The School of Business has a strong history of incorporating service learning projects into class assignments, giving students real world experience and exposure to community and private sector interaction.

Business Students Succeed through Community Involvement and Engaged Learning Opportunities

Service learning opportunities help students position themselves for their future and assist in applying theory to practice. Several of the School’s faculty have been highlighted in various institutional publications for their engagement with students. For instance, the Spring 2015 Engage magazine features Robert Anservitz, assistant professor of marketing, and his students who applied marketing concepts to create deliverables, primarily for non-profit organizations.

Other examples of service learning include management information systems (MIS) students participating in semester-long group projects to analyze, design and develop a system solution to a business problem for a client. In management/leadership courses, students collaborate with for-profit and non-profit organizations to raise awareness and/or funds and to address organizational challenges. Economic students also participate in service learning by teaching business topics to middle school students at Junior Achievement.

Business courses also embed real-world experiential learning opportunities. In one example, students develop skills in interviewing, networking, teamwork and project planning throughout the coursework. The resulting annual GEAR conference, open to all business students, connects students with high demand professionals in the local business community.