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Loyalist Business Students Gain Real-World Experience in the Classroom and Beyond

December 03, 2009
AEAP presentation by business students for community business and industry representatives.

AEAP presentation by business students for community business and industry representatives.

The strength of Loyalist’s Business programs is the team-based, interactive approach — providing hands-on training and opportunities to gain work experience through placements, community involvement and class projects. This means that students are able to build business and industry connections while they are still in school.

This semester Loyalist Business students are taking their newly acquired skills into the community, assisting business and industry through the Alliance Excellence Achievement Program (AEAP). In addition, many are initiating community activities through Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) Loyalist College —committing their personal time to participate in community service activities and events.

The AEAP has been a component of the college’s Business Administration program for the past seven years. The initiative, which provides a platform for businesses and students to work together, gives members of the business community the opportunity to present real-world challenges they would like Loyalist students to assume as projects.

Cindy Gervais, Human Resources Coordinator at PolyCello and a graduate of the college’s Business Administration program, is a strong AEAP advocate.  “AEAP provides students with practical real-life experience to take with them into their careers. As a student, I found the projects to be an exceptional, valuable learning experience — not only from a hands-on perspective, but also because they provided students with the opportunity to network and become familiar with community business leaders. As a Human Resources Coordinator, I find the AEAP projects to be extremely beneficial to PolyCello, as the students tend to look at things from a fresh perspective. I believe this program is a win-win for the students and the organizations.”

This fall the Loyalist Business brought SIFE to the Loyalist campus — SIFE is an international organization that was initiated to teach and motivate young Canadians to create brighter futures for themselves and their communities. The students are challenged to address economic, social and environmental issues in their entrepreneurial ventures and within their communities.

Karie Stapley is a graduate of the Business program and is completing her third-year advanced diploma in Human Resources Management. As the Vice President of Membership Development for SIFE Loyalist College, she is coordinating the Let’s Can Hunger campaign, organizing food drives in the community to assist in breaking the cycle of hunger. “This gives me the opportunity to take the skills I am learning in the classroom and implement them by conducting interviews, recruiting members and developing policies and procedures.”

“I have the opportunity to make a difference and have an impact on my community and those around me,” said Rob Huddleston, a third-year Human Resources Management student and President of SIFE Loyalist College. “On a daily basis I can walk out the door of my classroom, meet inspirational business people, brainstorm exciting ideas, and put my knowledge and skills to use.”

January starts are available in Loyalist’s Accounting, Business, and Business Sales and Marketing programs.

 

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