Skip to main content
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Search

Experiential Learning Opportunities

Experiential Learning
Opportunities

Support

Learn Business By Doing Business

Beginning in Fall 2022, all incoming students at Nebraska will be expected to participate in a significant experiential learning activity connecting your classroom learning to a real-world setting. These hands-on experiences enable you to gain experience and apply your skills. Your choice of experiential learning experience will be documented on your transcript and may yield credit hours applicable to your degree or recognized by a 0-credit course. To satisfy the experiential learning requirement, College of Business students can participate in one of the College of Business experiential opportunities or any experiential opportunity across campus.

Choose Your Experiential Learning Experience

Internships Business Abroad Course Curriculum
Caleb Newburn participating in his internship

Internships

Internships are short-term, structured, entry-level professional opportunities that connect your academic preparation with practical work experience. Interns work on meaningful projects, receive supervision and mentorship, and develop skills necessary for a specific employer, industry or job function.

How You'll Benefit

  • Transcription of the internship onto your academic record.
  • Credit toward graduation (if selecting the 1-3 section).
  • Opportunity to collaborate with a faculty member.
  • Deeper processing of the internship experience and how it relates to academic content and future career goals.

Internship Course Options
BSAD 395: Professional Internship - Credit hours for the internship are based around the quality of academic assignments submitted about the internship. Students cannot earn internship credit for their current job but can earn internship credit for an experience in a new area at their current organization if it relates to their undergraduate academic studies. Regardless of the academic credit awarded for the internship (0, 1, 2 or 3 credit hours), all internships must involve at least 150 hours of work. View the public syllabus

How to Enroll

  1. Meet with an academic advisor in the Business Advising and Student Engagement office to discuss if/how BSAD 395 will count toward your degree.
  2. Contact Business Career Center to be added to the Canvas course to submit pre-internship documents and assignments.
  3. Once you have been added to the Canvas Course, you will see further instructions for you to:
    • Submit a copy of your internship description or create an internship proposal.
    • Contact the appropriate faculty/staff member to complete the Academic Credit Contract.
    • Contact your internship employer supervisor to complete the Memorandum of Understanding.
  4. Once approval is granted, enroll in the course in MyRed.

How to Enroll

Business Abroad

Prepare for your future in a globalized economy by challenging yourself to study or intern in another country with Nebraska Business Abroad experiences around the world.

Whether you want to change the world through social entrepreneurship or gain a deeper understanding of a different culture, there’s a study abroad program for you.

How You'll Benefit

  • Personal growth through building confidence, increasing self-reliance, and learning a new language.
  • Intercultural development through exposure to new cultures, values and norms.
  • Career development through international internships, learning about different leadership, management and business style.

Explore Business Abroad

Business Abroad
Union Pacific Course

Course Curriculum

In experiential courses, you will have the opportunity to roll up your sleeves and learn business by doing business while still having the support from your classmates and professor. Learn by doing projects for actual clients, case studies, simulations, in-class activities, role-playing and interacting with guest speakers.

To satisfy the experiential learning requirement, College of Business students can participate in one of the College of Business experiential opportunities or any experiential opportunity across campus.

How You'll Benefit

  • Complete professional projects within a structured timeframe.
  • Gain better awareness of a particular business or industry.
  • Sharpen skills.
  • Make connections with representatives and managers from the employer.

Explore Business Courses

Business Courses Satisfying the Experiential Learning Requirement

ACCT 455: Research and Communication in Accounting

Prerequisites: ACCT major and ACCT 309, 312, and 314 with a grade of C or better.

Improvisation, professional writing, and professional presentations.

BSAD 395: Professional Internship

Crosslisted with ACCT 395, ACTS 395, ECON 395, FINA 395, MNGT 395, SCMA 395

Students are required to complete 150+ hours of work in a supervised in-person, hybrid or virtual internship with an employing organization, as well as corresponding academic assignments. The student, employing supervisor, and faculty member collectively agree upon the internship learning objectives, tasks and responsibilities, training, and supervision to ensure the student has a quality real-world experience that meets the National Association of Colleges and Employers definition of an internship.

