REACH YOUR FULL POTENTIAL

Experience CIBRE Undergraduate Programs

CIBRE (Center for Integrated Business Research and Education) provides educational enrichment programs and activities for SBA undergraduate and graduate students. CIBRE programs blend theory and practice and draw on the expertise of faculty and business leaders to prepare students to address the challenges of an ever-changing global business environment.

In addition to a strong focus on educating our students, CIBRE offers businesses the bright minds and energetic involvement of top undergraduate and graduate students on sponsored business projects.

By integrating these experiences into the SBA curriculum along with other programs, CIBRE supports educational and professional growth thereby equipping our graduates to deliver value immediately upon being hired in any organization.

CIBRE Education consists of the following programs:

1. ATiB (Applied Technology in Business)

This innovative, award-winning program founded in 1997 – has provided more than 75 companies with student teams who create business solutions using information technology. A $4 million investment in student scholarships from regional businesses is a testament to this program’s success.

Following that successful model, the new Experiential Learning and Innovation (ELI) program offers businesses the opportunity to tap into the advanced skills of SBA’s top graduate students on company-sponsored projects – from business start ups and market expansions to product launches -- providing the students the chance to integrate their coursework with real-time learning all while advancing education and supporting economic growth.

Comments on the ATiB experience:

Dick Lefebve, Metaldyne Chief Information Officer - “ATiB has gained the admiration of sponsors for both its unique approach to learning and the resulting deliverables from sponsoring. Read below to see what people are saying about ATiB. ATiB is head and shoulders above many other co-op and intern programs. It all starts with the very high caliber of Oakland students that make up ATiB. We quickly found out that they can handle non-conventional assignments- assignments where everything isn’t spelled out. They think out of the box and apply the correct technical solution; no matter how ill-defined a project. Metaldyne’s ATiB experience has been outstanding.”

Stuart Doyle, EDS-Delphi President - “There are numerous benefits to EDS through our involvement with Oakland University. Over the years EDS has hired many graduates from Oakland University. Overall it is a great program for Oakland, the students and EDS.”

Paul Holland, EDS Deployment Manager - “Not only has the experimental learning offered by the ATiB program proven to be the most effective learning style, the project experience also allows the students and EDS to gain a deeper understanding of what each has to offer in a longer term work arrangement.” 

2. SBA Scholars Program

Undergraduate students with strong academic track records are encouraged to apply to participate in the CIBRE’s Scholars Program, a competitive, engaging and challenging program, founded in 2007 that puts them on the academic fast track and offers the opportunity to expand and integrate their learning beyond the classroom through networking, teamwork, mentoring, community action and research.

With categories such as leadership, research and global, CIBRE provides SBA students specific opportunities to engage in undergraduate research with faculty, leadership development training through service learning, opportunities to participate in management consultancy projects and global team projects (virtual, face-to-face or hybrid models).

Comments on the Scholars Experience:

“I’ve gained so much experience,” says OU Junior Matilda Dule, who is working with Mark Simon, associate professor, management, to analyze how top executives make leadership decisions. “Professor Simon is working with me on my ideas and helping me to hone in on one important topic for my own research. It’s great professional experience.”

Dean Mohan Tanniru - “We have an undergraduate SBA student who is an economics major, business school scholar involved in leadership activities, worked on a research project and is now participating in a global project with a team of students from Hohai University, Nanjing, China using virtual collaborative technologies. This is a true example of how one student can leverage the integrative experiences of SBA to enrich their professional career.”

3. ACHIEVE 

The SBA also integrates professional development and career enhancement skills into its undergraduate curriculum through the mandatory ACHIEVE program. All business students, starting in their freshman year, are required to engage in a select set of prescribed activities that enhance their career and professional development skills through this mandatory four-year professional development series that helps students learn about business careers, their degree, and then equip them with the skills they need to land a job and succeed in their chosen profession. The program exposes students to industry through networking, job shadowing and internships so students can target their coursework toward their chosen profession.

Comments on the ACHIEVE experience:

“ACHIEVE will give SBA graduates a differentiator in the job market,” says Rande Somma, president, Rande Somma and Associates LLC, a leadership coaching and development company that he formed after retiring from Johnson Controls where he served as president of the Automotive Systems Group Worldwide. “ACHIEVE is the bridge that connects the dots between learning and application. As companies get leaner and leaner, the impression of readiness makes a difference in the hiring decision. I applaud SBA for going beyond the core of learning and really helping students successfully transition to a career,” adds the SBA’s first Executive in Residence.