Meet The UC Davis Graduate School of Management MBA Class of 2022

P&Q: What are the most exciting new developments at your program?

Unnava: “The most exciting new developments in the UC Davis Full-Time MBA program this year include:

* Industry Immersion electives courses in Sustainable Energy, Food & Agriculture, Biotechnology and Technology Finance. These Immersion courses combine UC Davis’ research strengths with our corporate partners to bring top executives to class each week to challenge multidisciplinary teams of students to develop collaborative solutions on the fly.

* Collaborative Leadership Program, a two-year distinctive self-improvement and assessment built on four pillars: inspiring others, helping others to succeed, building trust and bringing positive energy, and being humble and learn from others.

* Official STEM designation for MBA program, offering international students the opportunity to apply for additional OPT.

* Expansion of global experiences involving joint projects with students from other MBA programs around the world. For example, MBA students collaborating with graduate students in Switzerland on a consulting project for ABB.

* Extracurriculur training offered for certification in Six Sigma, Project Management Professional and Amazon Web Services Cloud to enhance the value of the degree.

* Enhanced networking opportunities within our community with the growth of our Online MBA program, the only pure play online MBA in the UC system. There are more than 300 students in our community who are attending events, networking and offering their expertise and connections.”

P&Q: How has COVID-19 impacted your business school?

Unnava: “Our program is built on intimacy because of its small size. Faculty members interact very closely with students and Gallagher Hall (our campus building) often becomes a second home for our students. This intimacy was challenged due to the physical distancing mandates that prevented us from having in-person classes. However, the collaborative environment at the school helped in overcoming many of these challenges. For example, our staff called every student to make sure they are doing well and referred them to resources as needed. Our faculty recorded their lectures, reduced emphasis on class participation (especially part-time students who had young children to take care of at home), and made themselves available to assist students as needed. Our alumni participated in multiple panels, advising students on the skills they need for the emerging post-COVID economy. Several donors and alumni provided internship and final placement opportunities for our students. And, of course, the students helped each other out throughout this period. Looking back, I would say that COVID-19 has brought us all closer together.”

P&Q: How does your location enhance students’ learning and employment opportunities in the Bay Area?

Unnava: “Being close to the San Francisco Bay Area helps in developing relationships with companies in the region and provides our students with a spectrum of job opportunities. For example, students can join start-ups, small companies that have obtained Series B funding, medium-sized and fast-growing tech companies, or the major tech giants. Students also have one of the most diverse industry environments here – California has food, agriculture, clean energy, biotech, health care, and, of course, the high-tech hub in the Silicon Valley. The ability of our students to be exposed to this rich industry environment is an X-factor most schools cannot provide.”

P&Q: How does the business school leverage the alumni network in its MBA programming and career services?

Unnava: “Our alumni are very deeply involved in our MBA experience. First, every Full-Time MBA student has the opportunity to be mentored by an alum, chosen to reflect the career interests of the student. Alumni also provide guest lectures in our classrooms, work with our career management group to provide internship and placement opportunities and are our clients in one of our signature practicum experiences (called the Integrated Management Project). They help us organize company visits, host alumni events, and of course, contribute to student scholarship funds and other support for the school.”

P&Q: How does your small class size enrich the MBA learning experience?

Unnava: “Our small class size enables students to get to know each other very well. There is only one section, and all students take several first year classes together. The close-knit nature of the community is reflected in the classroom where discussions occur in a friendly and mutually respectful environment. The intimate relationship between students and faculty is also reflected in classroom interactions. The staff get to know students very well and often take care of issues before they become problems for students. Students have ready access to faculty, staff and the dean’s office. The culture is one of nurturing each other, not competing among themselves. This culture is reflected in students helping each other in obtaining jobs by making referrals or sharing information. Many students have remarked about the ‘family’ culture at Graduate School of Management, which they relish and speak about when the dean meets with alumni who graduated as far back as the early eighties when the school opened.”

