Campus Compact » Program Models Service-Learning In Business

Faculty use their professional network to serve the community

tdomf_26a6d — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Business faculty at San Jose State University draw upon their professional network of neighborhood contacts to create opportunities to serve the community. Building off the network, faculty have developed courses in which students help local businesses design marketing campaigns and refine their management information systems. The university s newly-formed Incubator Without Walls has served more than one hundred existing or potential businesses in the community.

From Service Matters 1998: Engaging Higher Education In the Renewal of America s Communities and American Democracy

Website: http://www.sjsu.edu/news_and_info/copc/page2.html

Introductory Accounting course with extra credit option for tutoring

tdomf_26a6d — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Students enrolled in Introductory Accounting at California State University, Chico, quickly learn that good business is about more than just good business skills. Professor Curtis DeBerg focuses on developing students leadership, teamwork, and communication skills, and uses service-learning to do the job. Students are given the extra credit option of spending one to two hours a week teaching business and computer literacy skills to at-risk youth. In this way, the course shows students the potential for business to have a meaningful impact on people s lives, at the same time as it teaches human skills often overlooked in business disciplines.

From Service Matters 1998: Engaging Higher Education In the Renewal of America s Communities and American Democracy

Contact: bund {at} csuchico(.)edu"">bund {at} csuchico(.)edu
Phone: 530.898-4480

Peace Corps Fellows Program

tdomf_26a6d — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

As part of its MBA Program, returning Peace Corps volunteers are invited to participate in economic development projects in the Los Angeles area, and in return receive tuition assistance for classes in the Loyola Marymount University MBA program.

Additional information on this fellowship program can be found online at http://www.lmu.edu/colleges/cba/mba/peacecorps.htm.

Learning by presenting your case: “”Business and Professional Communication”"

tdomf_26a6d — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rather than only discussing with classmates or writing an essay on their service experience, students who enroll in Business and Professional Communication at the University of West Florida have to do a presentation to the board. Students in the class, who come from a range of business disciplines, are paired with nonprofit agencies that can use the students specific expertise in fundraising, marketing, accounting or management. After having done 20 hours of service, each student writes a proposal to benefit the community agency where he or she worked and presents it to that agency s board of directors. The real-life presentation helps students to carefully think through their service.

From Service Matters 1998: Engaging Higher Education In the Renewal of America s Communities and American Democracy

Helping residents build the skills for community development

tdomf_26a6d — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Many universities that engage in community development issues do so with a heavy emphasis on research. As a result, faculty and staff at DePaul, a teaching university in Chicago, view their work with the West Humboldt Park community as a test case. Focusing on teaching, faculty have engaged their students in a host of service-learning projects that help residents build the skills for community development. Examples include a legal clinic through which students have helped residents reclaim abandoned properties and push drug dealers out of their neighborhood, and business class projects in which students offer recommendations for economic development in the business district.

From Service Matters 1998: Engaging Higher Education In the Renewal of America s Communities and American Democracy

Web site: http://ccts2.cti.depaul.edu/whpdc/index.htm

Contact: William Howard, Executive Director, williamhoward {at} aol(.)com

Organizational management: Running the company

tdomf_26a6d — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

A class in Organizational Management at the University of Evansville uses Habitat for Humanity as a site in which to exercise social responsibility. Students form a construction company, complete with a foreman and department of public relations. As an organization, they build a Habitat house. As a service-learning class, they reflect on the nature of decision-making, job evaluation, and inter-organization communication. The group will create both an internet site and a database management system for Habitat. In this way, they expand on the work experience to learn organizational lessons.

From Service Matters 1998: Engaging Higher Education In the Renewal of America s Communities and American Democracy

E-mail: business {at} evansville(.)edu

Community Needs, Public Policy and the Private Sector

tdomf_26a6d — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Bentley College’s “”Community Needs, Public Policy and the Private Sector”" allowed students to examine community concerns in the nonprofit, provate and governmental sectors. Readings, community service projects, and meetings with business and govenrment officials helped students of the business school to better understand the relationship between business decisions and governmental policies and the impact of these decisions on low-income populations.

Contact: Edward Zlotkowski, Director of Bentley S-L project at ezlotkowski {at} bentley(.)edu or (781)-891-2592

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program

tdomf_26a6d — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Bunker Hill Community College s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program is one of the largest in the country. Led by John Vacarro, a business faculty member and several hundred business students, the program serves more than 4,000 taxpayers each year. Using state-of-the-art equipment students provide free assistance to low-income residents, while multilingual students help non-English speakers. The VITA program is woven into students Bunker Hill education through a course on business administration and income tax.

