The week-long stay of students from the University of Nebraska at Kearney in the Czech Republic culminated in a course focused on the creation of marketing plans, which was prepared by the Department of Economic and Managerial Studies at the UP Faculty of Arts as part of UP’s ongoing cooperation with the US university.
Nine American students, led by Prof Timothy Burkink, attended lectures at Palacký University as well as an extensive, practically oriented and cultural programme.
“Together we visited Brno and one of the largest corporate companies in the Czech Republic, Oracle; however we also saw local Olomouc companies such as Šufan and Chomout. Last but not least, the students visited the BALUO Application Centre at the UP Faculty of Physical Culture, which represents an ideal link between the university, science, research, and the commercial sphere,” said Alena Vyskočilová, head of the UP Welcome Office, who participated in the programme for the guests.
The visit of the American students was the culmination of a pilot project within the framework of collaboration between the Department of Economic and Managerial Studies at the Faculty of Arts and the College of Business and Technology of the University of Nebraska at Kearney (CBT UNK). The aim of the course, which was held in English and jointly attended by students from Olomouc and Nebraska, was the preparation of marketing plans for two real projects for clients in the Czech Republic. The course was taught in the form of online workshops via the Zoom platform, and at the end of the course the participants met in person in Olomouc.
“Students capitalised on all the knowledge they gained during the final presentations of their projects, which were attended, among others, by Jan Stejskal, the dean of the UP Faculty of Arts, and via Zoom, also the representatives of CBT UNK and Veles Technology. We believe that we will be able to continue and develop our cooperation,” said the course guarantor David Kosina from the Faculty of Arts.
Currently, the organisers have begun planning to repeat the programme in a similar form in the next academic year; at the same time, they are organising a trip of UP students to the partner university in the USA.
Kearney for a number of years. The Nebraska Semester Abroad programme, thanks to which students of the American university can study at the Department of History at the UP Faculty of Arts, has become the basis of the constantly developing partnership. In December 2022, Jan Stejskal and Martin Elbel, who lead this programme, received honorary doctorates at CBT UNK.
