Posted 8:40 a.m. Friday, March 11, 2016
Students in special program apply knowledge and work with area businesses.
Students in special program apply knowledge, work with area businesses
UWL junior Alicia Buck sees herself in a future career in marketing and eventually management. But she wonders if she’ll be prepared for the stress, workplace conflict and creative problem solving that come with the job. A UWL College of Business Administration program is giving Buck that preview. Buck was one of the 28 students who participated in the Integrated Core Program during the fall semester, a series of four courses in Management, Finance and Marketing taught simultaneously to a cohort of students. As the program progresses, assignments become increasingly more hands-on and high-stakes. “I had a few friends take the program and they said it was a lot of work. I took it to challenge myself,” says Buck. “I’m glad I did. We were thrown these three major projects and all will likely be applicable in my future career.” The third project involved working for a real business client. [caption id="attachment_45289" align="alignright" width="205"]
John Soderberg[/caption]
“We wanted students to research real questions business are faced with and bring their findings back to us,” explains John Soderberg, executive vice president of sales support for Fastenal, a Winona-headquartered company that was one of the business clients. “I appreciated the amount of time faculty put in to make this project happen. It’s good for students and businesses.”
Fastenal was interested in learning more about what motivates and attracts potential employees to a particular company if pay and benefits are equal. Students provided a report and presentation at the end of the semester, suggesting ideas related to company culture, leadership, and training and development — all indicators for strengthening future employee engagement.
Soderberg was impressed with the primary and secondary research the students used to back up their ideas, and ultimately help the company prioritize what is important to potential candidates.
“We were very impressed. They did a nice job presenting and clearly put a lot of work into their written reports,” he says. “The topics they suggested either brought new ideas to the table or reinforced what we also recognize as important.”
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UWL students on the team that worked with Fastenal, include, from left: Katie Brandt, Lexie Vaplon, Lindsey Lagesse, Alicia Buck and Turner Jacques.[/caption]
Senior Ariel Abel, a business management major, says she loved doing analytical research.
“Before the Integrated Core Program, I went into research with the idea of finding facts to back up my viewpoint, but now I research to find out both sides and then take a stance on an issue,” says Abel.
Nicole Gullekson, associate professor of Management, who teaches in the program, says the goal of the program is twofold; It show students the integrated nature of business while also improving learning outcomes in critical thinking and communication among business graduates.
“Compared to a typical class, you can really watch students from the first project to the last and see how much they’ve grown in their confidence and abilities,” Gullekson says. “As a faculty member, that is rewarding.”
Students are asked to apply what they learned in Integrated Core Program classes to the projects, and in doing so, the content makes more sense and “sticks,” says Buck. So, the idea of stepping out into the real world of marketing doesn’t sound so scary anymore, she adds.
“I learned about myself — how I deal with conflict and stress, and how I can problem solve when I don’t know the answer,” she says. “I had so many takeaways. It was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed it.”