Wharton grant will help improve communication

While at Penn, future business leaders will now be able to learn how to more effectively deal with the media, and consequently, the public.

The Wharton School recently announced the creation of the Wharton-Omnicom Communication Fellows Program, an initiative that will allow first-year MBA students to develop their communication skills.

The initiative will provide financial support to allow 40 second-year MBA and other Penn graduate students to act as teaching assistants and mentors to first-year MBA students.

"This gift to the Wharton Communication Program underscores our commitment to prepare business leaders who are able not only to formulate vision and strategy, but also to communicate them to employees, shareholders and the public," Wharton Dean Patrick Harker said in a statement.

The Wharton Communication Program has developed a management communication class, a required core class for all first-year MBA students.

Last spring, the program developed a pilot curriculum for approximately 35 students, and the Omnicom grant will allow for the expansion of the pilot.

The grant money will allow the development of a technology-enhanced writing program, the expansion of the verbal communication program and additional teaching of media relations.

"Since Omnicom is a corporate communications company, we hope our new relationship with them will enhance our teaching of media relations," Wharton Communication Program director Lisa Warshaw said.

Twenty MBA students will serve as verbal fellows while 20 Ph.D. students will serve as writing fellows.

"It is invaluable to have second year MBA students with diverse career experience share their perspective to students," Warshaw said, referring to the verbal fellows.

In addition, writing was stressed because of the importance it has in business applications.

"The reasoning behind the program is to build a model based on practical experience and so that it has an immediate impact," Warshaw said.

The writing program, developed by College of Arts and Sciences Dean Richard Beeman and Mellon Writing Group Director Peshe Kuriloff, will help students hone their writing skills.

The Mellon Writing Group is an electronic writing forum that allows students to improve their writing skills without setting foot into a classroom.

For Omnicom, the partnership is an effort to improve communications on the business school level.

"Omnicom shares Wharton's relentless focus on innovation and global leadership, and we are proud to partner with the School to build the world's premier communication program in a business school," Omnicom Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Randall Weisenburger said in a statement.

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