Gaining Worldly Experience
for the Global Marketplace
Gaining Worldly Experience
Experiential learning is an integral part of UConn’s academic programs. Hands-on research, internships and studying abroad help students discover real applications for the theories they learn in the classroom.
“Our overarching mission in the School of Business is to blend the real world with the academic world to create a new generation of leadership with energy,” says Christopher Earley, dean of the School of Business and Auran J. Fox Chair in Business.
Recruited to UConn in 2007, Earley brought a high level of international experience and a vision for integrating real-world components into the undergraduate and graduate curricula. Known for excellence in teaching and research, Earley has consulted for global companies and held endowed faculty positions at top institutions around the world, including in London, Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand.
At UConn’s edgelab, a strategic alliance between the School of Business and General Electric, students develop practical solutions to complex business problems while collaborating with GE executives and the UConn faculty. Earley plans to increase the number of such partnerships to expand opportunities for students and better serve the business community.
“Our students get outstanding experience, and GE gets solutions as well as outstanding potential employees,” says Earley. “GE has incorporated many of our students’ solutions, and they’ve saved millions of dollars by doing so.”
Earley’s vision also includes expanding opportunities for students to study abroad, supporting the University’s goal to increase the percentage of students who study abroad from 18 to 30 percent by 2014.
“To succeed in business today, you have to have a world perspective and real-world experience,” he explains. “Experiential learning here and abroad helps shape our students into tomorrow’s leaders.”
