At the College of Business, you won’t just gather in classrooms to analyze and discuss things you’ve read in a textbook. You’ll learn by doing. By engaging in powerful, impactful educational experiences, you will apply what you have learned in different settings to gain knowledge, build lifelong friendships, engage with alumni and mentors, cultivate your personal growth and much more.

Study Abroad | Mentorship, Internships and Externships | Internships: Successful Strategies | Internships: CIS 361 | Consulting: CIS 434 | Service Learning: CyberDay | Competitions | Research Experience for Undergraduates

For many students, the time spent studying abroad is one of the most significant periods in their academic studies. Long afterward they continue to discover that the immersive experience of another culture pays dividends throughout their lives as they navigate new social and global career environments.

The Antwerp, Belgium study abroad opportunity for students who have been accepted into COB 300 not only satisfies the COB 300 requirement, it allows you to blend classroom theory with excursions to vital European businesses and historic sites, providing cultural experiences that broaden and enrich your understanding of European business practices.

In addition, each year brings new business-major specific study abroad opportunities, with past trips traveling to countries such as Panama, Columbia, France, Prague and the UK.

Not all learning happens in a classroom, and not all of your experiences will come from being on campus. That’s why we have the Office of Professional Development and Engagement (OPDE). They’re here to help with preparation, programs and information on mentorship, internships and externships.

The OPDE created a Career Mentor Network LinkedIn group that connects knowledgeable College of Business alumni with motivated students for mentorship that can extend far beyond simply understanding your career options. Anyone can network on LinkedIn, but this COB-only group uses mentorship to supplement your classroom learning with skills to navigate your transition into the working world.

The programs and resources of the OPDE are here to help you land that important internship or externship—or both. From resume building workshops to job and internship feeds, you’ll have all the tools you need to stand out from the crowd. 

There are a variety of ways for you to gain relevant CIS-related work experience. Use this list to get started, 

• Check JMU's  JobLink or on-campus jobs.
• Check with JMU Computing Support for on-campus jobs such as the Information Technology Help Desk and Computer Lab Assistants.
• In addition, students often gain relevant work experience through  JMU's Community Service-Learning. CSL often has opportunities for unpaid/paid IT projects.
• Local internships in the Harrisonburg, Virginia region can often be found on the  Shenandoah Valley Technology Council's website.

Get recognition for your work by enrolling in CIS 361 - Computer Information Systems Internship. This course enables students with a major in CIS to receive acknowledgment on their JMU transcript following the successful completion of an information technology-related internship.

The internship transcript acknowledgement requires that:

• You have declared the CIS major and have completed COB 300
• You complete 300 hours of approved computer information systems work
• Your internship supervisor provides feedback on your performance

The CIS major has a twenty-five year history of providing quality IT consulting education to its students.

IT Consulting topics are interwoven throughout the required major and minor coursework. Since positive client engagement is vital to the success of IT consultants, our curriculum emphasizes the skills necessary to understand client needs during the interview process. 

The core component of our undergraduate IT consulting education is CIS 434 - IT Consulting, an elective that draws on alumni expertise and gives you an opportunity to work side by side with professional consultants as mentors. 

By teaching others about Computer Information Systems, you will learn to develop advanced competencies and diagnostic skills to correct software problems. Mentorship in the  CyberDay program, which is a collaborative effort between the College of Business and the JMU Office of Admissions, will offer the opportunity to engage middle school students in animation programming or other computer technology activities. Share your excitement in the field of computer information systems and cultivate the interests of young people in future business/technology related careers. 

Competitions offer more than just the end prize. 

They make academic material come to life as students work in teams to analyze and evaluate outcomes, develop innovative solutions to real-world business problems and present their ideas to industry professionals. 

A prestigious annual event for all majors is the Rainey-Shepard Business Plan Competition, the final rite of passage for a select group of student-teams from the required COB 300 integrated business core course. The competition resembles a venture capital fair, as aspiring entrepreneurs pitch ideas to potential investors with more than $25,000 in scholarships and prizes riding on the outcome. Over the event's 20-plus years of existence, founder Don Rainey ('82), Russell "Rusty" Shepard ('86) and a host of other JMU alumni and business professionals have provided ongoing financial support and have also given generously of their time and expertise as competition judges.

You also have the opportunity to participate in more major-specific competitions each year sponsored by consulting firms such as Deloitte, KPMG, Accenture and Booz Allen Hamilton. These events allow you to engage in consulting activities, network with professionals and enhance your problem-solving skills.

As a future business leader, you’ll need to know how to gather and analyze data to help make the best possible decisions for your company. Our Research Experience for Undergraduates program will help you learn the process of conducting independent research in the business disciplines. 

As an undergraduate research assistant, you’ll make valuable connections with JMU faculty as you collaborate on research topics of mutual interest, learning a wide range of research skills such as reviewing literature, developing surveys, collecting and cleaning data, and analyzing results. These experiences may also give you a competitive edge in applying for graduate school.