Partnership allows Rider students to claim Oxford as 'summer residence'

This summer, more than 90 Rider University students and alumni traveled to Oxford, England, to take part in two week-long residential programs — the Choral Institute at Oxford, now in its eighth year, and the new Innovation Intensive at Oxford.

The programs are designed to provide students and alumni with the ability to attend free of tuition, room and board charges and are offered in partnership between Rider’s College of Continuing Studies and St. Stephen’s House, the Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford.

The two unparalleled week-long programs have allowed hundreds of Rider students to claim Oxford as their “summer residence.” What initially began as a music collaboration between composer Dr. James Whitbourn of Oxford and Dr. James Jordan, a professor of conducting at Rider’s Westminster Choir College has over the years resulted in many acclaimed performances; the publication of scholarly manuscripts, books and choral works; and a Grammy-nominated recording.

The newest part of this partnership, Innovation Intensive at Oxford, enabled 25 students and recent alumni this summer to interact with and learn from 14 CEOs of U.S.-based companies (whose annual revenues range from $3 million to $100 million). The program features a collaborative environment offering an extraordinary opportunity for students to absorb the philosophy, skills and techniques of entrepreneurship.

“If you want to be an innovator, you have to get comfortable with always being in the deep end of the pool — with the feeling of your feet never quite touching the bottom, and your eyes never quite seeing what’s beneath you,” says Natalia Falana Oropeza, a senior majoring in healthcare management who participated in the program this year.

Business students participated in sessions ranging from facilitated brainstorming to speed-networking, allowing them to ask questions, exchange ideas and learn business strategies from experienced professionals. Each day began with student team presentations of a featured topic, such as Big Data, intellectual property and stakeholder capitalism. The entrepreneurs would follow-up the student research by relating to their businesses.

The Innovation Intensive at Oxford was led by visiting professor Lisa Teach, director of Rider’s Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, and Dr. Mayank Jaiswal, assistant professor in the College of Business Administration. Joining them were Executives-in-Residence Norm Brodsky ’64, a serial entrepreneur, author and writer; Barry Rabner, a University Trustee and president and CEO of Penn Medicine Princeton Health; Lewis Schiff, chairman of the Board of Experts for Birthing of Giants; and Dr. Tim Hart, development director of Oxtenia, Oxford’s Global Innovation Consultancy.

“By interacting with the entrepreneurs and learning about their industries, students were able to walk away with information and firsthand experience that they couldn't get from a textbook,” says Teach. “Some of our students left with opportunities for internships and one student raised a couple of thousand dollars for his non-profit startup.”

Michelle Issac, a junior double majoring in global supply chain management and business analytics, says the collaborative environment offered an opportunity to ask detailed questions and get specific advice. “I know that I have a solid foundation from everything that I have learned from the entrepreneurs and various presentations to start my own business or non-profit organization,” she says.

Both programs offer students a chance to experience some Oxford traditions, like sequentially sitting in the next available spot during mealtimes or having afternoon tea, in addition to experiencing the Oxford-style residential learning community.

"One important aspect of the Rider students' time here is that they experience the full collegiate life that is typical of a student's experience at Oxford University," says James Whitbourn, senior research fellow at St. Stephen's House. "They live together as a community, and this means that peer and mentor learning takes place not only in the classroom but also while eating together in the college dining room, where the conversation continues and expands over lunch and dinner — and even afterward in the Common Room. It was wonderful to see the students so wholeheartedly embrace this tradition and benefit from it."

The structure of industry professionals working with Rider students was modeled after the success of the Choral Institute at Oxford. For the past seven years, more than 400 students from Rider’s Westminster Choir College have participated in the program, which provides an immersive study of choral conducting and choral artistry. Choral directors travel from around the world to observe and conduct the Grammy-nominated Westminster Williamson Voices, which is composed of Westminster students and is the Institute’s choir-in-residence. The Queen of England sent her representative to one of their recent concert performances.

Co-directed by Drs. Jordan and Whitbourn, the program has also featured other distinguished faculty such as Dr. Edward Higginbottom, chair of choral conducting at Oxford, and James O’Donnell, master of the choristers at Westminster Abbey.

“Participation in these programs ends up frequently being one of the first questions at job interviews for our students,” says Boris Vilic, dean of the College of Continuing Studies. “We are proud of the type of Engaged Learning opportunities these programs represent.”