Guest Opinion: The perks of being near campus

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According to BusinessWeek’s most recent rankings, three cities in America are within an hour’s drive of three of the top 30 undergraduate business schools.  Philadelphia and Los Angeles are the two most obvious. The third is Richmond.

Don’t act so surprised.

I am a proud alumnus of the top-ranked McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia and a faculty member and senior administrator at the 12th-ranked Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond. As for the Mason School of Business at the College of William and Mary (ranked No. 30 by BusinessWeek), let’s just say I am a frequent visitor and a not-so-secret admirer.

The presence of excellent business schools can be a huge help to local businesses that know how to put us to work.

With more than 150 faculty and nearly 2,000 students involved in conversations around topics including finance, strategy, marketing and innovation, these three schools can serve as an invaluable resource to their neighbors in downtown Richmond, Innsbrook and elsewhere.

The connection that many firms have already established involves the hiring of students. Dozens of organizations are already inviting sophomores and juniors from all three schools to serve as summer interns. Many interns go on to full-time employment at the same firms after graduating.  In short, these three schools are crucial importers of talent to Virginia.

Some of these same companies also provide co-op programs or shadowing opportunities for undergraduates during the fall and spring. By providing students a preview of life inside the organization, a firm raises the likelihood of successful match-making after graduation.

Business schools also need new, real-world material to study each semester, just as local businesses always need fresh input and analysis.

For example, students in a business statistics class at Richmond assisted several nonprofit organizations, including ElderHomes, with market research last year. A colleague on the Richmond faculty recently facilitated a strategic planning meeting at the Greater Richmond Partnership.  Finally, students and faculty have crafted business plans for start-up companies in the Biotech Park incubator in recent years.

All three schools also offer graduate programs, meaning more seasoned individuals are joining the conversation. Most will be required do capstone projects in which they serve as consultants to businesses, under the guidance of a professor, for a period of three or four months. Richmond MBA students have recently completed assignments at the Richmond Symphony, Daystar Desserts, Coca-Cola and the Richmond Chapter of Komen for the Cure.

Each of the three schools also offers executive education opportunities for businesses.  (I should note that several other educational institutions in the area, including the Community College Workforce Alliance and business schools at Longwood and Virginia Commonwealth, provide similar offerings.) These might be open enrollment courses on leadership, communication, project management or human resources. Or, the opportunity might involve a school designing a customized program for a particular business or industry. I know William & Mary, Virginia and Richmond have created such programs in recent years.

Among the programs I am most proud of is an educational offering for CEOs of minority business enterprises. The Robins School partnered with the Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council and three of its corporate members – Altria, Dominion and MeadWestvaco – to build a six-day curriculum meant to help these CEOs address three specific issues: identifying a strategic focus, managing cash flow and negotiating for success. The first cohort of 20 executives graduated in early September. The next cohort will arrive in June.

There really is an abundance of intellectual horsepower close to you that can provide a benefit if you learn how to put it to work. I encourage you to take advantage of the students, faculty, staff and alumni at the colleges and universities nearby.

Richard Coughlan is senior associate dean of the Robins School of Business at University of Richmond. He serves as chairman of the steering committee for the 2010 College to Career Fair.