P&Q’s 2026 Best In Class Awards: Rice Business, Student Engagement

Business school is remembered less for the lectures than for the people, the late nights, the shared wins, and the small moments that turn a campus into a community. Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business has built its whole approach around that idea. It hands students the keys to run marquee conferences and global consulting trips, then surprises them with an ice cream bar during finals and live music on the patio on a Thursday night. By putting students at the center of nearly everything, Rice Business earns the Student Engagement award in this year’s P&Q Best In Class honors.

At Rice Business, engagement starts with treating the student experience as all-encompassing, inside the classroom and out. School leaders think carefully about creating space for the moments that leave students feeling connected, supported, and glad to be part of the community.

“Education is, of course, the most important part of the experience here. It is what will last for decades and will transform the way students show up in the world and their ability to solve big, difficult problems,” says George Andrews, associate dean of degree programs at Rice Business. “But just like a great meal at a Michelin-starred restaurant, it’s more than the food that makes the experience.”

Rice Business pays attention to what happens before, after, and in between the academic moments.

“We spend a lot of time mapping out the student journey, and we talk a lot about the power of moments. Where along the way can we make a real, positive impact? Are there pain points we can remove? What environment do we want to create that will augment and amplify the in-class learning?” Andrews says.

GIVEN THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM

Many of those moments come from the students themselves. Rice Business launches new activities every year that grow out of its students’ creativity. This year, for example, one full-time MBA student asked if he could organize a five-day leadership excursion into the wilderness, giving classmates a chance to experience what it means to lead through uncertainty. Rice Business partnered with him to make it happen.

Andrews says this kind of co-creative environment is exactly what stood out to him when he joined Rice more than a decade ago.

“What struck me most when I came to Rice a decade ago was the extent to which the students were driving the experience,” he says. “Our students are really given the keys to the kingdom and told to iterate and explore.”

That culture of student leadership shows up in Rice Business’s biggest events, too. Students organize and run the Women’s Leadership Conference, the Rice Energy and Finance Conference, the Rice Investment Competition, the Rice Veterans Business Battle, the Texas Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Conference, and the AI in Healthcare Conference. Together, those events fill the Shell Auditorium and bring hundreds of people to campus.

“Along the way, students don’t just learn how to lead steering committees and task forces; they’re also given a budget and have to make real trade-offs between value and cost,” Andrews says. “Just as important, they get to meet the political and business leaders who are the speakers and guests at these events.”

Those experiences often become moments students remember years after they leave.

SMALL, UNEXPECTED MOMENTS

Rice Business also knows that not every meaningful connection happens at a major conference. One of the school’s best-known traditions is Partio, short for Party on the Patio, where students, faculty, and staff come together every Thursday over food and drinks, often with live music, dancing, and even bull riding.

Andrews says the smaller gatherings can carry just as much weight as the big ones.

“What has really made the difference is our small, unexpected pop-up moments,” he says. “The student experience team is constantly planning small experiences to surprise and delight students.”

That might mean hot chocolate in the rotunda served by the deans, an ice cream bar during finals, or Valentine’s Day cards students can give to a favorite faculty member, peer, family member, or boss who has supported them along the way.

“Because they pop up at random, students are always looking forward to what’s next, and that keeps the anticipation high,” Andrews says.

A DIFFICULT GOAL, SHARED

Then there are the experiences that pull students together far from campus. Every Rice Business student takes part in a global consulting trip, which Andrews calls the final bonding experience of the second year. Students travel the world to work on real projects with companies, alongside faculty, staff, and one another, putting what they’ve learned into practice.

“That builds both a strong sense of accomplishment and real human connection,” Andrews says. “Nothing brings people together like achieving a difficult goal.”

EVERYONE OWNS THE EXPERIENCE

What Andrews says he is proudest of is that the whole Rice Business community takes responsibility for the student experience.

“There’s so much I could mention, but one thing I’m most proud of is how fully Rice Business has embraced the idea that, while we don’t all work in the student experience office, we are all responsible for the student experience,” he says. “It comes up in every dean’s meeting and every department staff meeting: Where are we winning, and where do we need to keep improving?”

Because Rice Business is relatively small, that attention can feel personal.

“Rice Business is also small enough that we really know each student,” Andrews says. “The student experience is not just events and activities; it’s making sure every student is thriving as a person.”

There are plenty of ways to experience Houston together, too. Students can catch Texans and Astros games, join faculty for sporting events and cultural outings, or tag along with Andrews to the opera, symphony, or theater. He and Professor John Miles have even co-hosted a box at Rice baseball, where students can kick back with hot dogs and drinks.

One of Andrews’s favorite memories took place at a collegiate track meet.

“One of my fondest memories is sitting in the stands, surrounded by Rice MBA students cheering one of their own to a first-place finish at a collegiate track meet,” he says. “It was a moment of shared euphoria that I will never forget.”

At Rice Business, student engagement means building a community where students are free to shape their own experience, show up for one another, and feel genuinely known.

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