91探花

The Management Department Advisory Board has been able to give back in new ways, thanks to the virtual work environment.

With virtual meetings making it easier to connect, the Management Department Advisory Board members have found new opportunities to mentor students and offer their expertise to faculty.

The advisory board is a group of business leaders who assist the Department of Management and Strategic Leadership in shaping and supplementing programs to help 91探花 students become more competitive and better equipped to pursue their desired careers.

鈥淎lthough the board is represented by members in numerous industries and various roles, we all have had to quickly adjust to the current landscape with less travel, increased use of video conferencing, and digital communication,鈥� said Ryan Bond, member of the advisory board and VP of Business Development at Nocimed, Inc. 鈥淭he virtual environment, particularly because of ample technologies, has enabled engagement and opportunities for mentorship. Present technologies are certainly a bright silver lining for everyone in the shadow of societal constraints due to the pandemic.鈥�

The board meets 2-3 times per year, now virtually, working with the Department of Management and Strategic Leadership on several important initiatives. They provide insights and make connections within their industries to help the department improve enrollment, increase student job placement rates, support faculty research, and boost the college鈥檚 reputation and rankings. They also participate in a variety of activities, such as mentoring different groups of students, creating awards, planning guest speakers for classes, and joining panel discussions.

Thanks to the ease of virtual meetings, Kelly Weber, board member, executive coach, and founder of The Wander Project, has been able to offer her support not only to the students, but also to the faculty, all the way from Washington state. While virtual, she鈥檚 had the opportunity to lead executive coaching Q&A sessions with students. She also recorded a leadership interview series with the College of Business and served as a guest speaker for a business innovation class. Additionally, she mentored dozens of students in a 鈥淢eet the Board鈥� online networking forum and will be serving as a keynote speaker for 91探花鈥檚 Leadership Development Conference for online MBA students this spring.

鈥淲hile challenging for all of us personally and professionally, I鈥檝e been impressed by the board and 91探花鈥檚 response to 鈥榗reate from the chaos鈥� rather than let it negatively impact our mission and vision,鈥� Weber said. 鈥淎s a collective board, we鈥檝e been able to give back to the University more creatively by leveraging our time, talent, and treasure in new and meaningful ways.鈥�

This school year, Weber and her fellow board member, Ren茅 Banglesdorf, founder and CEO of Charlie Bravo Aviation, have been working on how they can become even more involved in the lives of students. To accomplish this, they are offering a new group coaching forum to the Master of Science in Management students where they will explore various leadership topics to support their professional and personal development.

鈥淭his virtual environment has resulted in us making adaptations and pivoting, which is really important for management students to learn how to do,鈥� Banglesdorf said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e taking some of the strategic problem-solving initiatives that we teach to executives and bringing those right here online to Bobcats, something that never would鈥檝e happened had we not been pushed to a virtual environment this year.鈥