Keyshia Conner, associate director of MBA admissions, and Susanna Horn, Eller College administrative secretary, work on a house for Habitat for Humanity. (Credit: Amanda Thomas)
Marisa Cox, director of MBA admissions, works on the exterior of the house. (Credit: Amanda Thomas)
Some 350 students in business and public administration at The University of Arizona's Eller College of Management turned their considerable organizational skills to volunteer and charitable works throughout Tucson during November.
On Nov. 22, for instance, undergraduate students volunteered for Tucson nonprofit organizations including the YMCA, Arts for All and Ben's Bells. The effort was part of Eller College Philanthropy, a college-wide day of giving now in its seventh year.
"We approach different nonprofits in the community and explain that we have a huge student workforce that we can deploy to complete big projects," said Sarah Diaz, coordinator of career initiatives at the Eller College. "Most of the time, the projects are heavy-duty or time-intensive, like interior painting-things that the organizations don't always have the human resources to complete."
On Nov. 24, first- and second-year Master of Public Administration students delivered all the ingredients for Thanksgiving dinner, including turkey, cranberry sauce, side dishes and dessert, to five families from Southside Community School. First-year MPA student Ryan Ball brought the idea to the MPA Student Association and collected monetary and non-perishable food item donations from about 60 of his fellow students, as well as from faculty and staff of the School of Public Administration and Policy. The collection followed the model established by the Anthony Robbins Foundation's Basket Brigade project.
"The spirit of giving and random acts of kindness show the selflessness of the students of the MPA program," said Ball. "Thanks to their support, along with that of our faculty and staff, the Basket Brigade was a true success."
On Nov. 19, Eller MBA staff pitched in on the construction of a Habitat for Humanity home that MBA students have worked on every Saturday since the end of October.
"The Eller MBA program believes in community within and outside of the University," said Kristina Wagner Cook, MBA program manager. "We stress the need to think beyond the walls of the university or business community and believe that the talent and motivation Eller attracts to Tucson each year should benefit the community as a whole." Eller MBAs coordinated the effort to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. The house they are building will be complete in spring 2009.
"We're currently dealing with economy-wide fallout from corporate decision making that can, in part, be traced to greed," said Eller College dean Paul R. Portney. "For that reason, it's especially nice to see that there is a new generation of socially responsible business and public administration students on the way up."
Liz Warren-Pederson
Eller College of Management
520-626-9547