Scholars - SBA Undergraduate Students

Undergraduate Business Scholars

The undergraduate business scholars program is designed to provide a select group of high academic achieving students a unique opportunity to develop their leadership and analytic skills. The program is under the direction of Karen S. Markel, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Management and Faculty Director of Strategic Initiatives and Business Programs. If you have any questions about the programs, its content, or sponsorship opportunities, please do not hesitate to contact her at markel@oakland.edu or 248-370-4981.

Student Eligibility and Benefits
Students are invited to participate if they have a cumulative grade-point-average of at least a 3.4 and a significant amount of their coursework completed at Oakland University relative to their class standing. Each student must complete an application and submit a faculty letter of reference to be considered for the program.

In addition to the structured activities, students will be enrolled in a mentoring program with members of the business community to address specific needs they have identified in a separate application. Students will also be invited to participate in unique events (e.g. Dean's summer internship program, professional meetings).

The program contains two major sequences of events: Leadership Development and Case Competitions.

Leadership Development
Students will meet on Wednesday evenings, twice/month from September - April to participate in leadership development sessions. They will have meetings that include members of their class (i.e. sophomores, junior and seniors) and will also meet as an entire group. These sessions will focus on skill development relative to their class standing and provide opportunities to learn new skills, practice and self-reflect on skill mastery. These competencies were selected through feedback of business professionals and faculty to prioritize the skills to be included in the program.

Case Competitions
There are four Saturday events scheduled throughout the year. The first Saturday will be spent training students on how to analyze a case and provide opportunities to practice presentations and develop the appropriate skills.

The remaining three Saturdays will provide structured competition. Students will receive cases from sponsoring organizations that present real-world problems. Students will work in teams (lead by senior-level students) to develop a presentation that includes both problem analysis and suggested recommendations. Judged by members of the organization as well as faculty, teams will compete for monetary prizes awarded at the end of each day.