High School Students Explore Business, College Life At Smeal
A group of high school students from across the United States is visiting Penn State’s Smeal College of Business for a two-week program that allows them to explore opportunities in business education.
BOSS program participants exploring the resources of Smeal's Trading Room.
High School Students Explore Business, College
Life At Smeal
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (June 17, 2009) – A group of high school students from across the United States is visiting Penn State's Smeal College of Business for a two-week program that allows them to explore opportunities in business education.
Twenty-two students from Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas arrived on campus on June 14 for the college's second annual Business Opportunities Summer Session (BOSS).
The BOSS program was developed by Jamie Campbell, director of undergraduate diversity enhancement programs at Smeal, for underrepresented high school students who are interested in learning more about pursuing a degree in business. The program allows participants to explore various career paths, while sampling college life on Penn State's University Park campus.
The students live in Penn State dorms, have their meals in University dining halls, and take classes on business, college life, and careers. Smeal faculty lead introductory business classes on accounting, business law, ethics, finance, international business, management, marketing, and supply chains.
Other classes focus on helping the students to develop soft skills centering on business etiquette, leadership, and teams and teamwork.
Additionally, staff members from Smeal's Office of Career and Corporate Services explore business career options with the students, and communications faculty from the Smeal MBA Program help the participants hone their presentation skills.
Several more courses are dedicated to preparing the students for life as a college student with a focus on admissions, campus resources, and financial aid.
Outside of the classroom, the program's several field trips expose students to a variety of industries. They explore the business of ice cream at the Berkey Creamery and tour the facilities of a regional food manufacturer. Ernst & Young, the ultimate sponsor for the BOSS program, hosts the students for a full day of activities in its Philadelphia office. And a trip to the local minor league ballpark includes a lesson on sports business as well as a chance to take in the first State College Spikes game of the season.
Throughout their two weeks on campus, the students work in teams to prepare a group project. The BOSS program culminates with the students giving a professional business presentation before a panel of judges on June 26.
For more information, contact Jamie Campbell at juc27@psu.edu.
REPORTERS & EDITORS: For more information, please contact Wyatt DuBois in the Smeal College of Business Media Relations Office at 814-863-3798 or wed112@psu.edu.
Penn State's Smeal College of Business offers highly ranked undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, Ph.D., and executive education opportunities to more than 5,500 students at all levels. Featuring academic departments of accounting, finance, marketing, insurance and real estate, management, and supply chain and information systems, the college is also home to major research centers such as the Center for Supply Chain Research, the Institute for the Study of Business Markets, the Center for Digital Transformation, the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Center for Global Business Studies, and the Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change.
