The Student Experience
ENRICHING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE
A GW School of Business education encompasses a deep field of activities and interactions that enable students to experience the global business environment, forge valuable connections, explore career areas, and gain leadership experience. Students and the school expanded those avenues through technology, intensified services, closer faculty-student interactions, alumni who facilitated virtual consultancies with overseas companies, and the innovative actions of students themselves.
“Our student leaders really rose to the challenge,” said Ryan Lloyd, assistant director of Undergraduate Co-Curricular Programs and Community Initiatives. “They came up with a lot of creative ideas, often through the undergraduate student organizations.”
The student experience is a priority of the School of Business. To sidestep pandemic barriers that undermined student interactions, the school invested in technology that enabled student-led organizations to schedule and host activities. One result was deeper collaboration among student groups and the offices of Undergraduate Programs, Graduate Programs, the F. David Fowler Career Center, the Office of Development and Alumni Relations, and the Facilities and Event Services teams.
Some faculty found that teaching through online platforms intensified their interactions with students and helped them better understand competing pressures in students’ lives. Student advisors also helped the academic leadership think about student engagement. And, in ways that were not expected, students themselves stepped forward to enhance the student experience.
“I think for student leaders, a wonderful learning opportunity presented itself about how to motivate your peers and others around you during the most difficult of times,” said Shivraj Kanungo, associate dean for undergraduate programs and associate professor of decision sciences.
Many of the two dozen organizations under the umbrella of the Undergraduate Business Association (UBA), a student-run coordinating board, increased their activities, from game nights and online social hours to peer mentoring and industry events with alumni panelists in an effort to keep students involved with one another and with the school.
“I found this year that students became more creative in the way they engaged,” said Brittany Johnson, program manager for graduate programs and the advisor for two organizations. “I also found they became more engaged with the university and in allying with other entities.”
Noting that full-time students tend to dominate the ranks of student organizations “because part-time students are working and may have family commitments,” Johnson pointed to the Black MBA Association’s decision to add a new VP position designated for a part-time student.
At the same time, Johnson saw interesting collaboration by corporate responsibility-focused NET Impact, which she also advises. For a virtual Earth Day breakfast event, NET Impact joined forces with Sustainable GW, the university’s initiative that sponsors events, research, and educational initiatives focused on sustainable solutions. At the end of the breakfast, NET Impact distributed food boxes to creatively spotlight food insecurity and social responsibility themes.
A new student organization, the Business Pride Network, made the bold move of launching during the pandemic. Trevor Haen, who will serve as its president in fall 2021, said the LGBTQ+ group decided to step forward as a new student organization — even with the COVID-19 lockdown.
“It’s important to build out your network early in your college experience, not just in terms of making friends, which is a great part of the GW experience, but also in connecting around business,” he said. The Business Pride Network hopes to provide professional development opportunities and bring in recruiters from companies interested in inclusion.
The GW student experience unfolds on a continuum, from the enrollment process through to alumni services. An important touchstone along the way is the Business Leader Development Program, (BLD) a for-credit initiative that supports undergraduate students to advance "their career readiness and community connections by challenging them to become forward-thinking and inclusive business leaders. The BLD includes a sequence of courses: Business Leader Foundations, Business Leader Career Strategy, and Business Leader Launch also familiarize students with beyond the classroom activities, resources and services at the school and elsewhere in the university. The program, like the student-led events, successfully shifted online for the first time.
“As we’ve learned to navigate the online space, everyone has become much more comfortable with virtual conferencing,” Ryan Lloyd said. “I think that in the future that there is an opportunity to have both in person and virtual events.”