Michigan’s Bold New Revamp Of Its Undergraduate Business Program

University of Michigan's Ross School of Business

University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business

ROSS ALSO WILL TAKE A LEAF OUT OF ITS MBA PROGRAM BOOK

“In the global world, we wanted our students to be more global and more culturally intelligent,” Wooten said. “The ability to work in diverse groups and to be collaborative and diverse in organizations and business situations was important.”

Another central tenant of the curriculum will be what Ross calls “action-based learning,” which has long helped to differentiate the school’s full-time MBA program from rivals. Under action-based learning, students will work closely with companies and organization on real-world projects. By their senior year, students can choose to undertake a large-scale action-based learning project in a required capstone course they’ll take the last semester of school. For example, students might work on a project with a credit card company on how to brand their cards to millenials, Davis-Blake said.

The new senior capstone course that is required for students is intended to help ward off any cases of “senioritis” as students start to think about making the transition to the workforce, Wooten said. Students can approach this course in one of three ways: taking on a real-world consulting project, an advanced-level course or doing a thesis.

Most importantly, the curriculum will be more in line with Ross’ mission statement, which is to “develop leaders who make a positive difference in the world,” Davis-Blake said.

“If we’re going to do that, if that is the endpoint, we need to start out with students saying, ‘What does it mean to be a positive leader in the world?’” Davis-Blake said.  “The mission statement has to be more than just words.”

DON’T MISS: DEAN’S Q&A: LYNN WOOTEN OF MICHIGAN’S ROSS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

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