School of Business Prepared Brooks for the Next Step

 

Tammy Brooks has prepared herself for an executive management position.

Brooks juggled a full-time job while studying for two years in the University at Albany's Weekend MBA program.

"I'm looking for a new career now that I've got my MBA," said Brooks earlier this spring. She is a lifelong Capital Region resident who completed her degree in August 2008. With a high-quality business education behind her, she is prepared to lead either a not-for-profit or a for-profit organization. Her mentor was School of Business Vice Dean for Administration Linda Krzykowski.

Students in the Weekend program can seek out sponsorship for their final research project and she came back to Krzykowski, her first professor in the Weekend MBA program.

Brooks remembered that many students she studied with were attracted to the Weekend MBA program because it gave them the flexibility to work full time and have a family while getting a quality education, without taking them away from their day-to-day demands. "That's why the weekend program is phenomenal." Brooks had been in management before at the director level. "In order to get to the executive level, I was looking for an MBA. It was going to be necessary for me," she said.

With Krzykowski as her mentor, she looked at how to plan for the succession of the next generation of executives as baby boomers retire.

"Working with a student on his or her research project creates a unique mentoring relationship. Students and faculty work one-on-one to complete a major piece of work in an area of the student's choosing. Tammy brought such passion for the topic into the situation, and it made it very rewarding for both of us," said Krzykowski of her experience in mentoring Brooks.

"When the pedagogy creates opportunities for women to succeed, we know that all students benefit," said Dean of Graduate Studies Marjorie Pryse. 

The Princeton Review recently named UAlbany's School of Business among the Top 10 in the nation for the excellent opportunities it provides to female MBA students.

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