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One major challenge is the salary and bonus packages for its graduating MBA students.
•   Undergraduate students at the Gatton College have many enrichment
opportunities to further hone their skills. They range from the professionalism series to the Project Connect programs. The faculty strives to prepare the students for today's business world. Dean Sudharshan briefly introduced two signature undergraduate programs recently launched by the Gatton College.
o  Global Scholars
Gatton's Global Scholar program is designed for high-achieving incoming students. Global Scholars are required to spend a semester abroad. This year's Global Scholar class consists of 26 students. Across the freshmen and sophomore classes, the college has a total of 42 Global Scholars. Dean Sudharshan introduced Sean Cockrell, a student in the Global Scholars Program. Sean described his experience in the Global Scholars program and told why he thought it was a valuable program.
o  Scholars in Engineering and Management (SEAM)
A joint program between the Gatton College of Business and Economics and the College of Engineering, the SEAM program is open to exceptional first-year business and engineering students. At the core of the program lies an internship program that partners students with major corporations and allows the students to help bring a product to market. Currently, there are 18 SEAM participants.
Dean Sudharshan stated that, above all else, the Gatton College of Business and Economics exists to educate and prepare men and women for world-wide business leadership. Over the past three years, the Gatton College has enrolled an average of 2,600 students. Enrollments are managed by setting GPA requirements for admission as upper division students in the college due to constraints on physical facilities and faculty. For accreditation purposes, the Gatton College is compared with benchmark institutions' student-faculty ratio of 24:1. The comparable Gatton College ratio is 29.5:1.
UK's Top 20 Business Plan calls for an increase in the undergraduate student body of 30 percent. To meet this need while attaining student-faculty ratios comparable to its benchmark institutions, the Gatton College needs to have new facilities and additional faculty and staff.
Dean Sudharshan also pointed out that the college recognizes that in order for the university to achieve Top 20 status, it must achieve a top ranked business school. Among the university's benchmark schools, 19 of the 20 schools have ranked business schools.
Many of Gatton College's benchmark schools have buildings that facilitate learning and meet the needs of today's learning styles and student demand. They are