Ball State University students and faculty have high hopes for Business Fellows, despite an expiring grant.
Business Fellows is an immersive learning experience that gives students the opportunity to work with peers, a faculty mentor and community members on projects aimed at solving local and statewide problems, Business Fellows Project Manager Kelli Huth said.
Of the six Business Fellows' Fall 2008 projects, three include designing an instructional Web site for a leading software provider, working with Mayor Sharon McShirley to make Muncie more energy efficient and promoting food specific to Indiana.
"Working with a team of interdisciplinary students may give [students] greater insight than if they were just working with people inside their major," Huth said. "It's also giving them the chance to work with a faculty mentor who's outside their academic department."
The program began in 2004 and is funded by a Lilly Endowment grant of $1.5 million over five years, which will expire after this semester, Huth said. To help keep Business Fellows permanent, the university decided to cut one of the program's perks - student stipends, she said. Instead, student participants now will receive three hours course credit, Huth said.
Doctoral student Holly Chaille, a returning Business Fellows participant, said the student stipend wasn't very important to her because it wasn't a large amount of money.
"I think it was the experience that was more valuable," Chaille said. "I'm not real worried that we won't get stipends because we're working with the mayor and the city of Muncie, and it doesn't matter if you get paid or not ... working with that level of leadership is something that you can't put a price on."
Senior journalism major Richard Hughes, also a returning Business Fellows participant, said he found the project while searching for a part-time job, but is continuing this year because of the skills he learned.
"The immersive learning environment is worth more than the money," Hughes said. "I definitely don't think that, in terms of the experience, that it would have to have money along with it."
Jennifer Bott, a Business Fellows mentor and associate professor of management, said she was not worried about student interest in Business Fellows despite not receiving monetary compensation for their work.
"I think that at least thus far I've not seen any drop off in the number of applications this early," Bott said. "We're starting really early because we now have the constraint of drop/add, but I haven't really seen a huge decrease."
Huth said students could still apply for all the projects, and that add/drop late fees would be waived for those who enrolled.
Bott said word of mouth was important to Business Fellows' success.
"The word is getting out that it's a really good experience," Bott said. "It's becoming more public, so more people see how good these projects are. They've heard good things about the projects and want to [be a part of it]."
Hughes said he continued working on the Business Fellows project at the Indiana Foodways Alliance as an intern during the summer.
"I would recommend it to any student," Hughes said. "Especially any student if they can't fit or don't think they have time to leave campus for an internship program."
Students who want to learn more about Business Fellows can attend an interest session from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday in AJ 175. Faculty mentors and former Business Fellows participants will be there to answer questions and talk about their experiences with the projects.
Business Fellows projectsBusiness Fellows Interest Session5 p.m. to 6 p.m.TodayAJ 175
For more information about Business Fellows visit bsu.edu/students/careers/fellows
Fall 2008 Business Fellows Projects:
AccuTech Systems CorporationFor more information about this project, please contact Greg Siering, faculty mentor, at 285-3518 or gsiering@bsu.edu
Cool Cities Initiative For more information about this project, please contact Jennifer Bott, faculty mentor, at 285-5323 or jpbott@bsu.edu
Habitat for HumanityFor more information about this project, please contact Peggy Fisher, faculty mentor, at 285-1958 or pfisher@bsu.edu
Indiana Foodways AllianceFor more information about this project, please contact Sheryl Swingley, faculty mentor, at 285-8688 or sswingley@bsu.edu.
Indiana Charter SchoolsFor more information about this project, please contact Pam Harwood, faculty mentor, at 285-1916 or pharwood@bsu.edu.
Professional AITP ChapterFor more information about this project, please contact Fred Kitchens, faculty mentor, at 285-5305 or fkitchens@bsu.edu.
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