Sophomores Complete College Park Scholars Program

Fifty-six sophomores in the by-invitation-only Business, Society & the Economy (BSE) program at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business earned their Citation Award for successfully completing the two-year College Park Scholars program this past spring semester. The Scholars Citation is an academic distinction and formal acknowledgment of completion of the academic and community-based requirements in the living-learning program. The Citation is a permanent notation on a student’s transcript and students earn the honor of wearing a gold Scholars Medallion at Commencement.

Once accepted to UMD, students are invited to participate in the Scholars program and then can choose to matriculate into one of 12 thematic interdisciplinary programs. For their first year on campus, BSE students are required to reside in Cambridge Hall to foster the community bond that is an integral part of the highly-selective program. Approximately 70 students are admitted into BSE each year.

Following three semesters of shared required coursework, BSE students spend a semester working on a Capstone project. For the past 11 years, BSE Director, Mark Wellman, clinical professor of management and organization, challenges students to align the Capstone experience with their academic interests and/or career aspirations. It is meant to be a culminating experience synthesizing knowledge acquired during the students’ first three semesters. He, along with Claudia Donnelly, assistant director of BSE, oversee the students’ self-directed projects which fall under three possible categories – internship, service learning or global research.

Some of the 62 BSE students’ Capstone experiences from spring 2017 included: Data Intern for U.S. Dept. of Treasury; Honors Intern for U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission;  Marketing Intern for Chief Data Scientist, Indiggo Lead; Research Intern for John Hopkins Medical Center; Tax Preparer for Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA); Founder & CEO of Flee, an online application start-up; President, Delta Sigma Phi fraternity; Global Consultant, The BurgerFuel Company of New Zealand; STEM Teaching Assistant, George B. Thomas Saturday School for elementary students; and volunteer at Frederick Memorial Hospital.

Deans, department chairs, faculty, family, and friends will be invited to a Scholars ceremony to honor the Citation Award recipients in October 2017.