Practicum-perfect in every way

Volume 10 Number 4 April 14 - May 11 2014

 

Ryan Sheales speaks with Peter Scanlon about a Business Practicum project being conducted with the North Melbourne Huddle.

Classrooms and lecture theatres are valuable tools for educating students, but they have their limits. Textbooks and tutorials also, sometimes, fall short. Often getting out of the classroom can be the most valuable thing.

And in the case of a group of University of Melbourne business masters students, getting out of the classroom was also a way of adding value to some of Melbourne’s premier businesses.

The students took part in the Melbourne Business Practicum (MBP), a program offered by the Faculty of Business and Economics. It involves students venturing out into the real world to undertake a consultation project for a host organisation.

One group (comprising four students) was tasked with assisting one of Melbourne’s leading social initiatives, the North Melbourne Learning and Life Centre, known as ‘The Huddle’.

Founded by the Scanlon Foundation in 2009 (and based at the North Melbourne Football Club) The Huddle has a simple goal: to promote multiculturalism and strengthen social cohesion across the community (especially in Melbourne’s ethnically diverse north-west corridor).

More than 5000 youths aged between nine and 25 took part in The Huddle’s programs last year. But like any organisation it relies on money to fund its ongoing operations. 

This is why the MBP students were tasked with developing a sponsorship proposal to help ensure The Huddle’s long-term financial sustainability.

“It was an extremely challenging task and needed to be completed within three weeks,” recalls Professor Margaret Abernethy, the University of Melbourne’s Sir Douglas Copland Chair of Commerce and the students’ academic mentor.

“They started off by researching the academic literature in order to better understand corporate philanthropy. Corporate philanthropy, like any other kind of investment decision, must add value to the firm in the long term.”

The students then drew up a list of prospective sponsors whose values and goals are closely aligned with The Huddle’s.

The Huddle General Manager, Dr Sonja Hood, was impressed by the students’ efforts.

“They absolutely understood the brief, worked well within the parameters we offered, and provided exactly what we had asked for,” she says.

“They did not try to vary or steer our question. The resulting database and recommendations will be extremely useful to us.”

Other students involved in the Melbourne Business Practicum spent time at large corporate organisations such as ANZ, GE and Ericsson, professional service firms like Ernst Young and a number of NGOs, including The Good Shepherd and Villa Maria.

“For me the experience was amazing,” says Professor Abernethy. 

“It demonstrates what our students can achieve. Giving them a challenge and seeing them more than meet the expectations of the host was an extremely rewarding experience for me. 

“It is further evidence of the ambassadorial role that our students play, and the connections with industry open up endless opportunities for us as researchers and teachers.”

Students, too, seem to have enjoyed the program.

On completion of their consultants’ report they were required to produce an account of what they had learnt.

“I’ve learned a great deal about trusting my judgment and the judgments of others, as well as practising the art of knowing when to speak up, and when to, well, shut up,” wrote one student.

“At first, it was a little difficult for me to alter myself to adapt to the real working environment,” reflected another, “[but] thanks to my teammates, their passion and concentration on work motivated me to quickly catch up.”

Professor Abernethy believes there’s scope for the Melbourne Business Practicum to expand.

“The program could be extended to include other faculties.

“Not only will this provide more students with this experience but will also allow a greater diversity of student talent with different skills to contribute to solving real problems.”

www.fbe.unimelb.edu.au/

Watch a video to learn more about the North Melbourne Huddle

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2_ueRqGnz4