The latest episode of the Inside UMSL podcast featured a conversation with Ed G. Smith College of Business Dean Shu Schiller.
Shu Schiller remembers walking with a group of new students after orientation for the Ed G. Smith College of Business last year at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. One of them asked Schiller about about her role, and when she told the student she was the dean, she found herself tasked with distilling all that the job entails.
“I work to make sure you and all other students are successful,” Schiller recalled telling the student.
The way students measure success and the expectations they have for their education has been shifting at business schools across the country, as Schiller explained to host Nate Fleming in the latest episode of the Inside UMSL podcast.
“As a business school, we can no longer just deliver excellent education,” Schiller said. “The excellent education and experience is a must, but in addition to that, what we need to deliver is professional success. In a very, very plain way to describe this, we’re obligated to provide training and resources so our students are job-ready when they graduate. All business students should have in-domain or gainful employment jobs. That’s the beginning of their professional career, and the College of Business should prepare them to continue to be successful and grow in their profession. That is a key aim, and that is a big part of our commitment today to work with all business students.”
Internship support is crucial to helping students start their careers strong, and the College of Business has staff committed to helping connect students to those early career opportunities.
“Internships are very important in today’s campus recruiting effort,” Schiller said. “Almost all companies hiring students start with internships, and the internships turn into full-time jobs. In the College of Business, 70% of students who have completed internships receive full-time job offers at the end of the internship. Today, when we talk about career success, it is how we prepare students to get internships to start with. Some business students will complete multiple internships before they graduate, and that is throughout the entire college.”
Hear more of the conversation between Sundvold and Fleming below:
The Inside UMSL podcast launched last year as a joint initiative of the Office of Admissions and University Marketing and Communications. It features interviews covering innovative teaching, groundbreaking research, exciting extracurricular opportunities, athletics and other campus initiatives. New episodes of the podcast are available monthly on the Inside UMSL podcast page or wherever you listen to podcasts.
