Accelerating the Learning Process Through Experience

An Industry Insight by University of Connecticut

The University of Connecticut (UConn) School of Business promises to provide their corporate partners, who recruit graduates, with individuals who can get the job done and add value to their organizations from the first day of their arrival; and promises their students the best graduate business education that they can acquire.

However, unlike most elite business schools, UConn uses innovative ‘Learning Accelerators’ that leverage the curriculum and the students’ pre-program professional work experience with high profile corporate partnering that works to solve real time challenges faced by these companies. These unique practice-based initiatives are infused into the curriculum and integrate traditional teaching and classroom experience with high-profile corporate partnering to help close the gap between theory and practice. While many business schools around the world engage in varying degrees of experiential learning, it’s the quality and caliber of initiatives at UConn that affords students a competitive advantage – the highly desirable real-world experience that today’s global employers demand.

“Our unique educational paradigm – rooted in experiential learning – exemplified by our award-winning accelerators shows a very unique aspect of our school that can be used to stimulate global exchanges of faculty and students,” explains P. Christopher Earley, Dean of the UConn School of Business. Taking the GE edgelab as an example, he explains that they are at the 100 th project anniversary of an important new type of collaboration between a business school and a private organization. “The success of edgelab is reflected in GE’s recent move to take our model forward to their facilities in China – Beijing and Shanghai – and soon to Brazil, India and Mexico.”

The accelerator paradigm is unique in that a typical internship involves a student going to a company and working on a project given to him/her in isolation. “Occasionally, business schools will have a group of students working on a project for a company that is watched over by a faculty advisor with modest guidance,” says Earley. “In our accelerators – GE edgelab, SS&C Technologies Financial Accelerator, Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and $2 million Student Fund – there is a full-time commitment of the company with a select group of students and a faculty member all working together in a dedicated facility separate from the school or company. This intensive collaborative opportunity provides the most innovation and quality output possible.”

UConn’s experiential learning initiatives bring together talented MBA students, a top business faculty, and front-line industry executives to investigate and develop solutions to real-world, real-time, complex challenges facing business today. This intense educational model significantly benefits all parties involved: it offers a real-world lab for ground-breaking faculty research; it delivers tangible, innovative solutions to current market challenges faced by sponsoring companies; and it provides a dynamic learning environment for students that merges traditional education with practical experience. “Furthermore,” suggests Earley, “we believe that this model can be exported to other business schools around the world so that they can have a unique educational experience.”

UConn’s Learning Accelerators

GE edgelab
edgelabis a strategic alliance between GE and the UConn School of Business that offers incomparable research facilities and exceptional learning and applied experience for MBA students. Working in an intensive, deadline-driven environment, MBA students collaborate directly with business school faculty and GE executives.

SS&C Technologies Financial Accelerator
Operating at the intersection of finance and IT, the SS&C Technologies Financial Accelerator serves as a real-world lab for developing solutions to real insurance and financial services industry challenges. UConn’s financial accelerator features a live trading floor, real-time stock feeds, a broad array of financial databases and software, and advanced enabling technology.

Innovation Accelerator
In the Innovation Accelerator teams of business students, UConn faculty and senior management of a participating venture help move the entrepreneurial venture forward and closer to market by addressing myriad challenges associated with the identification and capture of business opportunities.