SMSU's business degree programs go international

by Karen E. Culp

SBJ Staff

Studying for a degree in business is going global. Students at Southwest Missouri State University are getting exposure to international business in very tangible ways as a result of the university's and the College of Business Administration's commitment to the internationalization of its programs.

Dr. Ronald Bottin, dean of the College of Business Administration at SMSU, said there are three areas that are critical to be developed in the business programs at the university: international business, technology and entrepreneurship.

The international component has emerged as extremely important, Bottin said, and the college has spent the past five years or so encouraging students from abroad to study at SMSU, and encouraging SMSU students to spend time traveling.

The master of business administration degree program is one that has had fairly heavy representation from international students, Bottin said. About one-third of the students in that program are international students, and they are from 17 different countries.

"We've had quite a bit of interest from the Asian countries. And we think that's good, particularly because our students are often exposed to a whole different way of thinking," Bottin said.

Since the economic problems in Asian countries began, however, the number of students from those countries enrolling has dropped off somewhat, Bottin said. He also said that a number of Asian students had returned home after the crisis began.

The number of international students is smaller at the undergraduate level, Bottin said, but there are more international students in the College of Business Administration than in any other college. The college is working with European schools now to encourage more European students to attend SMSU.

Dr. Yohannan Abraham, professor of management at SMSU and coordinator for the business college's international studies programs, has spent time in Europe, giving presentations about what SMSU has to offer students, and on a recent European trip he returned with the names of about 80 interested students.

Abraham also said that the Asian economic crisis is starting to show up in next year's enrollment, but adds that the reduction in the number of Asian students is not as great as it could have been. The number of European students is, at the same time, beginning to rise. The college also sees India and China as possible growth areas.

Abraham oversees a program in which SMSU participates with a network of seven schools from France, Belgium, Germany, Finland and the Netherlands to exchange students. The arrangement allows SMSU students to study abroad and pay tuition and expenses to SMSU as they would if they were still here in Springfield.

"This program has made it possible for many students to afford to travel who would not have been able to otherwise," Abraham said.

The program is called the Magellan Exchange, and there are nine schools in the United States that are currently participating. The program brought six students from Europe to SMSU in the fall of 1997, Abraham said.

All of SMSU's efforts to attract more international students and send its own students overseas has been in order to enhance the students' learning experience, and to prepare them for their life in business.

"Because of our global economy, we know that students need to have an awareness and understanding of other countries and to be prepared to compete on an international level. Many of our programs require proficiency in another language, and if the student travels, we hope he or she will gain even more knowledge of the language being studied," Abraham said.

Many students want to study in the United States because of the international reputation of American business programs, both Abraham and Bottin said. Abraham said the reputation of the American MBA was strong, and that having such a degree gives many students an advantage.

"Many of the programs that are developing in other countries now or have developed are modeled on the American programs," Abraham said.

The cultural experience is undeniably the most rewarding for students from SMSU who travel, and for those who share classrooms with students who are from other countries, Bottin said.

"We hope this adds some education in itself, in that students are exposed to other types of thinking," Bottin said.

Two French students, Genevieve Doumeng and Anne Meunier, said the experience of interacting with people from other cultures will benefit them most as they begin to use their educational experience in the workplace.

"Experience is very important to employers, as are languages and the ability to speak and to speak well. I think my studies here will give me some advantages because I've spent more time with the language," Doumeng said.

Both women had the choice of two Midwestern colleges to study at while in the United States, and chose SMSU, they said, because of the college's presentation to them while they were at home in France.

The difference between SMSU's business education and the business education she was receiving at home is that SMSU's approach is more practical, Meunier said.

"Back home, it's more about theories, and here it's a more practical approach," Meunier said.

The university hopes to have as many as 18 to 20 students participating in the Magellan program in the spring semester, Abraham said.

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