When Barbara Surran worked in human resources, she saw a pattern in the college students she was recruiting: lack of experience. Many recruits had "book smarts, but not practical application" in business, she said.
Now Surran is an adjunct instructor in Howard Community College's business program. With the support of the Business & Computer Systems Division, she has made the school's Principles of Marketing course a hands-on exercise for entry-level business students.
"What they walk away with is experiential learning," said Surran, a graduate of HCC.
Earlier this week, 30 business students presented marketing plans for the Ellicott City Volunteer Fire Department. Four judges, including two from the fire department, named "Entourage Marketing" the winning project.
Six teams began working on their marketing plans in January -- about two weeks after the class began. When Surran covered information from their textbook, she asked students how they would apply those concepts to their plan.
Emileigh Crown, 19, a sophomore studying culinary management, was a member of the winning team. "The information that was given to us, we put it to use right away instead of reading a book and taking a test," she said.
Chief Lars Leaf and board of directors member Carolyn Klein, both from the Ellicott City volunteer fire department, visited Surran's class early in the semester. Students asked them about the culture of volunteer firefighting and their goals for the marketing plan.
The concept of teaming Surran's class with firefighters began last year. The Savage fire department was looking for students to help with a marketing plan and they contacted the college. An Ellicott City fire department volunteer saw the final presentations and asked if Surran would do the project again. She agreed.
"It becomes this real win-win situation," Surran said. "It was hands-on and just gave them [students] a richer experience."
Crown, who has family members in a volunteer fire department, said "working with a nonprofit organization lets you be a little more creative" about the ideas the group could come up with.
Most of this year's class visited one of the two Ellicott City fire stations. "This project was being able to take their immediate knowledge and put it into action for a client," Surran said. "And in that process, they learned how to work in a team."
