Department of Economic Studies

The Department of Economic Studies caters for 217 full-time and 234 part-time students of Finance and Management, offering 28 compulsory and 16 optional courses, including 5 courses taught in English and 2 in German (offered to both domestic and international / Erasmus students). It also provides about a quarter of the core courses for the Travel and Tourism students.

As the College of Polytechnics Jihlava focuses on applied learning, the mission of the Department of Economic Studies is to prepare students practically for their future profession. The study of theoretical economics is thus limited to the basics necessary for the comprehension of the field as a whole. Theoretical courses are followed and complemented by a wide range of applied economics courses from the fields of finance, accounting, taxes, management and marketing. Students also get acquainted with software commonly used by companies. Students can specialize in one of the following four fields: Financial Advisor, Finance and Taxes, Project Management and Public Administration.

An essential part of the study is also a three-week (in the middle of their studies) and a semester-long (at the end of their studies) work placement during which students have a unique opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired in a practical situation. They also often use this experience when writing their Bachelor's Thesis, in which they analyse and suggest solutions to real-life problems in their area of expertise. The practical experience makes it easier for students to find a job after graduating and start their career successfully. Graduates are expected to be able to deal with standard economic situations in positions of middle management in private companies or public organisations.

The department is acutely aware of the importance of including international perspective into the study programme. It therefore actively participates in the International Business Week project activities, organised by similarly oriented universities of applied sciences around Europe. The International Business Week network includes higher education institutions from Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Portugal, Finland, Denmark, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and the Czech Republic. Sometimes, students from universities outside the EU are invited as guests; these include for example Ukraine, Russia or China. International Business Weeks take place twice a year and students are encouraged to go and spend a week in one of the organising countries where they take part in solving a case study in international teams of students. This gives them an ideal opportunity to get to know a variety of other cultures (European and non-European), use English as the main language of international business communication and gain international perspective on economic problems.

Students interested in spending longer time abroad can participate in Erasmus exchanges or internships and spend asemester studying business courses at one of the partner institutions or get practical work experience abroad.

Contact

Head of Department of Economic Studies
Ing. Roman Fiala, Ph.D.
roman.fiala@vspj.cz