Steve Chen (MS’05, MBA’07) is the recipient of UC Riverside Outstanding Young Alumnus Award of 2012. After spending 7 years in technology industry and investment banking focusing on cross-border M&A, Steve did on career pivot. He joined his almamater as the Director of International Relations at the School of Business.
Invited by ChaseDream, I recently sat down with Steve at UCR campus for an interview. We talked about the meaning of international educations for students, alumni, and faculty, the real impact of Trump’s H-1B executive order, and how an MBA education had transformed Steve’s career.
Read on for my edited full transcript.
Karen: Steve, thank you for joining us today. Your school has recently created a new strategic plan, “The pursuit of excellence”. How do you see your responsibilities align with this plan?
Steve: It’s our 5-year plan for 2017-2022. It will involve all of our internal and external stakeholders including administrators, faculty, staff, alumni, and students. Our strategy has three “E”s: environment, empowerment, and engagement. Engagementis exactly the focus of my role in international relations. We have been makingefforts in this area for years. Now with this strategic plan as an overarchingguidance, we can do it in a more structural and organized way.
It is not like a one-man’s show. It is a coordinated effort that every unit needsto participate and support. We used to be a little isolated. People might think that it’s only “my” job as a director to go out and cultivate international relations. But now, we are playing a cross-functional role. We will collaborate with people from alumni relations, development and advancement, marketing, recruitment and career development. We will advise them on how to partner with external communities. Our strategy is “killing several birds with one stone”.
Karen: Do you also work with international enrollments?
Karen: Thank you so much for your time!
Steve: Thank you for the opportunity. |