By Audrey Elwood, Arts and Entertainment Editor 

The Next Program is a new vocational training program in the William College of Business that aims to prepare students for a variety of professions within the business world. The current and inaugural cohort is working on sales.

Led by marketing professor Karen Eutsler and management professor Jorge Selva, the program meets every Friday. They focus on real world experiences, like mock sales or meeting with professionals. Some of the organizations they have met with include Cintas, Federated Insurance and Johnson and Johnson.

“I actually had no interest in sales. I took the class after taking a professional selling class with Karen Eutsler, and I was like, ‘oh wait I could really see myself doing something like this, this is really interesting,’” senior marketing and management major Ryleigh Neill said. 

The Next Program employs experiential learning to give students hands-on experience talking to people and making connections in fields that may interest them. 

“It’s given me a lot of confidence. Networking is such a big part of the business world, so it’s given me a platform to feel comfortable talking about products, but also just talking to people,” Neill said. 

Teaching professor in the management program Jorge Selva kickstarted the program and continues to lead it. As part of the program, Selva has helped organize trips to conferences focused on sales that will take place in the spring. 

“I have taken such pride in seeing the students evolve throughout the last semester. I have seen how hard students have been working on preparing for sales events and studying cases,” Selva said.

“Someone, to join, needs to have a sense of focus and an interest in exploring sales. You should have a desire to break out of your shell and put yourself out there when it comes to talking to executives,” Selva said when asked what qualities will make a good Next candidate. 

Xavier has recently added a sales minor. While the Next Program and the sales minor are two different programs, they are both teaching the skills students need to be successful in the business field.

“Next is kinda like a cross between a class and an extracurricular,” Neil said. 

Next plans to add different skills and tracks to its repertoire, including an announced new track likely coming in the fall of 2025. The leaders of the program anticipate Next will be a unique way for Xavier students to gain skills they would not have an opportunity to learn in the classroom.

“The students are phenomenal. They have such an eagerness to learn about the vocation that they plan on going into full-time, ” Selva said.