Learning from Life

BY JENNIFER N. BROCK

Business students are taught the principles of the free market trade system and learn the theories that drive the corporate bottom line.

In the J. Mack Robinson College of Business, however, students often apply this knowledge in the competitive and fast-paced classroom of the real world. Through mentoring and internship programs, students go beyond the textbook and come face to face with the issues and challenges confronting today's business leaders. Armed with these lessons and experiences, students in the College are one step closer to becoming the leaders of tomorrow.

Last fall, two pilot programs, the Women's Mentor Program and the SHRM/MCI Worldcom Human Resources Intern program, were developed to provide students with an even greater learning environment. Both programs have been very successful and demonstrate the strength of the College's faculty, students and practical approach to business education.

A Unique Trademark

As a member of the College's Board of Advisors, Krista Tillman is committed to supporting the College's goals and activities. As president of Small Business Services for BellSouth Telecommunications, Tillman constantly strives to strengthen her company's competitive edge. And when she heard Dean Sidney Harris discuss that Board members have the opportunity to help shape the College, she thought of a way to enhance both the College and her company.

"The idea for The Women's Mentor Program came from wanting to give Georgia State a unique trademark in women's business education," explains Tillman. "This program will give something different, something more than books and paper. It will also facilitate BellSouth having access to businesswomen with executive potential."

After initial discussions between Harris and Tillman, Karen Loch, associate professor of decision sciences, was asked to serve as Georgia State's program coordinator. Through her work with the International Business Alliance, a student organization at Georgia State, and the Society of International Business Fellows, Loch had researched and worked with business and academic groups that formed partnerships to benefit students.

"We developed a two part approach to partner with BellSouth focusing on women and business. The first part was the mentor program and the second part was a forum, which would be open to graduate students and corporate guests," says Loch.

Both of these initiatives would provide Georgia State students with an opportunity to interact with women senior managers, and would give BellSouth executives a chance to meet the next generation of executives. The structured mentor involves one-to-one matching of students and managers. The forum opens access to a large group of students.

Woman to Woman

The first step in the program's process was to choose the participants. While Tillman identified senior women managers at BellSouth, Loch determined selection criteria for the students.

"We wanted highly motivated women, so we set a GPA cut-off and only looked at those women who had registered with the Graduate Business Placement Office," Loch says. "After an interview process, we selected twelve students."

While planning the pilot, Tillman and Loch were already raising their goals and expectations.

"BellSouth had started the program, but we expected to expand it after the first year. This first group would not only be experiencing a mentor program; they would be helping us design future programs," says Tillman.

The program was launched in October and both Harris and Tillman spoke at the first meeting. The participants received a guidebook and readings, and each student was given a journal and asked to chronicle her personal experience. Loch and Jan Jones, BellSouth's program coordinator, asked participants to meet at least once a month.

The individual meeting times and locations were not established by Loch and Jones. They wanted the participants to determine what worked best for them, and also felt that the communication process was an important part of the relationship.

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