PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH “BUSINESS AFTER HOURS”
FOR THE LUNDQUIST COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
Presented By:
Ehren Castle, Cecilia De La Cruz, Chris Drysdale, Prell Prasertsri, & Jessie Xu
To:
Lundquist College of Business Education Enrichment Task Force
November 18th, 2013
We have found that communication among students in the Lundquist College of Business (LCB) is not facilitated enough. Therefore, we are writing to the Education Enrichment Task Force (EETF) to support a recurring networking event, Business After Hours. We propose that the Career Center and Career Services collaborate to sponsor this event, which will improve student-to-student communication.
1. Situation Analysis
1.1 Current Programs
LCB Career Services
The LCB Career Services focuses on career exploration and building a portfolio of work experience1. They mention on their website that they offer networking events. Their networking link provides tips for networking, and states how “dozens of networking events--from career fairs to student club activities--bring business professionals and business recruiters to campus throughout the year” and urges visitors to “check the events calendar for upcoming opportunities.”2 The events on the “events calendar” are the weekly club meetings, workshops, and guest speaker presentations.3
University of Oregon Career Center
The University of Oregon Career Center currently offers networking events between professionals and students. The Career Center also provides development opportunities for students. The major professional networking events the Career Center hosts include:
●Career Fair
●LinkedIn Workshops
●Etiquette Dinner
●Mock Interviews with Recruiters
Business Connect
LCB Career Services and the Career Center recently partnered to hold the networking event Business Connect. The purpose of this event was to give students hands on experience with networking with recruiters and professionals. The event featured a speed dating networking session as well as opportunities to get feedback from professionals. It focused on the basics of network development skill building. In an interview, Colleen Lewis, University of Oregon Career Center Employer Relations & Events Coordinator, expressed that the event was successful in developing relationships between students and professionals.4
1.2 Lack of Student-to-Student Communication
Even with these existing events, student-to-student communication is still lacking. Through communication students develop relationships which lead to stronger networks. According to a job recruiting article, “80 percent of today’s jobs are landed through networking.”5 This article highlights the importance of networking and its benefits to acquiring a job after college. In class we have observed that students do not make an effort to talk or collaborate with each other unless forced by a teacher. In a surveyAwe conducted, we found that over half of the student respondents knew less than 10% of students in their classes.6 The current events that are offered by the LCB focus on developing relationships between students and professionals. These events are not focused on student-to-student relationship building.
1.3 Proposed Course of Action
An event implemented by Career Services and the Career Center which focuses on student communication would greatly improve student relationships in the LCB. By establishing an organized and recurring event, we can begin to develop a comfortable environment for LCB students to strengthen their student networking base and improve student-to-student relationships.
2. Objectives
An organized and recurring networking event would achieve the following objectives:
●Increase communication within the LCB to build student relationships
●Improve networking skills between LCB students
●Increase student attendance to UO sponsored networking-related events
●Provide students in the LCB more opportunities to interact with professional employers
3. Solution
Business After Hours Networking Event
3.1 Overview
We would like to propose that the LCB Career Services and the Career Center organize a monthly networking event for undergraduate students. This pilot event, Business After Hours, will begin in the Fall of 2014 and continue for three months to gauge effectiveness and interest. If effective, this event will extend for the remainder of the school year. Students participating in this event will have the opportunity to interact with classmates and business professionals outside of the classroom in order to develop relationships with other students in a professional setting.
3.2 Elements
Venue & Atmosphere
We propose the venue to be the Lillis atrium. It is the most central and convenient location of the Lillis Business Complex. It will occur the second week of every month. It is important for the event to be recurring to develop meaningful relationships. The attendees will be divided into concentrations in order for students to connect with others with similar interests after a general networking session.B Thursday evening will be the best time to host it for optimal attendance because the majority of business school students do not have class on Fridays and are unwilling to commute to campus. Additionally, Thursday conflicts with the fewest amount of clubs.7 A business casual dress code will be imposed to maintain a comfortable and fun environment while still promoting professionalism. The event will offer a raffle with prizes sponsored by local businesses as an additional incentive to attend.
