International Business Program
CB&A's International Internship course, Italy, Summer 2010
Message from the Director
Global C&BA
Business is Global, and The Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration (C&BA) is committed to providing students the tools they need to compete and succeed in the global marketplace. One of the most important elements of our international business program initiatives is study abroad.
C&BA faculty and students are leaders in study abroad program enrollment among the UA family. Our faculty and students teach and study literally around the world – Turkey, Italy, France, China, Cuba, Japan, Ghana, Korea, Argentina, and Brazil, among other countries. Our students are able to gain international experience through study and internship programs that better prepare them for competition in today's global economy.
One of the keys to the success in attracting students to study abroad programs at CB&A is the flexibility in both the location and duration of the programs. Students can study abroad through intensive short term interim summer programs such as our faculty led courses in Turkey or Italy; and, they can extend their experience through full summer courses taken through UA programs in many countries, including Spain, Italy, Austria, and Japan.
In addition, the flexibility to enroll in longer study abroad programs - both semester and year long study - is offered at excellent universities such as the French Grande Ecole, Bordeaux Ecole de Management (BEM). While many students shy away from study abroad because they do not speak another language – it is no problem to find an program in most countries taught entirely in English. Naturally, for those students with strong language skills our relationships will also provide them the opportunity to study in their second language and further develop that skill as well.
C&BA is also flexible in the way in which it offers students international opportunities. Students can gain global work experience through internship programs. Our two most popular internship programs are in London and Dublin.
Finally, CB&A's relationship with numerous international academic institutions both facilitates course credit transfer back to UA and offers a more cost effective way to study abroad than may be available otherwise. Students may be reluctant to consider study abroad because of cost – but expense should not stop a student from participating in this valuable educational opportunity. CB&A itself has institutional relationships with: Bordeaux Ecole de Management, Bordeaux, France; University of Liege, Liege, Belgium; The Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus, Denmark; CIMBA, the Consortium of Universities for International Studies, Asolo and Paderno delGrappa, Italy; Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China; The University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland. In addition to the CB&A specific relationships, the University of Alabama's study abroad relationship network (almost thirty universities) further broadens the opportunities for CB&A students to study abroad.
We continue to build upon our study abroad program by developing new relationships with international institutions each year. As a result, we are proud to see an outstanding number of our students prepare themselves for the global marketplace through the study/work abroad program. With the help of the Capstone International Center, we can place a student in almost any part of the world he or she wants to study.
Dr. Chad Hilton, Director
International Business Programs
chilton@cba.ua.edu