DePaul University Kellstadt School of Business MBA students get to learn the ins and outs of project management through real-world application over the summer, as they planned, hosted and executed fundraising events for nonprofits as part of associate professor of management Lori Cook’s project management course.
“When I started teaching this class in 2012 I really thought about what would be a value-added experience for students,” Cook said. “Textbook and reality are two different things, and I knew an experiential project would help them learn better. Even my students who were active project managers said they learned something because project managers work in teams and sometimes are not exposed to all aspects of a project from beginning until the end. This gave students an opportunity to experience all facets of the program.”
Six student teams were tasked with the challenge of planning an event that would generate revenue for charity. Their fundraising activities included a comedy show, music event, garage sale, car wash and local restaurant gathering. In total, the teams raised $17,000 for various charities.
Real-world learning exercises like this course remind MBAs why they chose to attend DePaul in the first palce.
“The most crucial aspect of this project for me was the fact that we actually had to do it,” Nikita Postovalov, a DePaul MBA, said. “By actively participating in the project, not only were we were able to practice the theory, but (also we could) make mistakes and see the outcomes of those mistakes. It is one thing to talk about something that is important and (another to) actually experience how important it could really become. ”