Tag Archives: University of Chicago

Booth Offering Scholarships to Civic Scholars MBA Program

University of Chicago’s Booth Weekend MBA Program will be offering eight full tuition scholarships yearly to professionals in the nonprofit and government fields. This move underscores the new interest in investing in the social sectors by business schools.
The Civic Scholars Program was announced last week and is partially funded by a $4 million grant from the Neubauer Family Foundation. The students will be known as Neubauer Civic Scholars, and will continue full-time in their present jobs while participating in the program.

The scholars will have all the same curriculum requirements as their fellow Weekend MBA Program students, but with additional courses designed specifically for their program. They will be able to work in small teams on research and consulting projects for the social sector and for government organizations, including their own. Candidates will often have six to ten years of professional experience.
Booth announced that the program

“…will bring important voices to the classroom and community by providing broader perspectives on issues such as understanding the role of business in society, the implications of expanding public-private partnerships, and the opportunities for business leaders to engage productively with government and nonprofit organizations.”

Innovation from the University of Chicago

Tap Recorder works on iOS, iPhone
Tap Recorder works on iOS, iPhone

The results of this past summer’s accelerator program at the University of Chicago are impressive. An app called “Tap Recorder” allows users to make notations on an audio file while recording with an iPhone. The co-founder of the Chicago start-up that developed the app, Dave Thomas, explained:

“It was originally started because we were working with some doctors, and they mentioned that they’d love to find a better way to record some of their consultations and transcribe them,” Thomas said. “It uses basic gestures. Throughout the conversation you could tap it, swipe it, put your hand over it, and each of those gestures would correspond to an annotation, a bookmark or highlights.”

The app was developed with the help of the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, a program which will end with a demonstration day this coming September 9.

The app is in private beta testing now, but is expected to be launched to the public at the end of September. The company is hoping that the final version will include the option for users to have a transcription made of the audio file for a fee.