School of Business curriculum helps students become involved with campus and community

     Students of the New Student Forum Class get hands-on community service experience as part of the New Student Forum curriculum introduced by Campbell University’s Lundy Fetterman School of Business..
     The New Student Forum class is designed to help new students positively integrate into the School of Business, Campbell University, and the community at large. According to Dr. Ben Hawkins, dean of the Lundy Fetterman School of Business, the program hopes to facilitate the transition of freshmen and transfer students into the college.
     “In the past, I observed that there was minimal contact between the faculty and the incoming business school students,” Hawkins said. “The New Student Forum effectively serves as an attempt to create a program that will encourage new students to become active in the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business.”
     The class is open exclusively to the freshmen and to first year transfer students who are business majors. It meets once a week for half of the semester.
     The main text for the class is “Strengths Quest” by Donald Clifton and Edward Anderson. The book effectively aims at discovering and developing one’s individual talents and strengths. Similarly, the primary objectives for the course are to help students to reflect on who they are and what their individual goals and values may be, and then to effectively communicate those ideas to others.
     “The real purpose of the class is to help students to identify their God-given talents and to understand ways in which they can use these talents to become successful not only as students, but in their chosen career paths” said Hawkins.
     Another focus of the class is the Campbell University community. There are three community service projects planned during the eight weeks of the course. As its first community service project, the New Student Forum class participated in the Raven Rock trail clean-up on Saturday, Sept. 16. The purpose of this project was to clear debris and repair damage caused by a recent storm. In a letter to Hawkins, Raven Rock maintenance mechanic Catherine Banholzer wrote, “I was impressed with the students’ willingness to help and their ability to work together. They were all great workers and leaders.”
     The class also utilizes upper-class student mentors in order to better connect students with each other and with the campus. Further, each student is designated as a member of a small discussion group, which is led weekly by the upper-class mentor.
     “I really enjoy the class,” said junior transfer student Cynthia Nicholson. “It helps us get involved with the business school, and it also helps us to get to know people and professors.” Classmate Brandon Amrein agrees. “The class is especially beneficial to me because I am from out of state. It has really helped to connect me with the campus and the community.”
     Through developing substantial relationships and contributing to the community, the class hopes to make the transition experience into a new community and college as smooth as possible. The goal of the New Student Forum curriculum is, to reveal and sharpen one’s individual talents so that students will meet success in their classrooms, in their peer relationships, and in their future careers.
 

Photo Copy: Students Cynthia Nicholson and Brandon Amrein participate in a community service project connected with a new curriculum at Campbell.