International Business Consulting: A New Spin on Study Abroad Experiences

Studying abroad is nothing new for students at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. In fact, it’s been an option at UNK for over 30 years. However, thanks to Dr. Timothy Burkink, who recently returned to the classroom after about 14 years in full-time administrative work, students now can benefit from his desire to “create shorter-term study abroad” opportunities integrated within the regular curriculum.

Through his collaboration with Dr. David Kosina, assistant professor in the Department of Economic and Managerial Studies at Palacký University in the Czech Republic, Dr. Burkink has recently completed a pilot program which he hopes will “serve as a model” for other courses in other majors across UNK’s campus. With the unwavering support of the College of Business and Technology’s Dean Jares, Dr. Burkink was able to take the experiential learning offered at UNK way beyond the classroom, all the way to the Czech Republic.

Having once received the advice to teach to his strengths, Burkink uses his experience from industry to offer context for his students to understand their coursework better. When he was thirty years old and working for a company, he found his way to a local community college where he spoke to the business chair. He shares that he “loved college while (he) was in it” and missed it. When he accepted a job teaching a course one night a week, a decision he says “changed (his) life,” he chose to return to graduate school and later to enter a doctoral program. Although his life had, up to that point, included a wide variety of business experience, the move to the classroom was an easy one for him. When he decided to pivot into administration, it was designed to give him the best of both worlds since he could practice business in an educational setting.

After spending over a decade in administration, Burkink found that he missed being a faculty member and wanted “to work with students” in the classroom again. This decision also gave him the “opportunity to start exploring some of (his) research interests again.” Thus the recent marketing lesson that resulted in a transcontinental trip became a reality. He “hopes it’s a model for other faculty members” as he desires to fuel the enthusiasm of UNK students by facilitating real-world scenarios for them to fully experience today’s workforce. “Learning by doing is something that has always been important” to Burkink who took this belief to the next level with this project.

His students, three who are in graduate school and six who are undergraduates, returned recently from a trip where they finally saw their months of hard work come to fruition. These students participated in what Burkink describes as “a perfect model to help our very practical-minded students get international experience while continuing progress toward their degree.”

Dr. Burkink travelled to Palacký University in September of 2022 and Dr. Kosina followed up with a trip to UNK two months later. This began a partnership which has strengthened marketing programs on both continents and paved the way for future endeavors. While each professor maintains his own classroom, this project was created to allow “students from different backgrounds, strengths, and motivations” to work together. Burkink’s eight-week course began on January 23, 2023, with a deep dive into the focal companies, the industry, and other aspects of the marketing environment. Through Zoom meetings and weekly emails, UNK students were able to work with not only Palacký University students but also the consulting clients located in the Czech Republic. This unique experiential learning project resulted in the development of a marketing plan, which during the final week of class, the UNK students traveled to the Czech Republic to present live to the actual consulting clients.

While one group of students worked with Dr. Kosina’s university on an initiative to expand the business school offerings, the other two were able to work with Veles Technology, a start-up virtual reality headset manufacturer located in the Czech Republic.

As Burkink stated, “the crux of the course is serving as consultants for actual clients.” With the success of this pilot program, it is his desire that this type of experience will become the norm for all UNK students. The vision of a menu of international opportunities for students to choose from as part of their course offerings, no matter their major, is one that Dr. Burkink hopes to leave behind as part of his UNK legacy.

On their recent trip from March 10 to March 18 of 2023, these UNK students were able to engage in face-to-face collaboration with their fellow students located in Central Europe. They gathered their remaining data as they finally met their target audiences, finished their projects, and attended lectures. However, it wasn’t all work for these students. Scheduling some downtime was important to Dr. Burkink who made sure the students had time to visit and enjoy all Olomouc and Prague have to offer.

With the success of this trip, he is confident this type of experiential learning will become a distinguishing part of the culture of UNK. Through the unwavering commitment of everyone at UNK, something that is already part of the school’s culture, he is confident that projects like this one will soon “become as commonplace as what internships are now.”

Dr. Burkink has proven he is willing to go the extra mile, or 5,000 in this case, and wants it known that his office door is always open. Anyone interested in planning a similar project doesn’t have to travel far to find out how to make it happen. Just pay Dr. Burkink a visit. He’ll show you the way.