The progressive education coming from the new business building at the University of Tampa has paid off. For the sixth year in a row, the Princeton Review has rated the Sykes College of Business School one of the most outstanding schools in the world. The 80,000 square-foot facility offers many courses for both undergraduate and graduate students here at UT. The many classes that are offered in this building have successfully prepared students for their upcoming futures.
The Sykes College of Business was chosen to be one of the 294 best business schools in the world. It is featured in the 2011 edition of The Best 294 Business Schools. The studies on this statistic come from 19,000 students attending these 294 universities.
The dean of Sykes commented on the program. “The College of Business is renowned for graduating students who are well prepared to make immediate impacts in the business community,” said Frank Ghannadian, stated in a recent article found on UT’s website regarding the award.
Many students believe that one of the more important opportunities that come out of an education is experience. The Sykes College of Business allows students to mix and connect classwork with business application in the real world, which is a great offer to many students. Stephanie Thomason, the associate dean of the College of Business explained how the classes fully prepare students by saying “students apply the skills they’ve learned in all of their business courses to create a strategic analysis of a live organization. Students compete in groups against each other to analyze the organization’s situation, recognize strategic issues and make recommendations.”
UT has gained relationships with over 700 leaders that provide professional networking. This gives students many internships and job opportunities in the Tampa Bay area. The school also provides state-of-the-art resources including the Huizenga Family Foundation Trading Center, over 1,300 data ports and complete Wi-Fi access.
Brady Frost, a first semester graduate student studying Business Administration at UT enjoys the “knowledgeable and approachable professors” who are more than willing to reach out to their students. The smaller class sizes and international community create a “great learning environment” that encourages interest and participation.
The Sykes College of Business has a mission to “prepare students to succeed in the global marketplace through educational excellence.” What makes this possible are the energetic professors and the innovative courses that show students hands on what their careers will entail. Dr. Thomason explained what makes the classes so important by stating, “While many competing schools conduct case analysis using text book cases in their capstone business courses, our school conducts an analysis of a real time.”
With the school’s up-to-date facilities in the Sykes Building, the friendly working environment is a benefit for students. The classrooms invite students to connect to interesting material. Garrett Francis, a senior at UT studying finance commented on both the theories and experience that take place in the classrooms. “I think having a mix of both allows the business students to develop strategic thought and to learn real world case studies on how to solve business related problems.” Through this advanced business curriculum, students are successfully gaining experience at Tampa and are easily interacting with the business community.
The nine graduate departments and the many courses offered in the Sykes College of Business have opened doors and created a proud learning environment for business students at the University of Tampa.
Kirby Jay can be reached at kirby.jay@spartans.ut.edu.
You don’t want to know lol
Well what was the ranking of UT out of the 294 schools?