Annual Program Review
CIEE Study Center at Universidad de Sevilla Business and Society Program
2006
CIEE Program Director: Catharine Scruggs, [email protected] CIEE Resident Director: Steven Davis
CIEE Academic Consortium Board Program Evaluation: www.ciee.org
CIEE Academic Consortium Board Monitor: John Sunnygard, University of Texas at Austin
Each summer, program directors write a Study Center Review for each CIEE Study Center program commenting on the previous academic year. The program director writes the review based on input from the CIEE Academic Consortium Board members, resident directors, sending institutions, and student evaluations. Each report is made public on the CIEE website at www.ciee.org.
Program Goals
The goals of this program are to provide students with a thorough understanding of economic and business management principles practiced within Spain and the European Union and to solidify students’ Spanish business vocabulary and language skills. These goals are achieved through specialized business and language
coursework, related company visits, internships, a conversational exchange program, homestays, and independent study options.
The program is meeting its goals and no changes are anticipated this time.
In fall 2005, CIEE moved into its new central study center offices in historic Seville. The building, the Palacio, is a beautifully renovated 17th century Andalusian-style mansion. The facility houses staff offices, classrooms, wireless study areas, and a central meeting area for students, faculty, and others associated with the CIEE Study Center in Seville. CIEE continues to maintain offices at the Universidad de Sevilla and at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide.
The program was evaluated by the Academic Consortium Board in spring 2004. A number of recommendations have been put in place based on the evaluation. Academic Program
During the first three weeks of the program, students take one intensive language course designed especially for students of business. During the remainder of the semester, students enroll in four courses in business, humanities, and Spanish
language. At least two of the four semester courses must be business courses. Students may choose a combination of CIEE business and humanities courses, a CIEE-organized internship, business courses from the Universidad de Sevilla and the Universidad Pablo de Olavide.
Language
On site placement tests results during 2005-06 showed that Business and Society program participants continue to maintain similar language levels compared to earlier semesters.
The Intensive Spanish for Students of Business course continues to be one of the most positively evaluated courses of the program.
No students placed in the Intensive Advanced Spanish Business Writing, a course designed for higher level students during the intensive session in fall or spring. A newly designed Spanish grammar class taught in a business context (Advanced Spanish Business Writing) was offered to Business and Society students whose
language level was a possible barrier to learning. Eleven students were required to take this course in the fall and twenty one students took it in the spring. Some students complained about not receiving credit for the course, however, in the end students evaluated the course highly.
CIEE initiated a community language commitment beginning in fall 2005 for the
Business and Society Program. During orientation the resident director held goal setting and language commitment sessions. Students were sufficiently motivated about
speaking only in Spanish. Students do tend to revert to English among themselves but speak in Spanish with faculty and staff.
CIEE Classes
The most popular business courses were European Economy, International Marketing, International Trade and Finance, Internship and International Marketing, and Managing Cultural Diversity.
Professor evaluations for the Managing Cultural Diversity class have improved
significantly since 2004-05. The resident director has worked closely with her to identify ways to improve the quality and dynamic of the class. Student feedback rated this class positively in terms of content, organization, professor, grading criteria and workload. As suggested by the Academic Consortium Board, the CIEE Business and Society professors are starting to include out of classroom activities in their classes. Two notable examples from the spring semester were:
The International Trade and Finance professor actively encouraged two CIEE students to give a presentation on the Consequences of Globalization (in Spanish) to over 150 Spaniards in an event promoted by the Universidad de Sevilla, Universidad Pablo de Olavide and the City of Lebrija (60 minutes outside of Seville). Both students presented a paper on a panel along side two very prestigious professors from both universities. The Managing Cultural Diversity professor also invited a special guest speaker who was visually impaired from ONCE in Barcelona to offer a perspective on dealing with
diversity. About forty students attended the event, half of which were Spanish students and the other half CIEE students.
Direct Enrollment
Direct Enrolment in regular university courses continues to be promoted heavily during orientation to spark interest and encourage students to actively integrate themselves into the local academic community. A special presentation during orientation (both
participants as well as a tour of both Universidad de Sevilla’s Facultad de Empresariales and Universidad Pablo de Olavide campuses.
Three students (12.5%) ultimately enrolled in regular university courses in the fall. However, there was considerably more interest and inquiries regarding direct enrollment than in the past. The three courses taken in the fall were: Cultura Empresarial
Internacional at University Pablo de Olavide and Gestión Informatizada del Subsistema Comercial and Marketing Internacional at the Universidad de Sevilla’s Facultad de Empresariales.
