Return on Your Investment

Wendy Hale ’05, Senior, Risk Advisory Practice, Ernst & Young, is passionate about UAlbany. Immediately upon graduation she made her first contribution to the School of Business, which was augmented by her employer’s matching gifts program.

“One of the reasons I gaive back was that I received a merit-based scholarship, but it’s more than that. I came into my own at UAlbany,” explained Hale. When she was still in school, Hale walked around campus identifying things she would fund when she had the money. She said that contributing to the new building fund enhances her degree, but she can’t do it alone, “I couldn’t give enough to build the business school myself, but if everybody gives what I did (it will happen).”

Surveys of alumni satisfaction use participation rates to rank schools; the more alumni who are involved, the higher the alumni satisfaction. They should count Ellen Levine ’78 twice. The Chief Financial Officer for the Depository Trust Company gives her time and money. Levine, who has mentored numerous students, said, “I believe that having gone to the school it’s important to give back. I value the mentoring more but the school needs the money. I see the energy and desire of students from the school. If one doesn’t have the time, give the money, or if one has more time, give that.”

As Hale and Levine noted, giving back is the right thing to do, but there are other reasons to support the School of Business. As Bill Roller, Director of Development noted, “As our students succeed, the reputation of the school grows.” Alumni support provides the school with resources to prepare students to succeed in the workforce, such as the year-long boot camp implemented this fall for Financial Analyst students. (See story this issue.)

This fall, Hale and her fellow UAlbany alumni, including E&Y’s Campus Coordinating Partners Evan Maltese ‘90 and Nick Gajdjis ’86, funded an accounting orientation from the Ernst and Young Initiative Fund. The program provided students the opportunity to hear about careers and corporate culture from accounting professionals.

Finance Boot Camp and Accounting Orientation give our students an edge. UAlbany students who impress potential employers not only have a better shot at getting a great job – they also boost the school’s reputation: firms see the quality of the students we prepare.

As Levine noted, “You can do great things at a state school. The education you get is incredible, at such a reasonable price.” Hale remembers all nighters in the business school: students crowded around a small bank of computers. That memory stirs her enthusiasm for the Students Commons area proposed for the new School of Business building.

A UAlbany education brings a good return on investment. It’s time to help the students who continue to march through our doors and help us in our goal to become a leading business school in the Northeast by investing in the school that gave you your start.