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Press Release
Media Opportunity: Four UA Student Teams Compete in Social Responsibility Challenge
UA Eller College undergraduates present final results of semester-long projects to aid Tucson refugee community on May 3 at McClelland Hall.
TUCSON, Ariz. – May 2, 2011 – Four finalist student teams will present the results of their semester-long projects aimed at helping Tucson’s refugee community at the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management on Tuesday, May 3, from 5:00-7:00 p.m.
The students are all enrolled in a required course in business communication designed to build their “soft skills” in teamwork, client management, and presentation. For the first time, students were given the opportunity to enroll in a special section of the course focused on social responsibility and co-administered through a student organization, Arizona Refugee Connection. Instead of preparing for the traditional case competition that culminates the class, these 150 students took on 25 projects designed to improve the quality of life for refugees living in the Tucson community.
The four finalist teams were selected on Friday, April 29. This Tuesday, they will present to a panel of judges including Brian Johnson (managing director, Loews Ventana Canyon Resort), Carmen A. Marriott (senior counsel, Office of General Counsel at Raytheon), Jim Nintzel (senior writer, Tucson Weekly), Ron Sable (president, Concord Solutions, Ltd.), and Laura Shaw (senior vice president of marketing and communications, Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities).
All four teams will present at McClelland Hall, 1130 East Helen Street. From 5:00-5:30 p.m., the teams will present their projects in a tradeshow format. Their formal presentations are scheduled for 5:30-6:30 p.m., and winners will be announced at 7:00 p.m. The events are open to the public.
The four projects include:
School Supplies – 59 percent of the 845 refugee students enrolled in the Tucson Unified School District lack funding. Children who used to rely on the schools for supplies are now left with little to nothing. TUSD tasked this team with hosting a school supply drive of much-needed items for the students.
Iskashitaa – The Iskashitaa agency organizes local unwanted fruit and vegetable harvesting, bringing in over 100,000 pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables to feed refugees and donate to food banks in Tucson. The agency has expanded rapidly over the last eight years, but needed assistance in building awareness of its services among grassroots refugee organizations.
Arizona Refugee Connection – This student-run organization needed a new, dynamic, easily-accessible website. The team focused on identifying the website’s primary users and their usage patterns, then designed a strategy to increase its functionality and sustainability.
Refugee Sports Camp – This project is a free camp designed especially for refugee children. Its goals are to help refugee children learn popular sports in their new culture and also learn language and important social skills to help them thrive at school.
The Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona is internationally recognized for pioneering research, innovative curriculum, distinguished faculty, excellence in management information systems, entrepreneurship, and social responsibility. U.S. News & World Report ranks the Eller undergraduate program #14 among public business schools and three of its programs are among the top 20 — Entrepreneurship, MIS, and Management. U.S. News & World Report ranks the Eller MBA Full-Time program #44 in the U.S. and #21 among public business schools. The College leads the nation’s business schools in generating grant funds for research. In addition to a Full-Time MBA program, the Eller College offers an Evening MBA program and the Eller Executive MBA. The Eller College of Management supports approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 700 graduate students on the UA campus in beautiful Tucson, Arizona.
Press Contact:
Liz Warren-Pederson, Eller College of Management
520.626.9547, news@eller.arizona.edu
For additional information, please contact us.
