CBEC Interns do Outreach in our Community
2015-2016 CBEC Interns
UW-Parkside's College of Business, Economics, and Computing (CBEC) provided an internship opportunity for a group of students to work as upcoming business and IT professionals. The six interns included (from left to right) junior Rebecca Roembke (Business Management and Pre-engineering majors), senior Tony Aiello (Computer Science major, Web Development and Business Management minors, Cyber Security certificate), sophomore Monica Geiser (Marketing and Business Management majors, Sales certificate), senior Denis Guba (Finance major), sophomore Haley Willis (Marketing and Business Management majors, Sales certificate), and senior Radha Patel (Marketing and Business Management majors, Sales certificate). The interns have honed in on developing professionally by improving their skills in team building, problem solving, communication, writing, social media, website development, networking, and acting as professional representatives of the college.
CBEC interns began their internship in the summer of 2015 by participating in Ranger Orientations (ROAR), Transfer Transitions, and International Student Orientations. Their presentations provided information regarding degree requirements and the ins and outs of CBEC. They assisted in helping students declare a major, minor, and/or a certificate. In addition,, the interns assisted students with questions regarding class choices and how to navigate the student registration system (SOLAR). They educated newly admitted or potential new students how to get involved in clubs and activities around campus. Each intern provided a favorite testimonial experience about UW-Parkside. Since the interns were already familiar with SOLAR and the process of choosing classes, their valued assistance made scheduling quick and easy for the incoming UW-Parkside students.
Once the school year was underway, the interns took on new tasks.
At the beginning of the year, the interns collaborated and combined their efforts to improve the UW-Parkside CBEC Experience Days PowerPoint. This presentation includes information about majors, certificates, careers, study abroad opportunities, and various events hosted by the college. It is used when presenting to students in Business 100 classes and outreach visits with local high school students and two-year college students. The interns have received positive feedback from students who were impressed with the highlights and some real amazing opportunities within the college. As the Fall 2015 semester continued, the interns used the PowerPoint in their outreach activities successfully. It was clear their speaking and presentations skills greatly improved.
The university received great exposure from the interns traveling to area high schools including Union Grove, Westosha Central, Wilmot, Case, and Tremper. The presentations typically took place in business/information technology/accounting and marketing classrooms. They had a captive audience as the students were already interested in CBEC programs and were eager to learn about options offered to advance their academic and career goals.
Students in the classroom also participated in an interactive activity. This activity simulated the types of creative, team-driven projects experienced in many of UW-Parkside's business classes by allowing the participants to create a unique shoe. Small teams of students were allowed a small amount of time to develop and market their shoe product and brochure ideas. At the conclusion of the activity, each group presented their special shoe idea to the rest of the class who voted and determined the winning shoe product.
Area community colleges also hosted the interns during the fall semester. Gateway Technical College and UW-Parkside recently implemented transfer agreements that provide improved transfer opportunities from the community college to the University. For four Tuesdays, Senior Advisor Trudy Biehn and one of the interns traveled to Gateway to answer questions and promote the Business and IT transfer agreements. In addition to Gateway, the interns also made visits to the College of Lake County.
At the Fall UW-Parkside Foundation Board meeting, the interns gave tours of Innovation Corridor and explained the live client projects happening in this area. . The Board Members' visits included the Solutions for Economic Growth (SEG) Center, Small Business Development Center, (SBDC), the App Factory, and the MakerSpace, Computer Science, Cybersecurity and Business labs.
The interns also worked together to create and write articles on certain events happening on campus which were then posted on the CBEC social media websites. They interviewed and wrote articles regarding CBEC's fall executive-in-residence speaker, President of the Milwaukee Bucks, Peter Feigin's visit. They also covered the story on Russian and French students who attended UW-Parkside for the "Doing Business in the US" seminar. The interns will also be interviewing and compiling articles on some of the students who studied abroad in Dubai, India, and Scotland this past year.
Marketing students Radha, Haley and Monica update CBEC social media outlets consisting of Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. The interns have the opportunity to post things as they find as important pieces of useful information. Radha Patel mainly posted on Linkedin, highlighting professional CBEC activities such as the Executive in Residence article, Fund for Parkside Scholarship information and featured intern articles. Monica and Haley zeroed in on Facebook and Twitter, posting a continuous news feed on study abroad opportunities, internship fairs, resume clinics, and study tips for CBEC students. Rebecca Roembke and Tony Aiello were able to greatly improve the CBEC website resulting in better navigation. They also updated the website's student testimonials, added photos, and wrote and posted Alumni stories. Denis Guba (Finance), Tony Aiello (Computer Science) and Radha Patel (Business Management and Marketing) were invited to attend several local high school career panels to speak about their UW-Parkside CBEC experience.
The CBEC interns do all of this and and more. They are quick to accept any task assigned; successfully serving as positive role models and professional representatives for the college. They are working on another eventful semester as they finish their 2015-16 internships.