TU students get on the job training at home

By Cody Boteler on April 15, 2020

A key aspect of an undergraduate degree at Towson University is finishing college career and workforce ready.

For students in some majors in the College of Business and Economics (CBE), a capstone course – BUSX 460, titled professional experience – ensures that students get time in the workplace before earning their degree.

In it, students are required not to spend hundreds of hours doing homework and sitting in lectures, but instead to get at least 120 hours of experience working an internship.

In lecturer Marke Flores’ section of the class, students only meet in the classroom every other week, so they have more time to integrate their internships into their schedules.    

Normally, Flores hosts guest speakers and facilitates class discussions on topics like how to negotiate salary or turn an internship into a full-time job offer.    

However, since Towson University has shifted to distance learning for the term, the class now meets over video chats.    

And, because non-essential businesses have closed and large gatherings have been banned  to slow the spread of COVID-19, many workplaces have begun teleworking—interns included.  

 

“ You have to make an effort to go out of your way and connect with people. ”

Teleworking can be difficult, Flores says. Students have to learn the ropes of a workplace without being physically present or  getting face-to-face interaction with supervisors.

“It’s kind of like some tough love or swimming in the deep end,” says Flores. “Our students are experiencing  finding a way to communicate and do all the things you’re expected to do in the workplace.”

Gary Dunn,  an accounting major, says one of the biggest things he’s learned  is the importance of overcommunicating.

“You have to make an effort to go out of your way and connect with people. Let them know what you’re working on,” Dunn says.

He is interning with Cohen & Company, an accounting firm in Hunt Valley. He’s been working on compiling tax returns for individual and corporate clients, he says.

Dunn commuted to the office for as long as possible because he liked being in the office environment and found it easy to be productive there.

But as social distancing orders became more stringent, the office closed. Dunn took his work station and office laptop home, where’s he’s set up a comfortable workspace.

 “It’s really easy to reach out to people when I’m running into trouble. We have screen sharing capabilities and phone calls,” Dunn says. “It’s really not that much different than being there.” 

Of the 35 students in Flores’ class, most have been able to transition  to telework, so most will meet the requirement of 120 hours of work at the internship.

Anticipating that some internships would not work in a teleworking arrangement,  Flores and other CBE faculty created an alternative plan.

 For those students, the faculty decided a good way to bridge the gap during the term would be to take skills courses on LinkedIn..

Flores says students can use LinkedIn to learn everything from time management to skills for succeeding in a job interview. The students who take these courses retain the benefit of attending virtual classes and learning from Flores and classmates.

“ It’s not perfect, but I’m proud to be a Tiger. We’re doing a good job. ”

 One of those students is senior Miranda Lamberty, a business administration major with a concentration in international business.

Lamberty says she was more of a hands-on intern and couldn’t do as much work online. She says her supervisor at Troika Entertainment was considerate and respectful, and they decided mutually there wasn’t much for Lamberty to do remotely.

“I was sad to let it go; I was just starting to learn everything. That was a little difficult,” Lamberty says. “But everybody is going through something at this time, so I can’t put so much stress on just my internship.”

 Lamberty has explored LinkedIn courses on everything from marketing on Pinterest to female empowerment in the workplace. The courses are interesting and useful, she says. While online classes aren’t quite the same as meeting in person, Lamberty says Flores has been great.

 “He gives us a lot of really good information. He runs the class like he normally would, and he still asks for participation,” Lamberty says. “I like that he’s doing that.”

 Flores' students have been resilient . He says online learning can be tricky because the natural rapport between professor and student that can develop in person can be hard to recreate through screens.

 “I just want to make a strong emphasis on how impressed I am by our student body, faculty, and administration. As corny as it sounds, we really came together,” Flores says. “It’s an all- hands-on-deck environment. It’s not perfect, but I’m proud to be a Tiger. We’re doing a good job.”