Tag: OSU Difference

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Parent corner: Starting the college search 

There’s so much to consider as you and your student get ready for the big move to college! The process of finding the best program for your student can sometimes seem like a Herculean task. You would not, assuredly, be the first to feel overwhelmed!

With so many complex questions, it’s important to understand the needs of your student and your family. Is cost the most important factor? Is academic rigor and accreditation? Is the opportunity to study abroad without adding extra time to graduation? What about a hands-on learning experience, like an internship?

However, we are here to help. To find the right fit for your student, it’s important for both you and your student to do the homework and compare the schools, and we recommend sticking to the fundamentals. We’ll give you some basic questions to get started:

  1. What can my student expect during their first year?
    Find out about the opportunities available for your student. Will they get hands-on business experience? Will they receive support from faculty and peers? What about advising support?
  2. What majors are available?
    There are a lot of business majors and options available. When you begin your search, take the time to compare different majors and options for each school and check the accreditation for each program. The full list of business programs at Oregon State University can be found here.
  3. Will my student emerge ready for the career world?
    It’s important for students to build their confidence and establish a strong network of professionals. They can do this by connecting with industry professionals, alumni and faculty. Ask about internships, career placement rates and professional development opportunities. When students take the time to network, engage and meet with future employers, they emerge prepared for their career.

Answering these basic questions for each college will help you understand the strengths of each. And like any big project, give yourself time. Start the process early, consider the values of each school and weigh all the pros and cons. We know that as a parent, you want only the best for your student, so take the time to figure out what “best” means.

Take the time to visit campuses, talk to faculty, and research the additional opportunities and experiences your student will receive.

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Women in Leadership Spring Break Trip

Touring the “Grate Room” at Tillamook Creamery’s Portland location, the Tillamook Outpost.

 

Women in Leadership trip opens secret Nike labs, “grate” room at Tillamook, and connects students with business leaders

The 2019 Women in Leadership Spring Break Trip, co-hosted by the Women in Leadership (WiL) student organization and the OSU Center for the Advancement of Women in Leadership, took 22 OSU student leaders representing six different colleges (and numerous student clubs) on an overnight visit to Portland. The trip included meeting and networking with women leaders at companies big and small, and attending the National Diversity Council’s Women in Leadership Symposium, an event sponsored by Lane Powell, featuring Portland women business leaders.

WiL student chapter president Lily Beck had a leadership role in planning the trip. “Since it was over spring break, not everyone was centrally located on campus. Some people were at home in Portland or around Corvallis, and we even had an online student fly in from Idaho. I had a lot of help to make sure all the logistics were lined up,” Beck said.

 

Tillamook, Nike and Green Zebra

Among the visits, the group toured Tillamook Creamery’s Portland location, the Tillamook Outpost, and sat for a workplace culture discussion with Sheila Murty, Tillamook’s executive vice president of people and culture, and Sibel Candemir, their vice president of categories.

Sarah Busmire, the Ecampus student from the College of Agriculture who flew in for the event, felt that the diversity discussions were the most valuable to her. “I learned a lot, and the question-and-answer session was awesome,” Busmire said. “I realized that many women face the same challenges in various times of life-from college students all the way to CEOs. It is important as a society that we begin to recognize those challenges and create workplaces where they don’t occur.”

Up next the group headed to Nike, paused to sign non-disclosure agreements and then embarked on an exclusive visit to Nike’s top secret, innovation-focused Valiant Labs. The discussion was led by Nike’s Shaherose Charania, senior director at Valiant Labs, and Liz Freuler, their director of brand and consumer marketing. Many suggested it was a highlight – but did not say much more!

The group then visited Green Zebra, a women-owned grocery chain that features local and organic food in communities that lack larger food retailers. Evelyn Murphy, Green Zebra’s chief people and operations officer, met the students and discussed their philosophy for the small local grocer as a community focal point.

“Green Zebra was really impressive in the fact that they wanted to make sure people in Portland had access to food in a healthy sustainable way,” said Beck. “They mentioned that they wanted people to be able to walk or bike in 20 minutes or less to be able to get to a grocery store. This desire to serve people was also evident in the environment they created among their workers as open and engaging people who were extremely inviting to our group.”

 

Networking and symposium

An evening networking mixer construed into a “flash mentoring” session allowed trip attendees to circulate through various tables for prompted discussions. Each station would seat two Portland professionals, and about six students taking on the topics.

“We structured the conversations so that students could learn about the challenges women face in the workplace, how to navigate those challenges and how to lead and create change,” said Audrey Iffert-Saleem, center director.

“I learned a so much about the incredible work being done by women in industry to empower other women and make a difference in the organizations they work in,” said College of Engineering student Umayal Annamalai. “I also had the chance to meet so many amazing women from OSU with a variety of backgrounds and aspirations.”

