Business students experiencing Europe

By Sun Min

SIUC students pose in front of the Eiffel Tower.

A group of SIU College of Business students are experiencing international business during a four-week summer intercession study trip to Europe.

The 37 SIU students have joined with 40 additional students from all over the United States (University of Memphis, Northeastern University, Creighton University, UT-Arlington, among others) to complete courses at the prestigious Grenoble Ecole de Management (School of Management) in Grenoble, France.

They are also participating in professional visits to various multinational businesses and enjoying cultural activities in France, Switzerland, Italy and Spain.

Suzanne A. Nasco, assistant professor of marketing, and Dennis G. Nasco Jr., lecturer, are accompanying the group of graduate and undergraduate students on the intense field seminar.

Students are earning credit in basic French, "Doing Business in Europe," "Intercultural Management," "Globalization" and "International Marketing."

SIU and Grenoble have enjoyed an exchange program for the past few years with students from each university spending a year studying at the other to earn dual degrees. In addition, each summer, students from the master's in business administration program at Grenoble come to SIU for six weeks of summer class work.Undergraduate SIU students have studied there for a semester, earning a "Certificate in International Business."

Moreover, every year several SIU students take courses in Grenoble for an entire year, as part of a dual degree two-year program where students earn an MBA from SIU and an MIB (Master's in International Business) from Grenoble Ecole de Management. Graduates from this dual degree program have gone on to prestigious jobs and internships at GE and Apple, to name a few.