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About usEPIC strategic plan

  • EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
  • PROBLEM-SOLVING CURRICULA
  • IMPACTFUL RESEARCH
  • CREATIVE CULTURE

Drive the future of business
  through the power of creativity.

  • Our mission, simply put: To be a dynamic hub of business education and research, fueled by creativity and a commitment to preparing students to lead in a complex world.
  • Because the business world is changing, we’ve launched a new strategic plan to harness and build on strengths, ensure continued innovation and impact, and boldly ignite a collaborative energy between VCU and the business community in Richmond and beyond.

Experiential Learning [View Image]

At VCU, you won’t find us working in isolation, disconnected from the world around us. We’re engaged in our thriving urban culture, on the ground, using our expertise, talents and discoveries to actually make a difference wherever we feel the most needed.

Our enhanced experiential learning opportunities include:

  • Real-world projects for students in all programs
  • The International Consulting Program and other study-abroad opportunities
  • Business Career Services internships and professional development
  • Executive residencies on campus and faculty residencies at companies

“Our objective for the consultation project was to help the company identify a new market to expand to. The company had become a leader in their current Cordoba, Spain market and felt that their business was ripe for expansion into other Spanish speaking cultures that need digital marketing services.”

Kristen Dunlap
Marketing, International Consulting Program

Problem-solving curricula [View Image]

In today’s constantly changing business landscape, employers value critical thinking, clear communication and the ability to solve complex problems.

We’ve implemented curriculum changes such as:

  • New, creative and innovative coursework for graduate and undergraduate students
  • New teaching methods
  • Online learning and emerging technologies

“Companies are coming to recognize that growth is going to be obtained through innovation. In the business course, Creativity and Ideation, I teach new ways of thinking because new ideas come from new ways of looking at things. And business needs more creative minds.”

Joe Coombs, Ph.D.
Associate professor of management

Impactful research [View Image]

Thoughtful, innovative research by VCU School of Business faculty has the potential to make a major impact on our world by advancing business and management theory, influencing industry practices and inspiring and informing the education of our students.

We support a creative research environment with:

  • Newly endowed chairs and professorships
  • Distinguished researchers visiting and collaborating with our faculty
  • Centers that stimulate research across disciplines
  • Diverse faculty collaborations

“We know that creativity in business increases innovation, stimulates better problem-solving and can boost productivity. But what is the key to creative thinking? That’s the question we are exploring through our research. How workplaces are using mindfulness to stimulate creative thinking, and what impact the trend will have on the industry as a whole.”

Nibal Aridi
Information systems

Creative culture [View Image]

Our faculty, staff and students nurture curiosity, celebrate diversity, share ideas openly, learn from each other, practice teamwork, engage with the vibrant campus community and city, and are willing to step out of their comfort zones and take risks on new ventures.

We build our unique creative culture through:

  • Scholarships to attract students who will flourish and contribute to the diversity and vitality of our school and region
  • A redesign of spaces in Snead Hall to inspire collaboration
  • Engagement with VCU’s experts in the arts, engineering and medicine
  • Greater connection to Richmond’s thriving business, creative and startup communities

“The cool thing is that while VCU is known as an awesome arts school, our business school is just as great. They put the focus on creativity so I feel that as I graduate and go into my professional career, I’ll be able to take this lens of being analytical and put a creative spin on it. I think that those are two different parts of my brain that I’ll be able to mesh for whatever job that I’m in, and I have VCU to thank for about 95% of that.”

Tammie Goode
Marketing

Creativity is at the center of all we do. It’s reflected in our curriculum, our faculty, our outreach efforts and our outlook. So our students can emerge with a rock-solid foundation of business principles, and the courage to shake them up. At VCU it’s not business as usual. It’s creativity at work.

Creativity at Work podcast       Latest news

  • Snead Hall
  • 301 West Main Street
  • Box 844000
  • Richmond, Virginia 23284-4000

Website created by VCU University Relations Updated: 11/20/2019

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