Similar to the collegiate ranking scheme, U.S. News bases the awards on a diverse set of criteria with various weights and factors considered. Given the current downturn in the economy, researchers this year included the metrics of affordability, a strong economy relative to the current financial environment and fun as major decision points.

As no stranger to similar surveys published by national news organizations, Auburn appears to have been an easy candidate for the top ten list as it both exceeded the set criteria and offers terrific recreational diversity above and beyond that of most communities.

The shining star of the area, Auburn University - perhaps equally well known as the ‘friendliest village on the plains’ - helped Auburn to secure its spot on the list by providing both a stable economy and a vested similar interest for residents of the area. It is no secret that Auburn fans are perhaps the most passionate in collegiate sports. With championship athletics across the spectrum of NCAA activities, the University provides a never ending opportunity to cheer for the home team and tailgate with friends and neighbors.

Outside of Auburn University, the area offers an outdoorsman’s paradise with a high concentration of championship golf courses, including the Robert Trent Jones Grand National course. Hunting and fishing opportunities abound in the surrounding woods and at nearby lakes and streams while local terrain and state parks offer outstanding opportunities to go for a hike or simply enjoy the mild climate.

Auburns unique mix of small town charm, city conveniences, inviting people, diversity of recreation and mild climate have combined to create a highly desirable environment that attracts both professionals and students alike from around the country. With 24,500 students and 10,000 faculty members, Auburn University has become a powerhouse not only in NCAA athletics, but also in academics and is one of the largest universities in the south.

Students develop plans to increase the value of area firms

As Auburn University MBA students prepare for graduation in their final weeks of class, walking down the aisle in a cap and gown couldn’t be further  minds. These students are solidly focused on increasing the value of businesses across the southeast region and, in-turn, improving the area economy. Focusing on both small, entrepreneurial firms and civic revitalization projects the results of countless hours of research, interviews, and fieldwork has taken an advanced education from the books to reality.

Working in teams of four to five students, MBAs were assigned to act as an external consultant performing a complete analysis on a regional business with the goal of identifying both weaknesses and opportunities for enhanced profitability and growth. The semester long project culminated over the past week as business owners and key stakeholders traveled to Auburn for a formal presentation of the teams conclusions.

Business leaders have praised the initiative and the value that the student consultancies have added to their organizations. Echoing the sentiment of participating firms, Diane Rubenstein, owner of Varsity Clips in Columbia, Missouri, stated that she is “thrilled with the work that the MBA teams did for our business.” She went on to underscore that the students “in-depth analysis opened our eyes to our weaknesses and also provided solutions to overcome those weaknesses and emphasize strengths.” Diane’s husband, Paul, added that “Varsity Clips can immediately start implementing some of the suggestions that will impact the bottom line.” He also said that “participating in the project will have positive long lasting results” for the company.

Auburn MBA students working on the project have found it to be equally rewarding. While praising the opportunity to serve the business community and speaking of his teams work with the online Blog theshoegoddess.com, MBA student Faris Oweis stated that “it was nice to work with clients outside of academia while also using lessons learned from previous courses.” The positive student feedback for the program was impressive with most students quite excited to have the opportunity to serve local businesses in a meaningful way.

Among the specific project deliverables have been feasibility studies for expanding an Alabama goat cheese operation, for refurbishing and reselling digital hearing aids, and for improving a Columbia, OH salon, the creation of a business plan for a startup technology company, and plans for the reutilization of Langdon Mills in Valley, Alabama.

Students raise funds to help students, teachers after Ike

Sims Elementary School in Bridge City, Texas once was a welcoming brick and mortar primary school. That changed after Hurricane Ike struck on September 13 and pummeled the building with a brutal storm surge accompanied by four and a half feet of salty flood water which left behind a thick layer of dangerous black sludge. The storm was so devastating that Ike effectively left the structure uninhabitable. As it stands today Sims Elementary School is now a collection of temporary modular units joined by decks and canopies; a far cry from the warm center of kindergarten through fifth grade learning it was just months ago. Teachers who lost everything – tools, technologies, curriculums, even personal effects – are starting from scratch making a best effort to give students the education that they are entitled to and so badly need as an escape during this difficult time.

Further stressing both students and educators alike in the area serviced by Sims Elementary is the fact that 95% of the 1,200 households received damage by the third most destructive hurricane to ever make landfall in the United States. Auburn Executive MBA student Kristie Barton, a Distribution Manager for Mississippi Power, recognized the need for assistance in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike as a result of her experience with Hurricane Katrina. Immediately following the storm Kristie created a plan of action in which she searched for a school in need of financial help and raised funds with the help of her classmates to adopt that school. The group of 57 Executive Master of Business Administration students, who are located in professional positions across the country and around the world, created the “Auburn EMBA Class of 2010 Hurricane Relief Fund”. To date, the fund has raised $3,405 for the traumatized elementary school.

