Aerial view of campus with Williamsport, the Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Mountain as a backdrop

Institute For Management Studies (IMS) And Management Scholars Program

Associate Professor: B. Moorhouse (Director)

The purpose of the Institute for Management Studies is to enhance the educational opportunities for students majoring or minoring in accounting, business administration, corporate communication, or economics. It does this by offering an expanded internship program, special seminars on important management topics, student involvement in faculty research and professional projects, executive development seminars, and a Management Scholars program for academically talented students (described below). In addition, the IMS hosts guest speakers and conferences on current management issues.

All students who have a declared major or minor in accounting, business administration, corporate communication, entrepreneurship, or economics and who are in good academic standing are automatically members of the IMS. However, the IMS Director may invite or permit other students to join the IMS who do not meet the first criterion, such as first-year students who have not yet declared a major or minor.

Diversity Course

The following course satisfies the Global Cultural Diversity Requirement: IMS 349.

100 
FUNDAMENTALS OF EXCEL 
Introductory topics include the Microsoft Excel interface, formatting cells, formatting worksheets, basic formulas and functions, advanced functions, data presentation and visualization, and sorting and filtering. Students learn data manipulation and analysis skills. The course is taught in lab-style where students learn new functionality each week and are given tasks to complete in Excel to put their knowledge into practice. One hour per week. Pass/Fail. Non-credit course.  

210
MANAGEMENT SCHOLAR SEMINAR
Team-taught interdisciplinary seminar under the direction of the IMS faculty. A different interdisciplinary topic relevant to students in all five IMS programs is offered at least once a year. Completion of two semesters required by the Management Scholars Program. Prerequisite: Membership in the Management Scholars Program or consent of IMS Director. One credit. May be repeated once for credit when topics are different.

340
MANAGEMENT INTERNSHIP STUDY
A practicum in which students work as interns for businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations in the Williamsport area and locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Washington, D.C., and other places. Reading, writing, and research assignments vary by the credit value of the experience. Enrollments are limited to the numbers of available placements. Internships can be full or part-time, paid or unpaid positions. Students may receive between one to eight credits based on arrangements made prior to taking this internship and the approval of the IMS Director. Prerequisite: Membership in the Institute for Management Studies and consent of Director. May be repeated for a maximum of 16 credits.

349
EUROPEAN BUSINESS EXPERIENCE
An extensive international business experience that studies how and why businesses go global, with special emphasis on financial, marketing, and management issues. In addition, the course explores how local business culture affects the management of a company. The activities include site visits to businesses and organizations, lectures, and assigned cultural activities. Assignments include preparatory reading before the start of class, written reports while in Europe, and a final project that focuses on a particular topic of interest. The research paper is due after return. The course takes place in London with a side trip to another European city. Fulfills Global Cultural Diversity Requirement.

Management Scholars Program

The IMS sponsors a Management Scholars Program for academically talented students in the five IMS programs. To join the Management Scholars Program, a student must satisfy the following criteria:

  1. Have a declared major or minor in one or more of the IMS departments. However, the IMS Director may invite or permit other students to join the Management Scholars Program who do not meet this criterion, such as first-year students who have not yet declared a major or minor.

  2. Have an overall GPA of 3.25 or higher or exhibit strong academic potential if the student is a first semester student.

To graduate as a Management Scholar, a student must meet the following criteria:

  1. Successfully complete two credits of Management Scholar Seminars.
  2. Successfully complete a major or minor in one of the five IMS programs.
  3. Graduate with a GPA of 3.25 or higher in both overall college work and within an IMS major and/or minor.
  4. Successfully complete an appropriate internship, practicum, independent study, or a special project approved by the IMS Director.

At least one Management Scholar Seminar is taught per academic year on an interdisciplinary topic of relevance to students in all five IMS programs. The seminars are normally offered as one credit courses and do not result in overload charges for full-time students. However, the total number of seminars that a qualified student is allowed to take will be limited to two.

Students may be both Lycoming College Scholars and Management Scholars.