Senior accounting major Pat Thompson likes to plan. And if all goes as planned, Thompson will begin working toward his master of accountancy degree at the Robins School of Business next year and then land a job with a "big four" accounting firm.

Thompson has been extremely active at the University of Richmond in his years thus far, serving on Honor Council and working as a Resident Advisor. He shows no signs of slowing down his senior year, serving as president of the Robins School Student Government Association and as a Head Resident at the University Forest Apartments.

As president of the Robins School SGA, he plans on meeting bi-weekly with the three presidents of the other University student government associations. "As a unified group, we can make a bigger difference," Thompson says.

At the Robins School, Professor Joe Ben Hoyle's accounting classes have proved to be the most challenging and rewarding for Thompson. "He demands a lot -- and rightly so -- because it's a tough subject," he remarks.

Outside of class, Thompson is an avid biker. Thompson and senior Robin Aldina founded the University Cycling Team in 2005. Set up as a club, the team competes against larger universities including Duke, Wake Forest and Johns Hopkins. "It's an extremely competitive division -- facing teams that are funded by the universities," observes Thompson. As the founder of the club, he has experienced first-hand the "business side" of the club. He relates, "It was a much more daunting task than I imagined it would be."

Thompson helped to secure sponsorships from local businesses, buy team jerseys, approve logo designs and even find an offsite winter training facility, Endorphin Fitness. Alumnus Michael Harlow, B'04, is the founder and owner of Endorphin Fitness and the main sponsor and coach of the cycling team.

Although born in California, Thompson's family moved to Philadelphia when he was seven, and he calls it home. For the past two summers, Thompson held an accounting job at Bristol-Myers Squibb in nearby New Brunswick, NJ. In this internship, he assisted in conducting Sarbanes-Oxley, or SOX testing, conducting internal audits to make sure the company is complying with financial disclosure requirements set forth in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

This job has lead to an independent study he proposed to Dr. Paul Clikeman, Associate Professor of Accounting, who teaches auditing. Together, Thompson and Clikeman will create an applicable case study based on Thompson's work at Bristol-Myers Squibb, dealing with SOX testing and how it applies to businesses. Their intention is to provide a module that Dr. Clikeman can issue in the classroom.

Thompson is engaged to Jennifer Reedman, a senior at Westchester University in Philadelphia, who is majoring in elementary and special education. After finishing his master's degree, Thompson plans to stay in Richmond or return to his hometown to work for a public accounting firm for a few years, get married in July 2009, and then switch to working at a private company, conducting work similar to his Bristol-Myers Squibb position.

If all goes as planned.

The Richmond Alumni Mentor Program (RAMP) is a new program launched this past year that pairs University of Richmond undergraduates with alumni whose professional experience can benefit the students' career development.

A privately sponsored organization, RAMP is concentrated in the New York region and focused on the investment banking, asset management, and consulting fields. In cooperation with Richmond's Career Development Center, RAMP was launched to support UR students in their efforts to secure challenging and rewarding positions with nationally-recognized firms in the banking, investment management and consulting fields.

"We found that in interviewing students over the years, the students were very bright but not familiar enough with the industry when compared to other candidates. We created this networking program to close that gap in the interviewing process," said Chris McFadden, R'90, founder of the RAMP program and Managing Director at Goldman Sachs.

The pilot program began last fall and invited applications from students of all academic disciplines. Out of 25-30 applications received, 10 students were selected.

The program selected mentors from New York companies that hire at the national level and offer challenging internships and job opportunities. Current mentors work at companies including Morgan Stanley, Moore Capital, Lord Abbett, and Goldman Sachs. The program hopes to expand its reach as it grows.

RAMP provides mentees with the opportunity to gain useful insights into professional organizations, career alternatives, and skill requirements in targeted fields and seeks to increase the overall level of professional exchange among UR students and graduates in New York. Since the mentors and mentees are separated by over 300 miles, it's a mostly "long distance" relationship. The pairs often correspond by email and telephone, however all the mentors and mentees have met at least once in person.

The results thus far? "The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive," says McFadden. This past spring, he came to Richmond and held an information session for sophomores considering applying this fall. Both attendance and interest were high.