Seven students (10%) in the spring ultimately enrolled in regular university courses. One student enrolled in two regular university classes. The courses taken in the spring were, at the Universidad de Sevilla: Mercados Financieros, Psicología del Consumo, Gestión del Punto de Venta, Merchandising, Historia del Cine, Marketing Político-Social and at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide: Finanzas Internacionales II and Técnicas de
Comercio Exterior.
Only one student of the seven that took regular university classes requested the aid of a tutor. Six of the seven spring students were academic year program participants and felt comfortable enough with the language to not need tutors and/or to meet Spaniards to study with without CIEE’s help.
Company Visits
During the fall semester, the program went on three company visits: Madrid Stock Exchange, Cruzcampo [Seville’s national brewery] and Isla Mágica [Seville’s local amusement park] with100% attendance on all three visits. The trip to Madrid was a weekend excursion and represented CIEE’s first initiative to combine a company visit and cultural excursion. The trip was a success. During the spring semester, three company visits were organized: ONCE--Spain’s Organization for the Blind (96% attendance), Oleoestepa--One of Spain’s largest olive oil associations exporting primarily to Italy (88% participation), and the Bahía de Algeciras port -one of Spain’s primary ports used by international travelers and import-export (87% attendance). During the last company visit to the “Puerto de Algeciras”, a translation professor from the Universidad Pablo de Olavide encouraged nineteen of his Spanish students to accompany the group. Many students commented on how much they enjoyed interacting with Spaniards and CIEE hopes to continue and expand this possibility.
Most students evaluated the company visits positively but some students commented that the company visits didn’t seem to tie well into the business courses and some visits were less interesting than others.
Internship Program
The purpose of the internship is to immerse Business and Society program students into local business culture. Students work in local companies for a total of 120 hours. Onsite business experiences are complimented by a solid academic component entailing weekly meetings.
Five students participated in the fall semester internship program. The sectors in which the students performed their internships were: Sports Facility Management, Advertising, Travel, Insurance Brokerage and Telecommunications. Twenty-nine students (42% of
the Business and Society Program) participated in the spring semester’s Internship Program. Nineteen companies collaborated with the program, seven of which were new. Some the sectors represented were: Adventure Tourism, Advertising, Fitness, Insurance Brokerage, International Education, Internet Marketing, Leadership Consulting, Small Business Consulting, Sports Facility Management, Tourism, Telecommunications and Transportation.
This year, the highlight of the internship program (for both semesters) was the
incorporation of Telefónica, Spain’s national telecommunications provider. Telefónica participated both semesters offering a wonderful opportunity for students to conduct research and perform a two-hour presentation in Madrid before several top executives. One of the weekly internship sessions was dedicated to the Myers-Briggs Personality Analysis, whereby a representative from a local management consulting firm gave a presentation explaining the history and purpose of this tool. Each student received an individualized personality profile analysis. Making students aware of their own strengths and weakness, as well as those around them, is an invaluable asset to perform well both in their work in Seville and future careers.
Most complaints from students about the internship program were regarding the amount of work hours involved, varying degree of job experiences (i.e. boss involvement in the student experience), and the weight of the 10-page paper and presentation. The latter is an ongoing complaint. The bottom line is that the internship program is demanding, requiring dedication and sacrifice.
Non-academic Features Orientation
The fall orientation, based at a hotel for three nights and four full days, was conducted by CIEE Seville staff. In spring, orientation was reduced to two nights in order to reduce the amount of time students are in an “un-Spanish” atmosphere. Following the
orientation, students were picked up by their homestay hosts.
A PowerPoint presentation in English accompanies the Spanish orientation sessions and students receive copies of these covering all issues discussed.
The biggest change in orientations this year was the use of the CIEE Palacio for
orientation sessions. Sessions were held in smaller groups, which gave a generally more “personal” feel to the orientation. The only real issues encountered with this new “small-group” format is that orientation week becomes significantly more difficult to schedule and considerably more hectic for staff, with orientation sessions being repeated several times to different groups. Generally speaking, however, the use of the Palacio as a venue for orientation was a success.
Other highlights from orientation include the addition of two optional sessions: one on the GLBT experience, and another on issues of race.
The administration of the orientation tour was changed slightly. The tour is a very popular with students. Student evaluations, however, indicated that participants wanted even more information on local transportation. So, additional help was organized for the tour (to cover the presentations given at tour stops). This allowed orientation guides
more time to provide an introduction to the activity, during which they gave more focus to transportation issues.
Field Trips
In the fall Business and Society program students participated in a weekend trip to Madrid and day trips to Aracena and Córdoba. In spring the weekend trip was to Granada and the day trips to Aracena and Cádiz.
