CIMBA works closely with both consortium member and non-member universities. This consortium, led by the University of Iowa, comprises more than thirty five U.S. universities, who collectively provide support and guidance for CIMBA’s academic programs. Students and faculty come primarily from these partner schools:
History
In 1985, the Consortium of Universities for International Studies formed as a non-profit organization to provide international experience to business professors. A few years later, the university consortium created the business institute called CIMBA. In 1991, Clemson University became the degree-granting institution and graduated the first MBA class. In the mid-1990s, CUIS began its summer graduate study abroad program and created offerings for undergraduate students. CUIS began to offer study abroad programs for graduate students in 1997. In 1999, the University of Kansas became the degree-granting university for CUIS. The following year, CUIS offered its first semester-long program for undergraduate students and then later began to offer journalism and communication courses to undergraduate students. In 2008, The University of Iowa became the new credit-granting institution for CUIS, and CIMBA now offers courses from the UI's Tippie College of Business, College of Engineering, and College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. The classes offered by the program are taught by professors from the partner universities, including Founder and President Dr. Al Ringleb, who teaches business law to CIMBA undergraduates and statistics to MBA students. He is also at the heart of the research and teaching related to the CIMBA Leadership Institute. To date, the program has nearly 10,000 alumni living and working in 44 countries, including more than 1,200 MBA alumni, with more than 500 students attending each year.
Academics
CIMBA Italy offers undergraduate, graduate, and executive programs that are provided at the CIMBA campus in Paderno del Grappa. Courses are taught in English, and vary between semester and summer programs. The CIMBA study abroad and MBA programs are backed by the top-ranked, AACSB-accredited University of Iowa Tippie College of Business.
Undergraduate program
semester and summer programs are offered in Paderno del Grappa, Italy. Most of the courses are targeted to business students and emphasize current international events. In addition to business courses, CIMBA offers courses in economics, journalism, communications, beginning Italian, music, engineering, and others. Programs are designed to provide students with international experience while remaining on schedule for graduation. Students can earn up to 18 semester hours for the semester, and summer session students can receive up to 6 semester hours. Students are encouraged to participate in executive lectures and travel opportunities. Both the semester and summer programs offer time for students to travel to enhance their learning experience.
Graduate and executive programs
semester and summer programs as well as executive education programs are offered in Paderno del Grappa, Italy. The CIMBA MBA program focuses on neuroscienceleadership research, which is how brain function influences human experience. The program uses science to explain and teach soft skills needed for the effective practice of management. Program participants learn how to translate business knowledge into an actionable activity so they can better persuade, motivate, and assist a team. In May 2007, the consortium hosted a neuroscience leadership conference for executives from companies around the world. Example attendees included a change management specialist from the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and a regional general manager from the National Australia Bank.
Leadership Institute
Established by CIMBA Founder Al Ringleb, the Leadership Institute is based on more than 25 years of scientific research in neuroscience and social psychology. Ringleb and CIMBA Executive Director Cristina Turchet joined forces with Kepner-Tregoe, a multinational company specializing in problem solving strategies, to create this science-based curriculum. CIMBA’s program gives students, managers, executives, and up-and-coming leaders concrete steps to improve skills related to decision-making, problem solving, self- and social awareness, self-regulation, management, consulting, and training. CIMBA provides a three day intensive leadership program that develops student's skills to be an effective leader. It is a performance based program that allows students to practice the skills in front of their peers. Through personal growth assessments, participants learn their strengths and area of improvements as well as their working style with other peers. The Institute's mission is to help people develop skills to turn ideas into practical innovations, to effectively manage and lead others to higher levels of performance, and to become more confident in their abilities to overcome the most demanding challenges. The Leadership Institute is instrumental in supporting CIMBA’s educational philosophy which includes three pillars of learning: knowledge, rational process, and leadership behavior.
About the campus
The CIMBA campus is based in Paderno del Grappa in the Veneto region of Northern Italy, at the base of Mount Grappa of the Italian Alps. The campus is located at the Istituti Filippin, an Italian boarding school, which is shared between the CIMBA program students and the Italian students. There are many events and activities the students can participate in while near campus, including intramural sports competitions between the U.S. and Italian students, visits to neighboring towns like Bassano del Grappa and Asolo, learning how to make pizza and pasta, and more. The Veneto region is home to a powerful business community that boasts more than 450,000 companies. CIMBA collaborates with the local businesses and community. For example, companies in Italy's entrepreneurial Veneto region work in partnership with CIMBA to provide MBA students with real-world Management consulting and Six Sigma projects.
