The 23rd annual Notre Dame Ethics Week kicks off next Monday (Feb. 10) with the theme of “Women Lead.” The four-day conference will present a comprehensive discussion of gender diversity and inclusion, which is a critical topic as women continue to be underrepresented within both Mendoza and corporate leadership.

The speakers include many of our faculty members and students who have meaningful insights and are making contributions toward more inclusive workplaces:

♦ Feb. 10, 5-6 p.m.: Panel discussion featuring current Notre Dame MBA students and moderated by M&O teaching professor Joe Holt; “Rising Together: Gender Equity in Business.”

♦ Feb. 11, 5-6 p.m.: Carolyn Y. Woo, former dean of Mendoza College of Business and former CEO of Catholic Relief Services; “Growing into Authentic Leadership.”

♦ Feb. 12, 5-6 p.m.: Cathy David, former executive vice president of merchandising for Pier 1 Imports; “Memoir in Progress: Stories and Souvenirs from the First Half.”

♦ Feb. 13, 12:30-1:30 p.m.: Erin Bellissimo, managing director of the Notre Dame Institute for Global Investing and board member for Girls Who Invest; “Women in Investing.”

♦ Feb. 14, 12:30-1:30 p.m.: Panel discussion “Women and the Workplace” featuring the following Mendoza College of Business faculty and staff members:

• Robin Kistler, director of non-degree programs for the Stayer Center for Executive Education (moderator).
• Angela Logan, St. Andre Bessette Director of Nonprofit Professional Development and associate teaching professor.
• Amanda McKendree, Arthur F. and Mary J. O’Neil Director of the Fanning Center for Business Communication and Management & Organization associate teaching professor.
• Cindy Muir, Management & Organization associate professor and leadership researcher.
• Alice Obermiller, director of experiential learning and leadership development for Mendoza’s Graduate Business Programs.

The talks take place in the Stayer Center’s Commons C in the lower level. Please consider attending as your schedule allows and encourage your students to participate as well.

Notre Dame Ethics Week, which is sponsored by the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership, is organized by a Mendoza cross-collaborative team. My thanks to Brian Levey, Ken Milani, Jessica McManus Warnell, Brett Beasley, Chris Adkins, Scott Nestler, Deb Coch, Zara Osterman and Carol Elliott.

In Notre Dame,

Martijn

We launched the Mendoza Exchange newsletter about 18 months ago as a way of improving our internal communication, increasing transparency and building community among our faculty and staff. Judging from the weekly open rates and contributions to the newsletter, it’s become an important touchpoint for nearly 400 colleagues located in four buildings in two time zones!

I’m pleased to announce a new development: Mendoza Exchange is now the new COBWeb. The content you see in the e-newsletter every week is housed on the website formerly known as COBWeb (a.k.a. College of Business Web). This will allow us to archive the stories, photos and briefs online that appear each week in case you want to refer back to an item. It also will provide an opportunity for longer profiles or other pieces that didn’t meet the space requirements of the email version.

At the same time, the resources that many COBWeb users rely on, such as the quick links and Mendoza IT tech tips, will continue to be available. Take a look!

The Mendoza Exchange website was the result of a strong and creative collaboration between Mendoza IT and Communications. I especially want to thank Mark Kimmet, Raymond Alavo, Phil Corporon, Diego Wang, Melissa Jackson and Zara Osterman.

I hope you will continue to contribute ideas and submissions to Mendoza Exchange so that we can celebrate one another’s achievements and milestones — from new research to new babies — together as a community.

In Notre Dame,

Martijn

As we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, it’s important to remind ourselves of Notre Dame’s commitment diversity and inclusivity:

We affirm the transcendent dignity and worth of every human person, from conception to natural death, regardless of race, nationality or ethnic group, religious tradition, gender, socioeconomic class, immigration status, sexual orientation, or anything else.

At Mendoza, diversity and inclusivity are foundational to our imperative to Grow the Good in Business™, to live in solidarity and create a culture where we succeed together. This extends across the College, to faculty policies that seek to diversify our candidate pool and successfully hire faculty from underrepresented groups, including minority and female faculty; to the recruitment and support of underrepresented students; and to the establishment of a workplace culture that recognizes the well-being of each person as vital to the well-being of all.

We’ve made strides in diversity and inclusion through initiatives such as our support for the PhD Project, which has as its mission to increase the diversity of business school faculty. Other efforts include the events sponsored by Notre Dame MBA Diversity Committee and related clubs, and the Building Bridges Mentorship Program, which assists Notre Dame’s underrepresented student population by matching them with faculty from the departments that the students wish to explore as possible majors.

