When Donald Roomes (MBA ’90), a faculty member in the Department of Management and International Business in the College of Business Administration at Florida International University (FIU), decided to attend a September 8th dessert reception for undergraduate student leaders, he had a set of expectations.
“I looked forward to the opportunity to network with students and to increase my knowledge of ways I can serve them,” he said.
Those expectations were certainly met as 25 faculty members and 50 student leaders had a chance to get to know one another. But Roomes also was surprised by one aspect of the reception.
“I was so impressed by how professional our students are,” he said. “Each organization made a short presentation about what their group does, and these efforts were outstanding. I learned so much.”
Representatives from the student organizations in the business school, part of the Student Leadership Group (SLG), attended the dessert reception. SLG advisor Yanyn San Luis (BA ’10) welcomed the group and Gloria Deckard, the new associate dean of the R. Kirk Landon Undergraduate School of Business, talked about the importance of strong organizations on campus.
Freshman Nicole Jimenez, a marketing major and member of Future Business Leaders of America – Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA-PBL), shares Roomes’ enthusiasm.
“Prior to that evening, I only knew one professor. Now I know so many more,” she said. “Plus it was fun to socialize with other student leaders.”
True to its name, the event included cheesecakes, chocolate parfaits and a chocolate fountain with marshmallows and fruit.
Event was first of its kind.
San Luis planned the dessert reception as a result of an SLG roundtable discussion held last spring.
“The students expressed a desire to be able to network with professors and to have the faculty learn more about their organizations,” she said. “We will repeat the event in the spring.”
“I’ll certainly be there,” Jimenez said. “It’s a great opportunity.”
