Business & Technology Skills for Aspiring Leaders Certificate Program 2026

Develop foundational business and technology skills in a 7-week, experiential, dual-track business and technology certificate program. You will participate on multidisciplinary teams to advance your collaboration and leadership practices and set yourself up for career success.

GOALS

Multidisciplinary teams will select a case study company and assess opportunities to extract future value for the company by assessing their current business status and identifying new growth opportunities. Growth and expansion opportunities may include, but are not limited to, new product introductions or modifications to existing product lines.

Students will put these concepts and skills into practice through an interactive case study and workshops facilitated by Saunders faculty, alumni and industry coaches, and upper-class student leaders.

OUTCOMES

Students will become familiar with core business and technology concepts and terminology.
Students will be better prepared for success in co-ops and future careers by building their knowledge in both business and technology leadership topics.
Students will define and practice skills to both identify and extract new value opportunities for companies.
Students will build confidence through experiential learning, working in multidisciplinary teams, and presentation skills through weekly report-outs and a final presentation.
Students will have a greater understanding of how various business disciplines interact inside a company.
Track 1: Business Skills students will focus on Go-to-Market Strategies, Market Sizing, Financial Management, Organizational Functions, and Critical & Design Thinking.
Track 2: Technology Skills students will focus on Project Management, Ethics in Engineering, Engineering Finance, Risk Management, and Critical & Design Thinking.

Students will select either the Business Skills Track or the Technology Skills Track when applying for the program.

This free program is available to all RIT students and is sponsored by the Leadership Academy at Saunders.

Required: Applicants accepted into the program must attend all seven in-person sessions during the spring semester (February 18, February 25, March 4, March 18, March 25, April 1, and April 8).

Deadline to Apply: February 8, 2026

Click here to find out more about our certificate programs.

To request ASL interpreting or real-time captioning services, please visit RIT Access Services.

Contact

Terri Monsees

timbbu@rit.edu

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