Message-ID: <26624635.1075856927201.JavaMail.evans@thyme>
Date: Sat, 3 Jun 2000 08:35:00 -0700 (PDT)
From: vince.kaminski@enron.com
To: jeff.skilling@enron.com
Subject: Managing Enron's relationships with the universities
Cc: vince.kaminski@enron.com, jeffrey.shankman@enron.com
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Jeff,

I would like to get on your calendar (together with Jeff Shankman) for 15 - 
30 minutes
to discuss the results of my visit at the Wharton School with Tom Piazze.
A separate message about  this visit will follow.

I would like also to talk to you  about the way we manage our relationships 
with
different universities. Historically, we were rather passive customers of
the academic institutions, trying to hire the best students and limiting our 
presence
on the campuses mostly to the recruiting trips and campus receptions.

We should rethink the way we work  with universities. The efforts to get 
the best students look more and more like a hand-to-hand combat and often we 
are not
very successful. It is critical that we increase our presence on the campuses
and this can be accomplished in a number of different ways:

1. Involvement in research projects. For  example, we are currently  
underwriting two research
projects at Stanford University, involving  Ph.D. students of Professor  
Nicholas Bambos
(a top expert on communications networks). We shall participate in formulation
of the projects' objectives and will be given access to the results.
Involvement in research projects allows us to obtain 
access to current scientific developments in the leading universities and 
also to lock-up some very
promising students. Most companies in the high tech industries have such 
programs.

2. Lectures and presentations by Enron employees. Practically every 
presentation
I have made so far at different universities resulted in a number of resumes 
and hiring decisions.
It is important that students get exposed to Enron early in their academic 
program. In many cases,
the best students have already made up their mind by the time we approach 
them during their 
senior years.

3. Visits by faculty members in Enron. 

Closer cooperation with the universities has many advantages in addition to 
getting the best students
and obtaining access to current research. The universities are very important 
in shaping public  opinion
on the issues critical to Enron's future (especially in the area of 
deregulation and design of new markets).

Currently, the relationships with many leading academic centers depend on 
personal commitment of a number
of overworked Enron employees. In many cases, there is no continuity and 
focus.

I want to recommend a creation of a special function (VP or MD level) 
responsible for coordinating
our relationships with the universities. This function would be separate from 
our Analyst/Associate
program. I have many ideas how this function could be structured.

Vince