Curriculum

Seminars

Scholars meet on Thursday afternoons, during which time we:

• Hear from guest speakers on topics of professionalism, ethics, industry trends, and global awareness
• Engage in preparation and planning of upcoming service initiatives
• Discuss learning opportunities peer scholars have completed such as mentoring reports, business analyses, or book discussions
• Complete team building activities
• Visit businesses onsite through the Business Interaction Program

Specialized Classes

To further enhance the Bill Greehey School of Business mission and goals, the Greehey Scholars Program requires us to enroll in a specific one-hour credit class each academic year, determined by our year in the program. These exclusive courses offer an extremely small class size, allowing intense personal instruction from Dr. Ward and co-professors, paired with the development of useful and applicable skill sets.

Ryan Salts, second year accounting major, presents to other scholars.









Each class corresponds with a strategic theme of the School of Business:

• Business Professionalism and Networking
• Mastering Technical Business Skills
• Leadership and Ethics: a Critical Analysis
• Our Global Community: Exploring Business Practices

Business Immersion

BIP: Business Interaction Program

Throughout the year, we have the opportunity to visit local and state businesses. As a group, we:

• Interact with management and employees
• Ask questions and discuss business issues with organizational representatives
• Tour facilities
• Establish professional contacts for future projects, internships, and jobs

We usually participate in two to three interaction programs a semester. Some examples of businesses we have visited include:

• NuStar
• Tesoro Oil Corporation
• Union Pacific
• San Antonio Food Bank
• Federal Reserve Bank
• Interstate Batteries
• Mutual Trust Company

Executive Speaker Series

We participate in the Executive Speaker Series program sponsored by the Business School in the fall semester each year. Nationally known entrepreneurs and senior level executives give an autobiographical presentation as well as answer questions from and interact with attendees of the lecture.

We primarily take part in this opportunity as freshmen scholars, developing networking skills, increasing our exposure to current business issues and providing us numerous role models for business and life endeavors.

Forum on Entrepreneurship

The Forum is another opportunity for scholars to interact with business executives. Four breakfast meetings throughout the year feature prominent entrepreneurs who share experiences and insight with students, other business leaders, and community members. As scholars, we take that opportunity to network and develop experiential knowledge on a wider variety of issues from those that have blazed the trail before.

Conferences and Competitions

Each year, members of the Greehey Scholars Program attend a national conference that includes business or leadership development through workshops, activities and interaction and allows for scholars to network with business students from across the nation and experience the culture of a different city. Examples of conferences attended in the past include:

National Conference on Student Leadership in Orlando, Florida

In November 2010, we had the opportunity to attend 3 days of conference keynotes and workshops with students from all different types of universities across the nation. Keynote messages focused on overcoming adversity, deciding who we want to be in life and concrete steps to get there, as well as how to handle personal investments and finances.

Each scholar also choose 7 workshops to attend which addressed various leadership topics, touching on everything from team-building games, to social entrepreneurship as well as event planning, publicity and promotions, personal branding, and organization budgeting. From those sessions, we have been able to implement some of the ideas and principles in both our program and our personal development.

At night, we were free to enjoy the perks of staying at the Dolphin Disneyworld Resort with trips to Downtown Disney; some scholars even taking the opportunity to explore the Magic Kingdom theme park.

Scholars Meet Famed Entrepreneur While Navigating Real-life Challenges

Stephanie Ward, Ph.D., a professor in the Bill Greehey School of Business who also directs the Greehey Scholars Program, put a twist on the students’ annual retreat in 2011. They would have to get their hands dirty and learn firsthand to embody the program’s mission of learning, serving and leading.

Summer reading comes to life

In preparation for the 2011 weekend retreat at Mo-Ranch in Hunt, the 23 Greehey Scholars read Begging for Change, a book by Robert Egger, founder and president of a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit called D.C. Central Kitchen.

Touted by Oprah, Nightline and the Wall Street Journal, Egger’s nonprofit provides 4,500 meals to the homeless, made daily from 3,000 pounds of surplus food from the food service industry. In addition to outreach, counseling services and job training, the nonprofit aims to build long-term solutions to the problems of poverty, hunger and homelessness.

But the scholars did more than just read about Egger’s initiatives, they discussed them with the author face-to-face when he personally visited the students during their retreat and shared his entrepreneurial experiences as well as tools for how he got involved with the nonprofit sector.

