Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business

The Huntsman Program in International Studies & Business, also known as the IS&B Program, is a four-year undergraduate course of study, which integrates business education, advanced language training and a liberal arts education at the University of Pennsylvania. It is the second-youngest Penn joint-degree program. Its goal is to endow students "with a professional education and an understanding of the political, economic and cultural complexities in the world who can work effectively in the global economy of the 21st century".

Introduction

The core of the Huntsman program is an integrated, 40 course-unit curriculum is designed to provide highly motivated and high performance students with a professional education, language proficiency and an in-depth understanding of the cultural, political, and social institutions of an area of the world in which their target language is spoken. Students acquire fundamental business skills, specialize in a functional area of management, and study international business. Students learn to reason and think in an international context. Courses in history, philosophy and the social sciences, focused on their area of specialization, provide them with an understanding of different cultural, legal and institutional environments.

Academics

Students fulfill all of the requirements for degrees from both the School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in four years with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies (from SAS) and a Bachelor of Science in Economics (from Wharton).

Students are required to attend two Huntsman-only classes: History 107 - Comparative Capitalist Systems in fall term of freshman year, and the Huntsman Senior Research project in senior year. Another compulsory course is Management 100 - Leadership and Communication in Groups which is undertaken with the rest of the Wharton freshmen. Other than these all classes are chosen from and taken with the rest of Wharton and the College.

For postgraduate study opportunities, the Huntsman Program has a Masters level corollary in the Lauder Institute, which awards an MA in International Studies from the School of Arts and Sciences along with the Wharton MBA in the two years after one submatriculates from the Program (applied for in Junior year). Another option is direct submatriculation into the Wharton MBA program to achieve the MBA, BSc (Econs), and BA International Studies in 5 years. The third, as yet unexplored option is the Law submatriculation program.

Study Abroad

Huntsman students are required to study abroad for a minimum of one semester (typically during the junior year) at a university in the area of the world in which their target language is spoken. This study abroad experience is an integral component of the Program.

The semester abroad is an immersion experience designed to develop a student's understanding of a country's culture, its political and social institutions. Huntsman students learn how to live, study, and possibly even work in an environment that is different from their prior experience; language skills will automatically be strengthened by such exposure. When they study abroad, Huntsman students take standard courses with regular university students, live with families or in student dormitories, take a course load similar to that at Penn, and do not attend "island" programs designed for foreign students.

All grades earned abroad are converted into Penn grades and are factored into a student's grade point average. Courses taken abroad may also fulfill major requirements. Typically, Arts & Letters, History & Tradition, and Area Studies requirements are the easiest to fulfill while abroad.

Student Life

The Huntsman Student Advisory Board serves as an instrument for greater student participation in shaping the program and as a forum for students to voice their opinions and raise issues. The board consists of twelve members, four of whom are selected by the existing Board members and eight of whom are elected by their peers. The Board works to build a sense of community with events such as pizza parties and coffee hours. It holds regular panel discussions on subjects such as study abroad, how to fulfill requirements, internships and recruiting.

Facilities

All Huntsmen freshmen live in a residential program on campus in the third floor of King's Court at 3465 Sansom Street in the University of Pennsylvania, after which they are free to compete for any form of accommodation they wish with the rest of the college population.

The Huntsman Program has its own building located in the heart of Penn's campus at 3732 Locust Walk, Philadelphia PA 19104-6231 (contact info). In addition to the administrative offices, the office houses a Student Lounge, Computer Lab, Classroom, Conference Room, Students enjoy meeting with friends, studying and reading (free) international newspapers and magazines in the student lounge. The computer lab is linked to the Internet and also networked to the Wharton computer labs; it is also equipped with language software. Students can frequently be found working together on group projects in the lab. Both the classroom and conference room can be reserved for meetings. Presentations by guest speakers are sometimes given here. This is the venue for the Huntsman Comparative Capitalist Systems class.

Program Advisors, Directors, and Staff

External Advisory Board

The Huntsman Advisory Board currently consists of 20 senior level professionals (CEO's, MD's, and Presidents), primarily from the business community, who provide advice and assistance to the Program. Board members are global in their perspective, with current members coming from Asia, Canada, Europe, Latin America and the United States. They are committed to the success of the Program and value the unique education that it provides. Notable board members are Padraic Fallon, Chairman, Euromoney Institutional Investor, PLC, Peter Huntsman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Huntsman Corporation, Philip D. Murphy, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs & Co., and Lawrence Wolf, Chairman, Wolf Group.

Faculty Directors and Administrative Staff

Presently, two faculty directors are charged with the responsibility for the Program and serve as the primary advisors for students: Roger Allen and Janice R. Bellace.

