VCU news

By Leila Ugincius

Manika Avasthi encourages her colleagues in the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business to incorporate service learning into their curriculums, which results in a win-win situation for everyone involved, she says.

Avasthi teaches organizational behavior — a field of study devoted to understanding and explaining the attitude and behavior of individuals and groups in organizations — and has included a service-learning component in her class since fall 2013.

“It gives students an opportunity to put into action the various life skills such as persuasion, influence, decision-making and creativity, motivation, negotiation and teamwork,” Avasthi said. “It also helps them to understand and address community-related issues.”

Moreover, the community gets an additional workforce full of energy and enthusiasm while the School of Business provides an active learning environment to the students that encourages creative thinking and creative problem-solving.

“In doing so, we take a step towards realizing the university’s commitment to ‘sustainable, university-community partnerships that enhance the educational, economic and cultural vitality of the communities VCU serves in Virginia and around the world,’” Avasthi said, referencing Quest for Distinction, the university’s strategic plan.

This past semester, Avasthi's two sections of MGMT 319 had 95 students working in 16 teams. Together the group raised $11,130.88 for Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU, Alzheimer's Association and VCU School of Business Foundation, providing 1,950 hours of community service in the process.

Each class functions like an organization, with a CEO (the class instructor), senior managers (teaching assistants) and team managers and members. The senior managers act as liaisons between the instructor, team managers and partnering organizations.

The student teams organized various mini-fundraising events for these organizations, contacting more than 100 businesses in and around Richmond. Students managed and coordinated all the mini-events, including developing the appropriate fundraising strategy, identifying and getting access to suitable individuals and organizations, persuading them to contribute to the cause, and ensuring that the project progressed at an appropriate pace.

Events included a two-week competition at Cary & Belvidere Residence Hall. The floor that raised the most money for the Children's Hospital Foundation won a pizza party. Other events included “haircut for a cause,” proceeds night at nearby restaurants and recruiting teams for the Alzheimer's Walk and the Walk for CHoR. Almost 15 percent of the money raised came from crowdfunding sites such as fundly.com and gofundme.com.

Charities were chosen based on the needs of the charity and the ones that the students related to the most, Avasthi said.

The course succeeds in providing a broad range of learning experiences and opportunities through community engagement,” Avasthi said.

“It helps students in the School of Business see the relationship between their private interest and the interest of the larger community, a key component in transforming the students into responsible citizens.”

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