New Krannert program aimed at helping undergrads launch careers

September 17, 2012  


WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University's Krannert School of Management has begun a program to ensure that its undergraduates leave school with not only a degree but skills that will provide the foundation for starting a career while striving for a personal and professional life built on high ethical standards, community service and social responsibility.

This fall, all of Krannert's incoming freshmen are participating in Launching Business Leaders, an initiative designed to develop skills and competencies that reach beyond academics that they'll need in their careers and personal lives.

"In this program, students develop a personal brand," said Charlene Sullivan, associate dean for undergraduate programs and associate professor of management. "Throughout their undergraduate years, they'll learn skills and participate in activities that will produce well-rounded young professionals with experiential-based learning that goes beyond that gained in the classroom."

Specifically, the students will build their personal portfolios with work, leadership, academic, project and global experiences.

An eight-week class that had been used to introduce freshmen to the options within Krannert and at Purdue has been expanded with Launching Business Leaders to put students on the path to building their portfolio. The Launching Business Leaders message continues in a second eight-week class that focuses on information literacy, including written and oral communication and research.

Finally, in their junior year, all Krannert students will enroll in an upper-level 16-week course that focuses on personal portfolio assessment, résumé building, interviewing skills and professional behavior and etiquette. The students will use Passport, a tool designed at Purdue by ITaP, which can then be attached to their LinkedIn site.

"Through these courses, our students will work on various components of professional and personal success, including critical thinking, oral communication, global awareness and networking skills to name a few," Sullivan said. "They'll learn to think and analyze and will leave Purdue with the leadership skills necessary to tackle the toughest challenges.

"They'll also work to develop their personal brand that includes trustworthiness and integrity, professionalism, personal responsibility and a drive for results."

Krannert graduates are highly sought after by job recruiters who ranked Krannert third in a 2012 Bloomberg Businessweek survey of undergraduate business schools.

"Why shouldn't our students be No. 1?" asked Sullivan, who said Krannert's new challenge will be to increase the number of community, company, state, local and world leaders who it graduates.

"We have world-class academic programs at Purdue. We get wonderfully talented students. Now we have the Launching Business Leaders program designed to work on the 'whole person' and allow our tremendous resources to have an impact on a broad range of challenges in the world," she said.

Writer: Judith Barra Austin, 765-494-2432, jbaustin@purdue.edu

Source: Charlene Sullivan, 765-494-4382, sullivaa@purdue.edu

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