Wharton’s Executive MBA Program is supported by four class managers. Amy Myers is one of our managers based in Philadelphia.
You’ve worked at Wharton for more than 20 years. What roles have you had at the school and when did you join the EMBA program?
I started at Wharton around 1990 managing special events scheduling for the entire school. That was a great experience because I got to know a lot of people at Wharton and throughout Penn. I then moved to Wharton’s Marketing Department as an administrator handling everything from payroll to faculty travel reimbursements to helping PhD students. Through those roles, I became familiar with the executive MBA folks. When the position of class manager was posted, I applied and joined the EMBA team in Philadelphia in 2003.
What are your main roles as a class manager?
Class managers stay with a class for both years so we work with students from their first day all the way until graduation. We do a little bit of everything. For example, right now I’m working on ordering caps and gowns for graduation and organizing what we call “Masters of Understanding” certificates for partners, friends and employers who help our students get through their two years in the program. I’m also coordinating hotel reservations and meals for class weekends. As we get ready for graduation, I’ll also be preparing to welcome our incoming class.
Not every EMBA program has class managers. Why does Wharton provide this service?
We want our students, who are incredibly busy, to focus on classes and studying so we handle the administrative details for them. We want the program to be seamless when it comes to the logistics.
You also help students organize events. What are you working on now?
In a few weeks, we’re holding a capstone evening event for graduating students. We’ll have a few alumni come back to speak about their experiences and have dinner at the University Museum. We’ll also invite students to talk about their time in the program at the dinner. It will be a lot of fun.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Getting to meet so many interesting, fun people with all kinds of different backgrounds and experiences.
What’s the most challenging part of your job?
There are a lot of people to take care of with 115-120 students in any given class. The emails never end!
What advice do you give students?
When they start, I tell them to be prepared and don’t fall behind. If you need help, don’t be afraid to ask. And pace yourselves because it’s relentless. We just keep going and going – like the Energizer Bunny. Also, it’s important to have fun. Students will make lifelong friendships in this program that they probably weren’t expecting to make at this point in their lives. But because this program is so intense, you form very strong bonds.
Can you tell us something about yourself that students might not know?
I grew up outside of New York City in Bergen County, N.J. I majored in business at Temple University and later worked for a small Chinese import/export company in Philadelphia before coming to Wharton.
Also, I love cats and have adopted several strays. And I live in West Philadelphia and am part of a group that plants trees in this part of the city. One time, we planted trees all around a school. Another time, we planted 47 trees on 47th street!
