New partnerships, new internships, new degrees: Stockton aims to reinvent its school of business By ROI-NJ Staff (Galloway) More partnerships with the Greater Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce, an expanded mentorship program – starting with South Jersey Industries this the fall – and programs highlighting and supporting more alumni are among the recommendations of the Stockton University Presidential Task Force on Reinventing the School of Business Stockton Board of Trustees Chair Raymond Ciccone, a graduate of Stockton, said the task force wanted to make recommendations that would lead to the ultimate goal: Jobs for graduates “We want to find more opportunities for our students to get experience in the business world and take advantage of our Atlantic City campus’s city location to facilitate relationships and turn them into jobs,” he said Ciccone – along with Michelle McDonald, the school’s associate vice president for academic affairs – presented the report to the board on Wednesday The report also recommended disaggregating the current B.S in Business Studies into six specific B.S degrees: Accounting, business studies, business analytics, finance, management and marketing Stockton already offers a specialized B.S in Hospitality, Tourism and Event Management Studies “Building our academic profile and adapting to new field trends is essential if our degrees are to remain current,” Alphonso Ogbuehi, Dean of the School of Business at Stockton, said The M.B.A program also will specialize, offering concentrations in forensic accounting and fraud examination, finance, marketing, business analytics and hospitality management A new Executive M.B.A is also recommended along with a new M.S in hospitality, tourism and event management Studies In addition, a 2+3 program in partnership with Atlantic Cape Community College, to be announced later this month, will allow students to get their bachelor and master’s degrees in five years Certificate programs, including hospitality digital marketing, are being developed in partnership with the Lloyd D Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism and the Office of Continuing Studies Some of the recommendations already are being implemented In April, the School of Business launched a Dean’s Executive Advisory Board to advise and assist in creating event, programs and partnerships The school also began a Summer Entrepreneur and Business Academy for high school students interested in a career in business which will launch later this month South Jersey Industries, located next to Stockton’s Atlantic City campus, already has agreed to serve as a mentor institution Eight students are scheduled for a pilot Osprey Mentorship Program in the fall McDonald, who heads of academic programs in Stockton’s Atlantic City campus, said she hopes more opportunities are coming “We look forward to engaging our alumni and business partners in helping train the next generation of business leaders,” she said The School of Business is the largest at Stockton, with more than 2,100 students enrolled as of fall 2020 There are more than 17,500 alumni with business degrees from Stockton