UAF’s Students in Free Enterprise won against 14 other universities at the regional competition in Seattle on Apr. 2.
SIFE is an international organization that provides incentive for student development of community programs and recognition through contests judged by business leaders from around the world.
“SIFE’s theme is to help the community and to change the world,” says Paul McDonald, business student and UAF chapter president.
On April 2, the group presented their community projects at the regional SIFE competition in Seattle and won against 14 other universities. Last year at the same competition, the group won the award for the best rookie team. “We were the only one!” comments McDonald, laughing.
Since the last contest, the SIFE group has grown significantly and now has 12 ongoing projects.
“It is unbelievable how much the club has developed in one year,” says Camilla Kennedy, a 19-year-old freshman who worked on one of the projects.
The longest running and biggest local project is S.W.E.E.T., or Students Who Enjoy Economic Thinking, which offers an economic forum designed to bring the community’s awareness to Alaskan economic issues. They host discussions with important figures from the local, state and national economy. Recent guest speakers have included senators Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski, Representative Don Young and Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez.
Another successful program is “Kids or Conservation.” In a three-day workshop offered by IDEA, Interior Distance Education of Alaska, students taught 11 children from kindergarten to 5th grade about the environment. They involved children in discussions about paper waste and how much garbage people produce and taught them how to make toys out of paper and trash.
“We wanted to show them the power of innovation,” says Kennedy. At the end of the workshop they gave the children a questionnaire testing their understanding. “The children answered 80 percent of the questions correctly, and there were some very difficult ones,” says Kennedy. “I was amazed at how bright the kids were and how much they understood.”
Parents contacted in a follow-up survey agreed their children gained through the program and said they would participate in the future.
“And the children really liked it,” Kennedy added, “most of them want to come again next time.”
Looking forward, SIFE has a new program in the works with international focus. “Project Burma” works with Karens, an ethnic minority group forced out of Burma due to hostilities. These refugees reside in camps in Thailand grow coffee which they are unable to market. SIFE members now teach them how to run a business and how to export and promote their products. “SIFE is thinking about sending people over to Thailand next year to teach them how they can export and market their products,” says Kennedy.
The club also started up a program called “Senior Surfers,” developed to teach elderly people how to purchase and sell products on eBay. Krishna Ganapuram, a 25-year-old graduate student from India, taught around 30 to 40 people between 50 and 80 years old how to list products, how to determine prices and how to use Ebay’s electronic payment system, Paypal.
“The judges especially liked the Kids or Conservation and the Burma Project”, says McDonald.
The current 15 SIFE members invest a lot of time and energy into their projects.
“My main motivation is to help people,” explains Ganapuram. “And it teaches us the business concepts, and we can make connections.”
“In the first place it is recognition”, says McDonald, “but the competition is also something like a job fair. The judges are important executives of big companies who want to hire young, talented and motivated students”. It is a good opportunity to find jobs or internships, and every student who participates can submit his resume to the panel of judges. “And there are also scholarships available,” he says.
Kennedy joined the club because she thought that the community needs more programs on recycling and the environment, and the club offered the perfect background.“They take things assertively and get things done,” says Kennedy. “They do good things.”
Mark Herrmann, Dean of the School of Management, is very proud of the group. “I think SIFE is fantastic. It has given our students a chance to go beyond the normal classroom settings and is a way that they can give back to the community that supports their education,” he says.Herrmann also thinks that by helping others, students in SIFE learn what real leadership entails.
In May, the group is going to present their projects at the national competition in Chicago where the winners of all regional contests compete against each other.
SIFE is constantly looking for motivated people who want to help them change the world. “It is by far the best thing I have ever done in college”, says McDonald.