UMaine Students Employ Woods Challenge Course to Develop Business Acumen
Contact: Rich Grant, 581-1971, George Manlove, 581-3756
ORONO — Self-confidence, teamwork and networking are among the critical but sometimes overlooked interpersonal skills for business men and women, and nearly 50 candidates for UMaine graduate degrees in business will begin their semester Aug. 26 with some unusual activities designed to enhance those skills.
Candidates for the Master’s in Business Administration and Master of Science in Accounting at the Maine Business School will undergo a week-long residency week, or “business boot camp,” Aug. 26-30. The week includes lectures on various business topics, work sessions at Bangor Savings Bank, where students will assist the bank with a “live case” analysis and assessment of an actual corporate project, and team-building exercises at the university’s MaineBound Challenge Course.
Residency week helps the graduate students get to know their classmates, themselves, their professors and some real, as opposed to hypothetical, business challenges. The week is designed to give students hands-on experiences in a real-world business environment, opportunities for group decision-making and a memorable, energetic start to their studies.
On Sunday (Aug. 28) afternoon students, ranging in age from early-20s to mid-50s, will work on communication and team-building exercises, starting about 2:30 p.m. with warm-up drills in Bumstock Field before tackling physical and logistical challenges beneath or among cables, tires and high walls on a woods course designed to test the strongest and boldest of athletes. Students will begin challenge course activities between 3:30 and 4 p.m.
“Our intent is to give incoming graduate students a ‘basic training’ experience that will help them achieve success in their impending studies, as well as in their careers after earning master’s degrees,” says Dan Innis, dean of the College of Business, Public Policy and Health, and a participant in residency week activities.
“Skills such as working well in teams, making effective decisions under fire, and dealing with ambiguity are important ones for our future business leaders to develop,” he says.
Students include those with a variety of undergraduate degrees in engineering, education, forestry, liberal arts, math and sciences and business administration, coming from India, Bulgaria, China, Russia, Armenia, Africa and the United States. Some have recently graduated from college and others are experienced professionals returning to academia for an MBA or MSA degree.
“Interpersonal skills, networking and working cooperatively in teams are among the most critical skills a business person can develop and will always use,” says Rich Grant, director of graduate programs and executive education at the Maine Business School. “These skills are just as important to career success as knowing how to do a cost benefit analysis and are transferable to anything from contract negotiations to purchase and sales agreements.”
Editors’ note: Class activities start in Bumstock field at 2:30 p.m. and after warm-up and field exercises, will move to the woods challenge course between 3:30 and 4 p.m. The challenge course is located a short way into the woods behind the Bumstock stage, accessible by a dirt road. Please call 581-3756 if further directions are necessary. The challenge course activities will wrap up about 6:30 p.m., when students and professors relocate to the MaineBound building for a cookout.