Sixteen undergraduates from across Central and upstate New York will join the Martin J. Whitman School of Management for the second annual Summer Experience in Business for Undergraduates (SEBU) program – and not one of them is a business student.

Whitman offers a two-week ‘mini-MBA,’ providing free room, board, transportation and an additional $1,000 to participating students, said Melvin Stith, the dean of Whitman. Students involved in the program are from Syracuse University, Cornell University, Fordham University, Binghamton University and the State University of New York at Geneseo.

‘SEBU is a wonderful addition to our activities,’ Stith said. ‘So many times students think you need a business undergrad degree to get an MBA (Master of Business Administration), but this program offers students the chance to get real experience in the business field.’

Last year, the Whitman School welcomed the 16 accepted students with a barbeque at the dean’s house with Stith and other Whitman faculty.

‘The Stiths invited all participants, including the faculty, into their home for an afternoon barbeque,’ said Kate Conetta, a Fordham University economics major and former participant in SEBU. ‘In my entire life of education, I have never felt so comfortable around administrators before.’

Stith began the program last year as an opportunity for non-business students to become involved with the MBA program.

‘I just thought that it would be nice to start a relationship with the liberal arts schools in New York,’ Stith said. ‘We had a great class last year. We could not have asked for a better group of young men and women.’

Alex Regenstreich, a senior information management and technology major at SU, changed his career goals after attending SEBU.

‘I decided to participate for the learning experience and extra cash for the summer,’ Regenstreich said. ‘The experience is extensive and challenging, but it’s designed that way for a purpose. You aren’t just lounging around, you’re exposed to a jam packed schedule with seminars lasting all day and you’re expected to be alert and ready to learn.’

Students attending SEBU stay in Haven Hall and attend eight hours of seminars and lectures daily. Whitman professors and local business leaders expose undergraduate students to marketing, human resources, accounting, finance and ‘everything you need to know to be in business,’ said Ravi Shulka, associate dean of Whitman and co-coordinator of SEBU.

‘We’re trying to entice them into the business program,’ Shulka said. ‘Many of these students would add value to society if they went into business.’

Jade Gardener, a human development and sociology major, said she decided to participate in the program because it is geared toward non-business majors, while other programs like it are only available to students in the business field.

‘The program is also short yet dense and diverse enough to give a grandeur idea of what the MBA entails as well as a short synopsis of some of the preparations and expectations for a Business Masters Degree,’ she said.

During the last two days of SEBU, students are assigned into groups to develop business plans which they present the last night of their stay. An award ceremony concludes the program, ranking the business plans after they are judged by local business professionals and Whitman faculty.

Students who finished the program last year and those who continue to participate will be put at the top of the list for financial aid packages if they choose to apply to the Whitman MBA program, Stith said.

‘The business career path has always been a part of my personal plan since I was younger, but the pursuit of an MBA has shifted in and out of the plan throughout my collegiate career,’ Gardener said. ‘I knew that there was a reason I was exposed to the program, and lessons learned in these coming two weeks may really help dictate the direction of my academic, business careers and personal life.’

rdjone03@syr.edu

Published on May 6, 2008 at 12:00 pm