The Robinson College's Global Electronic Commerce Masters (GEM) program was recognized recently by 00 magazine as being "the world's first global e-commerce master's degree." In the magazine's September 1, 2000 issue, the GEM Executive MBA program was highlighted in a sidebar titled "Go Global, Young Student," part of an article tided "A Difference of Degree:' The story related how some of the nation's top business schools are racing to keep up with the demand for e-commerce education for MBAs. CIO noted several unique aspects of the GEM program, including the program's three international seminars that alternate among the founding international universities, virtual courses taught over the Internet and virtual team exercises with students at participating universities. The fall 2000 kickoff of the GEM program also was mentioned in October by localbusiness.com and by the Atlanta journal Constitution in the papers e-business section.

MAX AWARDS PREVIEWED

The MAX Awards, hosted by the College's Marketing Department in February to promote marketing excellence, received significant local cover-age this year. The Atlanta Business Chronicle published a special pull-out section on the winners and finalists of the MAX Awards in its February 9 issue. The January 26 issue of the Atlanta Business Chronicle noted that "organizers of the MAX Awards for Excellence (MAX) have snared Charles "Garry" Betty, CEO of Atlanta-based EarthLink, Inc. as this year's featured speaker at the 2001 MAX Awards ceremony on February 9." The newspaper also quoted Regents' Professor of Marketing and MAX organizer Dr. Ken Bernhardt as saying: "Garry Betty has earned the respect of Atlanta's business and financial communities through his stealth leadership of EarthLink over the past five years. Attendees of the MAX ceremony will undoubtedly take away new insights based on his keen understanding of the current Net economy. " The Atlanta Business Chronicle also ran a Q&A in January about the MAX Awards with members of the Marketing RoundTable. Additional coverage included the "Atlanta Business Chronicle Report," Ad Week, "Georgia Business Report" (Georgia Public Television) and WGST among others.

EFC DIRECTOR DHAWAN MAKES BIG SPLASH WITH LOCAL, NATIONAL MEDIA

Since his arrival as director of the Economic Forecasting Center, Dr. Rajeev Dhawan has been in the news both near and far. His appointment to his new position caught the attention of the Atlanta Business Chronicle and the Atlanta journal Constitution in October. In addition, he was quoted on the state of consumer confidence in a front-page article of the Los Angeles Times (Jan. 31), on corporate layoffs by MSNBC (Jan. 29), on the Federal Reserve's move to cut rates in USA Today (Jan. 4), on the nation's shifting labor market by CBS.marketwatch.com (Jan, It, 12) and on the President's proposed tax cuts on CNN and NPR (March 3).

Other papers who have quoted Dhawan since his arrival to the Robinson College include the Houston Chronicle, BNA Daily Labor Report Women's Wear Daily, The Cincinnati Post The Times-Picayune (Florida), The Florida Times Union, The Grand Rapids Press and The Augusta Chronicle. Television and radio appearances have included WSB-TV Channel 2 (ABC affiliate), Channel 5 Fox News, CNN Radio, "Georgia Business Report" (GPTV) and the "Atlanta Chronicle Business Report."

The EFC's associate director, Mary Kassis, also was quoted in October and February on the Atlanta and regional economies by the "Atlanta Business Chronicle Report" and The Wall Street journal.

IT SNAFUS CAN GO UNSEEN

The consequences of information technology snafus ultimately aren't easily disguised since they can affect the bottom line and show up in earnings reports. But the initial signs of danger sometimes may not be as apparent on the inside of a company, "An outsider can walk into the project setting for 20 minutes, talk to a few people and come to the conclusion that things have run amok Burt people inside may not even be aware of a problem, "Dr. Mark Keil, associate professor of computer information systems, told Computerworld magazine in October The magazine added that lack of involvement by senior management in IT issues, coupled with the fear of relating bad news to them by IT managers, can create an IT information vacuum that results in serious IT problems for a company.