Experiential Learning

Full-Time MBA students apply the knowledge and skills they've learned in the classroom to help an actual client during the Business Consulting Project. This three-hour credit course is scheduled during the student's final semester.

Students work in teams to help solve real-world business problems for clients, which include Fortune 500 companies, small start-up businesses, and non-profit organizations. These consulting projects help students increase their work experience prior to graduation, expand their professional network and enhance their long-term career possibilities. Examples of past consulting projects include:

• Creating financial projections for entry into a new market segment
• Developing the marketing plan for a new product
• Assessing the impact of environmental regulations on a business
• Identifying opportunities to increase and measure customer retention
• Positioning the company’s brand in an emerging market
• Identifying opportunities to reduce costs by improving supply chain management
• Analyzing options for short and long-term incentive programs
• Evaluating the cost and risk mitigation of several hedging instruments

Experience Overview

The Full-Time MBA program encourages students to continually refine their leadership skills through the Mays Business School's Leadership Initiative. Additionally, the Women's Leadership Initiative offers learning and networking opportunities tailored specifically for female students.

Leadership Initiative

Mays Business School’s Leadership Initiative prepares students to lead with confidence. Our model offers a comprehensive approach that incorporates leadership education into the MBA experience. The key foci in this model are:

• Self-awareness and development: We believe that business leaders need to know themselves before they can lead others. Coursework on emotional intelligence and self-assessment tools such as StrengthsFinder and Birkman help students learn more about themselves, their skill sets and stress behaviors.
• Core business knowledge and skills: Business leaders need a strong foundation of core knowledge and skills in order to succeed. Full-Time MBA students learn leadership principles and problem-solving skills through case studies that are woven throughout the core curriculum.
• Leadership strategies: Our curriculum integrates lessons on teamwork, communication and problem-solving into the core curriculum. Students become skilled leaders who are able to effectively influence, motivate, guide and support others when they return to the workplace.
• Real world practice: Numerous opportunities allow students to test and improve their skills as leaders in scenarios to mirror what they will face in the real world. These challenges include solving a client's business problem through the Business Consulting Project, managing a crisis at the internationally renowned Disaster City, and proving a product's viability at the MBA Venture Challenge. A summer internship and case competitions provide students with additional chances to practice their leadership skills.

Women's Leadership Initiative

This initiative provides female students with a series of women-only seminars to create connections and practice networking skills for their professional development.

Full-Time MBA students gain valuable international experience through semester exchange programs, summer study abroad, or an international business certificate program. These experiences immerse students in a new culture to provide a global career perspective.

Semester Exchange Program

Mays Business School offers semester exchange programs at 18 business schools in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Students may extend their program by one semester to study at a partner university and earn 9-12 credit hours during this program. Scholarships may offset some tuition, fees, and additional costs. Additional information about semester exchange programs is available from the Center for International Business Studies.

Summer Study Abroad Program

Active-duty military or company-sponsored students not seeking a summer internship can choose a unique summer study opportunity with one of our four partnership schools:

• Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, Denmark
• EDHEC, Nice and Lille, France
• Peking University Guanghua School of Management, Beijing, China
• WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management, Vallendar, Germany

Students earn from 3-12 credit hours during the summer semester. Scholarships may offset some tuition, fees, and additional costs. Additional information about semester exchange programs is available from the Center for International Business Studies.

International Business Certificate

The International Business Certificate is only available to domestic students or international students not seeking to use their OPT after graduation. Students who pursue the certificate delve into international business and culture while gaining the skills and knowledge necessary to work for a global organization. Participants take an international elective during Term 5 and 12 credit hours of international business coursework during a semester exchange program or summer study abroad. Scholarships are available to defray some of the costs. Additional information about this certificate program is available from the student’s MBA Academic Advisor.

Experience Overview

Full-Time MBA students learn from prominent business leaders through the Dean's MBA Executive Speaker Series. This series, which includes conversations in both large and small groups, offers top business leaders the opportunity to share their personal leadership philosophy and experiences with the next generation of business leaders.

Previous speakers include senior executives from General Motors, GE Appliances and Lighting, Compaq Computer Corporation, The Clorox Company, Oceaneering International, and AT&T.