McSurdy earned his Executive MBA while working at Oasis Center, a nonprofit that helps Nashville youth overcome challenges such as homelessness, violence and depression.

When I first learned about the possibility of earning a sponsorship to the Vanderbilt Executive MBA program, I was intrigued. The Owen School and the Center for Nonprofit Management in Nashville had just launched an initiative offering full tuition for one nonprofit executive a year. As Vice President for Programs at Oasis Center—a nonprofit that helps Nashville youth overcome challenges such as homelessness, violence and depression—I was eligible for the sponsorship but wondered whether I’d be a better administrator with those letters following my name. I already had a graduate degree and was doing just fine, I thought. However, my wife—an MBA herself—and my boss both encouraged me to give it a shot.

I took the first step and completed the online application. I then had a follow-up interview with Tami Fassinger, Associate Dean of Executive Education at Owen. Although Tami was charming, she was not one to sugarcoat the process. I quickly realized that if I were going to make even a halfhearted attempt at this, I actually would have to study for the GMAT—something I hadn’t done since taking the GRE years before when No. 2 pencils were still used.

I started giving up my evenings and weekends to pour over The Official Guide for GMAT Review. I also attended an open house for nonprofit candidates and then ventured into the deep waters at a preview day for general candidates—people with “real” business experience. It was a little intimidating, but I left feeling confident that I could succeed at Owen. I went back to my studies, and finally the day of the test arrived. Then came the waiting.

Several weeks later I received a call from Tami saying I had been accepted to the Executive MBA program. It was a great feeling to know that I had made the cut, but for me that was not enough. I had to get the sponsorship before I could even consider attending Owen. Unlike other students I would not see large raises in my future even with an MBA, and my employer had no funds to offset the expense of my tuition. Finally in May 2007 I got another call from Tami. I had been awarded the sponsorship! I accepted, of course, and soon hit the ground running.

The first hurdle, called Math Camp, came during the middle of that summer. Designed as a refresher course for those of us who were a little rusty with basic computations, Math Camp was a sobering prelude to first semester. I started to wonder what I had committed myself to, but with the gracious support and guidance of Rita Sowell, the instructor, I made it through.

From Math Camp it was on to the Week-in-Residence at New Harmony, Ind., where I was introduced to my group—Jason Gunderson, Jarod Scott, Navin Karwande and Kenn Gindin (all EMBA’09)—four classmates who would be my lifelines, my colleagues and my friends over the next two years (and beyond). New Harmony also marked the beginning of the first semester, which placed an emphasis on quantitative coursework.

That first semester I spent night after precious night trying to bend my mind around stats, economics, finance and accounting. For someone used to offering support to others, I was unaccustomed to relying continually on the assistance of the members of my group and Isaac Rogers, BA’02, MBA’08, a gifted stats tutor. I began to wonder if I’d ever get past the first semester. And of course I did.

During the second semester I found the qualitative classes to be more in my comfort zone. I was able to offer the members of my group a little wisdom, and I felt like I was carrying my weight more than I had before. The coursework was tiring nonetheless, and by the end of two semesters, I wondered if May would ever arrive. And of course it did.

Over the summer I reconnected with my family and dug back into work. There was no Math Camp or Week-in-Residence in New Harmony to worry about. I only had to look forward to the second year, which I anticipated with much less trepidation as I knew what to expect. Just like the summer before, I wondered if fall would ever come. And of course it did.

Upon returning to Owen as a second-year student, I found myself giving advice to Mark McCaw, the new recipient of the Executive MBA/Center for Nonprofit Management sponsorship. “You will get through this,” I told him. Meanwhile I was as busy as ever. My strategy and finance classes were all-consuming, and the changing economy and a relocation for Oasis Center were making my job more demanding. At this point, though, I had my feet solidly beneath me. Somehow I had survived accounting, economics, finance and statistics, and was actually putting what I had learned to work. In my third finance class it became clear that concepts and theory were of greater importance to me, and I was able to track what we were discussing and actively participate. Had I actually learned something about finance?

This third semester was also the proving ground for my group. By this point we had formed a good team. Each member knew the others’ strengths and needs, and we respected and supported each other. We began to think ahead to our strategy project in semester four. We had moved from focusing on our classes to focusing on how we could use the total of what we had learned to accomplish a more complex goal—creating a viable strategy for a real company. At times my group and I wondered if we would get it all done. And of course we did.

During the final semester everything really came together. Each of my classes relied on what I had learned in all the others. The whole was becoming greater than the sum of its parts. The journey ended with a successful strategy presentation and the international residency, and much celebration. That final semester is still a blur.

