Experiential Learning Opportunities

Every day we are reminded of the complexities of our ever-changing world—environmental, technological, societal—all increasing the demands on business leaders. The Robins School’s mission to provide a transformative learning experience prepares students to have the wisdom and curiosity to tackle these important problems with the conviction and courage to act.

We do this by focusing on programs and activities that drive excellence, relevance, and impact. Students compete and win on the national stage, road trips to major metropolitan areas allow students to explore careers in their chosen field, professors pursue innovative research and academic projects, students expand their entrepreneurial vision by leveraging mentorship opportunities. Through experiential learning opportunities like these and many more, we invest in an environment that inspires creativity, collaboration, innovation, and discovery to transform the lives of students and make a difference in our world.

Programmatic Activities

Class activities include on-site visits to a business or organization and the use of practitioners to actively participate in classroom critiques or problem-solving exercises.

Other examples include:

  • Class field trips to various Wall Street firms in New York City, Dominion Resources GreenTech Incubator, BizWorks, Richmond FED, Henrico Doctor’s Hospital, etc.
  • Robins School faculty members have offered seminar classes involving short-term study abroad components to London, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and the Middle East.
  • Accounting students staff an office for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program in downtown Richmond.

Field Projects

Business leaders open their corporate doors to Robins students for on-site visits and they often enter our classrooms, offering their insight through critiques and problem-solving exercises.

Examples of Field Projects include:

  • Marketing - interviewing and observing target consumers or preparing a marketing plan for a local business; marketing research projects identifying and researching an organization, determining a problem or opportunity, creating and conducting relevant surveys, and formulating actionable recommendations that can be presented to the organization
  • Essentials of Technology - implementing software for local non-profits
  • Operations Management - online simulation exercises, projects to apply course concepts to local businesses, own workplace, family business, or campus organization
  • Consulting Process and Practicum - performing a strategy, organizational, or process consulting project for a local organization
  • Accounting Information Systems - internal control reviews for local non-profit organizations
  • Economic Development - teams work as consultants for a local fair-trade organization
  • Business Statistics - statistical analysis conducted for local organizations

Research and Publication

When research is conducted jointly between faculty and students, it can often lead to conference participation or publication, even at the undergraduate level. Faculty help students prepare for certifications and work to conduct independent study projects.

Student-faculty research projects span each discipline and have explored topics such as cost inequality in China, NFT pricing, financial reporting of digital assets, development of sustainability standards, risk management, and the impact of economic inequality on poverty.