The Center for International Business, Education and Development, or CIBED, held a ribbon-cutting event and open house Thursday afternoon to celebrate a new location and expanded programming.
Approximately 50 faculty members gathered to tour the new facilities.
Previously located at 602 Copeland Hall, with two offices and a lobby, CIBED relocated to 31 S. Court St. The new space boasts over 20 rooms specifically designed for student projects and team development.
Andrew Pueschel, assistant professor of marketing and director of CIBED, said the new location is a place for anyone affiliated with the university to come and explore experiential learning needs, socialize and gather.
“Our mission is to transcend the classroom by transforming lives with hands-on global business experience through providing opportunities with global access with global impact,” Pueschel said.
President Lori Stewart Gonzalez said internationalization in experiential learning is critical in education.
“Bringing more students from other countries to be with our students here will bring the world to Ohio University, but that we get more of our students to go there,” she said.
Pueschel said each room has five to six seats and is fully equipped to support team development for teams’ consulting projects.
CIBED offers a Global Consulting Program, or GCP, that provides students with hands-on experiential learning and allows them to work on real business projects with companies in other countries.
“These internships are not only preparing our podcast for the future; these are the experiences that are going to shape our students into future global citizens,” College of Business Dean and Professor of Information Systems Jackie Rees Ulmer said.
Students participating in the GCP program are required to complete preparatory courses and a mock project before traveling to one of the 13 global locations that CIBED offers. Each destination is represented in its own room within CIBED for students to work on their projects and be immersed in the country's culture.
Pueschel said CIBED participation grew more than 30% from last year.
Stephanie Sharp, director of operations and student development, said a room within the new CIBED location is designed to replicate a classroom environment in Hungary.
Pueschel said funding is going toward innovating and improving each room to create shared learning experiences similar to what GCP’s international partners’ classrooms look like.
Executive director of the Ralph and Luci Schey Sales Center and the Ralph and Luci Schey professor of sales, Adam Rapp, explained the decision behind selecting the new CIBED location. He said there's a need for a space dedicated to career outcomes and goals and helping students with internships and job placement.
Rapp said the front two suites of 31 S. Court St. were vacant after the Office of Multicultural Success and Retention had combined services with the Multicultural Center in Baker Center.
Former President Hugh Sherman had presented Rapp with the opportunity to bring the Schey Sales Center to the space on the conditions that it was tied to career outcomes and was university-wide.
“If students need a place to work, spend time, study, these workspaces are available,” Rapp said. “We want to make this (space) a central hub of activity.”
Rapp said he wanted to introduce a program, alongside the Schey Sales Center, to the space that would generate a lot of student activity and help students secure internships and long-term jobs.
Pueschel said CIBED is the university's largest producer of internships, offering over 250 internships this year.
“As we educate our students to become good citizens … you're going to learn your discipline, but you're going to go back and make a difference in your corner of the world,” Gonzalez said. “Teaching them about the world only enhances that. This is a really critical part of how we're going to live our mission of coming in to learn and departing to serve.”