A small administrative staff coordinates all of the activities of the Huntsman Program and advises students about options they have in the Program: Inge Herman, Executive Director, Sarvelia Peralta-Duran, Associate Director, and Kim Hein, Coordinator. ^*

Program Curriculum

By the end of the course, students will have taken:

International Studies (IS) Major (14 courses)

4 Advanced Language Courses (e.g. Business Spanish, Modern Chinese Literature);
3 Area Studies Courses (e.g. Religion in Latin America, Africa Since 1800);
3 International Business Courses (e.g. Business in the Global Political Environment, International Banking);
3 International Studies Courses (e.g. Reading Global Feminist Theory, Medicine and the Body);
1 Senior Research Project (After compulsory Study Abroad semester);

Business (B) Major (14 courses)

2 Accounting Courses (Principles of Accounting and Managerial Accounting);
2 Finance Courses (Monetary Economics and Corporate Finance);
2 Management Courses (Introduction to Management and Leadership and Communication in Groups);
1 Introduction to Marketing Course;
1 Operations and Information Management Course;
2 Business Statistics Courses (Biz Stats 1&2);
4 Courses in their chosen Business Specialisation/Concentration(s);

College of General Studies (CGS) Requirements (until class of '09, 10 courses)

2 Society Courses;
2 History And Tradition Courses;
2 Arts and Letters Courses;
1 Formal Reasoning and Analysis Course;
1 The Living World Course;
1 The Physical World Course;
1 Science Studies Course;

for a total of 38 Course Units.

College of General Studies (CGS) Requirements (class of '10 onward, 12 courses) The College's new General Education Curriculum takes effect starting with the Class of 2010.

New Requirement: "Foundational Approaches"

New Requirement: "Sector Requirement" Full courselists have recently been provided: (1 course from each sector is required)

Sector I: Society
Sector II: History and Tradition
Sector III: Arts and Letters
Sector IV: Humanities and Social Science
Sector V: Living World
Sector VI: Physical World
Sector VII: Natural Sciences and Mathematics

Although a 40-course cirriculum may at first appear excessively rigorous, many courses are offered which satisfy several of the program's requirements at once.

Admissions

Admission to the Huntsman Program is competitive, with a target class size of approximately 40 students (it was 25 in 1998-99). Detailed admissions statistics are presently unavailable. Please see Penn's admissions statistics. Based on Huntsman alumni figures, approximately half the class are international students.

Application Procedure

Prospective students apply to the Huntsman Program as part of their application to Penn (Transfer students are not accepted). There is a separate section^* of the Penn application that must be completed by students who want to be considered for the program. Applicants are required to:

write an additional essay about their interest in international issues (e.g. "Discuss a current international issue which demonstrates how international affairs and business intersect."),
indicate the language (approved languages are: Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish) in which they will demonstrate proficiency and use as their language of specialization within the program;
indicate their level of preparation in mathematics, and
indicate the single degree school for which they would like to be considered if they are not admitted to the Huntsman Program.

No interviews are required.

Entry Consideration

They are encouraged to take the SAT II in their particular language of specialization if possible as well as the SAT II: MATH II-C. AP credit in Math and other subjects are also bonuses. The Huntsman Program has developed its own language tests for Arabic, Hindi and Russian. Arrangements are made for qualified applicants to take these tests.

Applicants to the Huntsman Program must have outstanding verbal and mathematical academic credentials and intermediate-level proficiency in their target foreign language. They are expected to have academic and extracurricular activities indicating an international awareness as well as leadership skills and the ability to work independently. Students are encouraged to apply early decision provided all required testing can be completed in time.

History

In 1992, Janice R. Bellace, Wharton's undergraduate dean at the time, conceived of a unique undergraduate joint degree program, and shepherded what became the Huntsman Program through the SAS and Wharton faculty approval process. She stepped down as undergraduate dean in June 1994 to become Wharton's deputy dean and chief academic officer ^*, just before the first International Studies and Business Program freshmen matriculated in Fall 1994.

In 1997, Jon Huntsman, Sr. gave $10 million to endow the Huntsman Program in International Studies & Business (he then followed up with a $40 million gift a year later)^*. The first 22 Huntsman Program students graduated in 1998.

Alumni

The number of Huntsman alumni is still relatively small. The first class graduated in May 1998. There are now 261 Huntsman alumni. For a fully alphabetized list regardless of year, including some email contacts, please see the program's official alumni directory.

Most Huntsman alumni are currently working in one of the following fields:

Financial Analysis
Investment Banking
Management (General)
Management (Consulting)
Marketing
Money Management
Securities and Currency Trading

The majority of Huntsman alumni work in the United States for consulting firms, dot.com companies, investment banks, and large companies. However, many Huntsman alumni work, either full-time or special assignment, for global firms around the world.

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