Since receiving my diploma from Dean Bradford under the tent on Magnolia Lawn, I have had some time to think and reflect, and I have even used a few things I learned at Owen—like strategies for depreciation and maximizing human capital. Who knew this stuff was really applicable to the nonprofit world? After four semesters and some reflection, I realize I made the right decision to pursue an MBA. Up to this point I always introduced myself as the “nonprofit guy” somehow separating myself from the “real” businesspeople. Now I know I am a real businessperson. I’m just in a different kind of business.

As I look back with great pride and accomplishment, I am immensely grateful. I am grateful for my classmates who grew with me and supported my growth. I am thankful for the staff and professors who saw the potential in me. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my employer, staff and board who have all supported me and cheered me on through the past two years. And I appreciate so much the great opportunity that Owen and the Center for Nonprofit Management gave me in awarding me the sponsorship.

Lastly and most important, this journey was made all the richer because of my family. To my wife, Cecily, and my children, Michael, Harriet and Eloise, I say thank you. I appreciate so much the sacrifices you have made and the love and support you have given me over the past two years.

Hodges, seen here with the practice mannequins at Vanderbilt’s School of Nursing, credits Immersion Week with giving her a new perspective on health care management.

One advantage of Vanderbilt’s Health Care MBA program is that it fully integrates its students into the mini-metropolis of  Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), as well as the surrounding Nashville health care community. While Nashville may be known as the country music capital, it is also arguably the health care capital of the United States. Owen students are fortunate to be able to take advantage of all the city has to offer, and this year we dove right in. 

On Monday we took the physician’s perspective. By 9 a.m. we were dressed in new scrubs, hairnets and masks anxiously awaiting an operating room assignment at VUMC. The jitters were in full effect as I hoped to be chosen to observe a fairly mild procedure. The managing nurse assured me I could pass on the spinal and brain surgery, unlike some of my braver classmates. I was selected to watch an “open” gastric bypass procedure, which is hardly serene but supposedly routine. While I’ll spare the gory details, I will comment on the newfound respect I have for surgeons, physicians, nurses and technicians who all have to work in harmony to produce an amazing result. My MBA lens showed me that the operating room is similar to a well-run business. There is a distinct hierarchy, and each person has a role and a set of expectations. Timing and decision making are critical. Instead of using research and expertise to develop new business for a company, this team uses research and expertise to improve the patient’s life.  

Continuing along the exciting and emotional path of operating rooms, my classmates and I also each spent an evening in a VUMC emergency room. My assignment was in the pediatric ER. I shadowed nurses and residents to understand how room assignments, traumas and surgical decisions are handled. I sat thoughtfully with patients while nurses administered IVs and medications, watched with angst as a surgeon set a broken bone, and peeked fearfully as a calm medical staff handled a head trauma on a child arriving by helicopter. When nurses and doctors had free time, they showed me how they used medical technology in their daily processes. The concepts I learned in my Health Care IT class proved their weight in gold. While an emergency room may look chaotic, it is actually well-organized and efficient thanks to the technology and processes in place.

The days following surgery and trauma observations were less action-packed, but there was no lack of information or insight. As much as we enjoyed wearing our scrubs and strutting down 21st Avenue pretending to be physicians, it was time to put ourselves in the shoes of many other health care professionals and explore careers outside of our MBA internship box. 

For example, we got to spend a day taking the nurse’s perspective. I shadowed a woman in the main hospital who worked as a case manager. People in this career often have a background in nursing or social services and have the important task of getting patients out of the hospital faster. The other students and I also explored the nursing school and learned how this rewarding career is facing a major shortage of applicants. My MBA lens kicked in again as I thought about ways to improve incentives and talent retention for such a critical profession. 

Later we visited a women’s clinic and learned about the approach of using a midwife for childbirth. Instead of a delivery in a sterile operating room with a busy obstetrician, midwifery provides the comfort of a personal at-home birthing experience. This concept forced us (I was in a group with two males!) to re-evaluate the traditional approach and ask a barrage of questions around this “unnaturally” natural concept.

During the patient’s perspective day, we explored the Eskind Diabetes Center and a DaVita dialysis clinic. The atmosphere at the diabetes center was refreshing and optimistic, offering creative conveniences to patients. A separate children’s waiting area was full of magical décor and toys. Obesity chairs were nestled in the mix for adults who may not be able to sit comfortably in traditional seats. Also those patients who cannot afford to travel to Nashville are given the option of a phone appointment. 

While the Eskind Diabetes Center was full of research and teaching conference rooms aimed at improving treatments for those with the disease, it was the concept of prevention that made the greatest impression on me. I learned that age and obesity are the risk factors for type 2 diabetes. I also came away convinced that a healthy diet and exercise are personal investments worth making. 

As one might imagine, the visit to the DaVita dialysis clinic later in the day was an emotional experience. DaVita employs an upbeat staff committed to their patients who face a ritualistic procedure to remain alive. The clinic requires a small factory of silos, pumps, tubes and chemicals, all of which must work in perfect harmony to produce the fluid that will cleanse the blood in each patient’s body. 

