E. Philip Saunders College of Business
The Saunders Experience
Students who attend the E. Philip Saunders College of Business are focused and career-oriented. That does not mean each and every Saunders student knows right off the bat what major field of study or what career he or she will pursue. In fact, some students are undeclared business majors during their first and second years at Saunders.
What it does mean is students are serious about academics and interested in relating everything they learn and do in the classroom to what they ultimately may do on the job. For instance, course projects may involve teaming with classmates to address real business problems for real companies.
Fast Pace
The quarter (vs. semester) system entails 10 weeks of classes, followed by final exam-week, and then one or two weeks off, before it starts all over again. To succeed, students must become masters at managing their time. This is just one reason employers report Saunders students make streamlined transitions from college to careers.
Saunders Community
Saunders is one of the smallest of the top business programs in the country; RIT is one of the largest private universities in the country. Students have thus described Saunders as a school-within-a-school, with individualized benefits stemming from the Saunders community and with access to some resources only available at a large, technical university.
Undergraduate class sizes range from 40 students in core business courses to as few as 15 in upper-level courses, while graduate class sizes range from 25 to 35.
There is not a single business course in which students will not know their business professors personally.
On-the-Job Experience
While there are more than 150 student organizations and programs across the institute of RIT, Saunders also has its share of college-specific or college-spearheaded programs and organizations, which serve as vehicles connecting the classroom to industry.
For example:
- Students in the Financial Management Association manage a portfolio of more than 100,000 real dollars.
- During tax season, students in Next Generation of Accountants prepare taxes for eligible families in the Rochester area through a program called Creating Assets, Savings & Hope.
- Through the Lowenthal Service Group, students pair with alumni in their fields of interest to team-teach business and economics lessons to youngsters in city schools.
Clearly, characterizing Saunders students as focused and career-oriented does not mean students do not have lives outside the classroom. In fact, at Saunders, it simply means the real world is their classroom.