The 2013 edition of Holy Cross’ Summer Business Program is off and running…1.5 weeks into the 4 week program! Today the students have time to spend working in teams on their 4-week long group project, so it seemed like a good time for an update on how the program is going thus far:
We kicked off SBP on Tuesday of last week. 29 eager and committed students moved back to campus to spend a month of their summer vacation in pursuit of business knowledge and so far they’ve really impressed all of the teachers. Last week started with Clint Greenleaf ’97 running a session on “What is a Business? And how do I start one?” Not only was Clint able to talk to the students about technical information but he also gave some good etiquette tips from his book The Unwritten Rules of the Workplace.
Day 2 was a big day – the students spent the entire day working with Moira Garvey ’78 and Mary Ann Rettig-Zucchi, from Jupiter Consulting Group, to explore their leadership styles and how to enhance their performance and engagement when working in groups. In advance of this session the students had several pre-work assignments, including an online assessment and soliciting letters of character reference from people who knew them well. This information, coupled with interactive activities like the Group Tower Building exercise made for an enlightening and interactive day. The students were then able to take what they learned about themselves as leaders into that evening’s dinner when they were introduced to the Team Executives and received the details of the team project that they’ll be working on over the course of the next several weeks. (Stay tuned for details regarding who wins the cash prize!)
Days 3 & 4 we were back in the classroom focusing on “Faith, Values and Ethics” with William Messenger, “Corporate Frameworks & Tax Implications” with Jack Malley ’77 and “Career Planning & Interview Skills” with Pam Ahearn, Director of Holy Cross’ Summer Internship Program and Megan Chester, Assistant Director of Career Counseling. I think it’s fair to say that the students were tired by the end of Week 1 but everyone seemed to agree that they were wasting no time absorbing all the information that they possibly could.
Hopefully all the students groups are currently huddled somewhere on campus, actively engaged in their team projects, and taking advantage of the time they have to work together! The Team Execs are back on campus tomorrow night for dinner so I’m sure they’ll be looking to see what progress has been made…and I know everyone here in the Prebusiness Office is excited to see what innovated ideas this year’s group of SBP students comes up with.
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Helene
Helene Horan ’06
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies