Three seniors are the first Elon students to graduate with degrees in international business and international management from both Elon and NEOMA Business School in France
Elon seniors Katherine Sipple, Adrienne Greenberg and Anna Kuertz are graduating this spring with two degrees: a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree in international business from Elon University and a Bachelor of Science degree in international management from NEOMA Business School in Reims, France. They are the first group of Elon students to complete Elon’s international business dual-degree program with NEOMA.
The international business dual-degree program affords Elon students the opportunity to study, live and work abroad through one of the university’s partner schools. In four years, students learn how to be successful in a foreign business environment while gaining the knowledge, skills and capabilities mastered by traditional business students. Students spend their first two years at Elon and the next two at the partner school. The reverse is true for international students enrolled in the program. While abroad, students complete a semester-long, full-time internship, as well as a research thesis.
Adrienne Greenberg
“The dual-degree program has been the most rewarding thing I have ever done. At times, it is stressful and really hard to be away from home, but it’s truly been such a beautiful experience.”
Originally from: Glenelg, Maryland
Internship: Greenberg worked as a marketing and legal intern for Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, an international law firm in Paris. She was responsible for organizing firm-wide events for the firm’s three branches (New York City, Silicon Valley and Paris). She also worked on researching and writing/translating legal documents.
Thesis: “How does Russia’s petroleum wealth exacerbate the corruption in their institutional system? A specific look into the Yukos affair.”
Post-graduate plans: Greenberg plans to intern with a large European organization, ideally European Parliament or the European Commission. She is also studying for the LSAT and applying to law school.
Anna Kuertz
“This adventure has been the most challenging experience of my life – personally, academically and emotionally, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.”
Originally from: Cincinnati, Ohio
Internship: Kuertz completed her internship with Spartoo SAS, a European online shoe retailer, in Grenoble, France. Her duties as the E-marketing intern for the United Kingdom included overseeing existing and developing new affiliate partnerships,monitoring online paid search campaigns and conducting competitor analysis.
Thesis: “How do companies within the fashion industry in the United States utilize their supply chains to regulate environmental impacts in the world?”
Post-graduate plans: Kuertz hopes to continue living and working abroad after graduation and is currently interviewing with a number of companies in France.
Katherine Sipple
“This has been a challenging but rewarding experience. I have learned so much in such a short amount of time and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to live and study in another country, learn another language and travel.”
Originally from: Cary, North Carolina
Internship: Sipple was as a market analyst intern at GfK Retail and Technology where she worked on a distribution panel in the domestic appliances group. She worked with other analysts to analyze market trends, prepare presentations and respond to client requests.
Thesis: “How does the implementation of a Corporate Social Responsibility strategy impact a company’s reputation?”
Post-graduate plans: Sipple will serve in AmeriCorps VISTA, a national service program designed to fight poverty.
In addition to NEOMA, Elon has a partnership with ESB Business School at Reutlingen University in Germany. This year, there were four Elon students attending ESB. There are 16 Elon students are enrolled in the dual-degree program who will attend partner schools in fall 2015 and fall 2016.
There are also eight international dual-degree program students currently attending Elon, and six more will arrive in the fall. Three of the eight international students presently at Elon are from NEOMA and five are from ESB.
Elon is also working on developing partnerships with universities in Spain and Italy.
Associate Professor Mark Kurt, director of the dual-degree program, said students who are best fit for the program have “a strong desire to do something distinctive, a desire to connect culturally, and an interest in business.”
Elon students participating in the program are required to achieve language proficiency prior to departure. Language proficiency standards are designated and evaluated by the Department of World Languages and Cultures, as students must meet European language standards for writing and comprehension. Before leaving Elon, students complete the First-Year Foundations in the Elon Core Curriculum as well as the Love School of Business Core requirements. Dual-degree students also participate in a themed Elon 101 course and pre-departure/post-arrival orientation sessions.
As students are enrolled in Elon for all four years, they are eligible for all financial aid packages, including Elon scholarships and grants, when studying abroad at partner schools.
For more information, visit elon.edu/dualbusiness.