Revolutionizing Business Education in the Ukraine, continued

“It’s a very different environment,” Fossum explains. To illustrate, he paints this picture: Imagine a classroom full of students listening to a lecture. There are no textbooks or case studies. Students take notes verbatim and do not interact with the professor. Content and material often do not reflect the realities of a market economy. And Ukrainian businesses feel the school’s graduates do not meet the needs of the new business environment.

The project’s goal is to create a different picture that allows for the school’s, students’, and economy’s success. The team’s first imperative is to develop curriculum that answers the business community’s needs and builds closer ties between the school and businesses. This curriculum includes developing case studies and exercises to encourage active learning, including questions, discussions, and student presentations.

The University team has been working with about 10 young Ukrainian professors over the last 18 months to introduce the new material and ways of teaching. And so far, Fossum said, students like the new curriculum and classroom atmosphere, and “instructors get reinforced by students reacting positively to it.”

In the second part of the project, the team will help the school track its graduates and their career success to study the effects of the new curriculum on students and business. Representatives from the Carlson School’s Business Career Center will visit Odessa State to begin developing a placement program and career center for students. Fossum will return to the Ukraine in June with University Vice President of Human Resources Carol Carrier.

Throughout the project, the Carlson School’s Warsaw Executive MBA Program—currently ranked number one in Poland by Business Week Polska—has served as a model of how to teach business in a transitioning economy. Fossum and his team hope this project results in the same long-term success.