MBA 2011/12 Graduation
I must say I was slighty sceptical about the re-introduction of winter graduations for post graduate students. The thought of driving rain and freezing temperatures and not putting the extravagant Picture Gallery and Chapel centre stage as the location made me have some serious reservations.
Gone. Totally dispelled. And as our head of school is often keen on impressing, "evidence based decision making is key ! ". Resulting on the relatively short gap since Royal Holloway MBA students have submitted their dissertations (end of August) there was an impressive 60% attendance at the ceremony today. With a surprising number flying in especially for graduation, this made for a fantastic group who seemed to have a really fun time together.
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| Royal Holloway 2011/12 MBA cohort. Picture: Sigrun M Wagner |
The ceremony was described as appropriately formal and smoothly run. No scrimping on style for the big celebration of successful learning journeys completed. Trumpetted by bearskin soldiers in their immaculate uniforms the College Principal reinforced the quality of their masters degree, reminding us that Royal Holloway placed 119th out of 6,000 in a recent evaluation of the worlds best universities. The graduation ceremonies at Royal Holloway (I've done several now as you might imagine) deliver all the right ingredients in just the right measures, pomp, purpose, and lots of preened photo opportunities, using the stunning Founders building as a back drop.
This years MBA cohort achieved particularly strong results with 3 distinctions (70%+) and 10 merits (60%+) and were the first ever group to have undertaken a week long international study visit (in conjunction with our partner business school institution at Stockholm University). They were also recognised for the ground breaking off campus business consultancy engagement that was undertaken with senior management from Thorpe Park, one of the 93 business units that comprises the Merlin Group, second only to Disney in the amusements sector.
After all the formality in the Monkeys Forehead (a favourite with students each and every year) the MBA group, packed full of happy, smiling faces, were celebrating their achievements, with a chance to let their hair down a bit and to plan their next reunion !
In the pub, Amir's plea to those taking photos "Please don't post a silly picture of me on Linked-In, I'll never get a job if you do !" personally, I think it's ok to celebrate the achievement of an MBA....
