Vision Partnership Program

A New Vision

The Vision Partnership Program at the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business is designed to foster relationships between you, our students, and the business community. Partners include companies of all sizes, nonprofit organizations, public institutions, the University, and Simon’s renowned network of alumni. It is a unique opportunity for students to work as a multi-disciplinary team and build your experience by tackling real-world problems and challenges.

Vision Partnership Program promotes mutual benefits by:

• Connecting Simon students with real-world business opportunities that will strengthen your résumés and increase future employment opportunities.
• Providing businesses with invaluable resources and expert problem-solvers who are trained and supported by Simon’s world-class faculty and professional network.

A New Perspective. A Proven Approach.

• Simon’s interdisciplinary approach means cross-functional teams that can address multiple departments and business lines.
• Students learn hands-on skills while businesses benefit from additional resources and engaged talent.
• Cutting-edge solutions are custom developed by tomorrow’s business leaders.
• Each student team is sponsored by a Simon faculty member.
• The Vision Partnership Program is non-credit and credits are no longer part of the graduation requirement.
• Participating students are engaged, energized, and driven by their passion for problem solving.

Types of projects could include:

• Price point analysis
• New product launches
• Social media marketing
• Comprehensive marketing plans
• Digital business strategies
• Investment Analysis
• New strategies for raising capital
• Profit-loss modeling

Vision Program Details

Tradition    

The Vision program was originally designed to strengthen the soft business skills of Simon’s students. The activities sponsored by the program, including lectures, workshops, and team-building events, were to complement Simon’s quant-heavy curriculum. The Vision credit requirement imposed on the student body was intended to incentivize students to attend various Vision activities.

The Vision program as originally designed has become less critical with the proliferation of clubs and their offerings. Given Simon’s small class size, clubs are competing for the attention of fewer students who have limited time and interests. Furthermore, many of the activities and events that were once offered by the Vision program are now being offered by the student clubs. As a consequence, the credit requirement became a burden on students.

Purpose of the Vision Partnership Program  

Generating experiential opportunities to build the attributes, skills, and confidence to succeed as future business leaders. Encouraging leaders who “do”.

Structure  

The vision team is a group of students, faculty, and administration that facilitate the project program. Student clubs, particularly the professional clubs, play an important role in advising the vision team what types of projects are most needed by the students. Club presidents will serve as direct liaisons to the vision team.

The vision team will also communicate with other Simon offices, most importantly the CMC, to ensure that the projects are making Simon students competitive on the job market. Furthermore, the CMC can report to the vision team if there are certain types of projects that are preferred over others depending on the composition of the student population.

The vision team will solicit projects from the community. This is going to require the team to build relationships with various businesses, institutions, organizations, and clubs in Rochester. For example, the Rochester Business Alliance and the various business associations can help connect Simon with small businesses. The Rochester Angel Network can help connect Simon with start-ups.

Impact on Students and Companies    

The new Vision Partnership Program is project-based and appreciates a two-sided platform that exists.

On the one hand, Simon students benefit from adding unique business experiences to their resume. In particular, international students are looking for more opportunities with US-based companies that will help them strengthen their business communication skills. All students will benefit from projects that will make them more competitive candidates for top job placement. On the other hand, Rochester businesses and organizations have a variety of problems in need of business solutions. Private and public companies, start-up firms, government institutions, and nonprofit organizations could all benefit from the expertise and willingness of Simon’s student population.

The Vision Partnership Program also allows early leaders and students switching careers the opportunity to develop new skill sets, explore different career options, interact with the professional community, and gain valuable practical experience.

The project can be individual or team-based. It must have a defined deliverable and be accomplished within 2-4 weeks. Project details, including scope, duration, and work-load, will be negotiated through the vision team and posted on SimonWorks. At the beginning of the program, the CMC will seek out clients in the Rochester community. The client must have an identifiable business problem or need. Simon students will access all projects on SimonWorks and submit a brief statement of intent to the vision team. Each project will be assigned a faculty mentor who will offer any guidance as needed to ensure that the deliverable is professional and representative of Simon’s reputation.

Vision Project Database  

The goal of the Vision Project database on SimonWorks is to match supply and demand by allowing both students and clients to access each other’s needs. Clients can post their project needs on the database and the students can select projects from the database that meet their own career needs or interests. The vision team will consult with clients to help them develop projects that will appeal to the student population. Club presidents and the CMC are in the best position to identify the demands of the student body. With this knowledge, clients can supply the database with the most desired projects.

Before projects are posted on SimonWorks, the vision team will need to approve the project.