Immersive Learning at Miller College of Business

Business education, put into practice

At Miller College of Business, students learn business by doing business. Immersive learning connects classroom knowledge with real expectations as part of the Miller College student experience. Students work with faculty mentors and community partners to solve real challenges. Some projects serve neighbors in Muncie. Others support Indiana businesses, strengthen nonprofits, analyze global issues, or help organizations prepare for the future. Across all of them, students gain practical experience and a clearer sense of what they can do with a business education.

With immersive learning, students may manage investments, prepare tax returns, conduct brand audits, analyze data, develop marketing strategies, support nonprofit operations, create digital content, or recommend business solutions. The work is guided by faculty, shaped by partner needs, and rooted in practical outcomes. Students learn how to ask better questions, communicate with clients, work through ambiguity, meet deadlines, and deliver something useful.

That is the difference immersive learning makes: students do not just imagine the work. They experience it.

Featured Immersive Learning Experiences

Student Managed Investment Fund

Students present financial market analysis in front of investment data and charts displayed on a classroom screen.

Student Managed Investment Fund

Managing real money. Making real decisions.

Department: Finance and Insurance 
Faculty Member: Reza Houston
Partner: Ball State University Foundation

In the Student Managed Investment Fund, Miller College students step into the role of investment professionals. They research securities, evaluate market conditions, discuss strategy, and make recommendations tied to a real portfolio.

The experience gives students a rare opportunity to work with actual funds while developing the judgment, discipline, and communication skills expected in finance careers. Students learn that investment decisions are not abstract classroom exercises. They carry responsibility, require evidence, and depend on teamwork.

Volunteers build an accessibility ramp outside a home, using power tools during a community service project.

Home Savers of Delaware County

accounting skills in service to the community

Department: Accounting
Faculty Member: Ben Angelo
Partner: Home Savers of Delaware County

Students partnered with Home Savers of Delaware County, a local nonprofit that provides urgent home repairs and accessibility improvements for homeowners in financial need. 

They supported the organization with strategic planning, grant applications, bookkeeping, IRS Form 990 preparation, and construction of handicap-accessibility ramps. The project gave students hands-on experience with nonprofit accounting while helping a community organization continue essential work for local homeowners. 

Students collaborate around a table during a classroom discussion, using laptops and sharing ideas in an active learning environment.

Rebranding for Real

brand strategy for a real client

Department: Marketing
Faculty Member: Kesha Coker
Partner: Possibilities Unlocked

In Rebranding for Real, marketing students worked with Possibilities Unlocked, an HR agency owned by Miller College alumna Stacey Dennis.

In this course, students conducted a comprehensive brand audit, evaluated the agency’s brand image and product offerings, and created a new logo for the main brand. They also helped rebrand The People People’s HR Lounge, developing a new logo and recommendations for pricing, delivery channels, and promotions.

The project gave students experience with research, brand strategy, creative development, and client-ready recommendations—the kind of work marketing professionals do every day.

Student presents information at a podium during an international learning experience, with attendees listening in a conference room.

Banking on Belize

global research with real partners

Department: Economics
Faculty Member: Cecil Bohanon and Mike Hicks
Partner: Central Bank of Belize and Statistical Institute of Belize 

During spring break, Miller College students traveled to Belize to present their analysis of information communications technology and crime data from the country’s 2022 Census.

The project was part of a course taught by Cecil Bohanon and Mike Hicks. Working in partnership with the Central Bank of Belize and the Statistical Institute of Belize, students examined patterns in internet use and victimization data. Their work culminated in presentations in Belmopan, where they also discussed potential areas for future research with their Inter-American partners.

The experience connected economics, data analysis, international collaboration, and cultural learning—showing how business education can extend well beyond campus.

Accounting students review tax documents and work together at laptops during a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program session.

Voluntary Income Tax Assistance Program

Professional tax preparation with community impact

Department: Accounting
Faculty Member: Jason Stanfield
Partner: Muncie Community Members

Through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, accounting students provide tax preparation support for members of the Muncie community.

Students helped nearly 200 individuals file their taxes in Spring 2026. Students applied tax knowledge gained through coursework and IRS VITA certification while building client relationship skills in a professional service environment. They also completed a semester-long best practices project to refine the program and improve the experience for clients and future student volunteers.

This long-standing program shows how technical business knowledge can become a direct service to individuals and families.

Students in chef coats prepare ingredients and recipes in a teaching kitchen as part of a culinary program.

Cook with Purpose

Hospitality as service

Department: Applied Business Studies
Faculty Member: Christiana Mann
Partner: Avondale Neighborhood Association, Common Market, Avondale United Methodist Church, Muncie Food Hub, Soup Kitchen of Muncie, Cardinal Kitchen, and Guardian Scholars Program

In Cook with Purpose, students prepared meals for individuals facing food insecurity while learning the planning and logistics behind community-based hospitality. Led by Christiana Mann, students worked with local partners to consider dietary needs, food safety, service logistics, and volume forecasting. The project connected classroom learning to local needs and helped students see hospitality as more than an industry—it is also a way to serve, organize, care, and respond.

More Examples of Immersive Learning

Immersive learning gives Miller College students the chance to test ideas, build confidence, and discover what they can do with a business education. They work with real partners. They solve real problems. They create work that matters. At Miller College, business education is active, practical, and connected to purpose.

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