On the last day of Immersion Week, we took the researcher’s perspective and visited BioMimetic Therapeutics in Franklin, Tenn., a company that specializes in the development of drug-device combination products used for the repair of orthopedic injuries. The visit opened my eyes to the fun and risk associated with venture capital, and I learned some sound advice in the process: If you have a good idea with an expert staff, strong patents and clinical data, you just might land yourself some investors. 

As I now reflect on the week and all it offered, I can say that I was totally immersed and engaged. The timing was perfect, as Immersion Week gave me a new perspective on the health care classes that have since followed. I now have a better understanding of the complex pro-blems of insurance, disease management, talent shortages and IT adoption because I experienced them. Although I miss my scrubs, I’m sure my true calling is on the business side of health care, and I can’t wait to put my MBA degree to use.

The first item on our to-do list was to meet with Dean Bradford, Associate Dean of Development and Alumni Relations Tricia Carswell, Alumni Program Coordinator Melinda Phillips, and Director of Alumni Relations Marshall Turnbull. Jim began the meeting by heaping praise upon the Class of 2008, telling us that he believed we were truly a special Owen class. He said that our accomplishments and student-led initiatives arguably surpassed those of any class that preceded us. Now you may think that this is the speech that he gives to class representatives every year, but we sensed that he genuinely meant it.

Class Co-Chairs Erin Hofmann and Matthew Garrett helped establish the Student Initiative Fund at Owen.

Tricia followed Jim’s praise for our class with more of the same but added a little fundraising theory to the mix. The underlying idea of the class gift is to form in our alumni the habit of giving back to Owen. When a person donates time or money to a cause or institution, that person has a stake in that cause. In the case of Owen, the greater the stake there is in the school’s success, the more involvement our alumni base will seek. High levels of alumni involvement, both financial and otherwise, are hallmarks of top B-schools across the country. Involved alumni enrich the experiences of faculty, staff, MBA candidates, prospective students, and the Owen community as a whole.

After Tricia’s remarks we began to discuss the gift itself. Rumblings about much-needed updates to Owen’s physical environment had not fallen on deaf ears, but Jim wanted to steer us in a different direction. We knew we would have to come up with a concept that truly represented our class’s accomplishments.

Our thoughts immediately turned to the impending building expansion. As most classes express, Owen creates a family environment that lasts. How could we contribute? Gathering space? Work areas? A lounge? 

Millions of dollars must be raised over the next few years for a new building and updates to the old building through a capital campaign. Anything added or improved in our current building would be temporary at best. We also wanted our gift to take hold immediately. 

While we began to brainstorm about our big gift, we formulated our strategy and built our team. We chose a diverse group of our classmates who represented leadership in all areas and were well-respected within the Owen community. We now had our committee, but we still lacked our Great Idea.

We couldn’t help but remember the praise offered by Jim, Tricia, Marshall, and Melinda. Our class, through both the seeds planted by classes before us and our own innovations, had accomplished quite a bit. Owen Bloggers, the Leadership Development Program, Project Pyramid, Leadership in Action, and the Human Capital Case Competition all came into their own during our time at Owen, and several projects, such as 100% Owen, blossomed under Class of 2008 leadership. Not too shabby. 

Our class gift started to develop: Our opportunities came from those before us through mentoring, ideas and finally, alumni and capital campaign donors. We wanted that tradition to continue. Physical gifts represent stagnancy and the past; we needed a dynamic gift that points to the future. 

Recent class gifts included a student travel fund and the online community OwenConnect—both concepts that allow for future opportunities. We wanted to ensure future classes would have the same opportunities we were fortunate enough to have, and so, with some deliberation, we established the Student Initiative Fund. With Associate Dean of Students Jon Lehman as guardian, the fund would provide seed money to any group wishing to start a project that would benefit the student body or the school as a whole. These initiatives could take the form of guest lectures, student-run projects or anything future classes deem worthwhile. The gift would also give us the chance to come back to Owen to help out in other capacities by offering our advice, our guidance and our time to these projects. 

Our Class Gift Committee stepped up more than we ever could have imagined, putting forth both their confidence in Owen and their financial backing, despite the fact that some were still job searching. Through diligent pestering, nostalgic storytelling and more than a few Starbucks cards, we discovered that most of our classmates felt the way we did: They wanted to pay it forward to the classes to come. 

All in all, the Class of 2008 raised $200,001 (don’t think we didn’t count every dollar!), and the inaugural MAcc class showed up with 100 percent participation. As new graduates we feel our experience at Owen was greater than we could have imagined, and we hope, as you think back on your own time at Owen, that you will remember the future classes who will answer the door when opportunity knocks. Thank you for your support! 

Matthew Garrett and Erin Hofmann graduated from the Owen School in May.