ECON 315: Economic Data Visualization and Analysis

Prerequisites: ECON 211, ECON 212, ECON 215 or equivalent.

Learn to collect, clean, manage, describe, and visualize economic data using modern statistical software such as R, SQL, or Excel. Develop skills to apply economic analysis to business and policy issues. Builds upon the statistical skills and economic theories learned previously but will also introduce new statistical techniques and economic ideas. Each content area will be learned through applications and projects.

ECON 417: Introductory Econometrics

Prerequisites: ECON 210, or both ECON 211 and ECON 212; ECON 215 or equivalent.

Designed to give undergraduate and master's level economics students an introduction to basic econometric methods including economic model estimation and analyses of economic data. Hypothesis formulation and testing, economic prediction and problems in analyzing economic cross-section and time series data are considered.

ECON 445: Economics of Gender and Race

Prerequisites: ECON 211 or ECON 212.

Introduction to the field of feminist economics. Critiques of economic theory and methodology along with gender and household decision-making, the care economy, international migration, development, globalization, the feminization of labor markets, and macroeconomics.

ECON 471: Public Finance

Prerequisites: ECON 210, or both ECON 211 and ECON 212; ECON 312.

Microeconomic analysis of policy issues in public finance, emphasizing taxation. Includes public goods and externalities; analysis of tax incidence, efficiency, and equity; and fiscal federalism.

ECON 472: Efficiency in Government

Prerequisites: ECON 210, or both ECON 211 and ECON 212.

Prepares students to conduct social and economic planning, program evaluation, and budgeting. Analysis of the delivery of government goods and services consistent with values and societal goals. Includes: philosophy of government, budget theory, social indicators, social fabric matrix, cost effective analysis, technology assessment, evaluation of the natural environment, and time analysis.

ENTR 321B: Foundations of Entrepreneurship

Prerequisites: Sophomore Standing. Acceptance into the Clifton Builders Program.

Introduction to entrepreneurship management/marketing. Provides an 'insider's view' of entrepreneurial creativity, innovation, and value creation. First-hand accounts from personal experiences in creating new products, services, and ideas. Insight into real-world marketing creativity, leadership applications, research and development, market analysis, feasibility study, and potential careers in creativity and related fields. Involves the investigation of markets, both for profit and not-for-profit.

ENTR 322: Family Business

The opportunities and challenges that are distinctive to businesses owned and operated by members of a family. Shared governance, leadership development, succession, and family-business tensions.

ENTR 421: Identifying and Exploring Entrepreneurial Opportunities

Prerequisites: Junior Standing; ENTR/MNGT 321.

Covers the creative skills fundamental to the process of identifying and exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities and the analytical toolkit needed to explore the feasibility of an entrepreneurial opportunity. Integrates experiential exercises, thought leadership in the field, and case study analysis to hone in on the critical importance of the entrepreneurial mindset to society. A variety of contexts are considered, including traditional small businesses, social/non-profit organizations, and innovative efforts within established firms.

ENTR 423: Business Plan Development and Decision Making

Prerequisites: Junior standing; ENTR/MNGT 421.

Takes an in-depth look at the business planning process. By the end of the class, students produce their own business plans. Learn through their own business plan writing, through in-depth cases studies, by engaging in role plays and by interacting with business executives. Business plans are a critical part of any organization, thus, preparing students to develop business plans for a variety of new concepts and ideas, whether inside an established firm or as part of the start-up new venture. Students will be asked to enter their business plans into the business planning competitions in which the university participates.

MNGT 360: Managing Behavior in Organizations

Prerequisites: Sophomore standing.

Foundations of organizational behavior. This course provides the basic knowledge for managing people in organizations by surveying frameworks for individual, group, and system behaviors. The course builds critical thinking skills by examining the role of perception, personality and attitudes, motivation, leadership, group dynamics, employee engagement, organizational culture, communication and decision making in the management of work.

MNGT 411: Philanthropy and Leadership

Prerequisites: Junior standing.