"Egger’s inspiring words were exactly what we needed to prepare to come back to St. Mary’s,"says Lori Mayfield, a senior who plans to share what she learned with her peers and to apply lessons of creativity and service in her business classes.

Standing the heat in the kitchen

While scholars learned from Egger’s example of entrepreneurship and service, they were earning their stripes in a kitchen all their own.

The Greehey Scholars Program instills the values of service, collaboration and effective leadership. At Mo-Ranch, a made-to-order lesson taught them just that—they had to cook all meals for the group.

For some scholars, having to feed a large group was a new experience. But seasoned chef or novice, they all learned how to function as a team, execute a complex task, and withstand a little "heat in the kitchen."

"The retreat reminds us what it means to be a Greehey Scholar and the responsibility we have to this business school and St. Mary’s<" says another senior, Sara Wilkinson.

The scholars had another teamwork lesson in the adventure races. The strength of their decisions would determine their team’s success.

Some students were asked to navigate a canoe while blindfolded, and found out how important is it to speak up and ask questions, and to know the difference between talking and being heard.

Others rose to the occasion in a ropes course in which students were harnessed to one another, challenging each to lead collaboratively and come up with creative solutions.

Spirit of teamwork prevails

In perhaps the most challenging event, scholars had to construct a raft that would keep a person dry as they crossed a river. Taking smart risks was critical, and knowing when to discuss and when to act meant the difference between soggy jeans and smooth sailing.

"My team had to assist a peer across a river because she was afraid to swim," says junior Hayden Edwards. "By successfully overcoming this obstacle, we established the spirit of teamwork and leadership."

The scholars were quick to make connections between these physical challenges and the academic challenges that would follow.

"The retreat put my own mission statement into perspective," reflects freshman Karl Wacker. "Its tenets to learn, serve and lead are more than simple, passive guidelines to achieve success. Rather, these are invaluable characteristics that all truly successful people take to heart on a daily basis."

Personal Growth

Registered Student Organization

The GSP leadership team consists of four officers who work closely with Dr. Ward and the rest of the scholars to develop, plan, organize, and communicate fundraising efforts, service and business events, and interaction with the St. Mary's community.

2010-2011 GSP Leadership Team

Officer positions include:

• President
• Executive Vice President
• Vice-President of Internal Affairs
• Vice-President of Finances

These positions are filled through a voting process at the end of each academic year, unless one of the scholars serving as an officer graduates in December.

Resume and Personal Mission Statement Building

Having both a resume and a mission statement available and current is crucial when working so closely with business professionals and with different service organizations; there are always great internship or employment opportunities in the works. This is why we work in conjunction with the University's Career Services Center to create, develop and maintain up-to-date and exemplary resumes. They also help develop and update our personal mission statement to help guide our decisions and keep the focus on our goals.

Check out the Career Services Center website to learn about the wide variety of resources they provide for your personal and professional development.

Personality and Vocational Inventories

As one of the first required activities for freshmen, we work with the Career Services Center to identify areas of strength and interest for studies and a career. Even though all scholars are business majors, this series of inventories helps us have a better idea of the options we have with our degrees and where our strengths and interests are best integrated.

Research

Analysis Presentations

Posed with a real-world question regarding various business situations and companies, junior and senior groups of Greehey Scholars partake in extensive research to determine and defend their position in response. After much analysis, they develop their conclusions, presentation and report for different panels. The juniors present their research findings to a panel of Bill Greehey School of Business professors. Senior scholars partner with an organization to address a current strategic issue. The Spring 2010 Juniors answered:

• How does management justify the costs associated with building and maintaining the specific organizational culture to stakeholders and the marketplace?
• How does an organization justify research and development costs during a recession economy?

The Spring 2010 Seniors answered:

• San Antonio Food Bank: Feasibility study on whether the SA Food Bank should start a venison processing/purchasing program to supplement current protein sources

Undergraduate Research Organization Symposium

The annual Undergraduate Research Symposium is held during the spring at St. Mary's University. This conference features all academic schools of the university and showcases the research being done throughout the school year by undergraduate students. Cash prizes are awarded to the top three performers in each school. The ultimate gain from participation consists of awareness and knowledge of research done by peers in different categories. This event is a wonderful opportunity for our faculty and all of our students to enhance our heritage of academic excellence and encourage innovation in education by presenting various forms of scholarship.