A number of people in the College play a formal role in our diversity initiatives, including Jim Seida, who serves as Mendoza’s faculty diversity advocate. I’m thankful to the many of you who personally contribute to building a diverse and inclusive community.

If you were not able to attend the University’s MLK luncheon today, I encourage you to watch the video of keynote speaker Diane Nash, a true civil rights pioneer who was a Freedom Rider and co-founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). The University has events planned throughout Walk the Walk Week. Please attend as your schedule allows.

In Notre Dame,

Martijn

Dear Mendoza Colleagues,

I want to provide an update regarding two of our graduate programs — the Master of Science in Management (MSM) and the Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA). After an extensive review of peer schools and market trends, we decided to reduce the annual tuition for both programs starting in the 2020-21 academic year. The new rate for MSM is $44,900, a reduction of about 15%. MSA’s tuition also will be $44,900, or reduction of about 20%.

I approved these changes as part of my commitment to “reimagine, recommit and reinvest” in the College’s graduate programs. Our goal is to provide greater access to two world-class graduate business programs to high-performing prospective students who value Notre Dame’s unique educational experience as part of their life and career goals, but who may have been deterred by the previous “sticker price.”

The review of our peer schools and market trends in business education revealed the following:

♦ The tuition rates for MSM and MSA were at the very top range compared to peer schools, which essentially put them out of alignment with the larger market for specialty master’s degrees.

♦ The tuition rates for MSM and MSA did not accurately reflect their respective value propositions — which take into account such things as starting salaries, student demand and other market forces at the program level — when compared to our other graduate programs.

We anticipate that the average out-of-pocket expenditures for future students will remain approximately the same as for current students, since we will also adjust fellowship levels for MSA and MSM in 2020-21 in accordance with market trends. We will be informing current students about the new tuition rates tomorrow and prospective students on Wednesday.

The MSA and MSM programs are vital offerings as part of Mendoza’s graduate degree portfolio and I am committed to continued innovation and support to the programs’ students and alumni. I’m thankful to those who were instrumental in bringing about these changes, including Kristen Collett-Schmitt, Mike Brach and his admissions team, Sandra Vera-Muñoz, Keith Urtel, Kelli Kilpatrick, Tim Bohling and Doug Franson.

In Notre Dame,

Martijn 

One of the most cherished traditions at Mendoza is the arrival of Santa during the annual Christmas party. For more than 20 years, he’s patiently listened to hundreds of our kids’ wishes and requests, and calmed more than a few who were decidedly not Santa fans.

Of course, we know he is the real Santa. But for the rest of the year, he does have another identity. Here’s a brief Santa bio:

• Richard (Dick) Schinkel lives in Berrien Springs, Michigan, on the same 70-acre farm he grew up on. He earned bachelor and master degrees in education and science from Western Michigan University. He spent his career as an educator and trained naturalist, teaching science at Niles Community Schools and also as an adjunct professor for Western, Lake Michigan College and Michigan State.
• Dick’s first “Santa gig” wasn’t actually as Father Christmas. At a special holiday dinner while he was teaching in Niles, he decided to play Santa’s brother (mostly because he had a red beard at the time). He did the opposite of everything Santa would do. He wore a Hawaiian shirt, shorts and sunglasses. He sat on the kids’ laps and took things from them. It went over so well that "Santa's brother" became a tradition.
• His first appearance as Santa proper was for the Sarett Nature Center in Benton Harbor, where he worked as a naturalist. Initially, he wore a store-bought Santa suit, but as he received more and more requests to appear in local parades and other events, he hired a local seamstress to fashion the authentic Victorian-style St. Nicholas robes he wears today.
• Some of you might remember Santa bringing his reindeer to the Mendoza Christmas. He raised two calves on his farm and trained them to pull his sleigh. He later owned four reindeer — Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and Vixen — but eventually decided to sell them because of the cost (and the fact that they were scared of parades).
• Dick and his wife Patricia have been married for 53 years. They have three daughters — Kara, Marna and Jennifer. They all have been Santa’s helpers in various ways over the years, but he does NOT play Santa for his family.

It seems we never outgrow Santa. Dick has played St. Nick for generations of families and communities. He's collected many of his stories into a book, “My Life as Santa,” which is available at Fernwood Nature Center in Buchanan.

I hope you and your family will join our Mendoza family for our annual Christmas party at 4:30-7 p.m. on Friday in the Stayer Center Morris Commons. My thanks to Karma Grundy, who spends the better part of the year organizing this beautiful event. And let’s remember to wish our Mendoza Santa a very Merry Christmas.

In Notre Dame,

Martijn