Enriching the Management Student Experience

ENRICHING the Management Dept. Student Experience – “Beyond the Classroom”

We are looking for funds to support extracurricular activities, such as field trips, attending trade and research conferences, participating in business related competitions and furnishing on-campus club space for students.  

We have been doing “Beyond the Classroom” activities for years, and we know the benefits to Salem State students.  Unfortunately, lack of funding means we organize fewer activities and too few students can participate. Please donate today so the Management Dept. can support students tomorrow! We are looking for a total of $6000 to support “Beyond the Classroom.”

Students benefit from “Beyond the Classroom” activities at a personal and career level.  When asked to reflect on their experiences, students point to greater confidence, motivation to succeed, pride in their school and in themselves, and more engagement in their education and career path.  From a career perspective, the students benefit from the networking experiences, career knowledge gained, and exposure to specialized job fairs.

Field trips are a great way to give students a "Beyond the Classroom" experience.  For $400. we can take 20-30 students on a field trip.  Just last month, a dozen students went to a upscale hotel in Boston, toured the hotel and listened to presentations from management, enjoyed an ‘etiquette’ dinner hosted by the hotel, and networked with the managers afterwards.  The managers loved our students and invited us back, and the students gained career opportunities and greater confidence.  We currently use campus minivans or ask for student volunteers. We could take more students on these trips if we could rent busses.  For this campaign we would like to raise enough money to support 8 field trips over the next year, for a total of $3200.

Conferences and business case or business plan competitions are another excellent “Beyond the Classroom” experience. Boston has many great opportunities to attend competitions and student oriented conferences, but many of our students often cannot afford the registration fees, let alone to take a day of work for the conference.  Students who attend the hospitality conference at Harvard last spring gained self-confidence in their own knowledge of the industry, networked with peers and employers, and generally “loved it.”  We would like to provide up to $50. for registration fees for each student that participates.  At an average price of $40, we could support 40 students to attend conferences and competitions, for a total of $1600.

Student clubs are another way to extend “Beyond the Classroom.”  Through the Entrepreneurship Club, we have been invited to use space in the Enterprise Center.  The space is not furnished though, and we have been asked to help. The space will be available for meetings, events, mentors and student networking, not just for the Entrepreneurship Club, but for all our students.  The benefits to the students are motivation, networking, engagement and fun.  The Center has access to high quality, second-hand furnishings, and we are asking for $1200. to create a dynamic and inviting club area in the Enterprise Center.