One thing that can be done to increase the visibility of a company among the students is to sponsor a student activity. One prime opportunity for sponsorship is our undergraduate GSCM Junior Core Retreat that is held in September. This activity is for all of our incoming Global Supply Chain Management students. The following is background and details about the event.
We admit the students in the summer. The past few years we have admitted 80 students out of about 200 applicants. We organize the 80 students into two sections, each section comprised of 8 teams of 5 students each. The first semester in the program is the GSCM Junior Core, which includes courses in Purchasing, Logistics, Operations Management, Quality Management, and Career Preparation.
One key element of the Junior Core is working on supply chain projects as teams. The effectiveness of the Junior Core depends on the effectiveness of the teams. For this reason, we are introducing a Junior Core Retreat the second week of the semester. The purposes of the retreat include:
(1) building esprit de corps and unity among teams and sections,
(2) promote enthusiasm and commitment to the upcoming workload, and
(3) allow the new students to interact with and learn from second-year GSCM students who have already been through the Junior Core and summer internships.
This last point will help students catch a vision about how their coursework will prepare them for internships.
For 2017, we will hold the inaugural GSCM Core Retreat at BYU Timp Lodge in Provo Canyon. Timp Lodge is about 20 minutes from BYU, and will provide an uninterrupted environment for interaction. Because of limited parking, we will rent vans from the BYU motor pool to shuttle students to Timp Lodge.
The retreat will begin at 4pm on Friday, September 15th. The plan is to begin with an icebreaker activity followed by a kickoff/welcome speech by the Program Director and possibly by a representative from the Sponsor. We will have dinner, followed by team games and activities. To help the students identify with their teammates, we plan to provide GSCM Retreat t-shirts, with a different color for each team.
Most students will sleep at Timp Lodge, which has three large bunk halls. A fourth smaller room has two beds that could be used by the Sponsor if desired.
Saturday morning the program faculty will arrive and serve breakfast. Second year students will also arrive via shuttle van. The morning will include activities and workshops that will allow the second year students to interact with the first year students. We will conclude with box lunches. The second year students will take their box lunches and be shuttled down to BYU, while the first year students will eat their lunches during some type of talk or panel discussion. Then we will clean up and depart.
The budget for the activity includes…
$950 Timp Lodge rental
$400 For 4 twelve-passenger vans for transporting students to and from Timp Lodge.
$700 For 80 colored t-shirts with program and Sponsor’s logo.
$1300 Friday dinner.
$800 Saturday breakfast.
$1200 Saturday lunch.
$300 Miscellaneous supplies for activities.
With a small buffer, the total to sponsor this GSCM Retreat is $6000. The sponsor’s logo will appear on the t-shirts and the sponsor will be given the opportunity to talk to the students at the Friday kickoff and otherwise interact with students during the event.
We expect that this retreat will become a defining element of the program, impacting both students’ enthusiasm in the program as well as through their careers.
To sponsor this event, please contact Professor Scott Sampson, the GSCM Program Director.