Consortium For Undergraduate International Business Education (CUIBE)
International business professionals from as far as Hawaii and as close as Harrisonburg, Va., traveled to Richmond as the Robin School of Business Center for International Business Programs hosted the 2016 annual meeting for the Consortium for Undergraduate International Business Education (CUIBE).
CUIBE’s mission is to promote, enhance, and innovate the way international business is taught. The members are universities with nationally recognized international business programs. The primary objectives of the consortium are to provide its members with an opportunity to benchmark their programs against other member schools and facilitate sharing of best practices in international business (IB) education. Over 40 international business professors and staff from 24 schools attended the conference.
As attendees began to arrive at the opening reception on Thursday evening, old friends were catching up and new networking opportunities were taking place. The energized and friendly atmosphere that was created carried through the entire weekend.
Friday began at the Jepson Alumni Center with a special guest speaker followed by presentations on a wide variety of topics by fellow CUIBE members in attendance including developing stronger alumni and corporate relations, using IB programs to build private sector engagement and building buy-in. The attendees were forthcoming with questions, suggestions and examples throughout the day. The discussions around each topic were incredibly helpful for each attendee to understand how to implement something similar at their own institution.
The hope was to showcase as many parts of Richmond as possible, starting with a tour of the Robins School and wrapping up the day at Can Can Brasserie for dinner. Attendees were curious about all that Carytown had to offer and raved about the incredible three-course meal and service Can Can provided.
The final day of the conference began with the unveiling of a new website at the governance meeting. Following lunch, the group toured Amazon’s distribution center in Dinwiddie, Va. Amazon was gracious enough to give a presentation and overview of the center, a tour of the facility and answer any questions. Once the group was back in Richmond, a tour guide hopped on the bus to give a tour of our great city.
Attendee lists were circulated so the group can continue to share the best international business practices and keep in touch for the year to come. As the conference concluded and attendees were making their way home, many expressed their gratitude and satisfaction with the weekend. They enjoyed the discussions, making new connections and felt the conference was extremely well implemented.