As students feel the need for an undergraduate business program at UCLA, student organizations continue to come together to provide what they feel a business program would offer students.
Business-orientated organizations such as Bruin Consulting and the Undergraduate Business Society host events and workshops to provide their members with practical skills necessary in the business world.
“Business organizations were started because (their) members felt that there was a lack in UCLA’s business education, and they wanted to create resources to supplement what the university fails to provide,” said Sasha Hoffman, vice president of Undergraduate Business Society.
Hoffman said the theoretical business courses available at UCLA do a good job of teaching general business concepts but do not adequately provide practical applications such as specific field-related knowledge.
“Business isn’t really something you can teach in a theory-based lecture,” said Jackie Laird, vice president of Bruin Consulting. “We are getting members who want to take classes in financing or marketing but do not have the resources to do so, and when they enter the business world, they tend to be at a disadvantage.”
Laird said the organization feels a responsibility to its members to fill a void that is created because of the lack of an undergraduate business program. She said the organization cannot look to supplement every aspect of an undergraduate business program but can help its members become more competitive.
Bruin Consulting offers case interview seminars, resume workshops, speaker series, mock interviews and professional development services throughout the year.
“We try to focus on members’ resumes and interviews in order to help them fix it on a one-on-one basis, because we’ve realized that classes don’t really deal with these important issues,” Laird said.
Laird said universities such as the University of Southern California offer finance or marketing-specific courses that prepare students for the real world. She said she believes UCLA does not really offer classes that adequately prepare students in this way.
The Undergraduate Business Society holds job fairs, consulting nights and investment banking nights, as well as other events. These events attract anywhere from 250 to 1,000 students.
Hoffman said the increasing membership in business organizations represent a need for a undergraduate business program at UCLA.
The Undergraduate Business Society attracts more than 1,000 new undergraduates annually and has more than 3,000 total members.
Bruin Consulting has more than 500 total members.
“The high demand of students who wish to participate in business events shows that there is a large interest for an undergraduate business program at UCLA,” said Justin Wang, founding fellow of Bruin Consulting. “Students come to us to look for what they cannot get with the current business curriculum.”
Bruin Consulting also works to bring top firms to UCLA so that recruiters will consider students for internships and job offers. Recently, the group convinced The Boston Consulting Group, a top-consulting firm, to start recruiting at UCLA.
Wang said many firms continue to choose not to recruit at UCLA because of the lack of a focus on specific sectors in the workplace.
“Recruiters have told me that UCLA students are not as prepared when entering the work force compared to other schools such as USC (that) have business programs,” Wang said. “We try to fill this void.”
Bruin Consulting’s top event is its annual spring Case Competition and Conference, being held this year at the UCLA Anderson School of Business. This event brings about 10 consulting firms to UCLA so students can tackle problems in jobs.
Wang said this competition increases the reputation of UCLA’s business-oriented students to top recruiters and also allows some students to work with MBA students to learn things that are taught in an undergraduate business program.
Business organizations support the Academic Affairs office, which is pursuing the possible development of an undergraduate business program.
“Student groups have shown that there is a need for an undergraduate business program,” said Addar Weintraub, undergraduate student government Academic Affairs Commissioner. “But we need more than just student organizations. What we need is someone from the top to say, “˜This is what the students need.'”