Business Management

Academics | Business Management

Business Management

Ripon College offers a major and minor in business management, and minors in entrepreneurship and nonprofit management. Many of our students self-design majors in specific sub-disciplines, such as accounting or marketing. Some combine interests in other curricular areas to form personalized majors, such as arts management, sports marketing, or international business.

Business management students learn the skills they will need to succeed in this rapidly changing world: thinking critically, solving problems in creative new ways, communicating clearly and persuasively, and developing sets of values to guide their decisions. Employers and graduate schools tell us we do an outstanding job of imparting these skills to our students.

Ripon College has a tradition of student-community partnerships, and as a business management student you will

have no shortage of opportunities for real-world learning as part of team-based and live consulting projects with local businesses.

Enactus (formerly, Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE)), provides another avenue for students to make a difference in the community while developing the skills to become socially responsible business leaders. On campus, Enactus started offering services to area businesses in 2005. With generous support from the Kemper Foundation, the Ripon College Creative Enterprise Center was created in 2008. The CEC is a student-organized and operated consulting business providing services to existing businesses, entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, and not-for-profits. Services include business planning, feasibility studies, marketing plans, financials and budgets, and market research – anything to assist with the business development process.

 

Faculty

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Roc HuangDavid Sakrisan
Thomas KeulerDmytro Zhosan
 

Course Guide: Business Management

 

Internships

A head start on business experience is available to students through internships, with academic credit granted. Summer is the best time for these, but they also can be conducted during a semester. Recently, students have worked with a local health club, WKLH Radio, an art gallery, the Wisconsin State Fair, the Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corporation, a local stockbroker, the Milwaukee Mustangs, the Ripon Revitalization Corporation, Enterprise Rent-a-Car and a limousine service in the Fox Valley. As an example, the limousine internship involved market research, development of new categories of limousine service and formulation of a business plan for the financing and future growth of the service.

Creative Enterprise Center

The Creative Enterprise Center (CEC) is a student-organized and operated consulting business providing services to existing businesses, entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, and not-for-profits.  Services include business planning, feasibility studies, marketing plans, financials and budgets, and market research – anything to assist with the business development process.

Off-Campus Study

Business management majors are encouraged to broaden their education by participation in one of the international or domestic programs offered through the College. Incorporating a global perspective into one’s business studies is one of the wisest choices a college student can make, and study abroad for a semester or a year is an ideal way to do so. There are approved Ripon programs in England, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Costa Rica, Hungary, Zimbabwe, Hong Kong, Japan, India, the Czech Republic and Russia. Off-campus domestic programs can be another superb way to broaden one’s business education. Most notable among these are the Urban Studies semester in Chicago and the Washington, D.C., semester in economic policy.

Enactus (formerly, Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE))

Enactus is a global non-profit organization that works with leaders in business and higher education to mobilize university students to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills to become socially responsible business leaders. Participating students form teams on their university campuses and apply business concepts to develop outreach projects that improve the quality of life and standard of living for people in need. An annual series of regional and national competitions provides a forum for teams to present the results of their projects, and to be evaluated by business leaders serving as judges. National champion teams advance to the prestigious Enactus World Cup. In addition to the community aspect of the program, Enactus leadership and career initiatives create opportunities for learning and exchange among the participants as well as the placement of students and alumni with companies in search of emerging talent.organization.

 

Advising

Ripon College encourages all students to embrace a Four-Year Career Development Plan. This plan is based on the premise that career planning is a development process that involves learning and decision-making over an extended period of time.

First Year

  • Incoming students are assigned a Faculty Mentor based on their interest area(s). Please see the FACULTY tab under your major area;
  • All Freshman are required to enroll in a First-Year Seminar, which is designed as a transition from high school to college learning, providing an interdisciplinary introduction to the liberal arts and the pursuit of in-depth study;
  • Freshman are encouraged to meet the career development staff early on and complete interest and skills inventories, and self-assessment tools; and,
  • Attend the pre-Fall Break “Major Fest” to explore the various major options and career tracks.

Third Year

  • Assume leadership positions in on-campus clubs and organizations;
  • Participate in mock interviews with the Career Development Office;
  • Attend the Wisconsin Foundation of Independent Colleges Job Fair in February and other relevant career fairs;
  • If relevant, begin to research potential graduate school programs and take the appropriate entrance exam(s);
  • Continue to meet regularly with your Faculty Mentor;
  • Continue to build a solid network and a list of work references, and build your resume;
  • Consider off-campus study: Semester and/or alternative Spring Breaks;
  • Continue to job shadow; and,
  • Gain further career experience associated with your education during the academic year and as part of a summer job or internship.

Second Year

  • Get involved with on-campus clubs and organizations, athletic teams and/or intramural sports;
  • Attend the pre-Fall Break “Major Fest” to explore the various major options and career tracks;
  • Declare a major;
  • Meet regularly with your Faculty Mentor or match your interests with a faculty member in your major department. Determine which professors have areas of expertise most similar to your interests. Talk to people in the academic department to find out about faculty research, scholarly, and creative interests;
  • Attend on-campus career workshops;
  • Work with the Career Development Office to create an approved resume;
  • Job shadow people involved in various careers and professions of interest; and,
  • Gain further career experience associated with your education during the academic year and as part of a summer job or internship.

Fourth Year

  • Complete a Senior Capstone/Thesis in your major area(s);
  • Continue to meet regularly with your Faculty Mentor;
  • Perfect your interviewing skills;
  • Expand your existing network of contacts;
  • Finalize your resume and prepare cover letter;
  • Build a credential file in the Career Development Office;
  • Interview with on-campus recruiters;
  • Set-up informational interviews with target companies;
  • If relevant, apply to graduate school programs, and if necessary, re-take entrance exams; and,
  • Practice career goal-setting.

 

What can I do with a Business Management major?

An undergraduate degree in business management can be a path to careers in management, sales, human resource management, insurance, banking, real estate and risk.

Alumni of our program are also pursuing MBA or other related graduate degree after gaining work experience to reach the highest levels of business management.

Recent graduates of our program work for…

  • Accenture
  • Aerotek, Inc.
  • Alliance Laundry Systems
  • Ameriprise Financial
  • Baker Tilly
  • Brand Institute
  • Brooks & Kase, S.C.
  • BMO Harris Bank
  • Citicorp Investments
  • Deloitte & Touche
  • Edward Jones Investments
  • Ernst & Young Consulting
  • Fidelty Investments
  • GE Healthcare
  • HP Enterprise Services
  • Internal Revenue Service
  • Northwestern Mutual
  • Oshkosh Corporation
  • Tailor Made Products
  • Target Corporation
  • Robert W. Baird & Co
  • Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Job titles of recent graduates include…

  • Financial Associate
  • Business Analyst
  • Executive Team Leader
  • Marketing Manager
  • Investment Banking Financial Analyst
  • Lawyer
  • Financial Representative
  • Team Coordinator for Defense Department
  • Associate Financial Representative
  • Account Manager, Investment Management
  • Special Agent Criminal Investigator
  • Operations Financial Analyst
  • Research Coordinator
  • Tax Associate
  • Business Banker
  • Realtor
  • Recruiter
  • Consulting Analyst