At Winona State University, the focus of the institution is on the student. Each day, WSU faculty members help educate and enlighten thousands of students. This is achieved through the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. One of those principles of good practice encourages active learning.

Winona State advises students not to treat their learning experience as a spectators’ sport. Professor of Management in the Department of Business Administration, Mary Gander, is one of the many examples of WSU faculty who reinforce this type of learning. She says finding a good balance between academics and applied learning helps students make better use of their education.

"They need a good well-rounded education," said Gander. "We're not training for a job here. We're educating people to be professionals. There has to be a balance."

Gander recognizes students cannot learn all they need to know in the classroom. They need opportunities to apply what they're learning to situations which occur in the professional world.

"The teaching that goes on in the classroom comes alive and has a lot more meaning to them," said Gander, "when they have real experience to relate it to."

Gander has been a faculty member at WSU since 1986. She came to Winona State after being recruited by a former dean of the College of Business.

"I knew there was a lot of very interesting, diversified manufacturing here that really interested me," said Gander.

While at Winona State, Gander served as the interim dean for the College of Business from 1988 to 1990. Currently, she teaches Organizational Dynamics and Behavior and several different operations management courses. She has served as the director for several grant projects involving partnerships with regional businesses over the past 14 years.

Gander has always valued the importance of experiential learning, and has welcomed opportunities for her students to take part in this style of education. In addition to involving WSU students in grant projects, area businesses or organizations contact Gander at least once or twice a semester asking for consulting help on a particular issue or project.

"The university has a lot of resources, including our students, that can often fit with the needs that a business might have," said Gander. "So it's a matter of finding out what their needs are, seeing if our resources can fit into their needs, and then making the match for a win-win outcome."

This is where her students get the hands-on experience they need. Gander matches a student, or a team of students, she thinks will be a good fit with an organization. For example, a particular organization had a conflict among three office employees resulting in customer dissatisfaction and chronic disruption. The manager tried sending the employees to communication and interpersonal relations seminars and to customer service training. The manager even tried using his authority by threatening the employees with formal consequences if they didn't cooperate.

Finally, the manager contacted Gander who assigned a student to the project. Under Gander's supervision, the student coached the employees using the knowledge and skills she learned in her WSU classes. The employees were put into an improvement team to study their own work processes, office layout and jobs. Through the guidance of the WSU student and the support of their manager, the employees came up with their own improvements and solutions, solving many of the frustrating problems which were underlying causes of much of their conflict.

"You can imagine how much the student learned and grew," said Gander, "and how much more her studies meant to her after this experience."

Upon completion of a project such as this, the students do a presentation for the company on their findings. This type of hands-on experience helps the students apply what they've learned in the classroom and get an understanding of how the professional world operates.

"The organizations give them a good dose of reality," said Gander. "They give them an opportunity to see things they're learning in their classes, to apply things they're learning in class, and to see both sides, the theory and research and the day-to-day business realities."

This type of partnership is what Gander enjoys so much about her career at Winona State University. Gander feels the human resources in southeastern Minnesota are the highest quality in the world, which makes her work gratifying. But there are other rewards to these partnerships.

"It's always the people and the regional economy," said Gander. "keeping this area healthy economically and the companies as viable competitors in a changing economy. But it's mostly the people."

After 18 years of working at Winona State University, Gander says WSU's good reputation with the community is what keeps organizations returning for help. This type of partnership will continue to provide a service to the community and to WSU students.

"Part of my role as a faculty member at Winona State is to provide community service." said Gander. "I take that very seriously, and I know a lot of other faculty do, too."

Last Modified: Monday, March 21, 2005 15:26 by Rhone Richard