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New program helps prepare students for careers.

Article Excerpt
From 1995 to 1999, Janel Queen worked as the development director for The University of Montana's School of Business Administration, bringing in alumni and donor support for SOBA programs and the brand new Gallagher Building. Since last November, she has worked in the newly created position of director of career advancement. She still works closely with alumni, but now that collaboration focuses on the career needs of business students.

This new position was funded by alumni of the school to help develop long-term relationships with employers and alumni to ensure that SOBA students and graduates find quality employment opportunities as interns or permanent employees.

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"It started a couple of years ago," explains SOBA Dean Larry Gianchetta. During a meeting of the Business Advisory Council, he told the group, "If you think we are overlooking something, it's really your job to point it out."

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SOBA graduate Brian Pedersen spoke up, saying he noticed a lack of career development mechanisms for students. "Isn't there something we could do?" he asked.

"I told them I would do a dollar-for-dollar match over a three-year period," Gianchetta recalls. "They put their money where their mouths were." All 21 advisory board members were involved in establishing the new position, but the drive to develop a career advancement position was spearheaded, in part, by Pedersen, who earned his MBA from UM in 1985. He works in Bellevue, Wash., for Alvarez and...

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