Xavierite
Saint Xavier University’s Graham School of Management (GSM) was recently ranked #15 of Business Research Guides’ list of “50 Most Innovative Small College Business Departments 2015.” The Business Research Guide developed the list after evaluating hundreds of business departments of relatively small colleges with under 5000 undergraduate students.
One factor that the Business Research Guide looked for in their search for innovative business departments was a focus on experiential learning. According to Dr. Asghar Sabbaghi, dean of Graham School of Management, experiential learning is a hallmark of GSM’s education.
“We emphasize on experiential education, we believe that the competency of our students comes from their knowledge in the area, understanding the theory, having a solid foundation in the theoretical area, and with the experiential real world, hands on experience. Therefore we combine both the theoretical and the practical side in helping our students become more competent in the marketplace when the graduate,” said Sabbaghi.
The school’s experiential learning involves a variety of factors including internships, field projects, service learning, and mentorship programs. According to Sabbaghi, the GSM has built up a partnership with the local business community which has created internship opportunities for students in accounting, finance, marketing, and human resources.
Last year students had of the GSM had an internship with the federal reserve bank of Chicago and were then offered jobs at the bank. A new facet of the school’s experiential education is a student managed hedge fund that GSM is creating this year.
Students who will participate in the hedge fund will have the opportunity to make investment decisions and build up a portfolio of stock options and assets. The students will have the support of an advisory board comprised of faculty as well as professionals who work in the field.
“Students will have the chance to experience making decisions on building up their portfolio on trading, stocks, and other securities. Then they will see in practice how their decisions will impact the value of their assets and portfolio. It is a wonderful learning experience for them, so on the one side they learn the theory and on the other side they practice with the theory themselves with real money,” said Sabbaghi.
The student managed hedge fund will be created using the $50,000 grant the school received this summer from the CME Group Foundation. The CME Group Foundation, which was established by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, works to advance the economy by supporting financial literacy and education.
This is the second grant that the GSM received from the CME Group Foundation. Another factor that the Business Research Guide used to evaluate the business schools was the departments’ focus on technology.
According to Sabbaghi, the GSM utilizes leading edge technology application software in order to help students better understand the stock market. One example of the technology used by GSM is FactSect, an application that provides users with financial data and analytics.
The software, which costs $30,000 a year, was purchased last year using the $10,000 grant the CME Group Foundation awarded the school in 2014. The Business Research Guide also evaluated schools based on the degrees that are offered.
The Graham School of Management offers a bachelor of business administration with the choice of eight concentrations including financing, marketing, and accounting. They also offer MBAs in eleven concentrations. According to Sabbaghi, few business schools offer various concentrations and specialized masters like GSM.
An additional factor that set GSM apart from other business schools is the accreditation of the graduate and undergraduate business programs by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International.
AACB accreditation is based on the school’s innovation in education, and engagement and impact with students, employers and the greater business community. “(AACB) Accreditation is a very prestigious achievement for many business schools. You may know that only 5% of business schools worldwide are accredited by AASB. This is a premium worldwide accreditation body for business programs. So that accreditation really means a hallmark of excellence in management education,” said Sabbaghi.
The Graham School of Management hopes to continue to move the school to a higher level become recognized as one of the best business programs nationally. The school has been in contact with reviewing agencies such as the Princeton Review in order to understand what the school needs to do to move up in their ranking.
As a Catholic University, they hope to continue integrating the Catholic identity and Mercy heritage by focusing on business ethics, responsible management, and hospitality. In order to continue moving GSM to a higher level, Sabbaghi created a faculty taskforce to develop a vision statement called Vision 2020.
The vision statement is a roadmap for the future of the school that contains goals and initiatives that they faculty hope to achieve in the next five years. Sabbaghi believes that one of the most important things they need to do to achieve the goals of Vision 2020 is to continue developing partnerships with the business community.
“We are really excited about our future. We believe that our success depends on how we work with the business community. Business schools, in order to survive and in order to grow, need to work with business communities, and that is what we are doing,” said Sabbaghi.
Yasmeen Abdellatif
News Editor
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