Officially launched in the fall of 2019, the Business in Practice program aimed to transform business education and the entire student experience.
The Background
The Business in Practice program began as the outcome of an effort to review the undergraduate business curriculum at the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics. Building on the faculty’s commitment to experiential learning and the standards associated with our AACSB accreditation, we designed the BiP program as a curricular enhancement. BiP courses are designed to “sit on top” of the existing curriculum and serve as a bridge between business practice and the foundational knowledge taught in the core curriculum.
The Courses
The program started with four pilot courses and now offers 70+ courses each academic year
Students are required to take 4 two credit courses as part of their degree program. The courses are organized within intelligences: Social, Analytical, Competitive, and Professional.
While these courses have credits associated with them and are required in order to satisfy a set of degree requirements, we view them more as learning experiences than a collection of courses. Each experience is designed around the passion, interests and work history of the industry professional who serves more as a guide or facilitator than an instructor.
The Professionals
We have over 50 professionals actively partipating in the program.
We ask our BiP professionals to not try and emulate what they think is a successful university professor, but instead to try and as closely as possible replicate the on-boarding, training, and work assignment process that is used by their current or a previous employer. In doing so, courses are designed so that students are active participants in the learning process.
As a program, we emphasize situational awareness, collaboration, and resiliency. We encourage the development of additional soft skills that may be appropriate given the subject matter.
In this environment, students learn what is currently required for professional success and are taught how these concepts can be applied in a real business context within an academic program.