...Fisher undergraduate students ended spring quarter 1999 with a 3.17 GPA...

...Nearly 1/3 of enrolled students qualify for the college's honors accounting or business programs with a 3.4 GPA or higher...

A new import/export class, offered jointly at Fisher and the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, provided students at both universities with valuable international, applied learning experiences. The class also yielded practical outcomes for six Ohio businesses--an export plan for their commodities.

Supported by a grant from the Alcoa Foundation, the class included two interactive videoconferences that brought the students together for real-time discussions, as well as visits by the two instructors who swapped places for a series of lectures. Student teams maintained contact with each other by e-mail and through a common Web site.

Stephen Hills, associate professor of management and human resources at the Fisher College, and Steven M. Burgess, a Fisher College alumnus and Association of Marketers Professor, School of Economic and Business Studies at "Wits," developed the course, with assistance from Cheryl Ryan, director of international programs at Fisher. Mary Beth Double, manager of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Columbus Export Assistance Center, identified the companies that students assisted. The students found the course to be "an excellent capstone" to their undergraduate education, and a "unique and stimulating opportunity."

A new Business Living/Learning Center gives pre-business students a year-long introduction to their chosen field of study. The students live in a residential cluster in the university’s Park Hall, take two of their required first-year classes together and join in a speakers series and other business-related programs developed just for them. One of the class instructors provides on-site academic advising and works with residence hall advisory staff to develop programs and support that form a firm foundation for the Ohio State-Fisher College of Business experience.

• The undergraduate program is ranked 16th by U.S. News & World Report’s "America’s Best Colleges," Year 2000 Guide.
  
  
• Fisher undergraduate students ended spring quarter 1999 with a 3.17 average GPA.
  
  
• Nearly 1/3 of enrolled students qualify for the college’s honors accounting or business programs with a 3.4 GPA or higher.
  
  
• Nearly 1/4 of enrolled students earn Dean’s List recognition with a 3.5 GPA or higher.

The word about Fisher quality is out among recruiters--260 firms asked to recruit on campus in 1998-99, 35 more than last year. More than half of Fisher’s undergraduate student body tapped this resource by registering with the college’s Office of Career Services. They were pleasantly surprised to learn that recruiters were bringing more to the table than annual salaries--which averaged $35,546, a $2,000 increase over the previous year. Recruiters were also offering sign-on bonuses, something previously reserved for MBAs.

The center also assisted students seeking summer internship opportunities. Nearly 450 secured internships with an average monthly salary of $1,849--$200 more than last year. The value of an internship extends beyond graduation. Students with such experience reported a $5,000 higher full-time career salary offer than those without. Of those students reporting to Career Services, 80 percent had at least one internship experience, and 70 percent had two or more.