Participants eventually designed and prototyped amusement park rides, but not before they walked around a room calling out the wrong name for every object or person they encountered as a way to heighten their awareness of details, such as the vivid colors or edges of things and the spaces between them. The new system is expected to provide more useful information about academic performance for both students and faculty. Once the system is fully in force, beginning with the Class of 2002, all students will be required to have a cumulative grade point average of 2.2 or above at the end of the third quarter of residency and must have passed or exempted all core courses. Students also must have a 2.2 or better average in all Business School courses to graduate. For members of the Class of 2001, the new grading system will be used to provide feedback, but the previous grading system will be used to determine if individuals have met graduation requirements.
Selection is based on scholarship, leadership, and citizenship.
Business School alums are the majority of those in the database, but anyone can recommend someone for inclusion. CES program development consultant Linda Wells also has contacted some of the San Francisco Bay Area's leading venture capital firms, which usually employ a Stanford graduate or two. The site, launched in April, had more than 1,000 log-ins as of late October, and Wells is starting to collect stories from users. Kitty Powell, MBA '93, vice president of Brand Fidelity, an online brand and name creation firm, found an investor through the database. Wells also has initiated Founders Forums, groups of alumni entrepreneurs who get together for monthly discussions about the similar challenges they face in their businesses.