Featured Professor: Linda Ferraro

In Capsim’s Top 10 rankings, high-performing business schools regularly appear at the top of the list – schools like Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, and Southern Connecticut State University.

This tiny school located in New Haven, CT, ranks among the top 10% of business schools in the country on their Capstone scores, thanks in part to the creative team building approach by Professor Linda Ferraro.

Professor Ferraro’s use of the Capstone Business Simulation in her capstone course in the School of Business has given Southern Connecticut State University students a leg up on the competition. By integrating each part of the business school learning into one final course, Professor Ferraro provides students skills to help them become effective business people on graduation.

Utilizing her background in Organizational Behavior, Professor Ferraro builds diverse teams that attack problems from unique angles. “I try to diversify each team in terms of majors, strengths and backgrounds,” Ferraro says. “Students then learn how to work in an effective team – something they will use throughout the rest of their life.”

Last spring, one of Professor Ferraro’s Capstone teams scored in the 99th percentile of all college students in Capstone – and that’s no fluke. Her student teams consistently show their mastery in business acumen via their high scores in Capstone.

Capstone requires students to take knowledge learned in marketing, accounting, finance, operations and other business classes and apply them to making decisions as the CEO of their simulated company. In doing so, Capstone Business Simulation forces students to draw from their learning experiences in each of the courses to make cohesive business decisions.

It just goes to show you that pairing an excellent professor and Capstone Business Simulation can make quite a difference. As Professor Linda Ferraro and Southern Connecticut State University are showing us, no matter where the school is located, the right model can lead to great results.

If you’d like to share your story on how Capsim’s business simulations have helped your class, contact us at welcome@capsim.com.