Giving Business Students Real-World Experience

Professor Mark Schild helps Stillman students put theories to practice before they graduate.

When Professor Mark Schild, M.B.A. '19 started teaching one class at Stillman School of Business in 2016, he had 30 years experience working for Drexel, Smith Barney, and then his own independent brokerage and investment advisory firm. “I knew halfway through the semester that this was what I wanted to do,” said Schild. He sold his business, started teaching full-time, and suddenly had a new bottom line: not the financial success of his business, but the education and inspiration of thousands of students eager to prepare themselves to change the world. 

New to teaching—both undergrads and grad students—but having plenty of deep experience in the professional field, Schild quickly grasped that although classrooms and textbooks provide a fundamental grounding, students need to be taught how to apply the theories they were learning to real-world scenarios in the field. 

When I first got here I realized that we only have a moment to make an impact and so we work incredibly hard to make every moment count.”

In 2023 Schild was promoted to Associate Dean for Student Success and now works closely with Dean Joyce Strawser on high-impact applied learning programming. Thanks to the Dean’s vision and the efforts of Schild and the supportive Stillman faculty, this mode of pedagogy is embedded in every program within Stillman. 

The first thing that comes to mind when people hear “applied learning” is internships, and indeed they are one of the more valuable opportunities for students to apply theories to practice. “School builds literacy while work creates competency,” Schild frequently remarks. He mused that when he arrived at Seton Hall, most business students would have one internship near the end of their course of study. “Now they all seem to have one or two and are working hard to find three or more.” A collateral effect of this demand for internships is that more alumni are engaging with the university, reconnecting with the campus to partner with Stillman in providing internships. In testimony to the superb education Stillman provides, many of these internships transition to full-time positions upon graduation. 

There are many other applied-learning opportunities beyond internships. These include the Digital Transformation Series where industry professionals share with students essential insights into real-world IT needs, the CFA Institute Research Challenge where university teams conduct financial analysis and are judged by industry experts, and the high stakes Hall Street Fund where students invest real money provided through an endowment. 

“I tell them the key to investing is an opinion and a willingness to do some work to back up that opinion,” said Schild. “Learning to present your case and convince your fellow portfolio managers is a great real-world experience.” 

When Schild looks back on his life before Stillman, there are similarities, but there is one big difference. “I was always in a service profession, helping people with planning for specific goals or for retirement. However, being at Seton Hall and working with students in the classroom, in the trading room, and through one-on-one advising has been an incredible experience. I feel like I am impacting students’ lives and helping them become more well-rounded and better overall human beings."