Honors Cohort

It is not enough to teach our students through the use of a text book and the age old lecture.   Students in the Cohort Program are active participants in the class room and peer-to-peer learning is of paramount importance.  A variety of approaches are deployed to create a dynamic learning environment.

• Active company involvement in Cohort courses provides real world experiences by allowing students to consult on current challenges that organizations are facing in today’s competitive environment
• Two domestic trips during the junior year for all students and one domestic trip during senior year for women.  All trips are fully funded by our generous alumni and friends:
  • Autumn business trip to Chicago: to explore different professional routes within business during fall semester. View the autumn business tripitinerary.
  • Spring business trip to Seattle and San Francisco: to explore the tech industry, entrepreneurship, venture capital, and much more.  View the spring west coast business trip itinerary.
  • Spring business trip to New York city: to build pathways that empower women in the Honors Cohort Program to achieve their ambitions while building a community of supporters and allies from the Ohio State community and beyond.  View the NYC spring business trip itinerary.
• Guest speakers who are leaders from around the world consistently attend classes
• A personal coach/mentor who is a successful alumni from the Cohort Program is assigned to each student

Giving back is a core value in the Honors Cohort Program. We fundamentally believe that business can be a force for positive change in the world.  Cohort students will be involved in a signature service project during the program that they will be responsible for developing and executing where the impact will be measured on a local and global level.  See below for a few summary videos of past student projects:

• The creation of RESUME, a program to help formerly incarcerated citizens successfully return to society
• The creation of Buckeyes Building Connections, a program to connect Ohio State students to the elderly community
• The coordination of Fisher Impact Day, a day of service where 500+ students go out in the community to make a positive impact

The world is getting smaller and tomorrow’s leaders must have a strong understanding of the macro business environment that we operate in.  With globalization in mind, students in the Cohort Program are exposed to global business models, strategies, and cultures.  While the study of global business is critical, it is not enough to learn about it in the classroom, which is why the signature business trip of the Program during senior year takes students abroad.  The 2022 trip took Cohort seniors to Brazil to become familiar with the impact of politics, culture, and history have had on the business and economic climate in this major emerging market.  They had the opportunity to work on a global consulting project with Movida in partnership with students from several different Brazilian universities.  View the itinerary.

Students will be involved in a thorough and holistic evaluation of their current leadership skills and will develop an action plan to further leverage strengths while improving weaknesses.  Students are regularly given opportunities to lead in various team projects.  One example of this is through the annual immersive negotiation challenge where students are put through an extensive simulation and forced to make strategic decisions with limited and ambiguous information.