Over 2000 students and we are…37. Thirty-seven students and I sat in a classroom as we debated how such a small portion of us could make our impact on the entire College of Business. How would we, freshmen, ever make a difference in one of the top universities and business schools in the nation? Would the red tape, administration, and the boundaries of our small numbers keep us from achieving what we set out to do? As freshmen, none of us knew the power and team work that a maven, connector, and salesman could provide, but each of us fit into these categories. These 37 students and I are members of the College of Business Honors Program class of 2011, enthused to be part of such a group of leaders, but intimidated by the idea that we would be leading our peers. None of us felt “better” than any of the other students in the college, and we certainly did not feel “smarter”. So then why were chosen to be a part of this group, and how would we use this honor to give back to the college?
Over the past two years, this group of students and I have been through hurdles, struggles, and successes together. We have identified problems, seen resolutions, and continue to work off of the feedback we receive. Many of our changes have been small, but Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point proves that small changes can make a big difference. What does make our group unique is that we are united towards one cause: improving the College of Business through peer to peer learning. As a whole, we are united towards this Tipping Point of peer to peer learning. We believe in the idea that one group can be successful in change as long as we empower ourselves with some of the concepts needed for an effective change. Malcolm Gladwell discusses these concepts in his book: The Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context.
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1) I could not find the number of students in the College of Business online...is 2000 somewhere in the realm?
ReplyDelete2) I keep toying around with which personal experience of mine and which book to use for this review, and I am being so indecisive about it! So, I decided to finally write something down and go from there...seeing if I feel like it is enough of a basis to write my entire book report on. I would love any feedback.
I remember you saying that we can bring in other books into this review as well, is that correct?
On the data you seek, there are almost 3000 undergraduates in the College of Business and not quite 1000 graduate students, most of whom are Masters (professional) students. The doctoral program is quite small, especially compared to LAS. This year the number of new freshmen was around 560. The year before it was close to 700. Managing yields is a tricky thing. On the one hand the price differential between us and say Northwestern or Notre Dame is encouraging more students to come here. On the other hand, financial aid packages have shrunk. Also, not that the College accepts transfers in the second year, both from on Campus and external, while there is some but low turnover of students who are already in the College. That plus the fact that some students remain undergrads during their 5th year as they accumulate hours to qualify for the CPA exam, explains the overall enrollment numbers.
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On the rest of the precis, I have a sense of what you want to write about, but you really haven't delivered a plan for that. Your first paragraph is perhaps the first paragraph you will have in the review itself. If you would, and you can just respond to this comment in doing so. Please expand on how you plan to integrate The Tipping Point, with your Honors Group Project. I'd like to see you be more explicit about the connections between the two.
And on the other readings, absolutely do bring those in where appropriate.
The Tipping Point's main idea is that small changes can make a big difference. In our Honors Project, I'm considering the idea of peer-peer learning as the overriding concept, as that is the idea the program was founded behind. Some of the things we have done include making a proposal for additions to the Business 101 curriculum, getting more students to join Symplicity, starting an Honors RSO, and the James Scholar Tutoring Project addition that one of us lead.
ReplyDeleteIn doing these, I've realized that a lot of the points Gladwell makes about a tipping point have been prevalent. For example, The Law of the Few (as I said, none of us are any better or smarter than other students, but we have each of these types of personalities among us), and the Stickiness Factor and packing information the right way...speaking through our own personal experiences. The final concept is The Power of Context. In our case, all 4 Business Honors classes combined with 40 students each equals to be about 160.
How do those facts translate into what you plan in the review? Tell me what you plan to write.
ReplyDeleteHere is an example. Don't use this. Just think of it as a model for your precis.
Ignoring Gladwell entirely I (Tiffany) can write a four page essay on how our honors group encourages other College of Business Students to take doing job shadowing over winter break a serious endeavor, how to prepare for it, how to communicate while doing it, and how to express appreciation after the fact. We started with a handful of students and then began to use them after their job shadowing experience to join our dissemination efforts. But our honors group keeps tabs on all those new experiences so we can provide credible stories to students who have yet to consider job shadowing.
What we are doing is an example of what Gladwell calls the Law of the Few. So for the review I will intersperse various ideas from Gladwell into this story about Job shadowing. I also plan to bring in ideas from (other reference) which is relevant for (xyz reason).
You haven't done that yet in what you've provided so far.