The message of community service is one that permeates courses at the College of Business. It’s about making an impact, of giving back, of leaving more than one takes. Dr. Kelly McCauley, the Engler Professor and Associate Professor of Management, incorporates this ethos in her undergraduate Leadership and Teamwork (MGT 4337) course. Along the way, students learn the essentials of what it takes to lead an organization, but also efforts to do good things for the broader community. As a result of student efforts, more than $13,000 was raised for charitable concerns this semester.
“Because of the title and course purpose, I decided that the best way to teach the course that matches the title of it is to incorporate a team project that is weighted at 50% of the course grade,” McCauley explained. “While many courses in the College include a team project, not many place such a heavy emphasis on the team project.”
McCauley established guidelines to maximize both the learning and service aspects. “The parameters of the philanthropic project are that the project has to be large enough that students experience interdependence and reliance on each other to complete it and have a clear, identifiable leadership role in the project. These parameters ensure that students experience both leadership and teamwork within the course.”
She assigned students to teams based on an information sheet each student completed at the beginning of the term, including details such as student schedules inside and outside of class, whether they were a self-described leader or follower, and the heterogeneity of the group. The students then select the charity they wish to serve. There were graded components throughout the semester, including case quizzes, the team’s charter, proposal, and presentation, and peer evaluations.
It is no surprise that McCauley chose to make a societal impact with her course design, because it is in her blood. “I have a history of doing volunteer work; in fact, my volunteer work as a teenager put me on the path to being a leadership professor,” she recalled. “One of my graduate school mentors incorporated service learning into her courses, so I had an example of how to do this from which to work from. I knew that I wanted to do something with service learning/philanthropic work in at least one of my courses.”
McCauley serves as consultant for the student groups throughout the semester, making sure that the objectives of the course are met. “Overall, the project serves as the vehicle for students to experience the leadership and team concepts that we discuss throughout the semester in class,” she remarked. “It provides the perfect opportunity to combine experiential learning and service learning to illustrate how business education can be used to make a societal impact and do good for our community.”
To raise money, student groups engaged in a wide variety of activities, including sports tournaments in flag football and dodgeball, a silent auction, dine and donates at local restaurants, a blood drive, a canned food drive, and selling energy drinks in the activity center.
“The final total for the Spring 2024 semester is: $11,618. The College of Business is doing $1500 in matching donations, bringing the total raised through the Spring 2024 course to $13,118,” she said with a smile.
It is a unique course offering, very much unlike any others offered in the COB, but one that finds McCauley investing herself as much as her students. She knows the benefits and takeaways, and hopes that her students discover them as well. “There are several things that I hope students take away from this experience, including pride in what they did to contribute and to do good for others in their local community, as well as a desire to do philanthropic work in the next phase of their life.”
More than anything, she has planted the seeds of societal impact that will grow and spread for many years to come.