Compassion Center Benefits from Students’ Efforts
Students in Dale Fitzgibbons’ MQM 380 Teams and Team-Development course are developing key life skills while completing a number of activities to raise money, collect food, and recruit volunteers for the Compassion Center, a homeless shelter in Bloomington.
An important skill students have already learned from this class is that leadership does not and should not always come from the same person. Several times during the semester different leaders stepped forward as the project evolved. “In a working environment, this is also true, said Senior Management major, Thomas Myers. “The CEO of a company does not always have the best solution to a problem. As a leader or manager, knowing when to let others rise to the occasion can be the best move.”
Students in the class employed many strategies to meet the various goals of the project. They collected nearly $5800 in donated prizes from area businesses, sold 1,500 raffle tickets and also volunteered at local grocery stores, bagging groceries for donations. Students raised $3,412 through these efforts.
Another project goal was to collect two months of food – enough to feed 60 people per day, 20 days a month, by contacting fraternity and sorority houses on campus. When that didn’t get the desired results, project participants secured additional food donations by speaking with customers as they entered local grocery stores. After these two efforts, students were still well short of their food collection goal. At this point they led a community food drive, going door-to-door, putting empty paper bags next to residents’ doors. A sheet explaining the project was stapled to each bag. “The following week we drove the same route and found a tremendous outreach from generous citizens. Hundreds of residents filled their paper bags for us!” shared Myers. Class members ultimately collected more than 6200 food and toiletry items for the Compassion Center’s Wish List.
The third major goal related to recruiting volunteers for the Compassion Center. This final task proved to be the most challenging. “We learned that people are more likely to donate food and money than time,” said Myers. Sixteen of Fitzgibbons’ students and 11 other individuals have completed volunteer training. Each has also pledged to work once every two weeks for the next six months at the facility.
According to Fitzgibbons, a project like this requires students to coordinate their efforts with others who often have different goals, agendas and work styles than they do. Participants learn the necessity for careful planning because it is a complex project that must be done over the course of the semester. Students also learn the importance of honest and clear communication as well as conflict resolution. “Communication and conflict resolution rarely come up in more traditional classes because either the students are not interdependent or because they think conflict is bad - something to avoid, even if it means you end up having to do all the work yourself,” explained Fitzgibbons. It became a central issue when the initial efforts by the group coordinating the food drive were unsuccessful. “A huge conflict broke out at one point and several students were almost at blows. One of the members got everyone to cool off and convinced them that they could regroup and start again - this time with the understanding that they were in this together and that the goal of helping the homeless was more important than pointing fingers,” explained Fitzgibbons.
Learning to look at challenges from a fresh perspective was an especially valuable lesson. “Whenever we completed one task and realized that our goal was not met, we decided to look at things from a different angle,” said Myers. In the end, students made significant strides benefiting the Compassion Center. One of the most important things Myers learned from this class was that that the whole truly is more than the sum of its parts. “Each of us could not have done as much individually as we accomplished as a team,” he added.
Associate Provost, Jan Shane and Compassion Center Director, Alicia Girard, were among those who attended the students’ final presentation, December 5th
MBA Association to Hold Career and Professional Development Seminar
The MBA Association's annual Career and Professional Development Seminar will be held on Friday, February 17th in the Executive Classroom and Boardroom. The seminar is open to all students, alumni, faculty, and staff. Two guest speakers and a panel of human resource experts will present on topics selected by MBA students. Registration begins at 8:30 and the event will conclude at 1:30. Lunch will be catered by Avantis. Lunch and registration will be provided free of charge to College of Business faculty.
"This will be a great opportunity for students to network and hear perspectives of successful individuals from the area," added Sara Krows, MBA Association Career Seminar Chair.
