First Year Integrated Core

Start your college journey a step ahead so you will be Beyond Ready to excel in the workplace upon graduation. Make lifelong friends in your first year, and find a place to call home. With small class sizes and hands-on learning, you are not a student ID number - you are our future.

The First Year Integrated Core (FYIC) provides first year Farmer School students the unique opportunity to immerse themselves in business courses and work with a real client with real data. The FYIC is a unique business school program that sets students up for success from day one! In the FYIC, students will:

Find a sense of community
Engage with faculty who care about our students and actively engage in their success
Work on a real client project using real client data
Experience hands-on, experiential learning

group of students in classroom having project discussion

Employers are seeking employees who are “job ready.” The First Year Integrated Core curriculum was designed to help you develop critical workplace skills.

Critical Thinking
Collaboration
Ethical Thinking / Cultural Intelligence
Communication
Creative Thinking
Computational Thinking and Coding

The First Year Integrated Core provides the opportunity for you to apply what you learn to a client challenge project. In your first year of business school, you will work for a real client to solve a real business problem. Every First Year Integrated Core business client has been incredibly impressed by the depth of solutions presented and the professionalism displayed by our students. The FYIC is an eight-credit hour program comprising four classes required for all FSB students. In these classes, you'll spend the first 11 weeks of the semester building key skills that you'll need for upper-division classes and that employers expect FSB graduates to have. You'll spend the last 5 weeks of the semester applying these skills within our Client Challenge, through which you'll work in consulting teams. The four classes that make up the First-Year Integrated Core program are:

BUS 101: Foundations of Business

In business, you need critical thinking skills, collaboration skills, and cultural intelligence. BUS 101 will help you get started by delivering the skills of business. It will introduce you to the First Year Integrated Core, your classmates, and key business basics to help you get a jump start on your Farmer School experience.

BUS 102: Foundations of Business Communications

BUS 102 is dedicated to business communication. You will learn foundational skills that will benefit you regardless of your major or career. In this course, you dive right into learning how to write and speak professionally. You will also have the opportunity to develop your credentials in order to land a competitive internship.

BUS 104: Introduction to Computational Thinking for Business

In today’s business world, understanding the complexities of computational thinking is essential. In BUS 104, you will be introduced to Python and learn the basics of coding. You will also learn how to process data in an SQL database. Gaining these skills will help you understand all aspects of business and help you approach business problems from a computational thinking lens.

ESP 103: Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurial Thinking

Creativity and innovation are essential thinking skills of the modern business world. In ESP 103, you’ll learn important business mindsets including tolerating the ambiguity of today’s business world, stepping outside your comfort zone, and leveraging your own potential to do more with less. You’ll explore personal mastery through the creative problem-solving process to develop innovative ideas to business problems.

"What I think the Farmer School does better than any place that we recruit is prepare students to be effective quickly. They are work ready, day one."

Chris Gorman, Chairman and CEO, KeyCorp

Why You Will Benefit

Community and Connections

Students take the FYIC in cohorts of approximately 30 students, which means you'll be in class with the same 29 people eight times a week. Additionally, you'll work in a small team with the same 3-4 students throughout the majority of the semester. As a result, you'll almost immediately start to form connections with other students, which accelerates your integration into the FSB community.

Hands-On Learning

A typical day in the FYIC involves a lot of active learning. Class time is largely dedicated to activities and workshops that require you to apply what you're learning; and the assignments that make up your grades in the classes are primarily application-based. You'll be guided through your learning by faculty who are committed to your success, as well as by FYIC graduates who return to support current students.

Real-World Experience

The FYIC is an experiential program. In addition to the Client Challenge, you'll engage in market simulations in BUS 101; you'll create a professional resume and practice interviewing in BUS 102; you'll develop creative solutions to everyday business problems in ESP 103; and you'll use Python and SQL to analyze data in BUS 104. And that's just a small sample! This approach has led to many students earning an internship after the first year.

Student Spotlights

Many freshmen FYIC students have received internships at a variety of places, including Avery Dennison, Merrill Lynch, IBM, Roush, SC Johnson and Sons, Johnson & Johnson, and CNN.

professor eyman in his office surrounding by post it notes

Meet the FYIC Team

The FYIC faculty stands ready to guide and inspire students on their educational journey.

FYIC Contact Information

800 East High Street

Suite 3072

Oxford, OH 45056

513-529-3974 crewsra@MiamiOH.edu

Meet the Director - Becky Crews Support FSB Directions and Parking

First Year Integrated Core

A Focus on Essential Skills