Beyond the Degree

Most students enter college with the goal of earning a degree. However, what they may not initially realize is that the true benefit in an education is greater than the degree itself. As an example of this, many CoB classes allow students to apply their classroom skills to actual projects. Management professor Neil Tocher does this with his Master of Business Administration (MBA) course MBA 6628, “This class ties everything students have learned in the MBA program together.” The College’s professors teach under the principle that a valuable education consists of strategically selected experiences for the student. Teaching beyond typical classroom lectures helps students apply their textbook knowledge and make connections to develop solutions to problems. Marketing professor John Ney uses the same approach in his Master of Business Administration 6623 class. Here, Ney’s students learn to work in teams as colleagues, as well as with their clients.

Vanesa Fontes Nava, an MBA student, worked on a group project with Citizens Community Bank. “Working around banking regulations was both a challenge and a great learning experience,” says Fontes Nava, “every industry is different in its own way and knowing how to work with different types of businesses is a great asset for a student about to enter the workforce.” Another student, Kyle Peterson, was so keen on the project that he said, “If you are in a class that isn’t going to offer this, try to do it on the side in your student career because it will help with future job interviews.”

Students in Tocher’s capstone course felt similarly. MBA student, Adam Hornby said, “One of my major takeaways was that the process of understanding the client’s goals and vision for the project is just as important as gaining knowledge from the project itself.” Petrus Van Rooyen, said he learned that you shouldn’t accept all information at face value, “Look deeper and determine the validity of sources and content.”

Tocher and Ney’s classes are not the only courses that focus on experiential learning in the College. In addition to many other projects professors oversee, the College also offers students opportunities to participate in financially supplemented experiences such as Bengal Solutions, National Information Assurance Training and Education Center (NIATEC), and the Career Path Internship (CPI) program.