Schedule for February 17th
8:30-9:00 Registration
9:00-9:15 Welcome: Dean Dixie Mills
9:15-9:30 Introduction: Dr. Lee Graf
9:30-10:20 Susan Hood, Vice President of Claim Operation at State Farm
10:20-10:35 Break
10:35-11:25 Panel Presentation: Human Resource Issues (Job Search Strategies, What Employers Look For, Job Offer Evaluations & Negations, Interviewing Skills)
11:25-12:30 Lunch and opportunity for College of Business Building Tour
12:30-1:20 Speaker
1:20-1:30 Conclusion: MBAA President
A Second Business Lifestyle Floor Added to Meet Student Demand
Whether it is a picnic, bowling, dinner, a concert, or decorating for the holidays, students living on the Business Lifestyle in Manchester Hall enjoy sharing the experience with their faculty mentor, Doug Michlich, and the feeling is mutual.
"We sometimes get so tied up in what we do it is easy to forget there is more to campus life than just school work. This kind of involvement contributes to my development as a whole person and it allows me to contribute back to the university community," shared longtime faculty mentor, Michlich.
Associate Director of Student Housing, Stacey Mwilambwe appreciates what faculty mentors offer students. "Two of the things we value most concerning faculty mentor involvement with the business lifestyle floor is their ability to humanize" the College of Business and Illinois State University. Students enjoy individualized attention instead of feeling like a number. Faculty members are able to form relationships with students and this helps them feel like the School of Business really cares about them." Mwilambwe says students truly value having someone they can talk with about how to excel in their major and also how to maneuver around at Illinois State University.
According Mwilambwe, student demand has remained so high that a second Business Lifestyle floor will be available in Fall 2006 in Haynie Hall with Katrin Varner serving as the faculty mentor. Construction is underway at Haynie Hall, which undergoing extensive refurbishing before re-opening in fall 2006.
So what's involved for faculty mentors? It varies. According to Michlich, some lifestyle floors are quite active and plan activities several times each semester. There may be spur-of-the-moment events a mentor can choose to attend. Other activities are known well in advance. In the final call, it is up to each mentor do decide just how involved to become," he added.
For those intrigued by the possibility of serving as a mentor, Michlich says, "Go for it! Through this role, you can offer advice and relate to some of the experiences students are going through in school and in life. The rewards you gain outside the classroom can only help what goes on inside."
Win Tickets to Hawaii
AirTran Airways has donated two roundtrip airfare tickets from Bloomington to any domestic AirTran destination as a way to help Gamma Iota Sigma Insurance Fraternity raise funds for transportation to the 2006 Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) Conference in Hawaii. Members of Gamma Iota Sigma are raffling off these round trip tickets as a pair with the drawing scheduled for January 31. The airfare is valid through Dec. 15, 2006. Raffle tickets are $5 each or five tickets for $20 and can be purchased in the Katie School office through January 30th. The winning ticket number from the raffle will be posted on www.katieschool.org and the winner will also be contacted by phone.
Accounting Faculty, Business Leaders and Students Gather at Banquet
Caroline Craig (ACC) is the recipient of the 2005 Arthur H. Winakor Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year award, sponsored by McGladrey & Pullen, LLP, a long-time supporter of the Department of Accounting at ISU. Michael Pollasky ’04, of the Chicago office of McGladrey & Pullen, presented the teaching excellence award to her at the Annual Student Accounting Society Banquet in November. Craig generously donated the $500 honorarium to the Department of Accounting Student Scholarship Fund.
According to Debbie Lindberg (ACC), this end-of-the-year banquet brings students, faculty, and firms together for conversations about topics related to the accounting profession. This year Mary Ann Webb of Sulaski and Webb, CPAs was the keynote speaker. She talked about “giving back” to the profession, the community, and to the university.
Representatives from Price Waterhouse Coopers, State Farm, Caterpillar, Kraft, BKD, LLP, Heinold-Banwart, Illinois Agricultural Association, Illinois Tools Works, Kraft, McGladrey & Pullen, Miller Cooper, and Sikich Gardner & Co were among those attending the banquet.
