School of Business Organized Second Annual Business Summit

On March 2, the School of Business organized its Second Annual Business Summit, “Preparing Students for Responsible and Sustainable Success in Business,” providing faculty, chairs and deans from several Los Angeles-based community colleges the opportunity to participate and share their insights about how to improve business education and establish a better report among business educators in the region.

The event was attended by influencers from Glendale Community College, Los Angeles Valley College, West Los Angeles College, Mission College, Pasadena City College, College of the Canyons, and Pierce College, along with the Principal from Discovery Charter Prep, Dr. Karen Smith. Discovery Charter Prep has a long-standing relationship with Woodbury University, and offers college credits to its high school students in collaboration with Mission College.

The summit was formally opened with a welcome from Woodbury President David Steele-Figueredo, who expressed his delight about the fact that faculty and administrators from business institutions in Los Angeles had gathered together to provide proper and mindful guidance to the leaders of tomorrow. In her openings presentation, School of Business Dean Joan Marques, focused on seven ways in which Woodbury prepares students for responsible and sustainable success in business. Including:

• Engaged learning, providing examples of mandatory consultancy and community-based team projects for all BBA and MBA students
• A diverse, nurturing climate, consisting of a diverse population among both students and faculty, as well as a low student to faculty ratio
• Career development opportunities, in which she emphasized the School’s Rotating Executive in Residence Program, as well as various semester based career development opportunities for students
• Innovative approaches, where she reflected on the use of virtual reality as a marketing tool, innovation think tank, and a variety of timely electives, focused on emerging trends in the business world
• Accomplished faculty members, with an emphasis on the impressive scholarly and professional output and knowledge base housed in this group
• Innovative student organizations, with examples of CEO, BPWOW, the Accounting Society, the BBA Student Advisory Council and the MBA Association, and their many constructive activities
• Civic engagement, with emphasis on the students’ participation in social responsibility projects

In an amusing, yet fascinating presentation, Dr. Satinder Dhiman, associate dean, MBA chair and management professor in Woodbury’s School of Business, presented “Conscious Consumption: The Art and Science of Sustainable Living,” as a way of instilling greater awareness in business students.

Dr. Laurie Nalepa, the dean of the Career Technical Education at Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC), shared the infrastructure in LAVC’s Business Department, and explained some of the pillars in the department’s performance, such as its active and diverse advisory board, the pedagogical framework, aimed at preparing students for secure employment in a short term after graduation, the institution’s outreach activities to ensure proper and successful further education for students, and various forms of direct support, such as  embedded tutoring, professional development opportunities, career inspiration, and mentoring.

Rory Schlueter, former chair of Glendale Community College’s Business Department and IT faculty, conducted a brief presentation, titled, “Six Key Skills Everyone Needs,”in which he highlighted teamwork, problem solving, verbal and written communication, dependability/work ethic, and planning and organizing. This presentation instigated a lively dialogue amongst the participants about similarities and discrepancies in the implementation of these approaches within the various institutions.

Dr. Thuc-Doan Nguyen, associate professor of Marketing at Woodbury, engaged in an interactive presentation on “The Power of Observation,” in which participants were asked to take notes on a water drinking exercise. With this exercise, she shared a compelling way of instigating curiosity, comparing similar viewpoints, and giving rise to an “aha” moment.

Glendale Community’s study abroad director, Darren Leaver, then presented how students get an opportunity to broaden their horizons at his institution through study abroad programs. He underscored the opportunity to be exposed to environmental sustainability, cultural diversity, effective communication, and generating great insights through exposure to other countries.