Curious about foreign cultures?
Interested in international business?
Want an experience you won't forget?
Every spring break, a group of SVC students completes a foreign business study tour under the supervision of Dr. Dan Mertens, Assistant Professor of Management. This unforgettable week abroad is the result of months of research and planning.
Potential travellers begin to attend informational meetings led by the Global Experience Club's five officers just a few weeks after the start of fall semester. As time goes by, students commit to the trip and become familiar with their fellow Experiencers. Their attendance is required at semi-weekly club meetings until the end of fall semester and at weekly club meetings from the start of spring semester until the date of departure.
At these meetings, students teach one another about the history, culture, and economy of their destination, contribute to a trip itinerary and realistic budget, and plan fundraising activities. Students also organize themselves into groups of 3-5 people who become the "experts" for the club in a particular area of planning or research related to the trip. These months of preparation help students develop leadership, management, organizational, and team-building skills.
By late October, each club member is required to start keeping a detailed log of their personal research findings, questions for foreign business people, expectations for the trip, potential research paper topics, and participation in club activities. Members continue to write in their logbooks every day that they are abroad, recording detailed accounts of what they are learning during the trip and how this new knowledge ties in to their SVC education. A few weeks after returning to SVC, travellers must turn in their logbooks and a short research paper.
Because of the months of work involved and the knowledge gained, participation in the Global Experience Club is worth 2 Pass/Fail credits as a business elective (BA525 Global Experience). Typically, all members are required to register for the class during the semester that they will be traveling.
Participation is open to all full-time SVC students, regardless of major. Although many aspects of the trip have a clear business focus, each trip reflects the interests of the students who help to plan it.
2008: Are You On Board?
2007: Vienna, Austria & Krakow, Poland
2006: Sevilla, Spain & Gibraltar
2005: Prague, Czech Republic
2004: London, England