THE MORE STUDENTS engage with their
communities during their programs, the
deeper their sense of belonging and social
responsibility at graduation. A new
initiative at the Naveen Jindal School of
Management at the University of Texas
at Dallas was created with that idea in
mind. Starting with last fall's incoming
freshmen and transfer students, all undergraduates
at the Jindal School must
fulfill lOO hours of community service as
a requirement for graduation.
The school has taken this step to help
students become more well-rounded
citizens who engage with their communities
and understand social concerns,
instead of just being people who are
"good at crunching numbers," says Marilyn
Kaplan, associate dean of undergraduate
programs.
To accumulate service hours,
students can volunteer at approved
nonprofit organizations, enroll in
courses with service components, or
do a combination of both. Qualifying
course projects might involve creating
marketing plans for nonprofits, helping
organizations with financial statements,
or completing consultancies with charitable
or service agencies.
Courses that integrate community
service components include Business
Basics, a mandatory freshmen course
with a project that satisfies five hours of
the requirement. Students can fulfill 20
hours of the requirement in Product and
Brand Management, ten hours in Digital
Internet and Marketing, and 20 hours in
Market Research if they choose nonprofits
as their project partners.
Students enrolled in Social Sector
Engagement and Community Outreach,
a course in social entrepreneurship, can
complete all 100 hours of their community
service in a single semester by
helping small businesses address realworld
business problems. This could be
an attractive option for transfer students
who want to
stay on schedule
to graduate in four
years.
“Students learn to communicate a clear vision of the organization they serve, analyze issues, solve problems, delegate tasks, build trust and influence, and motivate others to contribute to the cause.” —Hasan Pirkul, the Jindal School
Robert Wright,
a senior lecturer
in innovation and
entrepreneurship,
teaches the
course. Throughout
the summer
of 2018, Wright
worked with the
United Way of
Metropolitan
Dallas (UWMD),
where he sits
on the board, to
design an application
to track the
course's service
component. "This
requirement has the potential to either enrich the lives
of Jindal School students by [exposing
them to needs in the community], or
it changes the course of their lives by
sending them down a path of working in
community service," says Wright.
Community service is really "a form
of leadership training," says Hasan
Pirkul, Caruth Chair and dean of the
Jindal School. "Students learn to communicate
a clear vision of the organization
they serve, analyze issues, solve
problems, delegate tasks, build trust
and influence, and motivate others to
contribute to the cause."
The Jindal School has collaborated
with both UWMD and the UT Dallas Office
of Student Volunteerism to connect
students with a wide range of service opportunities.
Students can volunteer for
work that suits their interests and skills.
Kaplan points out that 100 hours of
community service averages to just 12.5
hours each semester. "Students could
knock that out while studying abroad,
over a single weekend, during alternative
spring break, or even by volunteering
an hour or two at a time at various
points during a semester," she says.
In fact, many JSOM students already
perform 100 hours of community service
through fraternities, sororities, or
student organizations. "We were just
never able to collect the data or know
the impact of what our student body was
doing until now," Kaplan adds.
Daniel Rajaratnam, a clinical professor
in marketing who teaches market
research, appreciates that his students
can gain experience doing surveys and
analyzing data while helping local nonprofits.
The requirement also provides
the school data about its social impact.
"Logging those service hours," says
Rajaratnam, "allows the university to
quantify how much we're giving back to
the community."