UMASS BOSTON MBAS GET YOU HIRED. In a recent survey done by Fortune Magazine, the UMass Boston College of Management’s Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program is one of “the top 50 B-Schools with the strongest career placement and reputation with recruiters.” According to the rating, MBA graduates from the College of Management earned a base salary of $73,000 with average bonuses being $2,500. Of those who received MBA degrees from the UMass Boston program, 81 percent of them found work within the first three months of searching.

COME MEET THE “WOMEN OF SUBSTANCE.” UMASS BOSTON WILL HOLD A CONFERENCE on March 8 honoring women holding elected and appointed positions in the Commonwealth. The William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences, McCormack Graduate School’s Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy, and the Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Policy will host the event in the UMass Campus Center Ballroom B from 1-2:30 pm. Keynote speakers include Governor Deval Patrick’s Chief of Staff Joan Wallace-Benjamin, Chelsea District Court Judge Diana Moldonado, and Suffolk Superior Court Clerk Maura Hennigan.

UMASS BOSTON PROFESSOR PUBLISHES NEW BIOGRAPHY OF… BIOGRAPHY. Nigel Hamilton, a visiting professor at the McCormack Graduate school, has authored “Biography: A Brief History,” published by Harvard Press. Hamilton’s book follows the “historical evolution of the biography from the Lascaux cave paintings to the methods of contemporary biographers across a range of media.” A renowned biographer, Hamilton wrote studies of such historical figures as Andrew Jackson, Bobby Kennedy, and World War II British Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery. He is currently in the process of writing the second of his three-volume set about former President Bill Clinton, due out in July 2007.

GRAD-SCHOOL BOUND STUDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO TAKE THEIR GRE BEFORE IT CHANGES IN SEPTEMBER. Under the new test’s overhaul the length of the GRE will be increased from 2.5 hours to 4 hours, the number of days when the test can be taken will dramatically decrease from around 300 days to just 30 available days, as well as new questions types and a new scoring scale. The Princeton Review is strongly advising that students planing on attending graduate school take the test before September when the price of the test is also expected to rise.