Reinforcing the practical emphasis of every Stevens education is a capstone component that challenges students to start a business, complete a consulting project for a corporate client, or do a research project alongside a professor or partner company. This capstone opportunity holds for both the undergraduate and the graduate students. To enhance the students’ consulting skills, the school offers a case-study-based course on Fundamentals of Consulting, which has become one of the most popular courses across the school.
All undergraduate and graduate students participate in the capstone program. Stevens makes every effort to increase the experiential component of our programs. As an example, during the pandemic, when such opportunities were hard to come by, Stevens worked with the City of Hoboken, and the Hoboken Business Alliance to quickly identify struggling small businesses and match students to the needs of those companies in problems involving expertise in optimization, analytics, marketing or finance, thus helping these companies prepare to thrive when conditions fully recover. Similar consulting projects have run for other companies in the New York, New Jersey area. Extensive work is also done through our SHEP program, with students doing valuable work for the health sector. Extensive work is also done through our SHEP program, led by Dr. Donald Lombardi, with students doing valuable work for the health sector.
Highly active boards of advisors also play a role in getting real-world experience for students. The dean has a council of leaders at companies in a range of industries, while each graduate program has a discipline-specific board. Relationships with these professionals run much deeper than twice-yearly meetings: Service involves regular feedback on program structure and curricula, as well as offering consulting opportunities and meeting with especially prominent students.
SPOTLIGHT:
Serena Shah, '21
Analyst for Group Risk Management, RBC Capital Markets
Serena majored in Business & Technology, which she says was a very versatile undergraduate program. “During my time at Stevens, I was constantly challenged to think critically and professionally.” Serena also served as Senior Portfolio Manager for the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF), a portfolio worth over a half-milion dollars. This was an enormous opportunity for an undergraduate. “Managing this fund with other students really drove my desire for a career in finance,” she says. “The driven, like-minded individuals and mentors I met along the way guided me to take risks and invest in myself. As a Market Risk Analyst at RBC Capital Markets, I have the utmost pride looking back on my Stevens education; it has paved the way for the successful future I strive toward.”