From Service Matters 1998: Engaging Higher Education In the Renewal of America s Communities and American Democracy

“”Managerial Accounting”" and The American Cancer Society: A Blending of Business and Community

tdomf_26a6d — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Five students from Managerial Accounting”" set themselves up as a small business with the goal of raising money for the American Cancer Society by selling flowers. The students work included setting up a Partnership, Code of Ethics, Strategic Plan, Business Plan, Marketing Plan, Pricing and Credit Policies, Accounting Records and Financial Statements. Even though their competitors were supermarkets and florists, as well as other charities, they felt their product was unique because their customer/doner could make a contribution to a well respected charity and receive something in return flowers! The funds collected and donated to this organization will continue to help many patients long after the students volunteer work is finished, demonstrating a unique blending of community, business and legacy.

Website: http://www.raritanval.edu/departments/busadmin/index.htm

‘Managerial Accounting”" course and Alternatives, Inc.: Business Education, Community Benefits

tdomf_26a6d — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Four students enrolled in Managerial Accounting at Raritan Valley Community College turned their business skills towards a project that benefited the community in a lasting way. As a group effort, the College students researched, developed and implemented a business plan to help the community organization Alternatives, Inc. acquire a financial database management system to support its new 52 client-housing unit. The students learned that they have the potential to make a meaningful and lasting impact in the community while developing their leadership, teamwork and communication skills.

Website: http://www.raritanval.edu/departments/busadmin/index.htm

Business education: Community Benefits

tdomf_26a6d — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Patty Goff seeks to inspire and motivate her students to take on leadership through service-learning. Students enrolled in Business Education Leadership turn their business skills towards a project that benefits the community often in the form of events or sales to raise funds for community agencies. Through these efforts, students see the good causes which their business acumen can support, and are inspired to combine the skills of good business with the values of good citizens.

From Service Matters 1998: Engaging Higher Education In the Renewal of America s Communities and American Democracy

Contact: Professor Patty Goff at goffp {at} sanjuancollege(.)edu

Participation in the “”Kids Creation Community Playground”" project

tdomf_26a6d — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Defiance College is committed to service-learning as a philosophy and method of experiential learning. Our students engage in community service that meets community needs while developing their abilities for critical thinking and group problem solving. This experience builds their sense of social responsibility and the skills they need for effective citizenship.

During the fall of 1998, Defiance College participated in Kids Creation Community Playground. This project constructed a playground for the children of Defiance, and helped build a sense of community. The project cost $200,000. Defiance College faculty, staff and students joined the community in the weeklong build. Through the efforts of 4500 volunteers, the playground was built in six days.

This project gave Defiance College a perfect opportunity to put to work its service-learning philosophy. Students in marketing classes helped with promotions while those in communication classes served on committees and art students helped with murals. Instructors were able to tie course concepts and theories to the work that was being done by Kids Creation before and during the build. Our students gained an opportunity to see how their coursework relates to service as they enhanced their sense of civic responsibility.

Community Planning and Consultation course

tdomf_26a6d — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in a course called Community Planning and Consultation, at Temple University conducted a study of the potential for small business development in the economically troubled neighborhoods of North Central Philadelphia. The study, developed in collaboration with community members, is designed to serve as a tool for the community to make decisions regarding urban development. The community and students have also used the study to enter into discussions with an international franchise association to explore possible economic development opportunities in the area.

From Service Matters 1998: Engaging Higher Education In the Renewal of America s Communities and American Democracy

Business and Economic Development Program (BEDP)

tdomf_26a6d — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Business and Economic Development Program (BEDP) is a specialty program within the UW Business School that provides, both Undergraduate and MBA students an opportunity to learn about emerging markets in America’s inner cities while simultaneously helping inner city entrepreneurs grow their companies.

The BEDP offers students the opportunity to:

Consulting Projects:

In collaboration with the PEI Consulting Network (PCN), the BEDP sponsors business-consulting projects that enable MBA students to work with growing inner city companies. In 1999, a BEDP-PCN team was a finalist in the inaugural Field Study Competition sponsored by Harvard Business School’s Initiative for a Competitive Inner City.
MBAs pair with Buisness School Alumni in their work as consultants with small buisnesses in Seattle’s emerging communities. Advisors provide industry expertise, serve as connections to the corporate community and link to resources for summer internships. Advisors have come from firms including:

web:http://depts.washington.edu/busdev/