Event Timeline
A general timeline of the event is tentatively outlined below:
5:00-5:30 PM Setup
●Pick up food from UO Catering
●Set up banners
5:30-6:00 PM General Mingling & Appetizers
●Food and drinks will be provided by UO Catering Services for those in attendance
●Students will have the opportunity to casually interact with one another regardless of concentration or course enrollment
●Distribute raffle tickets
6:00-7:00 PM Concentration and Course Enrollment Focused Networking
●Venue will be divided into sections based on concentrations and course enrollment
●Each section will be labelled by a large banner placed throughout the atrium for students to recognize
●Students will move to the section of the room corresponding with their concentration or currently enrolled courses to interact and build relationships
●Each section will feature business professionals, alumni, or Career Services staff who are knowledgeable about various concentrations of business
7:00-7:30 PM Guest Speaker
●Each month business professionals or alumni will be invited to speak at the event or lead a networking-related workshop
●Guest speaker will lead a Q&A to answer any questions students may have
7:30-7:45 PM Closing Announcements from Administration & Final Connections
●Administration will deliver a few final words, including announcements about next month’s event
●Students can exchange contact information as well as business cards and social media outlets such as LinkedIn
●Announce raffle drawing winner
Peer Leaders
Undergraduate Peer Leaders will be selected by Career Center and Career Services staff to provide a wide representation of interests. These individuals will facilitate introductions and help kickstart conversations. Moreover, Peer Leaders will use their own personal network base to introduce students with similar interests. Peer Leaders will help promote attendance to Business After Hours and encourage attendance to other LCB-sponsored networking events.
Marketing
The Career Center and LCB Career Services has a well-developed marketing network consisting of web pages, mailing lists, and social media sites. They will promote the event on their existing web pages and forms of social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to help inform students about Business After Hours. Peer Leaders will deliver classroom announcements to inform and remind students of the event. Ads and fliersC will be distributed by Peer Leaders and made available to students at various locations around the business complex.
4. Management Plan
Career Center and LCB Career Services Staff will collaborate in managing the event. As mentioned earlier, the staff is experienced and equipped to organize a networking event. The staff will be in charge of tasks such as securing the venue and recruiting business professionals for the event. Additionally, the staff will select Peer Leaders as they will be the most adept in selecting students capable of performing the job well. The staff will develop a survey to distribute after each event to collect feedback and will be responsible for evaluating the success of the event.
Peer Leaders will work under the Career Center and LCB Career Services Staff. Ideally, these individuals will have strong networking skills. The staff will recruit and interview candidates to ensure they are well fit for the responsibility. Once hired they will be trained by the Career Center and LCB Career Services Staff. Their responsibilities will include being prepared with conversational material to facilitate effective networking during Business After Hours and assisting in event promotion.
5. Technical Plan
To ensure that Business After Hours runs smoothly, we have outlined tasks with tentative deadlines that need to be completed:
Based on the results of the feedback surveys compiled each month, this event would continue to be held every month for the remainder of the academic year.
6. Costs
7. Support
In order to create the most enjoyable and effective event possible, we need the support of:
●LCB Career Services
●University of Oregon Career Center
●University of Oregon Catering Services
●Business Professionals
●Local Businesses (For Raffle Prizes)
8. Evaluation
Success of the event will be measured in two ways:
Attendance. LCB Career Services and the Career Center will use the attendance rate to indicate event popularity. Also, they will use the fluctuations of figures to identify growth and decline in attendance.
Feedback. LCB Career Services and the Career Center will collect quantitative and qualitative data from participating guests through monthly surveys after the event to ensure its improvement.
9. Conclusion
Together, the LCB Career Services and the Career Center are providing LCB students with great opportunities to communicate with professionals. Through the current LCB events, students gain experience of building relationships with professionals but not with other LCB students. The Business After Hours event will provide students the opportunity to build professional relationships with one another. Our student-to-student communication and professional relationship building goal aligns with the sentiments of Dean Cornelis A. Kees de Kluyver:
“Network building involves finding and linking with complementary partners at the individual as well as organizational level. It requires developing a relationship mindset, knowledge of one’s own value and uniqueness, an ability to recognize the value and uniqueness others bring to the table, and a commitment to identifying and leveraging synergies.”10
For the benefit of the U of O, the LCB and the students, we sincerely ask for your support for the Business After Hours event.
Appendix A
Survey Monkey Results
Appendix B
Lillis Atrium with Concentration Banners
Appendix C
Sample Business After Hours Flier
References
1. "Lundquist College Career Services." University of Oregon. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
2. "Career Planning Resources- Networking." University of Oregon. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
3. “Events Calendar." University of Oregon. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
4. Lewis, Colleen. Personal interview. 14 Nov. 2013.
5. McIntosh, Bob. "80% of Today’s Jobs Are Landed through Networking." Web log post. Recruiting Blogs. N.p., 26 Mar. 2021. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
6. Survey. Survey Monkey. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
7. "Lundquist College of Business Student Clubs." University of Oregon. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
8. "Custom Banner Printing Service." FedEx. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
9. "University Catering." University of Oregon. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
10. "About the Lundquist College of Business." University of Oregon. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
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