Experiential Learning at Cox

Cox provides opportunities to build leadership and teamwork skills.

Whether it is a simulation, a consultative experience, or a real-life business case, in experiential learning scenarios, you will be thrust into an environment where the challenges facing the business are ambiguous and unstructured, and the outcomes are based upon real circumstances.

You will work across disciplines and tools to understand the nature of the challenge, and how to respond to either protect the company, exploit the opportunity, enhance the strategy, learn from a mistake and iterate, or recover from failure.

Most scenarios will be approached in teams, which will help you gain additional insight and enhanced soft skills that will be critical to your personal future success. Each course is designed to integrate experiential learning into the curriculum. Hands on opportunities build leadership and teamwork skills, and put analytic knowledge to practice. Students gain hands on experience through case-based coursework, consultative projects with corporate partners, high-intensity virtual simulations, and global immersion trips.

Global Immersion

Through international experiences like our Global Leadership Program, you’ll learn a methodology for attacking complex business problems. Whether traveling abroad or immersing virtually with global organizations, students employ that methodology to consult for organizations around the world.

Portfolio Practicum

Each year, approximately 20 Full-Time and Professional MBA students are selected for the MBA Practicum in Portfolio Management course to manage the Nancy Chambers Underwood Graduate Fund. Established in 1972, the $6 million Fund is one of the oldest student-managed portfolios in the country. The Fund’s investment style is equity long-only and the Practicum provides students the opportunity to apply the concepts of equity research, valuation and portfolio management to a real world investment fund.

Centers and Institutes

SMU Cox is home to numerous Centers and Institutes, serving as resources to the University, the community and the world. Many also offer opportunities for scholarly research and writing, conferences, periodic lectures and symposia. These in-classroom opportunities are matched with lots of networking and expertiential offerings. Many of our Centers & Institutes offer treks across the U.S. (Our Global Leadership Programs offer the international treks).

The expansive range of focus includes entrepreneurship, leadership, energy, real estate, customer engagement, financial studies, economic freedom, and more.

Learn all about Cox Centers and Institutes

One of the most utilized centers by Full-Time MBA students is the Business Leadership Center which offers specialized training in leadership and communication — critical skills necessary for success as a leader. The BLC offers skill-building experiential learning seminars, executive speaker series, experiential learning programs and coaching. More than 90 experiential learning seminars are offered, 4 per week on average, that build your strengths in communication, interpersonal relations, management, and leadership.  

Experiential learning programs through the BLC give you a chance to study with experts and apply your newly acquired skills. One of the favorites is the five-day program “Leading and Sustaining a Service Culture” held at the Disney Institute in Orlando Florida. SMU Cox is the only graduate school to offer this customized program on-site at the Disney Institute. 

Students with the desire to give back to the community can do so through the Nonprofit Consulting Program. Students work in groups on projects that address real-life challenges faced by various local nonprofits. 

Learn more about the Business Leadership Center