Business school offers summer program for non-majors

The University of Richmond’s E. Claiborne Robins School of Business will offer a program for non-business majors this summer. The program will give students the opportunity to take upper-level business courses that they might not be able to take in the regular school year.

“We have been doing the mini-MBA program for 15 years now,” Dr. Randy Raggio, associate dean of the business school, said. “It is a business-acumen program for adults with no business training, but who want business skills. We realized we have a whole group of students in the same situation.”

The program will cap at 24 students as a means of maintaining an effective class size and keeping the classroom environment to what students and faculty are used to. Ten professors will be teaching.

The Robins Summer Business Institute will run from May 15-26. Students will take four classes each day, on Monday through Thursday. On Friday, students will attend workshops on topics such as communications, presentation skills and personal productivity. Raggio explained that the “crash course” style will give students a taste of courses such as accounting, organizational behavior and business analytics.

“We know most students have taken economics, but we want them to be fluid in other concepts of business," Raggio said.

Economics, accounting, and business administration courses can all be taken by any student at UR. As students progress in their degree, classes become more selective, and only business majors are able to take certain classes.

“It is a big commitment to commit to a class for a semester, and of course one class only teaches one subject, so through this program I'll be exposed to some of the most important business lessons,” Nella Gray Schools, WC ’18, said.

The program will begin the week after graduation so that students are able to gain these skills but can still have the time to travel, intern or work during the rest of their summers.

“I hope to learn a lot of business basics that I can apply to my internship in the summer or my career later on, or even just reading business news and having conversations with people," Schools said. "I'll have a baseline education of business terms and skills.”

Cat Sciolla, WC ’18, is a double major in psychology and English.

“I have never taken any business classes. I only go into the business school to grab something from Lou’s café,” Sciolla said. “I am hoping to walk away with an understanding of basic business fields and how to successfully utilize them and incorporate them into an internship or job in addition to my majors.”

Rising juniors and seniors, as well as recent alumni, are all eligible to attend the Robins Summer Business Institute. The cost of the program is $3,195, and it includes program supplies as well as breakfast and lunch. Students may purchase a meal plan and stay in UR housing for an additional fee.

Registration for the Robins Summer Business Institute is open from now until April 15.

Contact news writer Candace Hino at candace.hino@richmond.edu.