Wharton rated #1 in survey

The Wharton School has been rated first in the country in Business Week's biennial ranking of MBA programs, displacing Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg School of Management, which had held the number one spot since 1988. Wharton Dean Thomas Gerrity expressed satisfaction over the school's move from last year's fourth place finish to this year's first. "We're delighted to have this external recognition of all the work that our faculty have put in over the last five years, and that's both undergraduate and MBA," Gerrity said. Wharton was followed by Northwestern, the University of Chicago, Stanford University and Harvard University's Graduate School of Business Administration. Stanford rose three spots and Harvard fell two from last year's survey. The Cambridge institution retained the lead in average starting pay, though, coming in at $102,630. Wharton graduates average $89,930 per year, putting them in fifth place. In addition, Wharton Professor Jeremy Siegel scored the highest approval rating by graduates, making him the top-rated educator in the poll. Siegel teaches one graduate and two undergraduate level macroeconomic courses, along with a graduate-level seminar on the stock market. The professor said that, because this is the first time the survey has included individual assessments of professors, the result took him by surprise. "I was very surprised--very pleased of course," Siegel said. Siegel attributed his recognition to his efforts to combine textbook learning with outside experience, a method that mirrors Wharton's curriculum as a whole. "I bring the real world into the classroom a lot, and this is very much appreciated by the students," he said. According to the article, Wharton surpassed the business school pack because of its increased emphasis on integrating disciplines. Beginning with former Dean Russell Palmer and continuing with Gerrity, the curriculum has been restructured to include a more practical focus that seeks to combine all elements of the business world. "As at Wharton, some are trying to teach business as a complex whole instead of a set of disparate functions?They're adding courses in teamwork and leadership and placing greater emphasis on globalization and quality," the article stated. "They're also making business education more pragmatic and less theoretical by adding real-world consulting projects and field assignments to the curriculum," the article continued. Gerrity said the relationship between the classroom and the boardroom is one that should be addressed prior to actual employment. "Regarding the linkage between theory and practice, we think it's very important to provide strong analytical foundations, but then to test those foundations in practical, applied problems," he said. According to the poll, this original approach to learning has made the Wharton graduate pool a prime resource for recruiters. "Companies say Wharton has the most innovative curriculum of any school and is now Corporate America's favorite MBA hunting ground," the article said. The survey revealed, however, that this invitation to success does not come without its costs. "The changes heaped so much more work on the students that the faculty have since had to scale back additions in course requirements, exams and leadership exercises," the article stated. Vice Dean and Director of the Wharton Graduate Division Isik Inselbag said any educational overhaul should expect some problems, and that reorganization is just part of the process. "There has been a lot of evolution," Inselbag said. "The original design was overly ambitious, so we made adjustments. You have to make these sorts of adjustments when you are implementing change. "That is a reasonable characteristic of the fine tuning that took place during the implementation," he added. "Even when students thought it was too much work, there was a lot of satisfaction with the new curriculum." Indeed, the survey results corroborate Inselbag's story. Wharton came in third in graduate satisfaction, falling behind Stanford and UCLA. To commemorate the school's finish, the entire Wharton community has been invited to a celebration in the Lehman Brothers Quadrangle -- in between Vance Hall and the McNeil Building -- today from 4:30 to 5 p.m.

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