Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management has been ranked first for having the most internationally represented MBA program in the country at 68 percent.

“We’ve got a great program and international students recognize the value of it,” said Amy McHale, director of experiential learning. “A lot of international students want exposure to American business and our program is a great introduction.”

The list, in a recent Bloomberg Businessweek article, limited rankings to U.S. colleges, where the share of students from abroad averaged 35.4 percent.

Students learn in classes that international business and global interconnectivity play major roles in how businesses are run, McHale said.

“Many MBA programs offer limited financial aid,” said Donald Harter, associate dean for masters programs. “Whitman provides equal opportunity for international students and substantial financial aid.”

He said he feels this provides SU with a competitive advantage and keeps a consistent number of international students entering each year.

Whitman embraces a diverse classroom environment, Harter said. The college stresses the notion that knowledge of global business practices is ideal for effectiveness in the real world.

MBA students are assigned to cross-cultural groups to ensure they have a mix of different country backgrounds and work experience, McHale said. With such a diverse student body, language barriers and varying cultural norms are often a concern for Whitman students.

“When I graduated from my undergraduate program in India, I knew I wanted to come to the United States for business,” said Utsav Shenava, a Whitman graduate student. “The Whitman MBA program is awesome and the faculty is quite helpful.”

While she said the transition was a little challenging, it was mostly just adjusting to the weather that was an issue for her.

Whitman also offers an array of options for students to become better acclimated to the American learning environment.

“One of our major efforts is ensuring that international students make a smooth transition,” Harter said. “We offer programs like Toastmasters Club to provide the opportunity to better develop oral communication skills.”

Many students have found the transition to be relatively easy to cope with.

“The students and faculty in Whitman have made my experience a very positive one,” said Vidhya Sagar Kumar Naidu, a Whitman MBA student, who is from India. “My classes are immensely diverse, almost a 50-percent split, with a gentle mix of all Asian backgrounds.”

In one of the courses Whitman offers, students are instructed about various American business practices, including ways to effectively communicate within a business in order to meet certain expectations, McHale said.

The class worked closely with Dreambridge Partners, a consulting firm that strives to produce cross-cultural leadership.

“Since we have such a large international culture, there is a tremendous opportunity to meet other students and network,” McHale said. “Some never would have been able to immerse themselves in such a diverse environment.”

Whitman’s faculty members are looking to keep a diverse graduate student population for years to come.

Said Harter: “This kind of diversity enriches the learning experience by allowing students to see more of a global perspective on every issue. We hope to see the same high international numbers in the future.”

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Published on October 29, 2012 at 10:45 pm

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