Ball State University’s Business Fellows program provides the perfect opportunity for students who want to go beyond the traditional internship experience.
The program, which is going into its second year, allows students to turn their academic knowledge into business solutions through intense, semester-long work experiences designed to benefit Indiana businesses, industries or organizations.
“It gives students a lot of experience potential employers are looking for,” Deborah Balogh, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, said. “They walk away with something they can put in their portfolio and describe to prospective employers.”
A session at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center Ballroom will provide information about the 2005 program, which has about 90 openings for Ball State students. Attendees can see what it takes to become a Business Fellow, learn about this year’s team projects and speak with faculty mentors about the program.
“It’s great for students to get an overview and to decide if it’s something that’s a good fit for them,” Nicole Feldhues, Business Fellows project manager, said.
The Business Fellows program, coordinated by Ball State’s Career Center, is open to juniors, seniors and graduate students from all academic majors. The initiative, funded by a $1.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc., works in collaboration with Ball State’s Building Better Communities initiative. Building Better Communities is designed to spur economic development and quality of life advancement in Indiana by applying Ball State’s strengths in applied research and hands-on learning to projects across the state.
Through the Business Fellows program, faculty members will work with teams of students on a problem-based project to improve services, quality and competitiveness.
“In general, we’re looking for students who want to apply the skills they learned in the classroom to real-world business problems,” Balogh said.
Business Fellows projects can help increase business and develop new job opportunities. Students, who must commit an average of 10 hours each week to their projects, will also earn a stipend for their work and will have the opportunity to attend professional development workshops.
This year’s program includes about 15 faculty members and 10 projects, one of which will be a project to establish a dinner theatre in downtown Muncie. Another project focuses on fashion retail growth in Indiana by allowing a team to explore how Jules’ Boutique, a small retail store in Goshen, can compete and survive in the marketplace. In a third project, a team will prepare a special “State of Grant County” section for the Chronicle-Tribune in Marion.
When students apply for the Business Fellows program, they will be able to note the projects in which they are most interested, Feldhues said.
Balogh said working on the projects teaches students important problem-solving skills, communication skills and analytical thinking. Being a Business Fellow will also increase students’ marketability by providing them with practical experience in their career fields and allowing them to network with Indiana employers, alumni, faculty and other students.
Students learn the importance of collaboration as they work with other faculty and students from a variety of fields.
“I think these connections ... shed some light on working in a team environment to accomplish a goal,” Feldhues said. “Working with students from a variety of majors on a real intense project is a real learning experience that they might not get otherwise.”
Last year, one team included students from a variety of fields including architecture, sociology, counseling psychology and religious studies, Balogh said.
Overall, last year’s program, in which almost 100 students participated, was a success, Feldhues said.
“At the showcase at the end of the year, it was evident that the teams accomplished a lot,” Feldhues said. “The community partners — their feedback was very positive. There was a lot of good feedback about the [students’] work, about their professionalism and about the projects they were able to work on and develop.”
Feldhues said her greatest hope for this year is that students continue to take away something positive for their futures.
“The main thing we’re always concerned about is that students have a valuable experience — that they are able to take away skills they are going to be able to use in their careers,” she said.
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