Cal Poly’s Orfalea College of Business is unique in that it functions within a polytechnic university. The business program benefits directly from this by allowing interdisciplinary curriculums that weave engineering and business together. Orfalea College of Business embraces the philosophy of “learning by doing” through a number of experiential learning opportunities.
Recently, Orfalea College of Business hired Professor Thomas Katona, who is a joint hire between the College of Business and College of Engineering, to bolster its interdisciplinary faculty and courses. The College of Business also offers two options for the Entrepreneurship concentration senior project, where students can work with a startup or grow their own startup.
Learning By Doing
The Orfalea College of Business offers several learning initiatives that support a “learning by doing” philosophy. Marketing students can partner with local businesses to perform in-depth market research, consumer studies, and campaign planning. In entrepreneurship, students
can learn by working on their own startups in addition to learning about case studies. For accounting students, there is the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, where IRS-certified students help prepare tax returns for low-income locals. Consumer packaging solutions students design and test new packaging solutions in Cal Poly’s materials and dynamics labs on behalf of partner corporations. Finance students can invest $500,000 of Cal Poly Corporation funds with the goal of beating the Vanguard Index. Each discipline within the business school offers a number of experiential learning opportunities that support Orfalea’s “learning by doing” philosophy.
Interdisciplinary Curriculums
As a polytechnic institution, Cal Poly is renown for its engineering program. Orfalea students can take part in an entrepreneurship senior project course that puts students from engineering and business in the same class.
Kevin Lertwachara, Associate Dean, says the polytechnic aspect of the institution gives students the opportunity to explore a multitude of disciplines.
“As a business program within a polytechnic university, Orfalea students are exposed to (and often embrace) other disciplines offered on campus, from engineering to the arts, to agriculture,” he says. “Orfalea’s Student Services Center has embraced a peer advising model where fellow students advise and coach others on their degree progress and available college resources. The center also weaves in mentoring, tutoring and career-readiness programs that fuel a sense of community among students.”
Career Outlook:
In a P&Q survey, Cal Poly reports that 77% of Class of 2016 grads were employed full-time within 90 days of graduation. 17% chose to pursue continuing education. A majority of grads, 93%, accept full-time positions in the US West.
Top 10 Employers for Class of 2016:
Oracle: 14
Deloitte: 14
Pricewaterhouse Coopers: 12
Ernst & Young: 12
Adobe: 8
Workday: 6
Grant Thorton: 6
Apple: 6
Cisco: 6
Marketing Evolution: 5
