McCombs TODAY

Chrissy Grigalis, (right) a corporate communication senior at UT, has built a broad base of experience in her undergraduate field of study. But recently she realized she was more interested in an accounting career, so she set out to learn more about the nature and rigor of the Texas MPA program.

Grigalis is a spring intern in the Intellectual Entrepreneurship (IE) Pre-Graduate School Internship Program, a university initiative that seeks to give students an in-depth understanding of graduate school. She says corresponding periodically with MPA Faculty Director Steve Limberg and McCombs graduate student Jamil Assaf, MPA ‘09, has solidified her goal of pursuing the MPA degree at Texas.

Grigalis meets with Limberg to discuss her areas of interest—ethics and leadership—through examining the current banking crisis and cases studies such as the Enron scandal. While shadowing her graduate student mentor in MPA classes, Grigalis has observed firsthand what life will be like to be a graduate student. She also gained tips on the admissions process and how to craft a personal statement for her MPA application.

“The faculty I have met so far are smart, engaging and, most important, personable and approachable,” Grigalis says. “They have definitely made me feel like the MPA classroom is where I want to be. Immersing myself in graduate school culture has given me the motivation to work even harder to achieve my goals.”

The IE program began in 2003 with about a dozen students and has evolved into a much larger initiative that is part of the portfolio of the Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement. More than 100 interns from across the university participated last fall, gaining hands-on experience and insights on the elements of graduate education that distinguish it from the undergraduate experience, such as conducting research, teaching and publishing in scholarly journals.

A Dose of Reality

Dallas Griffin, (left) MBA ‘09 and a former UT football standout, has mentored four  IE interns in the last two years. Griffin earned his BBA in finance in 2007 and was one of only a few MBA students admitted into the program directly out of college. As a Business Honors student, he was exposed to MBA coursework, but says he still had to make an adjustment to the increased rigor and interactive classroom atmosphere of the MBA program.

“After four years of undergrad, you become geared to think that this is what all education is like,” Griffin says. “The IE program gives undergraduates an opportunity to really see what graduate education is all about—something I didn’t fully understand until I got into the MBA program myself.”

The interns Griffin mentors have been able to learn directly from his experience managing the $13 million MBA Investment Fund, a privilege typically reserved for graduate students.

Collaborating Across Campus

IE intern Thao Vy Van, (right, with mentor and McCombs Management Lecturer Kristie Loescher) a nutrition and biology senior earning a minor in business, has always gravitated toward the sciences, but recently learned of the possibilities of business applications in her field.

“One of the most attractive aspects of the program is its versatility,” Van says. With the guidance of a faculty supervisor, Van is crafting a paper on employment law and researching on job protection for whistleblowers. “Being an IE intern gives me access to professors and courses I wouldn’t otherwise have, and lets me dig deep into business topics that I’m interested in but that don’t necessarily fit in my major,” Van says.

“The IE program provides an opportunity for students who have the motivation but lack the guidance to pursue higher education,” Van says. “It’s easier to have a map and a guide then to stumble in the dark in order to arrive at your destination. My mentors are my map and guide.”

By Behnaz Abolmaali

More about the Intellectual Entrepreneurship program
“The IE program empowers students to make authentic decisions about their field of study and professional path,” says Richard Cherwitz, the IE program director and a communication studies professor. He adds that about half of the interns who go through the program become so passionate about the work they do that they elect to pursue a graduate degree. Others realize they are in the wrong discipline or that graduate school is not for them—or perhaps should be postponed.  In either case, students own and become accountable for their education—a core principle of IE.

Cherwitz also stresses the IE Program’s successes in bringing diversity to academia. More than 50 percent of the program’s interns come from underrepresented groups in higher education, such as African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans, or are the first in their family to pursue higher education. Nearly 70 percent of the interns are women.

“Because the IE program demystifies the culture of academic disciplines and graduate school, and because it helps students see how a graduate degree can be leveraged for social good, it is especially attractive to first-generation students and underrepresented minorities—many of whom don’t know the rules of the game and desire to give back to their communities,” Cherwitiz says.