Professional Polish for the Internship Program
MBA students comprise a high-caliber consulting corps for partnering institutions
The School of Business and Management (SOBM) has institutionalized its internship programs in order to provide organizations, agencies and businesses with access to top level business brain power, while simultaneously offering graduate students with a real world opportunity to practice what they've learned in the class room.
Under the capable leadership of SOBM faculty member Gary Parks, a relational database is being created that matches the talents of those who have nearly completed their MBA with the needs of various institutions in the communities that National University serves.
"People have been just awed by what our students can do for them," says Dr. Parks, an assistant professor in the department of management, marketing and e-business. He aims to shatter inaccurate stereotypes of interns as an inexpensive labor pool, creating instead the image of an elite consultant corps.
There have already been tangible results produced by Dr. Parks' model. The Veteran's Memorial Center, located in San Diego's Balboa Park, engaged MBA seniors in a survey of its business operations, resulting in a 35-page report that has helped to improve its bottom line.
A new partnership with Silvergate Bank will kick off soon, and Dr. Parks is investigating ways to promote the internship program on a larger scale so that more institutions will benefit from the capstone projects in which all MBA students must participate.
For more information regarding SOBM's new institutionalized internship program, please contact Dr. Parks at gparks@nu.edu