NASHVILLE, Tenn. ñ A new program at the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School
of Management will see to it that undergraduates who may be lacking a
business degree aren’t also lacking the business skills they need to
succeed early in their careers.
Accelerator-Vanderbilt Summer Business Institute is designed to provide
an intense immersion into business life. Through this program, a select
group of college undergraduate students ñ and those who’ve just
graduated ñ will develop the skills they need to land meaningful
internships or their first jobs and to get up to speed quickly and
start making an impact once they’ve done so. The program is open to
students in any major ñ from engineering to communications and business
ñ who don’t plan to seek an MBA right away.
The four-week program will be offered for the first time on the
Vanderbilt campus from May 28 to June 25, 2005. It will be taught by a
team of Owen School faculty whose mission it will be to supplement each
participant’s strengths and refine the critical skills companies seek.
The program is a marriage of academic instruction, practical job skills
development, real project experience and networking with the business
community.
Faculty director Mike Sicard, a former chief operating officer for a
$650 million company and a McKinsey & Company consultant, says the
program was developed in concert with top business leaders and
recruiters to produce more marketable and productive employees from
their first day on the job. "In working with numerous companies, I
noticed they shared a common challenge ñ no matter how bright and
determined the recent graduates they employed were, they weren’t used
to the business world and tended to slow the pace of the company.
Employers must have new hires that can accelerate quickly and become as
productive as possible in a short time."
Accelerator seeks to remedy this situation by turning top students into
top prospects for would-be employers. The program’s curriculum focuses
on strategy, financial accounting, managerial economics, marketing,
finance, operations, human resources and organizational behavior,
business ethics, problem solving, communication, teamwork and career
planning. Participants will develop a business plan for their own small
business and apply all the lessons against that plan, so they benefit
from seeing a company through from an idea to start-up and operation.
While a handful of other top-ranked universities offer business classes
for non-business majors, the Vanderbilt program promises to be unique
in that it comprises much more than just classroom instruction.
Participants will apply the lessons learned in the classroom in
practical, hands-on activities and will gain valuable exposure to
actual companies and business leaders. Graduates will leave the program
with a portfolio of relevant work experience to present at interviews
and the insight that can be gained only from personal interaction with
a variety of businesses.
The four-week program costs $7,500 and includes lodging in a Vanderbilt
residence hall, all meals, events and activities and program materials.
Applicants are required to complete an application and provide a
college transcript, a resumÈ, two essays and two letters of
recommendation. The early admission deadline is Jan. 15, but
applications will be accepted through March 30.
For information about the program or an application, call 615-343-6291 or go to http://www.owen.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbilt/Programs/accelerator/index.cfm.
Founded in 1969, the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt
University is ranked as a top institution by Business Week, The Wall
Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, Financial Times and
Forbes.
Media contact: Susanne Hicks, (615) 322-NEWS
susanne.hicks@vanderbilt.edu