The following morning the group attended the National Diversity Council’s Women in Leadership Symposium at The Nines hotel in downtown Portland, joined by panelists from Bank of the Pacific, Tonkon Torp, Lane Powell, Portland Trail Blazers as well as College of Business Dean Mitzi Montoya. Attendees discussed topics such as building up the women around you, defeating gender-based harassment, the imposter syndrome and using technology for work-life integration.

Following the event, the group engaged in additional discussion over lunch with Portland business women, including members of the panel.

“We were all able to benefit from the connections we made, and the people we talked to. It was an amazing experience for me to be able to plan this kind of trip, and I would do it again in a heartbeat,” Beck said.

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“Cheers and Beers” for the BA 390 marketing class’s final presentations

A genuine swill party beer, priced to compete with Pabst Blue Ribbon; a brew with Vitamin D added; a sophisticated black-label luxury beer for the oligarchs, and even a malting company and a tailgating-friendly mobile bar were among the great ideas and business pitches of BA 390 marketing students and GD 325 graphic design students presented to a panel of judges Thursday. Fellow students gave cheers of support while judges received beers – cans and bottles anyway. The beer props were part of the detailed packaging and label design mockups that came from the design students as the marketers presented business plans to launch the new beverage lines.

The event, Winter 2018 Shark Tank “Golden Pint Presentation,” brought in judges from around campus, including Dan Edge, Associate Dean – College of Agriculture and Lee Ann Garrison, Director, School of Art & Communication as well as professor of crop science, Dr. Patrick Hayes, one of the world’s leading researchers of barley strains.

Dr. Hayes, whose recent experiments breeding flavor-rich barley strain has led to varietals anticipated to impact the taste of beer, partnered up with BA 390 course instructor Chuck Toombs to see how far the students could run with the ideas to bring barley-centric beer to market.

Until this research breakthrough from OSU Ag Sciences, barley was simply considered the work horse of beer production, the plain grain that contributed the ABV while hops and yeast waltzed together to form the flavor profiles that beer connoisseurs thirst for.

Team Fairy Ales perfectly captures that Cinderella story of Hayes’ barley research in their presentation, comparing barley to poor Cinderella forced to do all the cooking and cleaning while her step-sisters enjoyed all the parties and praise. The team earned top honors for the best brand & product story.

Another category standout for best product and packaging design was Team Gladius, who produced a slick monochromatic label featuring knight’s armor and swords for their premium barley wine, and a resealable bottle for the heavier, high alcohol beverage. Their pièce de résistance was a tap handle resembling a sword handle for the Gladius brand.

Special guests at the pitch competition included OSU Vice President of Research Cynthia Sagers, and students from the business class at Silverton High School on a college visit with their teacher, Riane Towery.

Each year, Toombs chooses a research project from around campus that he foresees to be on a fast track to market and has his marketing students explore the project launch. Past projects include marketing work for the patented bacon-flavored seaweed from researcher Chris Langdon and colleagues at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center.

This year was the first that marketing teams partnered with design students to produce the sophisticated array of label designs, sample products and packaging concepts.

Congratulations to the students of the BA 390 and GD 325 for their incredible work. Judges named winners in five categories listed below, and many thanks to our judges for their time!

Check out our Facebook photo album!

Best Product & Packaging Design: Gladius

Best Multi-Product Monetization Strategy: HIBARR

Best Brand & Product Story: Fairy Ales

Best Regional Focus & Use of Technology: Pacific Malt

Most Creative & Future Focused: Evolve

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OSU Night – Top 5 reasons to choose Oregon State College of Business

Advisor Dan Schwab talks to a prospective business student at OSU Night.
Advisor Dan Schwab talks to a prospective business student at OSU Night.

The Oregon State College of Business spent Tuesday evening in Portland for OSU Night – a college fair designed for high-achieving high school students. To help all the bright and motivated students in attendance decide what to do in the fall, here are the top 5 reasons to choose the Oregon State College of Business:

  1. More majors. We offer more business majors than any other university in the state of Oregon. From accounting to marketing and everything in between, the College of Business provides students with a thorough and comprehensive understanding of their chosen major. The college also includes four design majors to choose from.
  2. Experiential Learning. A hands-on learning approach is integral to the College of Business education, and includes opportunities with the Austin Entrepreneurship Program, Austin Family Business Program, Close to the Customer Project and Advantage Accelerator. The College of Business has 19 student organizations that align with business and design majors, providing leadership and networking experience.
  3. Career Success Center. As the only college-specific career center on campus, the Career Success Center provides students with the resources to conduct a successful job and internship search through one-on-one consulting, resume review, networking events and workshops.
  4. International Exchange. The Arthur Stonehill International Exchange Program is one of the biggest of its kind in Oregon, offering 13 different exchange opportunities around the globe for business students. Additionally, design students can choose from a number of study-abroad programs and tours.
  5. Austin Hall. The College of Business’ new, 100-000-square-foot, state-of-the-art home has made a huge impact on student learning and experience at Oregon State. Austin Hall includes a 250-seat auditorium, café, event space and plenty of project rooms and computer seats.