Nicole Collier
Major: Nonprofit Leadership

Gaining real-world experience while pursuing a degree in Nonprofit Leadership within a traditional liberal arts college framework was the high point of Nicole Collier’s senior year at William Jewell. As a participant in the Advanced Consulting Engagement seminar in the Department of Business and Leadership at Jewell, Nicole was able to work with staff members at VML, an international marketing and communications firm, to assist a global financial service company researching the potential profitability of cash transfer services among college-age students.

“We identified characteristics common to the market among 18- to 24-year-olds. Then we conducted research and analysis and refined our data to focus on the college market.”

The Advanced Consulting Engagement seminar is taught by Don Huntington, executive-in-residence in the Department of Business and Leadership at William Jewell. “My role is to bring business academics to life by marrying knowledge and concepts to experience and practice,” Huntington says. The seminar is an example of the William Jewell philosophy of allowing students to “live what they learn” by providing experiential learning opportunities and exposure to the best thinking of practicing professionals.

For the Advanced Consulting Engagement seminar, students are organized into a consulting team and engage a live project for a real client in the business world. Working with the VML team, students research and develop strategies for the client. Over the course of the semester, students meet with the client, utilizing various communication and collaboration procedures and tools to develop a scope of work and to prepare a budget. They then conduct the research and develop and present their recommendations.

Nicole noted that the experience helped to bridge the gap between the academic and corporate worlds and was an important step in her personal Jewell journey: “The class has pushed and challenged me in a direction that I have never experienced before. The main point of the class is to break the mold of a typical college student and step into the role of a business professional. I am very proud of the work accomplished by our team.”