Be a part of an international team! Apply for JUSP by November 1st

In today’s booming society marketers are coming up with new cunning concepts to target their customers, and now global marketization is a recent venture marketers are looking to excel in. Reaching an audience on a global level can benefit a company in a monumental way. As marketing students having experience in global marketing can give you a competitive edge against other marketing students. But, where would you get that type of experience from? Jill A. Kurp Maher, Ph.D. Department Head of Marketing, informed me about the Joint US Switzerland Project also known as JUSP.

JUSP offers “a collaborative arrangement between FHS St. Gallen and RMU that provides students from both institutions the opportunity to work in a cross-cultural team on a global consulting project that benefits a real company (generally from Europe or the US). RMU is the FHS partner for all projects with a US-oriented objective.” In other words you the student will work on a team with other FHS St. Gallen students to develop sales concepts that match those objectives in the United States for a particular corporation.

FHS and RMU’s relationship came to be after FHS St. Gallen contacted RMU to be their strategic partner for consulting projects in 2016. Anxious to accept the invitation to partner, in 2017 RMU had its first project. In 2018, RMU and FHS St. Gallen conducted another project and in 2019, there were two projects. According to Dr. Maher “the relationship is stronger than ever and, anticipates continuing this partnership and hope to grow it in future years with multiple projects each year.” Dr. Maher acts as a US adviser for RMU students as part of the project, and the students from FHS St. Gallen have their own Swiss adviser. Being an adviser allows Dr. Maher “the opportunity to watch students grow as future marketing professionals, Witnessing their navigation of working in a cross-cultural team. Watching friendships flourish. Seeing their sense of accomplishment when the projects culminates.”

Now that you know a portion about JUSP I’m sure you’re wondering, what’s in it for you? This 14 week program provides hands on experience in projects such as market research, market feasibility, or competitor analysis just to name a few. Students also use long distance technology (e.g., skype), have the opportunity to get travel abroad experience, and experience the role of being a consultant for a real company.

To be considered for this opportunity is an exceptionally competitive process that occurs each fall. Selection for candidates take place every fall for students to begin their project on January 2^nd. Year in school, GPA, maturity, and research skills are evaluated as part of the application process. Don’t let this window pass you by, who knows you could be the next student selected for this astounding opportunity! If there are any further questions about JUSP feel free to reach out to Dr. Maher via email at kurp@rmu.edu.

Written by Natasha Simpson. Edited by Dr. Cathleen Jones