I’m delighted to introduce you to the exciting changes you will see in the coming weeks and months as we evolve the Smith School’s branding and other communications materials. As many of you know, over the past year, senior staff and faculty have been working with the Office of Marketing Communications to evolve the identity for the school - refining both our graphic look and our messaging to support the Smith brand as “Leaders for the Digital Economy.” What you are seeing today is the first phase of this evolution.

A Bold New Look
We have developed a bold, distinct new graphic identity for our communications materials, which will be applied school wide to create a cohesive and consistent message about who we are and what we do. You will see the new “look” on everything from gift items like those left in your office a few weeks ago, to the school’s new Web site and all of our marketing brochures. The first of these brochures, also found in this package, is the school’s new corporate image brochure. This brochure will help build our brand both internally and externally and illustrate how Smith is uniquely relevant in an economy fueled by technology, entrepreneurship and globalization.

Themes and Images
We continue to draw upon the University of Maryland’s red and yellow colors, but we have also applied some unexpected graphic elements to help distinguish the school. These elements, which include unique photographic images, illustrate the convergence of business and technology and carry a theme of “connections.” A nodal structure, consisting of connecting circles and lines, is used often to help illustrate Smith connections.

Smith connects students to faculty, theory to practice, entrepreneurs to venture capital, businesses to solutions, and graduates to careers. And Smith connections on three continents influence business and business education all over the world.

Join in the Excitement
We hope that you will explore the school’s new Web site and read through the school’s image brochure provided to you. As always, we welcome your input as we continue to evolve the identity of the Smith School. Feel free to provide feedback – on the Web site and other issues related to these changes to: info@rhsmith.umd.edu.

Thank you for sharing in the excitement as we roll out the new Web site and other materials to the Smith School community of leaders for the digital economy!

Smith News

►Dr. Louiqa Raschid, professor of information systems at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, is part of a team of researchers awarded a $2-million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for data management research for the life sciences. Raschid’s research objective is to develop new data modeling and data integration tools that will make scientists and biologists more effective and efficient as they navigate through vast amounts of Web-accessible information. [More]

Announcements

►OCM Update
2004 Employment Statistics available online. For the MBA Class of 2004, 89% of full-time students seeking employment had accepted offers within three months of graduation, up from from 85% in 2003.
http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/career/about_employstats.html

►Faculty Evaluations available at the MPO
Ask Gabrielle Graves for additional information.

Sign Up Now for the 2005 Rice University Business Plan Competition

The Rice University Business Plan Competition is accepting registrations for its 2005 intercollegiate contest. In only its fifth year, the Rice Business Plan Competition has become one of the premier new venture business plan competitions in the world.

Three reasons why you should consider entering a team:

1. Start up funding of $70,000 in cash awarded in 2005, almost double the prior year, plus $30,000 of in-kind services.
2. The Grand Prize team will take home $20,000 cash, plus a comprehensive package of services including free office space, Web site & hosting services, and free roundtrip air travel on Continental Airlines.
3. The winner will also qualify to compete for $100,000 at the MOOT CORP® competition.

The deadline for submitting an “Intent to Compete” is February 4, 2005. The competition date is April 7-9, 2005.

Competition Format
The RBPC provides unsurpassed opportunities for participants to receive feedback and coaching to help them launch their new business venture with:

• Two separate Feedback Sessions for student teams to receive one-on-one coaching on their business plan presentation.
• Three different types of competition to hone your presentation skills: Business Plan Presentation, Elevator Pitch Competition and Challenge Round.
• Written Feedback after each round.
• Networking opportunities on all three days of the competition at the Feedback Rounds, Company Showcase, Finalist Reception, and Awards Banquet.

Only 36 teams will be selected to compete in Houston, based on their business plan submissions - which are due by February 25, 2005. MBA and other graduate students who are interested in participating in the 2005 Rice University Business Plan Competition should visit the RBPC Web site: www.alliance.rice.edu/rbpc.