It seems that the Auburn EMBA’s have sparked a fever of helping damaged schools to return to normalcy as firms connected to students in the program are starting to get involved as well. Some have adopted individual children and provided Christmas presents while others have sent school supplies to institutions in need.

Kent Broussard, Principal of Sims Elementary praised the help given by the students claiming that it allowed the school to purchase “the things that make elementary school fun.” Donated monies were chiefly used to purchase classroom supplies such as cutting boards, laminators, die cuts, paper and bulletin boards.

Ms. Barton could hardly contain her excitement for the support given by her classmates stating that “it truly speaks to the character and to the ethical moral fiber that is engrained into the students participating in Auburns EMBA class.”

Troops abroad pursue MBA education at Auburn University

The stereotypical business school classroom is filled with marquees flashing stock market updates and ticker symbols, copies of the latest Wall Street Journal, financial calculators and cups of stale coffee. The stereotypical business student is an eager twenty something ready to seize the day and become the next Wall Street darling. A group of M.B.A. students studying at Auburn University, however, are anything but stereotypical. Cushy graduate school classrooms have been replaced with sandy desert battlefields and Wall Street ambitions have been supplanted with a commitment of service to country.

29 active duty military men and women are currently working, in tandem with their obligations to the armed services, towards a Master of Business Administration degree using Auburn University’s distance learning technology. These students, officers in the United States Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy, are able to view and participate in graduate business classes that are taking place right now on Auburn University’s campus by logging in to a streaming video service provided by the College of Business and making use of cutting edge digital classroom management software to interact with professors and peers. These technical abilities have made a traditional MBA education available to those with preexisting patriotic commitments in a format that compliments their military obligations.

The active duty students are serving both at bases domestically within the United States and internationally at foreign posts as far as Africa and Afghanistan. Captain Niklaus Pleisch is a Finance Officer for the United States Air Force who is stationed at Vandenberg AFB in California and currently is deployed in Afghanistan. He has chosen to pursue an M.B.A. to help with promotion within the Air Force and to provide a competitive skill set for a later career in the civilian sector as a financial planner and investment portfolio consultant. Captain Pleisch chose to study at Auburn because he found it to “have the best combination of curriculum, tuition expenses, and reputation as being military-friendly”

Captain Pleisch is not alone in his engagement in a distance education program as he studies abroad and seems to be quite enthusiastic about the opportunity to study with Auburn University stating that “the material and delivery has exceeded my expectations for a distance program.  I’ve heard many people (fellow soldiers) tell me their programs do not offer streaming video options, so it’s difficult for them to get the same material that the on-campus students get. I am very happy with my experience so far and the classes have been enjoyable, more than just tedious studying.”

The MBA Program, while preparing Captain Pleisch for his future both in the military and upon retirement from active duty, has shown immediate rewards. Skills learned by completing an Operations Management term project helped Captain Pleisch to streamline processes in his office and contributed to his flight wining the Financial Services Office of the Year Award from the Air Force Space Command. Captain Pleisch has also attributed several Company Grade Officer Awards to knowledge he gained from the Auburn MBA Program.

Major Steve Kvaal serves in the United States Army as a Battalion Executive Officer and Acting Commander of a Tactical Company in an Amy Psychological Operations Battalion (PSYOP) and is stationed in Arden Hills, Minnesota. Major Kvaal is quite energized about how the Auburn Executive MBA curriculum has supplemented his Army training and helped him to become a more self aware leader which, he says, has helped him to become a better, more well rounded Army officer – both in terms of leading and following within the organization.

Interestingly, the skills gained in Auburn MBA marketing courses have helped Major Kvaal in his Psychological Operations work for the Army. Specifically, he has been able to perform better target audience analysis as he prepares for deployment into hostile environments such as Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans. Major Kvaal has found the means of calculating measures of effectiveness for his PSYOP Campaigns learned at Auburn to be critical to carrying out his duties in the most valuable means possible and has been able to directly apply multi-media marketing practices obtained at Auburn in the field.

As is the case for many service men and women who chose to participate in the Auburn MBA Outreach and Executive Programs, Major Steve Kvaal did so to gain skills both for immediate use in the Army and to prepare him for civilian sector work upon military retirement. Major Kvaal chose Auburn University over other options because of its strong reputation and accessibility in concert with his obligations as a soldier.  Major Kvaal also found the Auburn Executive MBA program to be the best bang for his buck and gave significant credibility to the ease of his search – Auburn was recommended to him by an Undersecretary of Defense whom he has worked with at the Pentagon.