6 REASONS TO PURSUE AN MBA AT THE UC DAVIS GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

What brought the Class of 2022 to Davis? What have been the best parts of the MBA program of the program so far? This is what first-years shared as the biggest reasons for prospective applicants to consider the UC Davis Graduate School of Management:

1) IMPACT Project: “While all MBA programs teach analytical and problem-solving skills, those skills are entrenched only when applied in a certain context. What I value most at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management is its distinctive approach—the IMPACT curriculum—that integrates theories with real-world practice. We team up on a strategic consulting project for a client company and present compelling solutions to top executives. Through in-classroom live case studies and the hands-on 10-week capstone consulting project, I’ll gain valuable insights and develop skills to solve key business issues. UC Davis’ four Industry Immersions also are attractive. I can integrate my experience in both the CPG industry and 3D-printing to work in teams to develop solutions to problems posed each week by executives.”
Aihe Chen

2) Industry Immersions: “Having the opportunity to do deep dives into industries like food and agriculture, biotech, and sustainable energy allows for a career switcher like myself to get started in a target industry.”
Molly Jo Scott

3) STEM Designation: “As a STEM-designated MBA program, the UC Davis curriculum offers highly-advanced electives in the field of organizational behavior and strategy, including Managing People in High-Performance Organizations, Innovation & Enterprise Culture, Organizational Effectiveness and Change Management. The advanced Collaborative Leadership Program is a distinctive proposition. In this era of evolving technology and innovation in AI, the program offers courses in Data Mining, Wrangling, Visualization and Big Data Analytics. It is a perfect blend of technology and business acumen.”
Ash Singh

4) Collaborative Leadership: “The main factor that made me decide to be part of the UC Davis Full-Time MBA program is their concept of collaborative leadership. I believe that growth and change can only be achieved by people working together. By minds that look for a good greater than themselves and who can collaborate to achieve success. That success will multiply and bring good for others too. Collaborative leadership nourishes others’ strengths and enables an environment for learning and growing. I wish to build my network with other leaders ready to collaborate and together make the world a better place. The UC Davis Full-time MBA gives me the resources to get closer to my dream.”
Fernanda Castro Villegas

5) Small Cohort: “The small cohort size of our MBA program attracted me the most. I believe an MBA is as much about networking as learning management. This networking starts right with your cohort. The smaller the cohort size is, the better the opportunity for stronger and more meaningful networking with classmates. A smaller cohort size also results in more effective in-class discussions.”
Deepi Agarwal

6) Support Staff: “The faculty made the biggest impact on my choosing UC Davis as a place that I would want to call home for the next two years. I truly believe that what you put into business school is what you get out of it. After talking to Dean Rao Unnava, Assistant Director of Student and Academic Services Jacqueline Romo, and Associate Director of Admissions Jessica Moon, I realized that they all had the same goal, which was to push you to become the best you can be. By surrounding yourself with people who genuinely care about your development as a well-rounded person rather than just your professional career success, an environment is created that encourages you to try things out of your comfort zone and find new passions. With a caring and supportive faculty and staff around you, the sky’s the limit. That is what makes UC Davis special. It is truly a family.”
Jayce Smalley

What led UC Davis’ Class of 2022 to pursue an MBA degree? What did they love about their school and their classmates? Find out answers to these questions and many more by clicking the student links below. 

MBA Student	Hometown	Undergraduate Alma Mater	Last Employer
Deepi Agarwal	Greater Noida, India	Amity University, India	NTT Communications
Daniel Bradley	Crescent City, CA	UC Davis	Local Logic Media LLC
Fernanda Castro Villegas	Heredia, Costa Rica	Tecnologico de Costa Rica	PROCOMER
Aihe Chen	Shanghai, China	Shanghai University of International Business and Economics	Unilever
Emmanuel E. Escamilla	Modesto, CA	University of California, Berkeley	NA
Camille Harris	Oakland, CA	University of Maryland	Mattermost, Inc.
Anthony Liu	Xi’an, China	University of Washington	University of Washington
Wei-Ting Ou	Taipei, Taiwan	Penn State University	Channel Well Technology Co.
Molly Jo Scott	Davis, CA	Drake University	North Carolina State University
Ash Singh	Hazaribagh, India	Hansraj College, University of Delhi	Amazon India
Jayce Smalley	Kaneohe, HI	UCLA	C2 Commercial