First-year
students in the School of Business at Penn State Erie have been learning there's
a lot more to making pizzas than just cheese and pepperoni.
By Mary S. Risley
Special to Intercom
First-year
students in the School of Business at Penn State Erie have been learning there's
a lot more to making pizzas than just cheese and pepperoni.
Using a pizza shop as a model, a first-year seminar in the School of Business at Erie is attempting to shows students the connections among all facets of business -- from marketing and accounting to resource management, and even to producing the perfect pizza pie. It's part of the school's long-term goal to fully integrate curriculum so students can gain a broader perspective of the business world.
The pizza industry was just the business that faculty members needed to illustrate how the pieces fit together -- and it doesn't hurt that most students like pizza. Professors from all areas within the School of Business at Penn State Erie show students how their particular specialty is used in the formation of the pizza business.
It's one example of the many innovative ways that colleges throughout the Penn State system are using the first-year seminars to introduce new students to college work and life. Last year, Penn State directed all colleges to offer first-year seminars. Beginning last fall, all freshmen admitted to the University must complete a seminar.
The seminars, which can have a maximum of 20 students, must have academic content taught by tenure-track faculty members. The seminars are designed to introduce students at the beginning of their college careers with the rigors of a university education while assisting the students with a smooth transition to college life.
At Penn State Erie, the faculty designed their first-year seminar, "The Business Enterprise," with the idea that it must ultimately link with the courses students will be taking in their sophomore, junior and senior years.
"We wanted our students to have an appreciation of how things fit together within the business community," said Diane Parente, assistant professor of management and one of the three professors overseeing the seminars.
Parente said the way business classes had been scheduled in the past, students were not aware of how, for example, accounting fit into human resource management.
"We had this feeling that students felt that some of the courses were just a random collection of courses put together by a sadistic business professor," said Parente.
At the same time students were learning the basics of what goes into a successful pizza business, class groups were developing a plan for their own business. The teams used their new skills to create both an oral and written presentation outlining their conclusions on the feasibility of opening their business in the Erie community.
For example, one group was able to design, develop and create an online floral company, complete with order forms, product descriptions and prices, and delivery guidelines. Another group visited local cemeteries to videotape tombstones for a cemetery memorial business.
One first-year student commented that he was not aware that opening a business required more than money.
"I thought all I needed to open a business was money. Now, I see how all aspects of the business world -- economics, marketing, finance, accounting -- are needed," he said.
John Mageneau, director of Erie's School of Business, said students were not the only beneficiaries of the seminars.
"The seminars helped our faculty to think in a more integrative way," he said. "They broadened the faculty's outlooks as well as the students'."
The faculty members worked together for more than a year to create this first-year seminar. The Schreyer Institute for Innovation in Learning assisted faculty by holding seminars, workshops and focus groups to aid them in developing their seminar.
For more information on the seminars, contact the Schreyer Institute at (814) 865-8681 or http://www.inov8.psu.edu/.