Big Sky Times

For students in Montana State University’s Master of Science in Innovation and Management program, graduate school starts at a sprint.

The one-year graduate program in the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship kicks off each semester with an event called Sprint Week. Members of the year’s cohort arrive two days before classes begin and are divided into small groups. Over the following 72 hours, they must collaborate to help a real-life company address a real-life challenge. 

Many of them don’t have degrees in business or marketing, making Sprint Week even more challenging.

“It’s like a pressure cooker situation. The first time, we got thrown in with people we’d never met, we didn’t know anything about each other’s backgrounds or personalities, and we had to get stuff done,” remembered Francesco Bakhos, a member of the 2022-23 MSIM cohort. “You immediately learn each other’s strengths and how they think.”

Last fall’s Sprint Week centered on helping Livingston-based marketing and sales company PFL roll out new products. Not only were the 27 students in the cohort meeting each other for the first time, but they also had to be ready to present to the company’s executive team and investors at the end of the week. This spring, the same cohort worked with Gaize, a Missoula company behind technology to detect cannabis impairment, to create a business plan. Between the two semesters, the Sprint Weeks didn’t get easier, students say: They got better. 

“At the beginning, you think you don’t have it in you,” said Bakhos, a Fulbright Scholar from Lebanon who received his undergraduate degree in marketing from Lebanese University in Beirut. “But when you have the presentation ready and you’re talking to the CEO and potential investors, you realize, ‘I’ve got this. I know what I’m talking about, and I made it through.’ They’re stressful, but they’re the best part of this program.” 

Student growth between Sprint Weeks is a critical part of the program, which takes students from any academic background and prepares them to effectively use their skills in a more advanced way by incorporating leadership and business experience, says director Ara Megerdichian.

“The passion was to end up with a program that helps Montana State students really bridge the gap between their academic experience and what they'll face when they hit industry,” said Megerdichian. “While the cohort may not feel it when they're in the middle of it, they are difference-makers when they get out into the world.” 

The program also emphasizes professional development, with a course dedicated to everything from interview skills to networking. But the most powerful part of the program for most students is the collaboration among team members from a wide range of academic backgrounds.

“Every cohort is different, with its own personality. The overall effect is that they build these lifelong relationships,” said Megerdichian. 

Bradley Harvey and Annalise Renner both graduated from MSU’s Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering – Harvey with a degree in mechanical engineering in 2022 and Renner with a double degree in chemical and biological engineering in 2021. While the transition to a business graduate program was challenging, they say the experience allowed them to share their own backgrounds while learning from the experiences of their fellow students in a distinctly collaborative way.

“That interdisciplinary aspect of it has been really cool,” said Harvey, who is originally from Dillon. “We have different ways of communicating, and learning to think and work across those disciplines has been really interesting.”

Renner said joining the program opened her eyes to career opportunities she hadn’t considered.

“It helps you widen your scope. Working in these classes and through the Sprint Weeks, it’s given me the opportunity to see the different possibilities for what you can do beyond what you may have a degree in,” she said.

The MSIM degree, introduced in 2021, was specifically designed to be completed in one year so that students who have already spent four years completing an undergraduate degree can enter the workforce sooner, said Megerdichian.

The one-year format was ideal for Caleb Fuller, who, in addition to being a graduate student, is a starting guard on the Bobcat men’s basketball team. After receiving his bachelor’s in managerial economics from the University of California-Davis, Fuller said the MSIM program fit his academic background perfectly, making Bozeman the ideal place to pursue the continuation of his academic career while also using his final year of athletic eligibility.

Balancing a fast-paced graduate program with the intense practice and travel schedule of college basketball has been just as much of a challenge as Fuller expected it would be, but he agrees the cohort model provides a level of support that lightens the load.“That first Sprint Week, it really hits you. It was something I’ve never experienced,” said Fuller, who is originally from Ipswich, England. 

“Since then, I feel like I’ve really grown. There was a quick humbling experience at first, but then you bounce back and can really thrive.”Cohort members agree Sprint Weeks are challenging but rewarding, and a large part of what sets the program apart from other graduate options. Combining skills and backgrounds with other team members results in ideas and products that are better than they would have been otherwise. And Sprint Weeks do exactly what they’re designed to do: create relationships among the cohort that are stronger because of the shared experience.“It's been really beneficial to have this cohort,” said Fuller. 

“We’ve built relationships, and when I’m away from the classroom during the basketball season, being able to speak with them, it’s not just classmate to classmate. It’s friend to friend.”Megerdichian said he is constantly impressed by the tenacity and creativity of the students.

“One hundred percent, they are my favorite part of what I do,” he said. “Whether they stay in Montana or not, they can impact this world on a much greater scale than they might think when they first start out. Watching them break through some of the things they thought were ceilings and make them into floors is just priceless.”

Members of the cohort won’t all stay in Montana – Bakhos, for one, will return home to Lebanon. But while their Sprint Weeks focus mostly on Montana-based businesses, the students’ post-graduation endeavors will spread the ripple effects of the MSIM program far beyond the borders of both the state and country.“I’m not kidding, it has been one of the best, most transformative experiences of my life,” said Bakhos.

“The connections I’ve been building through my professors, my colleagues, our guest speakers, has been one of the best aspects of this entire thing. Once I graduate, I may not remember the details of every class and every assignment, but I’ll remember the connections I made and how we came together to create something that’s not just impactful for Bozeman and Montana, but the entire world.”

Ara Megerdichian: ara.megerdichian@montana.edu or 406-994-6198

Original source can be found here.