A project mentor is an individual who guides and supports a student team throughout the duration of their project. Mentors are responsible for attending team meetings, communicating project goals, sharing organizational insights, and providing ongoing mentorship. Each student team is also assigned an MBS Faculty Advisor to ensure further support and oversight.

To become a partner or mentor, please fill out our project proposal form available below. You can also contact us directly for more information. Submit a Project

Yes, we welcome partners to continue working with us across multiple semesters. Many mentors have returned for multiple projects, and we value these long-term relationships. However, partnering for more than one project or semester is not a requirement.

No, there are no financial costs involved in becoming a partner. We value the exchange of talent and the opportunity for students to gain valuable experience through mentorship and guidance from our partners.

Yes, organizations can host multiple projects per semester, provided there are enough students available and the project scopes align with the program’s objectives.

Your project will be reviewed by the MBS Externship team to make sure the project scope is applicable for the program, review details, and follow up with any questions or clarification. After this review, we will email you to let you know if your project has been accepted for the semester you’ve applied for.

Projects last over the course of one semester, which is about 13-14 weeks in the spring and fall and 10-11 weeks in the summer.

There are a few recommendations we have that are components of good projects.

• Projects should not be business-critical or time-critical. We are looking for a “want to have” future deliverable, not a “need to have.”
• There should be a “challenge,” “problem,” or research question that is being addressed, as well as a project goal.
• Projects should include one or more deliverables that the students can achieve within a semester, with the understanding that the deliverable may be a work in progress by the end of the semester.
• Flexibility is essential. Project completion may depend on the number of students assigned, level of student knowledge and prior experience, access to information or data, etc.

Our past projects have spanned various areas, including data analysis, marketing strategies, website and app prototyping, financial modeling and forecasting, competitor analysis, supply chain management, and cybersecurity. More examples of past projects can be found on our “Past Projects” page.

Each project is assigned a team of 4-8 students along with a project advisor(s) from the MBS degree program, who is an industry professional. The advisor provides feedback, manages deliverables, and attends all team meetings. Students will select one team member to serve as the team lead, who will guide the team throughout the semester.

Some projects are continued over multiple semesters. However, there will be a new team and possibly a different advisor each semester. 

Mentors are expected to attend regular team meetings (typically weekly or biweekly), provide feedback on deliverables, and offer guidance as needed. The time commitment can vary depending on the scope of the project but is generally manageable within a few hours per week.

Here are a few practices we’ve observed among our most effective mentors:

• Attend or assign someone to attend weekly meetings (30 – 60 minutes per week).
• Guide the students on what should be done, not how to do it.
• Provide specific actionable feedback on weekly progress.
• Be on camera during meetings–this encourages student engagement.
• Be available (or have colleagues available) to answer questions from the team (within a reasonable amount of time) via email.
• Provide project-related information on a timely basis so the students can complete any deliverables.
• Share any necessary data (if applicable) and provide access to software (if needed).
• Provide specific actionable feedback on weekly progress.
• Be flexible to the team’s findings and recommendations, as well as any difficulties or challenges that they may encounter.

As a mentor or partner, you will have access to MBS Advisors who co-manage the project with you. They will attend team meetings, provide support, and help with student performance management.

Helping to guide students can be very rewarding. The program provides you an opportunity to: 

• Pilot a project and get a diverse set of perspectives and ideas for which your team/organization might not have bandwidth or budget.
• Inspire and motivate students to elevate their professional and technical skills while honing your own leadership and mentoring skills.
• Build a direct pipeline to talent and potential hires for internships, Co-Ops and full-time positions.
• Create a relationship with a major academic institution.
• Increase employer branding and promote the company’s vision, mission, and values.

Students are selected based on their field of study, GPA, technical skills, areas of interest, and availability, which they provide upon applying to the program. We match students to projects based on the project’s scope and the needs of our partners, ensuring that teams are well-suited to the work at hand

We aim to assign between 4-8 students to each project team. However, the exact number may vary based on student availability and interest in a given semester can vary.

The Externship program primarily includes students from the Master of Business and Science (MBS) program, as well as undergraduates majoring in business or STEM-related fields.

Students are expected to dedicate approximately 8-10 hours of work per week, which includes time spent on the weekly Externship Lab and their project team meetings.

No, students are not considered employees. Unlike traditional internships, students in our program do not go through your organization’s HR process. However, they are encouraged to list the project experience on their resumes and professional platforms like LinkedIn. The program provides approved language to reflect their participation, making it clear that they were not employees of your organization.