February 2009
February 2009
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A UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA student was behind the creation of Community Service Days. Two days per semester MBAs, faculty and others offer local organizations their skills for computer literacy classes, tutoring, business plan analysis and other projects.
Other MBAs have been the driving force behind a slew of new community service projects including programs where student volunteers teach in North Carolina schools and gather school supplies for Iraqi children.
For an increasing number of MBA students at Kenan-Flagler, the core value of “community” means carving out a legacy that includes a commitment to service programs.
Meghan Gosk, associate director of Kenan-Flagler’s MBA program, said the uptick in student-initiated service projects has grown from the School’s strong focus on sustainability. That focus considers social factors and their long-term impact on success.
For example, in a project led by Anne Stoehr (MBA 10) students collected school supplies or money for school supplies that U.S. military teams in Iraq can donate to local children. The goal of that project is to create bonds with local people and show that the troops care about the welfare of the Iraqis, she added.
“Not only do students want to participate in service events, but they want to initiate and lead them.” Gosk said. “When students begin business school, we try to emphasize that there is a great opportunity to leave your mark while you’re here. Community service is a great way to do it.”
Lauren Oliver (MBA 09) broached the topic of bolstering Kenan-Flagler’s community service in her first year by sending an e-mail to gauge her classmates’ interest in service work. After a large response, she worked with Gosk and Anna Millar, associate director of the MBA program, to help launch the Community Service Days effort. Kenan-Flagler students have volunteered on three different service days with eight different organizations including The Ronald McDonald House, The Genesis Home homeless shelter, the local food bank, Habitat for Humanity and a local senior center. For example, the Nov. 8 Community Service Days alone attracted 45 volunteers.
While businesses often make hefty investments to make operations more cost-effective and efficient, community-based organizations are often lacking those needed skills, she added.
Community Service Days span a wide range of community needs; projects have included food distribution, beautification projects, process improvements, ESL help, computer literacy classes and tutoring.
Additional student-initiated community service projects include:
• Global Village with Habitat for Humanity – A Group of MBA students will spend their spring break in Honduras helping to build houses
• Casino Night – A fundraiser that generated $17,000 for Habitat for Humanity-The House that Kenan-Flagler Built
• Food Fight – An event that raised $5,000 for the NC Food Bank
• The Habitat for Hope Program, an outreach program to help with the needs of Habitat home owners like computer skills and resume building
Some community service projects initiated by students are focused on education. Millar worked with Stoehr to organize Kenan-Flagler’s first involvement in the Junior Achievement (JA) program. Millar introduced Stoehr to principals at two local schools to help launch the project.
JA trains the MBA student volunteers for classroom visits and provides them with lesson plans and classroom materials for each student. More than 30 students signed on with Stoehr to work as volunteers with the program in 21 classrooms.
Volunteers from Kenan-Flagler teach a class five times a semester at Frank Porter Graham Elementary School in Chapel Hill and six times a semester at Culbreth Middle School in Chapel Hill.
“You’re being a mentor and sharing your business background,” Stoehr notes.
Danielle Brown (MBA 09) was a middle school teacher in Gaston, N.C., before attending business school. For her, the marriage between the skills of business students and public education is a natural fit. Brown organized the “Teach for a Day” project at Kenan-Flagler where 12 MBA students taught electives at a high school in Gaston, N.C., on two different days. Before the latest “Teach for a Day” in January, students attended different workshops on how to develop and execute a lesson plan. They then were evaluated on their teaching.
“There are a lot of parallels that you can draw between being a great manager and being a great teacher,” Brown said. “Many of my strengths - including how to motivate people - were derived from working in the classroom. I’ve been pitching this as a business school idea, but the students we teach and inspiring them is the most important part.”