SCOB connects with students through trivia night at Sips
Students in the Sorrell College of Business (SCOB) took over Sips Beer Garden for a trivia night on Tuesday.
The event was put on by the Dean’s Student Advisory Council, a program that allows SCOB students to have a say in the goings-on of the college. They plan the events, help organize things within the department, and have opportunities to learn a little closer with the professors in the program. According to program advisor, Preston Pritchett, the element of connection is what really drives events like the trivia night.
“One of the most important things, I would say, is to show our students that faculty and staff – the employees of the university – are people just like they are; that we like to have fun, and we like to engage and interact with the students,” Pritchett said. “It's fun to see them outside of the classroom setting, and you can kind of rub elbows and interact with them in a more relaxed environment.”
It’s beneficial for the students as well. Kendal Ard, a senior marketing major from Destin, Florida, said she really appreciates the feeling of being connected with her professors and faculty.
“I guess it almost just comes naturally,” Ard said. “The professors here are just so fun to work with.
“They're just such cool people outside of this in their lives. Like, they have real lives, they're real people, they've done super cool things.”
Those connections are not just the goal of the Sorrell College of Business. Building relationships has been one of the foundations of Troy as a university.
“At Troy, maybe more so than any other university in the state, we focus on being able to develop deep relationships with our students, being able to know our students by name, know where they're from, know what they're studying, and what they want to do for their future careers,” Pritchett said.
It’s something he values as an important part of his teaching process.
“Being able to have positive relationships with students is important to help them learn in the process,” Pritchett said. “This might be a little cliché, but I agree with the sentiment that if students don't like you, they're not going to learn from you.
“I'm not trying to be the student's best friend. They have their own friends, and I have my own friends, but I want the students to know that I'm approachable, that I have interests, just like they do, and that even though I'm a faculty member, and he or she's a student, we can still bond and connect.”
It’s not just about growing closer within the program though. Ard said events like trivia night can even help her and other students develop as business professionals with their networking skills.
“We see them in kind of a networking environment, and it's so important in the business world,” Ard said. “You always have to be ready to pitch yourself, and you'll be in, like, so many different environments.
“Say we're going to an internship expo; you need to be ready to be put with someone you have no idea who it is and be able to at least find one thing in common, share your goals, your ambitions, how you connect in a way.”
Brad Smith, a senior risk management and insurance major from Pace, Florida, had very similar feelings about the advisory council as a whole.
“I think it's great because it kind of diversifies your experience at Troy,” Smith said. “You can go have class, have your weekly meeting with your advisor and kind of just call it quits; but this gets you a new side of the college of business, and I think it really shows a lot of opportunities you can do.
“It's just so cool to see how business can do so much in this world and how it's all interconnected to, whether you're marketing or in accounting, info systems, like there is a job for you, and it's really opened my eyes up to all the opportunities like that.”
The event featured free pizza and students grouping up to tackle some Sorrell-themed trivia. The next SCOB event is the Sorrell 360 Center’s five-year celebration Oct. 21.
Comments