Organizations are complex systems calling for a leadership processes including the leader, the follower and the context to effect change. Students should emerge with an understanding of many of the basic concepts and generalizations about leadership, which relate to human behavior and interactions in organizations. Objectives and class activities focus on understanding how leaders function in organizations and on one's leadership operations in the organizational setting. Participants will utilize concepts, generalizations, theories and frames of reference to analyze organizations and leadership to understand and improve their functions. Topics covered include: Systems Theory and Organizational theory, the change process and the leadership process, roles in changing organizations, power and politics in organizations, congruence of individual and organizational ethics, and the behavioral concerns in project management.

MNGT 451: Strengths Coaching, Theory and Practice

Prerequisites: Accepted as a Student Strengths Coach.

Provides in-depth knowledge of strengths-based development and techniques to maximize the individual potential of others through the exploration and application of CliftonStrengths. Develops skills to be successful in coaching and positively impacting student development, engagement, and well-being in college and after graduation.

MNGT 475: Business Strategies

Prerequisites: Open only to students in the College of Business. SR; 2.5 GPA; major in the College of Business; BSAD220; ACCT201 and ACCT202; ECON211 and ECON212; FINA 361; SCMA350 and SCMA331; MNGT301; SCMA 331; MRKT 341; or equivalent.

Learn the principal concepts, frameworks, and techniques of strategic management. Formulate and apply business strategies, analyze cases, explore business simulations, and gain an understanding and appreciation of how strategy affects careers, company performance, and industry attractiveness.

MNGT 475H: Honors: Business Policies and Strategies

Prerequisites: Open CoB Hon, Raikes and Hon students in good & SR standing. 2.5 GPA; major in Col of Bus; BSAD220; ACCT201&202; ECON211&212; FINA361; SCMA350&331; MNGT301; MRKT341; or equiv. Prereqs differ for RAIKES, ACTS, & ABUS majors - see bulletin for exceptions.

Formulation and application of business policies and strategies; analysis of cases using knowledge acquired in basic courses in accounting, economics, finance, human resources, information systems, marketing, and operations. The "C" complexity of business problems and the interrelationship of business functions.

MRKT 372: Sales Practicum II

Prerequisites: MRKT 257 and admission into the Certificate Program in Sales Excellence.

Practicum designed to enhance internship experience. Work closely with the instructor to develop an understanding of how sales concepts taught in class apply to the practical internship experience.

MRKT 395: Professional Marketing Internship

Prerequisites: MRKT 341, an undergraduate major in the College of Business, and approval of study plan by a faculty supervisor.

Provides an opportunity to study theories, principles, practices, techniques, and strategies utilized in the field of marketing through a marketing internship. Reflect on classroom knowledge and develop practical experience in professional business situations through an approved internship under the direction of a faculty member.

MRKT 442: Marketing Management

Prerequisites: Senior standing; Marketing major or International Business major with marketing as an option; MRKT 341; MRKT 345 or MRKT 350 or MRKT 355; AND 6 hours of marketing electives.

Application of marketing principles to the solution of a wide variety of problems involving influence of the consumer, choice of channels, marketing legislation, and the management of merchandising, advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, pricing, and marketing research.

MRKT 490: Special Topics: Union Pacific Applied Projects

Prerequisites: MRKT 341 and permission.

Together in teams, students will work with managers at Union Pacific on three different business projects where they will act as consultants. The projects are judged on a competitive basis with feedback from Union Pacific managers. The class is interdisciplinary and open to all majors. The projects will cover different aspects of business.

MRKT 491: International Studies in Business & Marketing

Prerequisites: MRKT 341 or Permission of Program Coordinator, major interest in marketing.

Primary study at a site(s) outside the United States with topics to vary depending on the country(ies) and area of study.

SCMA 474: Strategic Supply Chain Management

Prerequisites: Senior Standing; Open to SCMA Majors Only; SCMA 331; SCMA 335; MRKT 346; 2.5 GPA.

The focus of this course is on bringing together the concepts and theories of Supply Chain Management through the application in real world settings. Students will emulate decision making through simulated applications and will work with local/regional organizations to make improvements or explore opportunities enhancing supply chain applications.

Contact

Business Advising and Student Engagement

businessundergrad@unl.edu
HLH 125
402-472-2310