Executive Education Detail

Special Features

Week in New York City

Week three of CSEP brings participants into New York City for an exciting roster of events and academic sessions. Participants experience the vibrant living laboratory that is New York and benefit from a wide array of learning opportunities. Between sessions on the Columbia University campus and at Manhattan venues, participants have the opportunity to explore the city that never sleeps.

Week in New York City Session Examples:

Frick Collection

An inspiring session takes place at the Frick Collection, one of New York's most beloved cultural treasures. Frick Curator Colin Bailey collaborates with Professor Paul Ingram to use highlights of the collection to help senior executives think about the power of symbols in communication.

Broadway Play

In the fall 2009 session, participants attended a performance by Jude Law in Hamlet. In tandem with Hamlet, Columbia University faculty members Andrea Haring and James Shapiro lended their talents to sessions focusing on one’s presence—physical and vocal—as a leader. Andrea Haring, director, actress and voice teacher, is the associate director of The Linklater Center for Voice and Language and on the Columbia faculty. James Shapiro, a leading Shakespeare scholar, is a Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and author of A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare.

Leadership Jazz

An evening of live music and stimulating Q&A at a jazz club in New York City led by Columbia Business School Professor of Management Grant Ackerman, "Leadership Jazz" demonstrates the relationship of jazz to leadership and management techniques.

Cooking with Chef John Santiago

John Santiago, chef and director of Columbia University Faculty House, leads CSEP participants in a team-building session and discusses how to motivate employees under pressure.

Positive Impact Project

The Positive Impact Project allows CSEP participants to join forces with a local, national or international nonprofit organization with the goal of offering participants a project of global significance. The first project was with the Humpty Dumpty Institute (HDI), a New York-based nonprofit that pursues innovative solutions to humanitarian problems. The CSEP class developed the business plan for HDI's Mushrooms with a Mission (MwM) initiative, a Vietnam-based enterprise that will provide added income to survivors of unexploded ordnance (UXO).

In fall 2009, CSEP partnered with the Desert Resource Center (DRC), a nonprofit organization envisioned to provide a multitude of services to the various homeless populations of California's Coachella Valley. CSEP participants supported DRC on a variety of initiatives, including strategizing messaging for elected officials to garner financial support, designing a marketing plan and working on the on-going financial sustainability of the organization.

"I am so pleased that a non-profit consulting project is being introduced into CSEP—the program was excellent already, and this can only help it maintain its well-deserved reputation for innovation and experiential learning."
-- Ian Bradshaw, General Manager, British Gas, CSEP 124

Dinner Cruise

After several days of creative and academic sessions in the city, participants take a World Yacht Dinner Cruise: a fitting finale to the week. The tour affords participants with views of the New York City skyline and bridges, and a close-up look at the Statue of Liberty.

Spouse/Partner Program

Attending CSEP requires a generous time commitment, and returning to "real" life is an important transition. At the close of the program, you are invited to bring your spouse/partner or a guest to CSEP. Guests attend some sessions with you, and they also engage in programming designed exclusively for them. Through presentations focusing on life after the program and the graduation ceremony, your guest becomes an integral part of your CSEP experience.