Students from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Business Administration gained business insight outside the classroom by traveling to Kansas City, Missouri, on March 3. As part of the Business Learning Communities (BLC), students interacted with business professionals during tours of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and Kauffman Stadium, home of Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals.
The one-day trip involved 25 students from the Start Your Future Today and Business Around the World – Global Perspectives communities, three staff members and four BLC student mentors. Beginning the day at the Federal Reserve Bank, students toured the Money Museum and bank amenities. Employees from risk management, auditing and bank examining shared their experiences transitioning from college to career in a panel discussion.
“The panel stressed the need to take courses where students work in groups, and use critical thinking and analysis,” said Matthew Geyer, academic advisor for undergraduate programs, who helped coordinate the trip. “It was a great experience for students to learn about internship opportunities in business and hear the panel discuss the skills they used from college courses in their current roles.”
Katlyn Hanson, a freshman business administration major from Troy, Illinois, enjoyed exploring Kauffman Stadium the most during the trip. Along with the tour and a question-and-answer session with Morrie Carlson, manager of tours and educational programs for the Royals, students learned about the business side of baseball. Carlson highlighted the importance of marketing in any organization, as well as promoting personal business skills.
Students visited the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, which included a tour of the Money Museum
“Learning about the different range of jobs and activities at Kauffman was eye-opening for me because I didn’t realize how many employment opportunities they had,” Hanson said. “This trip meant exploring new places I never would have thought to work.”
Geyer emphasized the importance of first-year students familiarizing themselves with multiple career avenues during college. Along with traveling to Kansas City, BLC students visit Chicago every fall touring businesses, networking and exploring the local cultural scene.
“It is often easy to picture a certain career and stick to it. However, these opportunities expose students to a world of varied business careers which all connect to their experience at CBA,” he said.
Business Learning Communities offer students the opportunity to live with peers who share similar academic and career interests. They enroll in some of the same classes and connect with upper-class student mentors and staff sponsors. Learning communities also offer unique opportunities to form study groups, participate in campus activities and build teamwork skills while connecting to the campus community.
“Traveling to Kansas City helped me get to know other students in the learning community and provided me the opportunity to interact more with both the peer mentors and advisors,” said Stefanie Wood, a freshman management major with a global leadership minor from Colorado Springs, Colorado. “Learning about two very different businesses in a city I had never been to was a great experience.”
To learn more about the Business Learning Communities, visit:
http://cba.unl.edu/blc
Published: March 31, 2017