It's a question that college students often hear as they near graduation: "What are you going to do when you get out into the real world?"
But it's also a question that students at Nova Southeastern University's H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship should be well versed in answering as the school prides itself on bringing "real world" business experiences and applications into the classroom.
With a faculty that brings an extensive corporate resume into the classroom, numerous programs that give students access to actual business experiences and situations, and a curriculum that stresses both theory and practice, the Huizenga School is not just a place that teaches business—it's a place where business gets done.
"There are a couple of ways to teach subjects to students," said Huizenga School Dean Randolph Pohlman, Ph.D. "One is to teach the theory and have students extrapolate the practice from that. Another way is to teach the practice and interweave the theory with it. It's very necessary to have an underpinning of theory, but it's equally important to have the practice piece. We think we can save students a lot of time and effort and prevent them from making a lot of mistakes in their business if they understand the application of theory to practice."
In the classroom, professors that have been, and often still are, involved with some of the biggest names in business can draw on their experiences to help in that application from theory to practice. Students can learn from Tom Tworoger's experience in building Kenworth Truck of South Florida or from the 20-year financial and operations career that Robert Sellani, D.B.A., had with technology driven companies like Harris Computer Systems. Timothy McCarthy, Ph.D., brings his years as Ministry of Health for The Bahamas to his organizational behavior classes and Nick Castaldo can relate his years as president of Pollo Tropical into his management classes.
"My goal is to create a classroom atmosphere of discussion and debate using case studies, role-playing, and real-world problem solving to get the student actively involved in the concept I am teaching," said Castaldo, who is still currently active in the restaurant business as president of Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza. "I have always benefited by talking with business people who give me good advice. At this point in my career, I have a wealth of experience and advice. Now it's my turn to pass it on."
Case studies are another way the Huizenga School incorporates real business problems and solutions into the classroom. In marketing classes taught by James Barry, D.B.A, students create marketing plans for local corporations such as the Miami Dolphins and also discuss case studies taken from Barry's 25-year career with Fortune 500 companies like GE and AT&T.
"My corporate experience has provided a solid background of successes and failures that add to the credibility of marketing concepts covered in class," said Barry.
And this past fall, eight teams of undergraduate students competed in a semester-long case study project from Target. NSU's business school was one of just two universities in Florida chosen for the Target Case Study Project, which was launched nationwide this fall.
The teams—three from a marketing strategy class taught by and five in an organizational behavior class—presented their projects and analysis to executives from Target in December. The Target executives then chose the winning team and presented them with a $3,000 scholarship.
"The experience was amazing because it brought real-life work experience into the classroom," said senior Robin Furmanski, whose team won with a project titled "Design for All" that examined how Target can connect with multicultural shoppers. "We were not just learning from a book but learning from executives and our professors."
For graduate students that have already started a career in business or for students enrolled at corporate clusters, where classes are taught onsite at a company, the Huizenga School employs what it calls a "workplace laboratory." Students are encouraged to use the classroom as a place to experiment with current issues in their own businesses and careers and course projects are done to allow each student to relate the project to a matter in their own organization.
"The workplace laboratory has been very, very meaningful for our students," said Pohlman. "It's helpful to their businesses and helps them gain insights into things in their businesses maybe they didn't have insights into before."
But it's not just in the classroom—or "laboratory"—that Huizenga School students are exposed to real-life work experiences and opportunities to apply learned theory into practice. For Master's in Business Administration students looking to start a career, the Huizenga School's internship programs offer experience with a wide-range of corporations. Companies and organizations such as DHL, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Merrill Lynch and the U.S. Department of Commerce have all provided internship opportunities to Huizenga School students.
There's also an International Field Seminar that puts the emphasis on "world" in "real-world" experience. As part of the program, 18 Master's in International Business Administration students traveled to India in March. They spent a week in the capital city of Mumbai studying at the KJ Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research and visiting local business organizations such as a pharmaceutical company and the Indian Stock Exchange.
"Immersion in an alternative national setting is an extremely powerful method of learning," said Ruth Clarke, Ph.D., who as chair of the international business programs has run 16 International Field Seminar trips.
And all Huizenga School students can learn from some of the most successful names in business through the school's Distinguished Lecture Series. Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch, Black Entertainment Television founder Robert L. Johnson, and H. Wayne Huizenga, recipient of Ernst and Young's 2005 World Entrepreneur of the Year, have been among the speakers to take part in the lecture series, which is designed to provide students a glimpse into the minds of successful and outstanding entrepreneurs and business leaders.
With programs and a curriculum that allows students to put their learned theory into practice, Huizenga School students shouldn't wonder what they will do after graduation once they enter "the real world"—they've already been there.
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