Penn State Lehigh Valley students from various disciplines collaborated in the Common Intellectual Experience (CIE), an initiative that brings students together with community partners in design clinics with an eye toward identifying sustainable business practices.
CENTER VALLEY, Pa. — Last fall, Penn State Lehigh Valley students in STEM and business disciplines came together for the Common Intellectual Experience (CIE). Through this initiative, students enhance their course of study through collaboration with local businesses. This spring, the project grew to three local business partners. By working in groups at two design clinics, with an eye toward identifying sustainable business practices, students practiced integrated learning and proposed solutions to a problem the businesses were facing.
The design clinics were led by Subhadra Ganguli, PSU-LV assistant professor of business, and Laura Cruz, research professor at Penn State’s Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence and member of the CIE steering committee. One of the goals was to help students gain a better understanding and appreciation of the complicated mechanism that is running a business.
“It’s good for the students to understand that they have to work in a very multidisciplinary context and see the problem from different angles — not just from their own specialized field,” Ganguli said. “A solution can’t just come from their field — a problem is far bigger than can be handled from one discipline.”
A second goal was to offer the community partners workable solutions for making their business more sustainable.
Ganguli called CIE a “mutually beneficial exercise, where students make recommendations to community partners, while learning to understand what it’s like to handle a problem from a business perspective.” She said she feels progress was made. “The students figured out there are so many aspects to a problem they’d never thought about before. It’s different from an internship, yet it’s another way to think about what they’ve learned in a constructive and positive manner.”
Chris Briggs of Bethlehem eBikes, George Awad of Aroi Mango LLC, and Jenny Yu, a PSU-LV student representing her family’s business, Tokyo Sushi, were the three community partners who participated in CIE this spring. In the true spirit of collaboration, Penn State Lehigh Valley LaunchBox helped connect the CIE team with the community partners.
“When the CIE team came to me, I gave them the names of several different individuals who would benefit,” said Cindy Evans, PSU-LV LaunchBox director of business development. “They spoke with the businesses and decided who they wanted to work with. The team gave me some parameters of what they were looking for — sustainability was at the top of the list. The United Nations has about 15 sustainability goals — if I could find some businesses who do those types of things, and the more I’m involved with the project, the better I am at making those suggestions.”
Yu, a management information systems major, found the design clinics helpful. “A lot of the students had creative ideas about how my family restaurant could do more for sustainability. It was fun talking with the other students. It was in a group setting, so it was really more like a project.” Among the students’ suggestions was the idea for Tokyo Sushi to switch from plastic bags to more Earth-friendly paper bags. “After I got the feedback from the students, I mentioned this idea to my father. He said he would think about it. Now we’ve switched from plastic to paper bags with the restaurant’s logo on it. That idea came from the design clinic.”
Austin Flaugh is a dual major in management and marketing and project and supply chain management. An adult learner, he said the collaborative nature of design clinics is common in the average workplace. He experienced this himself in the United States Marine Corps (USMC). “The ideology behind it is that you’re not just going to work with others in your department or field. In the workforce, you’re going to work with marketing, you’re going to work with accounting or finance, you’re going to work with designers, with IT. I think it's important for students to get that exposure,” he said.
The project culminated in a celebration recognizing the partnerships established by the PSU-LV campus and business community. Dominic Baio, a business management and marketing and project and supply chain management (PSCM) major who served as a CIE research assistant, organized the event. “We wanted to do something to show our appreciation to our community partners for giving up their time, working with our students, and hearing our ideas to keep their businesses sustainable. ‘Sustainability’ is different for each major,” he said.
The event drew approximately 70 attendees. Students and faculty networked with community partners, building and strengthening those relationships that support the CIE initiative. “The CIE really bridges the gap between the community and Penn State,” said Bryahna Stanat, a double major in financial services and project and supply chain management, who participated in one of the design clinics and spoke at the celebration.
We can only learn so much in the classroom and get so much from a Power Point. To have this hands-on experience is so great, and really extends our learning beyond the classroom.—Bryahna Stanat , double major in financial services and project and supply chain management
Stanat noted projects like the CIE initiative are indicative of just how invested the PSU-LV community is in student success. “The real world learning and hands on experiences — you won’t find this at many other schools. It just shows how much Penn State Lehigh Valley cares about students’ education.”
Baio and Stanat will be representing PSU-LV at the Engagement Scholarship Consortium at Virginia Tech this fall, giving a presentation on CIE and how it mutually benefits students and local business owners. Stanat hopes their presentation will encourage other universities to launch a similar initiative.
George Awad of Aroi Mango, LLC (left) speaks with Dr. Muang Min, Teaching Professor of Business and Director of Business Programs at the Common Intellectual Experience (CIE) celebration.
