Smith sophomores expand their global mindset through first-ever colloquium course

“You don’t need to leave the United States to develop a global mindset,” said sophomore supply chain management and international business major Stefanie Kilyk after attending Smith’s Global Mindset Colloquium Celebration on Dec. 5, 2014.

Kilyk, like many other undergraduates who participated in the pilot semester of the global mindset course, found tremendous benefit in the colloquium developed in collaboration between the Smith Undergraduate Program and Ernst and Young.

Last summer, Victor Mullins, dean of undergraduate programs, and Kristin LaRiviere, assistant director of undergraduate programs, teamed up with Smith School alumni Anthony Calderazzi ’91 and Mark Rabinowitz ’05 of Ernst & Young to create the Global Mindset Colloquium. The course was designed to be a fusion of classroom learning and real-world business application.

Through guest speakers, classroom sessions, and the partnership with EY, they developed the course to give students real-world, international consulting experience without leaving College Park.

Students were excited for the opportunity to learn from an alumnus and EY professionals: “I learned a lot from the program,” sophomore Daniel Moscatiello said. “It was a great way to hear directly from Ernst & Young professionals about topics you wouldn’t normally hear about in everyday business classes. The connections we formed will be really helpful for future job searches.”

The 57 students enrolled in the course were separated into teams and assigned semester-long consulting projects for a specific business, such as Five Guys and the Hilton hotel chain. They were tasked with determining whether the business should expand to new international markets, and in the end, created in-depth presentations explaining their decisions.

“The Global Mindset Colloquium is experiential learning at its best,” Mullins said. “It allowed our sophomores to apply global mindset practices to real-world business situations.  I extend a special thanks to Mark and Kristin for their commitment to this new learning experience.”

The colloquium marked the end of its first semester with a breakfast celebration where participants shared fond memories from the experience.

“Thank you for having the courage to take a class never offered before,” Rabinowitz said, applauding the students and noting how successful the first-time course was.

Students who participated in the colloquium echoed his sentiments, agreeing that the program was a profoundly beneficial experience. “Having participated in this program will differentiate me from the rest of the pack in the business school,” said sophomore Danielle Star. “We all learned so much from it.”

Sachi Khemka, Smith sophomore and colloquium participant, stressed the importance of global thinking in business careers: “In the workforce you need to be able to adapt to different situations and work with people who are so diverse and different from you,” she explained.  “Developing a more global mindset in this course was really helpful for my future in the business world.”

Christina Germano, intern, Office of Marketing Communications