It’s one thing to learn from textbooks and yet another to gain skills on the job through case studies, internships and externships. Some students are experiencing a philanthropic twist in experiential learning as they take part in local and regional community service-learning projects.
As part of the course led by Dr. Tim Palmer, professor of management, students choose from different experiences. Some work with Habitat for Humanity, others with Volunteering with Kids. Some may choose to attend an alternative spring break. The experiences may involve preparing and serving meals in homeless shelters, tutoring underprivileged school children, helping ESL adults practice English, or refurbishing social service facilities.

This initiative earned Palmer, along with Rev. Coleen Slosberg, United Campus Ministry, the prestigious Community Service-Learning Award, from Michigan Campus Compact.
“We are delighted that MCC has recognized Coleen and Tim for this project,” says Dr. Kay Palan, dean, Haworth College of Business. “Students who take part in service-learning projects gain insight into societal issues. The experience offers them an added perspective as they prepare for future careers.”

Slosberg has been engaged in service learning for more than 15 years. It was through a meeting with Slosberg that Palmer was inspired to incorporate service learning into a Strategic Business Solutions course. Subsequently, this has become a popular and influential class in the Haworth College of Business.

“Service learning engages the students and instills leadership skills for non-profit organizations and corporations alike as the same leadership principles apply to both,” says Palmer.

 

 

Integrating service learning into the class provides Palmer the opportunity to complement the traditional business school focus on financial performance with opportunities for students to discover the relationship between the strategic choices that businesses make and how those decisions impact community/urban issues.

Michigan Campus Compact annually recognizes outstanding community service and service learning by faculty and staff of MCC member campuses. The Faculty/Staff Community Service-Learning Award is given to one person from each campus who engages or influences students to be involved in the community service or service-learning through modeling, influence or instruction.

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A Social Entrepreneurship class, instructed by Dr. Timothy Palmer, recently traveled to New Orleans, La., over spring break as part of a service-learning experience. The students met with leaders of 16 organizations, businesses and educational institutions to interview and chronicle the successes of the entrepreneurial leaders to showcase them as role models for the community and for the benefit of the students.

Pictured from left is WMU student Mercedes Licavoli, with Jamie Wine, executive director of the Metro Bicycle Coalition, and WMU classmates Mark Barki and Lance Brown. The coalition focuses its efforts on promoting bicycles as the transportation of choice in the transportation element of the New Orleans’ master plan.

The Haworth College of Business had great success with its gently used professional clothing drive, benefiting the YWCA of Kalamazoo, MRC Industries Inc. of Kalamazoo and the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission. Alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends of the College donated over 275 items of apparel in conjunction with Homecoming. The College partnered with the Kalamazoo Area Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals in the effort. The receiving charities all participate in workforce training programs and use the donations for people in programs devoted to workforce readiness.

Three teams of marketing students pitched integrated marketing campaigns to Housing Resources Inc., a local non-profit organization focused on reducing homelessness in Kalamazoo, and its advertising agency McCrosky Marketing Communications.

At the end of the semester, each team “pitched” campaign ideas to James Cupper, BBA ’71, principal of McCrosky Marketing Communications, and Molly Petersen, BBA ’90, associate director of HRI. “We are extremely pleased with the class’s ability to capture the mission and passion of our organization and execute such professional presentations. We are now working on an implementation plan to execute some of the fantastic ideas presented by the students,” says Petersen.

The social marketing course focuses on how to apply the principles of marketing and integrated marketing communications in a non-profit context. According to the latest “U.S. Bureau of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook,” jobs in advocacy, grant making, and civic organizations are projected to increase 14 percent over the 2008-18 period, making a career in social or non-profit marketing an attractive alternative for students.

“We’ve had several graduates go to work for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the World Wildlife Fund and other non-profit organizations,” says Dr. JoAnn Atkin, associate professor of marketing. “More often than not, it is their volunteer experiences at WMU that ignite their passion to do this work.”

Four faculty members in the Haworth College of Business received the Dean’s Teaching Award in 2010, emphasizing the importance Haworth places on teaching and the care for every student’s progress in education. The faculty chosen have shown superior performance in teaching in and out of the classroom. “These recipients show dedication and perseverance,” says Dr. Kay Palan, dean of the Haworth College of Business. “They know how to engage students and teach skills that can be used throughout their careers.”