The program is open to juniors of all disciplines. Students must apply to the program in September by filling out an application form, writing an essay, and receiving an academic recommendation from a faculty member or advisor. RAMP mentors and CDC will review applications and notify accepted students in October. Relationships are established in the fall so that students are better prepared when applying for internships in the early spring.

For more information, alumni should contact Chris McFadden. Students should contact Mary Quinn in the Career Development Center.

The study of entrepreneurship is an ever-increasing area of study in the classroom. But University of Richmond students have decided to take it into their own hands to create a new student organization. The Entrepreneurship Club, as is the case with many other successful clubs at the Robins School, intends to be a completely student-run venture. Students will come up with what they want out of the club, what activities the club should organize to get those outcomes, and how to fund those activities.

Matt Lakin, a senior marketing major and Entrepreneurship Club president, is excited to get programming up and running after being in discussions for almost a year.

"I hope to bring a new perspective about business to campus and students' minds by bringing in speakers and guest lecturers who have stepped outside of the normal business model to do something they believe in or are passionate about no matter what the cost," said Lakin. "The plan for this year is to increase student participation and lay the groundwork for a successful organization that will last long into the future and be an integral part of the business school," he said.

It is also Lakin's intent that students will come to the group with their ideas and get advice and support from fellow members. The group hopes that it will be able to fund these ideas in part or full as the group expands and grows.

Plans for this coming year include a speaker series and a business plan competition. The club already hosted their first guest speaker this past March. Chris Scott, founder of GreenTech, a turf, horticultural and environmental consulting and design firm, spoke to a group of about 25 students from all academic disciplines. The club is open to all majors on campus, not just business school students.

"This club has the potential to bring together students from every school at UR who is interested in innovation and entrepreneurship," said Dr. Doug Bosse, the club's faculty advisor. "We know that great ideas for new ventures can and will come from Arts and Sciences, Leadership, Law, and Business students."

If you are a student interested in joining the Entrepreneurship Club, please contact Dr. Doug Bosse or Matt Lakin. All students are welcome!

As the University celebrates being named by Newsweek as the "hottest" school in the country for International Studies, the Robins School is excited to welcome a record number of visiting international students for the fall semester. 45 students representing 22 schools in 15 countries join the Robins School student body this fall. Countries represented are Denmark, Australia, France, Mexico, Turkey, Netherlands, Japan, Spain, Austria, Argentina, Chile, Italy, Korea, China, and Poland.

In addition to the international students studying at the Robin School, 64 of our undergraduate students are studying abroad this semester. Approximately 50% of all Robins School students study abroad. We currently partner with 40 business programs in 24 countries.

The 2006-2007 school year was a busy one for Robins School undergraduates. Several received scholarships, awards, and honors for their dedication to international studies.

• Elizabeth McWhirt, a May 2007 International Business and Finance major, received a Mountbatten Institute Internship. This selective internship program is dedicated to the promotion of educational and business links between the US and the UK. The mission of the program is to foster international and cross cultural understanding through experiential education, practical training and residence abroad. She will intern at Deutsche Bank in London for a year.
• Dobromira (Mira) Kovacheva has been awarded a Richmond Export-Import Club scholarship. Mira is a Robins School student from Bulgaria who will be studying at Universita Commerciale Luigi Bocconi in Milan, Italy this fall.
• International student Lulia Popp was awarded "high honors" by University of Warwick for her performance in the courses she while studying at Warwick for the 2005-2006 academic year.
• International students Jesse Grant, Jesse Kedy, Mallika Noorani, Erin O'Leary, Abbie Richardson, and Erica Schulte were inducted into Epsilon Chi Omicron International Business Honor Society.

Business remains the most popular major at the University of Richmond, with over 200 undergraduate business degrees awarded in May, and about two dozen more to be awarded in December. Top employers of our young alumni include Goldman Sachs, Wachovia Securities, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Genworth Financial, Deloitte & Touche, Accenture & KPMG.

If you are still seeking employment, Career Development Center counselors are available to assist you. Contact their office at (804)289-8547 or cdc@richmond.edu for more information.