During their grants, Fulbrighters will meet, work, live with and learn from the people of the host country, sharing daily experiences.  The program facilitates cultural exchange through direct interaction on an individual basis in the classroom, field, home, and in routine tasks, allowing the grantee to gain an appreciation of others’ viewpoints and beliefs, the way they do things, and the way they think. Through engagement in the community, the individual will interact with their hosts on a one-to-one basis in an atmosphere of openness, academic integrity, and intellectual freedom, thereby promoting mutual understanding.

The 2014-15 Fulbright opportunities have been released and these are a few that may be of interest to students pursuing a degree in Business:

Australia: One Fulbright-ANU College of Business and Economics Postgraduate Scholarship for study in Business or Economics.

Finland: One Fulbright/Lappeenranta University of Technology Graduate Award is available for students in the field of business or technology. The award is primarily aimed at students who wish to complete a full Master’s degree at Lappeenranta University of Technology.

Mexico: Nine Binational Business Grants to enhance knowledge, expertise, and understanding of post-NAFTA Mexico are available for students interested in combining coursework in international business or law with an internship at a Mexico-based company conducting international or legal business.

Netherlands: One NAF/Fulbright Duisenberg School of Finance Grant will give a student access to a premier private finance school located in the heart of Europe with world-class faculty and direct links to industry leaders in the world of finance. Duisenberg School of Finance offers MSc programs in Finance and Law, Asset Management, Risk Management, Corporate Finance and Banking, as well as an LLM in Finance and Law and a Ph.D. in Finance.

Spain: Fulbright/Instituto de Empresa Grants: One award for full-time study in a one-year international MBA program; One grant for a Master’s in International Management.

You can learn more about the Fulbright program at us.fulbrightonline.org.

Multicultural living and learning

RBP admits slightly fewer than 200 freshmen into the program each year from all business majors, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, and geographic areas. Students in the program have access to tutoring, the River Trail Engagement Center, and the knowledge and expertise of the college’s Multicultural Business Programs (MBP).  Since freshmen RBP students live together in McDonel Hall, they also have access to the entire RBP community — from fellow underclassmen in the program to upperclassmen who have returned as resident advisors (RAs) and teaching assistants for RBP seminars to RBP staff.

For freshman RBP student Sarah Belcher, the environment has been invaluable. “It really is a community within the business community, within the entire campus. It is the perfect way to start here at MSU since many of us are going through the same things academically and have the same goals.”

Jessica Sun, a sophomore interested in supply chain management, adds, “With the Residential Business Program, students form valuable connections with people they will enter the business college and world with and get to know faculty and staff early on, so it’s a great foundation.”

Opportunities for leadership

Through the RBP seminars, Passport to Leadership Program, support of MBP, and interactions with corporate mentors, students develop the leadership and relational skills necessary for today’s multicultural business world. The Passport to Leadership Program also highlights workshops, campus events, networking, speakers, and community engagement opportunities to help students develop skills and experiences desired by companies, including global and multicultural awareness, career and academic success, leadership and professional development, and community and civic engagement.

Sarah explains how the program has helped her develop so far, “RBP puts you leaps and bounds ahead in terms of professionalism and preparing for the future. The program prepared me for career fairs, interviews, and overall leadership experience. These were opportunities I may not have had until my junior year otherwise.”

Supporting students

Corporate mentors from Altria, Bosch, Deloitte, Dow Corning, and General Motors have generously given their time to support the program. As part of their mentorship, the companies work with RBP student teams to set up chats, site visits, and research real world business cases. In addition, financial support has been an important component of the program’s success. The recently established Ilitch Scholar’s Program, established through a gift from Michael and Marian Ilitich, will provide scholarships to students in the program. This support will help students in the program have resources that will shape and prepare them for their education and careers.

Jessica explains that she is often asked why she is so far ahead of the game. She credits RBP when she responds, “I have to point to my mentors in this program that allow us to enrich ourselves and take full advantage of the resources available.”

Recruiters continued to rank the program and its graduates highly with a rank of 12^th this year (7^th among publics), up from 13^th and 8^th last year, respectively. In addition, the college received top letter grades from students in several areas: “Job Placement” received an A+, up from last year’s A, and “Facilities & Services” received an A again this year.

The Businessweek rankings, which included 124 schools this year, look at student and recruiter feedback, post-graduation outcomes, and academic quality. Students and recruiters are surveyed about their experiences and the results are combined with the previous two years of results (with 2013 weighing 50 percent and the previous two years 25 percent each). Businessweek also takes into account SAT scores, starting salaries, average class size, and the number of students who attend top MBA programs.

For the full ranking, please visit www.businessweek.com.

MSU now offers Chinese language classes tailored for the needs of business students.  Students interested in business or already studying business or a related major can now study Chinese in courses that will cover basic Chinese language skills along with a special emphasis on culture, vocabulary, and content of business Chinese.

 MSU is offering Chinese (CHS) 101, 102, 201, and 202, complemented by co-curricular programming with native speakers of Chinese from the business school’s Broad China Business Society.  Students in these courses are also encouraged to study Chinese over the summer in China, and funding for this study is available to these student through the Office of Study Abroad via their recently awarded Coca-Cola scholarships.

FALL 2012

CHS 101 007 Topic: Business Chinese.

CHS 201 003 Topic: Business Chinese.

 SPRING 2013

CHS 102 006 Topic: Business Chinese.

CHS 202 003 Topic: Business Chinese.

 Any students with this combined interest in Chinese and business may contact  (amb@msu.edu) for an override to enroll. Students do not need to have taken the business focused CHS 101-102 sequence to enroll in the 200-level courses.

For the second year in a row, the magazine ranked MSU’s supply chain program for undergraduate students No. 1, ahead of the program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Broad College also retained its spot among the top 25 undergraduate business programs in the country, ranking No. 24 again this year and No. 14 among public institutions.

Other undergraduate programs in the college that were ranked include:

Production/operations management: 11 (up from 12)
Accounting: 13 (up from 14)
International business: 20 (up from 24)

The U.S. News annual undergraduate business ranking is based solely on results from a survey of deans and senior faculty members at all Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredited undergraduate business programs.

The complete business school rankings are available at www.usnews.com, but only limited information is available without a subscription.

We believe that the minor will allow you the ability to fully capitalize on your interest in international business. If you have questions about how the requirements of the minor will impact your academic plans, please address them with your academic advisor.

For a list of Broad College undergraduate student organizations, visit http://uas.broad.msu.edu/life/organizations/.

Based on these statistics, Broad students as a whole studied abroad more than any other MSU students. Considering that MSU is a national leader in study abroad participation among public university is the U.S. according to a recent Institute of International Education report, these statistics are certainly notable.

“There is tremendous value for students studying abroad,” says Tomas Hult, director of MSU’s Center for International Business and Education Research (CIBER), which is housed in the Broad College. “Studies show that students who have studied internationally have a leg up on their peers in getting that first job and also getting promoted into more rewarding positions in their firms than those who do not participate in study abroad programs while in school.”

“An immediate benefit to students is a better understanding of world cultures, customs and processes for doing business. The open-mindedness that is gained by even a short-term international exposure has benefits that are far-reaching and can be applied in varied multinational and multicultural settings.”

Although cost can be an obstacle for many students who wish to study abroad, there are numerous scholarships available to business students.