

Following are Jenkins MBA students who were awarded second-year Supply Chain Management Fellowships, for the 2013-14 academic year.

  • Weston Held, Jenkins MBA 2014, is completing a concentration in supply chain management. He previously was a research associate with Syngenta Biotechnology for four years. He received his bachelor’s degree from California State University, Fullerton in 2008. He said "just a few of the many reasons" he chose the Jenkins MBA program was "because the academic curriculum provides students the opportunities to get real world experience working with global corporations. In addition, the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative at NC State University provides students with the opportunity to gain valuable work experience working for fortune 500 companies such as Caterpillar.” 
  • Caitlin Whalen, Jenkins MBA 2014, is completing her concentration in supply chain management. She received her bachelor’s degree in aviation business administration from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2009. About selecting the Jenkins MBA, Whalen said, “The supply chain program is what drew me to NC State, but the fellowship with Caterpillar is what sealed the deal. The other schools I looked at did not offer the ability to receive work experience or to work on real projects for real companies instead of case studies.”In her first fellowship year, she completed projects on stock safety – an extra level of stock maintained to help avoid running out of materials needed for production versus safety time – inflated lead time, and a project on third party logistics.

Photo

In the photo, left to right, are: Mandy Althoff, Emily Tuttle, Marilyn Nolte, Caitlin Whalen, Sandra Tompkins, Weston Held, Steven Harrell, Lauren James, Sebastian Naskaris, Nick Summitt, Jessica Newsome, Drew Widman, Clay Giese and Justin Simpson. 

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