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January 29, 2010 vol xvi, number 1 Events Calendar Feb. 3, 10 Agrifest 2010 Strategy Meeting STX Feb. 6 Austin/Lewis at Reichhold STT Feb. 13-15 2010 Agriculture and Food Fair STX Feb. 16 Mid Term Exams Begin STT/STX March 6 President David Hall Inaugural STT March 16 Charter Day Celebration STT UVI Business Students Score High in Global Game A UVI professor is using a new approach to bring the realities of the business world into the classroom. Dr. Glenn Metts has introduced an interactive comput- er-based simulation game that conveys a sense of what it takes to succeed in a global marketplace. More than 37,000 students in 375 universities cover- ing 32 countries have participated in the Business Strate- gy Game over the last year. The game pits teams of students (company man- agement teams) against one another as they are charged with growing and managing a global sneaker company patterned after the popular Nike brand and other footwear compa- nies. The goal of the game is to create a competitive strategy that makes the team’s product stand out among the competition, generating profi t and other signs of success. The company performance is multi-dimensional and is based on rising stock price, return on equity, credit rating, corporate image, and earnings per share. Dr. Metts introduced the game to UVI students en- rolled in the Business 436 course last fall. As they famil- iarized themselves with the ground rules, Dr. Metts said some students became very intimidated by the complex- ity of the game. The business professor said he thinks the interactive strategy game offers students a valuable learning experience they cannot readily fi nd inside the classroom. Success in business requires more than text- book knowledge, he said. “In business, making a good decision ultimately de- pends on what your competitors decide to do, resulting in a very dynamic decision-making environment; not the static model we typically present in classes,” he said. Through the simulations presented in the game, Dr. Metts said students discover the challenges of making their way through a competitive environment. By semester’s end three teams of students on St. Thomas and St. Croix were so successful that they were recognized in the Top 100 globally among all students playing the game. To do this they had to score in the Top 100 in at least one of four areas (over-all score, stock price, return on equity, earnings per share) among the approximately 12,000 teams world wide. Over the fall semester three different UVI teams were each recognized twice in the Top 100 globally. “You should be quite proud of your students for such an excellent perfor- mance — a performance that refl ects quite well on you and the caliber of in- struction that students are receiving in your course,” said the congratulatory let- ters from managers of the business strategy game. Dr. Metts said he was impressed with the ac- complishments of the UVI Business 436 students and pleased to see them become excited about the game. “This is an incredibly legitimate game that is used at major universities. Big universities, many times our size, are competing,” he said. For fi rst-time game players from UVI to score so well so quickly, he said, was “phenomenal, just phenom- enal.” Students taking business strategy this spring are getting into the game again. UVI President Dr. David Hall speaks to a gathering of male students at a meeting held Jan. 20 at the Sports and Fitness Center on the St. Thomas campus. Dr. Hall says similar gatherings are also being held with male students on UVI’s St. Croix campus. Male Initiative GET CONNECTED TO UVI news, activities and accomplishments at . . . www.uvi.edu dateline: UVI 2 John Brewers Bay St. Thomas, VI 00802 dateline: UVI is a monthly publication of the UVI Public Relations Offi ce. Contact us by telephone at (340) 693-1056 or by fax at (340) 693-1055. Counseling Survey Gauges Student Health Status T o help them meet the demands of academic life, UVI’s Offi ce of Counsel- ing Services recently surveyed students to fi nd out more about their health. According to one of the service managers, the UVI Student Health Survey uncovered some interesting re- sults. Most of the results were unveiled at a presentation made Jan. 28 at the Administration and Conference Center on the St. Thomas campus. They showed that male UVI students were slimmer than female UVI students; that students are less likely to have health insur- ance coverage than the average Virgin Islander; that few UVI students, male or female, smoke tobacco. Slightly more admit to smoking marijuana. Close to half drink alcoholic beverages; some admit drinking to excess. Most don’t get a fl u shot when they’re made available. The majority are sexually active. It also showed that students generally saw themselves as happy and well adjusted. Among the more surprising fi ndings, the survey found signs that students could be more safety conscious – close to a third had suffered an injury within a 12 month period. The survey was conducted with the help of the Boyn- ton Health Service, University of Minnesota, which has been conducting student health sur- veys within their system since 1998. UVI Counseling Services Supervisor Andrea Hamm says close to 38 percent of all stu- dents asked to fi ll out the online questionnaires took part. The information gathered from those questionnaires will help counselors on the St. Thomas and St. Croix cam- puses to tailor the services they are offering. “It’s time to stop speculating about what students need in terms of counseling and services,” Hamm said. With the survey results in hand, the counseling supervisor said they can focus on specifi c problems like substance abuse, fi nding work-life balance, learning confl ict resolution and negotiating safe sex. And those, she said, were just a few examples of ways the counseling offi ce could improve the delivery of services to its UVI student clients. UVI Counseling Supervisor Andrea Hamm says she hopes information gleaned from the fi rst UVI stu- dent health survey will help counselors tailor programs to address student needs. One of those needs, she says, may be to better ad- dress problems arising from substance abuse. Hamm was recently cer- tifi ed by the Puerto Rico Certifi cation Commis- sion in Psychoactive Substances Professionals as a Certifi ed Professional on Psychoactive Sub- stances (CPSS)-Level III. She was also recently awarded a scholarship from the Betty Ford Treatment Center to participate in their Profes- sionals in Residency Program Family Week in spring 2010. Andrea Hamm Counseling Supervisor Wins Certifi cation, Scholarship