Nine MBA students from UT will be working at the Y-12 National Security Complex while they complete their studies, thanks to a partnership between the two institutions called the Career Advantage Program.
The program participants include six Class of 2013 MBA students: Lee Creviston, Brentwood, Tennessee; Bill Fortunato, Knoxville, Tennessee; Logan Howell, Mascot, Tennessee; Mike Koban, Nashville, Tennessee; Kelcee Ramsey, Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Nick Tussing, Centennial, Colorado.
In addition, three Class of 2012 students are continuing from last year: Chris Hurley, Delbarton, West Virginia; Aaron Jacques, Murfreesboro, Tennessee; and Melissa Tucker, Knoxville, Tennessee
Of the nine students, four are in the full-time MBA program, one is in a dual-degree program to earn an MBA and a law degree, two are in a dual-degree program to earn an MBA and a master’s degree in engineering, and two are in a dual-degree program to earn an MBA and a master’s degree in business analytics.
Since 2008, more than twenty MBA students have participated in this program.
“The Career Advantage Program is an important part of the full-time MBA program’s outreach to help bring top potential MBA candidates to our region,” said Amy Cathey, executive director of the full-time MBA program in UT’s College of Business Administration.
“In this collaboration, identified students simultaneously interview with us for acceptance into the program while they interview with Y-12 for employment,” Cathey said.
Y-12 offers employment to students before they enroll in the full-time MBA program. Selected MBA students receive a tuition waiver and small stipend. They work at Y-12 for three semesters, plus a summer internship.
In addition to developing contacts with a diverse array of businesses and business leaders, students work with Y-12 senior managers, perform market research, and collaborate with Y-12 staff to determine the commercial potential of Y-12 technologies.
“Y-12 gives these students the experience to work in a unique research and technologically focused national security environment and gain skills that are transferable to any organization,” Cathey said.
UT students who have worked at Y-12 have helped find the best site for a new warehouse, analyzed data to identify the best measures of business performance, and helped with the review process for licensable technologies.
Hurley, who will complete his MBA in 2012, said the experience has given him “the opportunity to work with senior leadership at Y-12, receive mentorship, and develop an in-depth understanding of the complexities of a national security facility.”
Cathey said that all of the MBAs who have interned with Y-12 have quickly found jobs after completing their degrees.
Katie Roberts, a member of the MBA Class of 2011, accepted a full-time position at Y-12 upon graduation.
“The Y-12 management team gave me a wide range of responsibilities, which helped me decide my career path,” she said. “The UT professors also helped me to develop strategies on my Y-12 projects and apply key concepts we learned in class.”
Y-12 is a large manufacturing complex that protects the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal, provides fuel to the nuclear Navy and to commercial and research reactors, and produces medical isotopes. Y-12 also develops technologies, processes, and equipment for government agencies and private businesses.
For more information about the UT Knoxville-Y-12 partnership, visit MBA.utk.edu.
For more information about the UT Knoxville College of Business Administration, visit bus.utk.edu.
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C O N T A C T :
Cindy Raines (865-974-4359, craines1@utk.edu)