ISU to host Becker CPA Review
Wendy Duffy, Harlan Fuller, Debbie Lindber, and Karen Hosack will serve as faculty during the 2006 Becker CPA review course. The session will take place during the first six weeks of summer school at ISU. Becker is a nationally well-known and respected provider of CPA exam review materials and courses. “They have an outstanding track record of preparing students to succeed on the CPA examination,” said Duffy. The video based course uses Becker lecturers and materials. ISU faculty members administer the course and are present in the classroom to expand on lecture topics and to respond to student questions. COB faculty involved in the review will each oversee one particular area:
- Wendy Duffy (ACC) - Financial reporting
- Harlan Fuller (ACC) – Business Environment and Concepts / Regulation (Tax)
- Debbie Lindberg (ACC)- Auditing and Attestation
- Karen Hosack (FIL) – Regulation (Business Law).
During last summer’s Becker Review there were 25 students enrolled in one or more of the sections of the course. Most were ISU accounting graduates. Students from Milliken and the University of Illinois also attended.
Pi Sigma Epsilon Joins Chamber
The sales and marketing fraternity, Pi Sigma Epsilon recently joined the McLean Country Chamber of Commerce. It is a win-win situation for the students and current Chamber of Commerce members eager to connect with ISU students and faculty. The 75 student members have already begun on-campus advertising campaigns for Twin City retailers. Through their work students will establish valuable relationships with area business and community leaders while applying what they’ve learned through their College of Business courses.
Dynamic Times for Business Information Systems
The Business Information Systems Club is experiencing dynamic times. According to faculty sponsor, Matt Nelson (ACC), much of club’s new energy is due to the momentum that has been building in the BIS program at ISU and in the economy in general. “Several indicators are pointing towards solid growth in BIS related careers and opportunities. We have seen a significant rise in BIS recruiting, salary offers, and wages,” said Nelson.
In a recent report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, four of the top 10 fastest growing jobs included BIS related career paths. In fact, some reports are now anticipating shortages in work force availability in BIS related jobs by the year 2010 and beyond. "The BIS momentum has been building here in the COB. We’ve added several new BIS faculty, two new BIS Labs, and we now offer a formal BIS Major. In addition there are several very interesting research and outreach projects underway," said Nelson.
One important opportunity for interested students is The Business Information Systems (BIS) Club. This student organization in the COB promotes networking activities that provide students an opportunity to meet BIS faculty and professionals. The primary goal of the club is to provide professional and social opportunities for students interested in business information systems. “Since networking is a key aspect in business, the more people that you know the easier finding an internship or job will be,” said BIS Club President, Katie Rivest.
Revitalized by the new BIS major, the club conducts regular meetings, hosts company tours, organizes professional speakers, contributes to charitable events, and sponsors social activities. Although many members are BIS majors, or have a BIS sequence emphasis, there are student members from nearly every college on campus.
Rivest is very excited about the events the group sponsored fall semester. In mid-October, Bruce Cather, Senior Network Architect for IBM, gave an excellent speech regarding BIS career paths. “The turnout was impressive with nearly 100 students in attendance,” said Nelson. In November the club members toured Growmark’s infrastructure and network facilities and had an opportunity for a Q&A session with the company’s top network manager. Other guest speakers who addressed BIS students on careers, and the Information Technology industry in general, included experts from State Farm, ADM, and Caterpillar.
"Computers are used in daily life and participation in the BIS Club will help expand students’ everyday knowledge of them,” said Rivest. “I encourage students from any major to join the club because this is not strictly for BIS students,” she added.
According to Nelson, work is underway to develop qualification requirements for a new BIS scholarship to be awarded to future BIS majors. Students are also very excited about upcoming events which include a tour of State Farm’s technical facilities in February, a web-site ranking and evaluation contest for web-sites here on the ISU campus, and fundraising activities to support future efforts.
