Dear Whitman Alumni: February Message from Cindie Adams

Dear Whitman Alumni,

The word “alumni” suggests that the education you receive from your alma mater has concluded. Despite every effort to ensure that our graduates leave Whitman fully prepared, the business world is ever changing and that can necessitate the need for new knowledge and skills after your degree is in hand. Whitman is committed to lifelong learning and strives to create educational opportunities to keep you, your colleagues and/or employees updated on subject matter critical to prolonged professional and organizational success.

Such continued or executive education programming spans a variety of disciplines, including finance, accounting, supply chain management, marketing management, entrepreneurship and strategic management, and can be delivered in a number of ways, such as 10-week non-credit certificate programs, short online courses, work-site classroom training and customized offerings for a specific business scenario or job function.

A few examples of the many executive education programs led by our accomplished faculty include:

A program to teach health care professionals how to measure and manage cash flow, evaluate investment replacement and expansion decisions, implement receivables collection policies

A two-day workshop for mid- and upper-level management of a Fortune 100 company on cost of capital and capital budget decision making

The Six Sigma-Black Belt program, which combines online learning and practical application for Black Belt candidates

A director-level financial literacy program with particular emphasis on managing companies with high debt levels

A course designed to help sales and service professionals develop finance skills for better explaining to customers how to quantify the value of the technical bundles being sold to them

A customer service class for new military veterans through the Onward to Opportunity program run by the Institute for Veterans and Military Families

A financial strategy program for a large defense company that focused on the financial considerations and issues related to partnerships, alliances, ventures, and mergers and acquisitions

“Finance for non-finance majors” for a trade association certification program and finance and accounting curriculum for attorneys at a large corporate law firm

A healthcare project management certificate course program, which entailed three levels of training, 65 hours of instruction and a two-hour culmination exam

These examples provide a snapshot of the type of executive education programming we have created to meet marketplace demands. We welcome the opportunity to learn about your challenges and needs for enhanced skill sets and industry knowledge. We would greatly appreciate your time and feedback in responding to this brief questionnaire.

Whitman strives to remain engaged with alumni early on and long after their formal education has come to an end. I often talk about ways you can help Whitman and our current students through mentoring, speaking to a class, making career connections, etc. Executive education is one way that Whitman can help you and your organization—if not now, perhaps down the road. We’ll be here for you when the time comes.

Best,
Cindie Adams, Executive Director of Alumni and Corporate Relations

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Cindie Adams

Cindie Adams is the executive director of alumni and corporate relations at the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University. She has extensive expertise in academic program development, career advising, managing boards and teams, and higher-education admissions. She has also worked in global marketing for a consumer products company and in export sales. Adams holds a B.A. in economics, political science, German and international relations as well as an MBA and an M.S. in counseling psychology, all from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. With her husband, Jim, she enjoys spending time with their four twenty-something children, traveling the world, and taking on any fitness and adventurous challenge.