PACE helps students build business skills and knowledge in the classroom. Then students must apply that foundation to solving a real-world business issue.

Students are strategically placed on teams of three to five people offering a blend of academic backgrounds such as accounting, marketing, finance, logistics, and management. Students prioritize the projects that interest them most, and the faculty advisers try to assign everyone a project that is at or near the top of that list.

Each project requires students to work with senior members of the assigned company, define a work plan for evaluating the problem, collect and analyze data, and present their recommendations to the company at its office. PACE not only helps students gain visibility within the organizations for which they are consulting but also significantly enhances their resumes.

Student teams typically speak with their companies no less than once every two weeks and meet with their faculty adviser once a week.

“PACE is unique and very real world. We introduce students to a client who has a strategic issue. The team figures it out and gives their recommendations.”
– Barry Wood, director, PACE

This class will be run like a project in the corporate world. There will be no textbooks or tests. Students will be evaluated largely based on how well their team manages the project.