The MBS Externship Exchange program provides students with opportunities for education through experiential learning. Through externships, students work remotely in multi-disciplinary teams to solve real-world projects for partner organizations under the guidance of professors and external company mentors—some of whom are MBS alumni! Each team has a single student serve as lead extern. Projects are in fields relating to our 25 concentrations within the Professional Science Master’s (PSM) program, along with the areas of business, finance, and marketing.
The externship exchange program encourages students to meet their goals for personal growth. Students may be exploring a new area within their field, starting in a new area and exploring options, gaining skills as an experienced student, or exploring a new area altogether.
The externship exchange began in the summer of 2016 with just 13 students and quickly grew. This semester, 150 externs working with 23 partner organizations gave lightning talks about their semester-long projects. Students came from a variety of organizations within Rutgers including the PSM program, Undergraduate School of Engineering, Honors College, Bloustein School, Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, New Jersey Big Data Alliance, and more.
On April 25th and May 2nd, Externship Exchange Director Dr. Christie Nelson, Ph.D., and her team of advisors hosted the Spring 2023 Externship Lighting Talk presentations. After Dr. Nelson’s introduction, each team gave a lightning-fast recap of their semester-long project. Each presentation introduced team members and advisors before diving into:
- Introduction to the partner organization
- Problem statement with goals
- Methods, or project approach
- Results
- Insights and takeaways
This semester, externs partnered with organizations such as Colgate, DIMACS, Iron Skillet Coffee, ECPAT-USA, and more.
The audience voted for teams with the best slides and the best overall presentation. At the end of the night, several MBS students were awarded fellowships. Congratulations to all externs for stellar work this semester!
The MBS Externship Exchange program is open to students during the fall, spring, and summer semesters. To learn more about externships, visit the MBS Externship Exchange program webpage or attend one of our informational webinars.