The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Business is hosting 15 German students from its partner institute, Hochschule Hannover, for its intensive Summer Financial Institute (SFI) being held June 30-Aug. 3. The five-week program is designed to educate the visiting students with a basic understanding of North American financial and managerial accounting, corporate finance, and duties and taxes.
“This program was initiated by faculty at Hochschule Hannover who saw it as a valuable educational opportunity for their students working in the automobile industry,” said Kristine Jarden, director of Executive Education in the SIUE School of Business. “Through participation in this program, students are able to gain the North American perspective on finance and accounting, and apply it to the multinational companies for which they work.”
The program is jointly organized by Executive Education and International Programs. The visiting students are completing their academic program in technical marketing and sales. 
Their participation in the SFI is funded by their respective employers, including Continental Tire, Krauss Maffei, Volkswagen, Johnson Controls and KSM Castings.
“Learning finance and seeing how the American perspective is different from our German perspective is enriching our education,” said Kristoffer Schweizer, a third-year student at Hochschule Hannover. “The program is intense, but well-prepared. I work for Continental Tire, and want to continue working there. Therefore, it’s very important to get as much information as possible from this experience. Every day the company has to make decisions, and all of them are somehow based in finance.”
“It’s quite important for us to understand our colleagues over here in America, because they’re using different systems,” added Julia Triesch, a third-year student at Hochschule Hannover, who also works for Continental Tire. “This is a completely new experience for us, and I thought it may be a bit challenging. But, we are learning together and our group has been getting along well.”
Participating School of Business faculty include Rakesh Bharati, Brad Reed and Steve Brant. Additionally, Yuping Zeng is directing an automotive manufacturing management simulation for the participants. During the SFI, the students will participate in site visits to Continental Tire in Mt. Vernon and Bayer in St. Louis.
“I’ve been involved in this program for more than a decade, and the quality of students seems to increase each year,” noted Bharati, professor and chair of the Department of Economics and Finance. “They’re disciplined, complete the mathematical aspects of the courses well, and ask great questions. All of us instructors bring in the American perspective and help the students understand certain jargon. We all also have extensive experience in teaching and industry, which allows us to relate to their business environment.”
Photos: The SIUE School of Business is hosting 15 German students from Hochschule Hannover for its annual Summer Financial Institute. Alongside the participants (front left) is SIUE’s Dr. Rakesh Bharati.
Visiting German students (L-R) Kristoffer Schweizer and Julia Triesch engage with SIUE finance professor Dr. Rakesh Bharati while on campus for the School of Business’s Summer Financial Institute.