Excursions Around Seville
Students had the opportunity to participate in a variety of guided visits around Seville during the year including, in the fall, the “1001 noches” concert, Reales Alcázares, the Catedral, “Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías”(theater), Barrio Santa Cruz, Barrio Triana, Carrera popular Nocturna del Guadalquivir,“El caballo Real” (a show), Cervantes route, Discussion about Batalla Trafalgar, “La Torna de la Torna”. (theater), and in spring the Reales Alcázares, the Cathedral, the Barrio Santa Cruz, Barrio de Triana, Exposición de 1929, Casa de Pilatos, Bellas Artes museum, Seville town hall, the Cervantes route, a Semana Santa talk and the Opera Don Quijote.
Language Exchange (Intercambio)
This year CIEE organized intercambio meetings earlier in the intensive session with more Spanish student participation. This was significantly better than in previous semesters. However, in spring, the intercambio program was so well-promoted that demand ultimately exceeded available intercambios. Students who were not matched during the intensive session had to wait until University exams were over to be matched and many had by then lost interest.
For the first time a special event was organized to facilitate the integration of program students into the local academic culture. This was a new idea developed with a CIEE marketing professor, who did a fantastic job organizing the academic component of this event. About 40 students attended the event (20 Spanish students and 20 Business and Society students).
Tertulia Series
In the fall, Gustavo Arestigui was invited to talk on his book “Islam contra Islamistas”. This was a huge success with over 200 Spanish and American students in attendance. In the Spring, the Cuban dissident/exile, Raul Rivero, was invited to speak about his poetry and journalism. Other events drew fewer students, but CIEE plans to continue to offer this program. The other talks for 2005-06 included the Spanish Monarchy, Mito de Al-Andalus, and Tallersobre Interculturalidad.
Cine Club
This student-run activity, in which program participants organize a weekly film series, continues to be a hit. The films are open to the public, and quite a number of Spanish students participate. The move to the CIEE Palacio has had a positive impact on
CineClub because of the location. The CineClub coordinator decided to place a flipchart each Thursday outside the Palacio, with information on the evening’s film. As a result, there was much higher “walk-in” participation. About 25% of the participants were Spanish.
Sports
CIEE organizes weekly pick-up games in soccer, basketball and volleyball with Spanish students.
Volunteer activities
In the fall semester, a new initiative was tried: the CIEE Club de Voluntarios. The initial idea was to have a group of motivated students work with local NGOs to organize a variety of volunteer opportunities for themselves and other program participants. Initial interest in the Club was high but waned over the course of the semester as students became immersed in classes, travel, etc. The participants did, however, organize a clothing drive as well as a Toys for Tots campaign.
Housing
Students on the Business and Society can now choose between living in a homestay or in a residencia. During the fall semester, all program participants lived in homestays. In spring, 13 students lived in the Residencia, and the rest were housed in traditional homestays. In spring, 27 students were in shared-housing. Some students complained about the food in the residencia.
CIEE continues to seek to decrease and ultimately eliminate the number of students who are doubled up in spring. This number has decreased substantially over the past four years.
Students
Enrollment Gender
Semester 81 Male 35
Academic Year 12 Female 58
Average Student GPA 3.37 Top Enrollments by Major
Finance Marketing Business Admin Accounting
Spanish Language & Literature
Top Sending Schools Indiana University Purdue University
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Wisconsin Madison-Business Villanova University
Future Directions
The program was reviewed by the Academic Consortium Board in spring 2004. Major recommendations have been implemented and continue to be emphasized such as strongly encouraging program participants to participate in an internship or take a regular university course.
CIEE intends to build on its success inviting Spaniards on the company visits and will invite the Spaniards early in the semester to give more possibility for relationships to develop among the students. Staff will also work on new ways to involve professors in the selection of companies to visit and in participating in the visits. This will help link their content to the visits. Lastly, staff are discussing the idea of linking company visits to a
common theme which may be easier to promote and link to courses (example, Diversity in the workplace in three different companies, Employment, Economy or Tourism). In terms of the internship, CIEE will work on redesigning the academic component to help students develop and appreciate the soft skills necessary for professional peak performance, (i.e. cultural reflection and self awareness) and place more emphasis on helping students develop research skills and provide assistance in formulating a research topic, organizing a realistic outline and writing a coherently argued paper. The CIEE Resident Director, Steven Davis, left the CIEE program at the end of August 2006. Jaime Ramirez, who has worked with the program for several years and has interned in the CIEE Portland office, and in the Georgetown University and University of Colorado’s study abroad offices, is serving as resident coordinator for the program in fall 2006, reporting to Dr. Maritheresa Frain, Director of the CIEE Seville Center.
