Every semester the capstone course in the MBA program addresses a non-profit organization’s needs to not only give the students hands-on application of concepts learned in class, but also to engage and be of benefit to the larger community. In summer 2014, the capstone course conducted a financial sustainability feasibility study for Our Health, Inc., a Winchester, Virginia-based nonprofit that provides health care to underserved communities.
The assistance provided by the graduate students proved so meaningful that Our Health Executive Director Sharen Gromling sent Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business Dean Miles Davis, Ph.D. an update on how the organization implemented their cost-saving recommendations. “For instance, all of our bathrooms are now equipped with light timers,” she writes. “We have also switched many of our indoor and all of our outdoor lights to LED lights.” The organization also brought on a summer intern from Shenandoah University’s public health program who got grant research, writing and administration experience, while Our Health benefited from the student’s work. “This too was a suggestion by your students,” Gromling writes.
“The board and staff at Our Health loves the many ways we have been able to partner with SU faculty, staff and students throughout the years and looks forward to many more opportunities in the future,” Gromling adds in the email.
Dr. Davis, who taught the capstone course and oversaw the project says, “we are honored to participate in such a project and work with an organization that does so much good in our community. Our students learned a lot along the way and we are happy to see that Our Health continues to reap benefits from engagement with the Byrd School of Business.”