 me was how suddenly it all happened. I was home for spring break and then all the sudden I was packing up my apartment and moving home for the foreseeable future.
How do you feel relationships with students have changed and/or stayed the same? What’s helping you to still feel connected to others?
It has been fun getting creative in finding ways to connect with friends, like sending snail mail or Marco Polo videos, while scheduled Facetime calls give me something to look forward to during the week. It’s definitely sad not being together for our last quarter of school, and while I look forward to visiting everyone once this is over, some of my friends live out of state so I know it may be awhile before I can visit them. This makes not having an in-person graduation even harder.
How has this affected your job search?
Funny you ask, as my plans in regards to post-grad jobs were solidified recently. I applied for an office coordinator position at a nonprofit back in the beginning of March while I was still at SPU. I've had several interviews for the position remotely over the past couple months, and was offered the job at the beginning of May. I will be starting training and on-boarding part-time and remotely while I finish up school, and then will dive into full-time work in June. The organization is close to my home in Oregon, so I was initially nervous about not being able to move home until June once I graduated. It really has worked out in the most perfect way. It definitely feels like a God thing to have all the pieces of this complicated puzzle fall so perfectly into place for me. I feel very grateful, as a lot of my friends are struggling with lining up work post-grad due to the uncertainty of the circumstances.
Kenneth Kao, a business administration major, was already living at home in Bellevue and commuting into Queen Anne to attend classes.
What has it been like to transition to online classes?
I certainly do not miss the commute. However, there are a couple of difficulties regarding use of technology and the loss of face-to-face interactions with professors and peers. Difficulties aside, SPU has done a remarkable job with the transition. All professors have been trained in the use of technologies to a reasonable extent and even resources like the academic planning advisors are available online.
How do you feel about having a virtual graduation?
Virtual graduation does seem like the right decision to make, considering the circumstances. However I don't think I will be participating. It just does not have the same gravitas. Nevertheless, I am just happy to graduate.
How is the process of looking for internships?
At this point most anything will do so long as I can get that foot in the door and gain some real-world experience. The application process hasn’t changed too much from before but there are uncertainties whether the internship will still happen if the virus extends into the summer. I have been focusing on listings that look like they can be performed virtually, just in case.
Matthew Huff, an economics major, is living with his family in the small town of Carbonado, Washington, which is the last town before entering Mount Rainier National Park.
What’s it like to learn at home?
Online classes are pretty weird, but I have been able to get more work done and have more free time now that classes are online. I no longer stress about getting to campus and going to class in person. As a senior with a lot of projects to do before I graduate, I've been very thankful for that fact. I am also very close to my family and the type of person to visit home a lot during a normal quarter, so being at home has been a comfort through all of this.
How are you able to keep up relationships?
I'm lucky to have a few professors that I am close with and am able to talk to, but it's different not being there in person. It makes my senior projects tougher too, as it's harder to work with faculty readers on my capstone and honors projects. Thankfully, I have a few very close friends in my honors and capstone courses dealing with the same things. Keeping in touch with them has been really nice.
How has this affected your SPU experience?
I don't really think this has affected my overall SPU experience all that much. I'm thankful to have been able to have three years and two quarters of an SPU experience already, and being a part of the senior class during this time has at least made my quarter a lot more interesting and given me a great story to tell.
While COVID-19 has caused SPU’s School of Business, Government, and Economics to pivot rather quickly, work has quietly been taking place for over a year on the ideation, initiation, and development of a fully online version of our Master’s of Science in Data Analytics for Business degree, more commonly known as MS-DAB.
We are studying research on best practices to create a robust online learning environment. For example, we are designing a common launching point for the students to go to, a portal if you will, where access will be granted to everything students need in support of obtaining their degree. Yes, there will be links to the various courses they will complete, but there will also be common content areas such as a social corner to facilitate learning with faculty and student peers.
Furthermore, there will be a one-stop location for library, mentorship, counseling, practicum, and other graduate university resources. Once enrolled in the classes, the students will find a similar look and feel to each class. Common templates, color schemes, fonts, and other user-interface experiences will be utilized so the students feel like they are in and part of a common program versus just being signed up for 15 different classes.
Finally, the faculty that are teaching in this environment are committing to the golden principles of online learning, which require the following three connections each week: 1) student-to-material interaction, 2) student-to-instructor interaction, and 3) student-to-student interaction. As the development team, we feel that if we stay true to these principles, then we will honor and value the online student just as well as we honor our in-person students, and that this program will provide the same high-level, high-touch, relational, and ethics-based education that our students have come to expect in our traditional graduate degree offerings. If you’re interested in our MS-DAB program, apply by August 1.
In February, we honored SBGE Alumnus of the Year Mike Milojevich ’99 and SBGE Young Alum Veronica Cook ’10.
Mike Milojevich is principal and lead advisor at Highland Private Wealth Management. Over the course of his career, he has developed special expertise in working with technology executives and entrepreneurs, public company executives, and families with multi-generational wealth.
Veronica Cook was an audit senior manager at Peterson Sullivan, where she managed around 50 clients a year. She covered a range of services, such as audits and financial statement compilations and reviews. Cook was promoted to assurance senior manager last year.
SBGE welcomed more than 160 students into the School of Business, Government, and Economics this winter at the New Majors Dessert on February 11. The average GPA of the new majors is 3.4 — making SBGE one of the highest performing schools on campus.
Austin premier of Season 2 films for Faith & Co.
Season 2 films of Faith & Co: Serving Employees had a premiere event in Austin, Texas, in March. Executive Producer Denise Daniels showed a selection of the films and interviewed a panel of film subjects about their reactions to seeing their company and its story on screen. This season focuses on how faith-driven businesses can positively impact the lives of employees. Companies from Seattle, Denver, and Edgerton (Wisconsin) were profiled in the event, which included Canlis (“Becoming”), Activate Workforce Solutions (“Second Chances”), L&R Pallets (“In the People Business”), and Edgerton Gear (“Turning”).
Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 14th annual Social Venture Plan Competition (SVPC) went on as planned, this time in a virtual environment on April 22. Student teams developed solutions to real-world problems, while pitching their ideas through documents, slide decks, videos, and live video conferences. The top projects this year focused on issues related to extreme climates and environments, a fitting metaphor for the current situation.
The winning team was Safa Himal, chosen as the $5,000 Herbert B. Jones Grand Prize winner by the combined votes of 67 judges representing business, nonprofit, academic, and professional communities. Bountifull came in second, winning the $3,000 runner-up award. Over the course of the day, a record-breaking 1,300 people logged on to the public Showcase site and voted for their favorite project, giving the Donald B. Summers People’s Choice award of $1,000 to Tutorly.
Two beloved SBGE faculty members, Brad Murg and Helen Chung, are moving on to different positions in the fall.
Brad Murg, assistant professor of political science, will be moving to Phnom Penh full time to serve as senior fellow at the Cambodia Institute for Cooperation and Peace, and work as senior advisor to Future Forum, a think tank supported by the Open Society Institute and the governments of Sweden and Australia.
Helen Chung, assistant professor of management, will be moving over to the School of Psychology, Family, and Community as an assistant professor of industrial and organizational psychology in the fall.
Both Murg and Chung will be missed and we wish them the best in their new endeavors.LONDON