Business students planning to learn from professionals this week

Although education is vital for a student’s perspective career, professors see experience just as important as a text book.

The College of Business Administration is bringing experience to the classroom with Dialogue Days, an event where students come into close contact with the working world.

Dialogue Days is a two-day event where fifty volunteers from the business field, mostly CMU alumni, speak to students and “take over” classes. Professors either allow the volunteers to teach whatever they want or they have the volunteers relate their experiences to in class material.

The program was started 16 years ago by former dean and accounting professor Terry Arndt. Since then, the program has been growing each year with new volunteers.

“We have volunteers from a variety of careers come in and teach,” said Cindy Howard, the coordinator for Dialogue Days and CBA executive secretary. “We have ITT people teaching computer classes to people from GM Supply teaching marketing classes.”

Keynote speaker Timothy Magnusson will start the event as keynote speaker at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium. There will be additional speakers throughout the day, each from a different company and career. All students are welcomed to come and will have the chance to interact with the speakers, even if they are not in business classes.

“The biggest thing students need to do is use this to their advantage,” Howard said. “With the way things are today, networking is definitely important. Some don’t see the value in this but its an opportunity for internships and even jobs.”

Howard said that one previous speaker was so impressed by a student’s question, that the speaker offered the student a job after graduation.

Some students find the event as a great opportunity for insight to the job market.

Holt senior Sarah Smith plans on seeing the keynote speaker and talking to some of the other speakers for networking purposes.

“It sounds like a great idea. It’ll motivate students, especially ones who have no idea what they’re going to do after they graduate,” she said.

Commerce Township junior Robert Murphy didn’t know much about the event before hearing about it and said it sounds like something he would attend.

“I think its a good idea to see CMU alumni come back from the field and relate their stories to us,” he said. “It’ll be inspirational to learn what former CMU students have gone out and accomplished.”

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