Management Strategies course hits Pontiac, Summer 2011

Four groups of Business students from Oakland University completed service learning projects at community agencies in Pontiac this summer. The groups were placed in the Salvation Army, Centro Multicultural and Baldwin Center (who hosted two groups) all located in Pontiac. The groups were given background on the organization, an issue the organization would like to address and then seven weeks to address the issue.

Students placed at Centro Multicultural worked with representatives from the agency to develop a volunteer needs guide for incoming volunteers, a donations request guide and proposed marketing strategies utilizing social media. 

Students placed at the Salvation Army in Pontiac worked with agency representatives to develop a maintenance schedule for their new building. The schedule included indoor activities as well as outdoor. The group included, daily needs, weekly needs, monthly needs, quarterly needs, annual needs for both indoor and outdoor work. These students also put together a cost analysis guide to help the organization know what costs would be associated with volunteer groups of different sizes as well as what supplies would be needed based on the project the volunteers would tackle. This project provided the Salvation Army with a much needed production schedule that included ages of volunteers that would be appropriate for various tasks, what supplies the volunteers would need and what projects would be best suited for the season the volunteers will be working during.

There were two groups of students placed at the Baldwin Center. One group researched and analyzed whether the Baldwin Center should host a food pantry once a month. This group looked at the current food insecurity rates in the area, the current food banks and the Baldwin Center’s capacity to host a food pantry. This group decided to focus on the urban garden initiatives at the Baldwin Center. Currently the agency has three gardens, two located outdoors and one in a hoop house, which allows for year round gardening. The group proposed utilizing the urban gardens to supply fresh fruits and vegetables in a food pantry to the community.

The second group at Baldwin Center was investigating the possibly of expanding space for the organization. This group looked into different options, including commercial and non-commercials buildings for the Baldwin Center to purchase. They ended up proposing a couple of different options based on the amount of space the center desires and the budget.

All of the community agencies were impressed with the outcomes of the projects. They were able to gain some insights from the students and the students were able to gain real life experience from this project. Students were pleased with the ability to investigate a real issue at an organization and offer real solutions. Regarding this service learning opportunity one student noted “My level of professionalism was increased, I was able to use skills I learned in previous classes, and I wish I had this opportunity in more classes.” Another student pointed out that he enjoyed the project because, “It helped someone else and I saw how an organization really runs.” Students enjoyed the opportunity to work with and learn from their peers of various majors. One student summed it up best, “There’s no substitute for real world experience. We applied what we learned and made a difference in other people’s lives.”

Cynthia Miree-Coppin the instructor of the course was satisfied with how well students embraced the project and the professionalism in their work.