WITH UNIVERSITY RELATIONS EDUCATION MEETS BUSINESS

The Chamber of Commerce university relations committee serves as a liaison between Southeast Missouri State University and Cape Girardeau's business community.

The committee tries to enhance relations between the university and business community, specifically the College of Business Administration, says Keith Russell, committee chair.

"We have a strong, growing partnership with the university and the business community," Russell says. "We've been very pleased because we feel we're one of the most successful chamber committees due to that relationship."

Russell says it is through such activities as the Southeast Missouri Business Conference that the two worlds can work together. The recent conference was co-sponsored by the College of Business and the university relations committee. Also each June the committee hosts a luncheon for the university's summer student orientation leaders and the business community at the country club.

"The business community," Russell says, "also provides speakers for new student and transfer student orientation programs every year. The business leaders talk about why the students have chosen Cape from a business standpoint.

"The reaction from the students and their parents has been really positive because the businesses have joined in the orientation. And they have told the new students what's available in the community and what the benefits are for living in Cape."

Russell said the business community is well aware of the impact from the university's students on the local economy and this is one way of thanking them.

Also the Sunday before fall classes start, the committee hosts a picnic for the students and it is not unusual to have more than 1,500 in attendance. "When we first started hosting the picnic it was for incoming freshmen only, but it has went way beyond that now," he says.

The committee's most significant plan for the future is expanding the university's internship programs, Russell explains.

"We want to see more internships offered in various disciplines on campus and have students working at more businesses in the area," he says. "This is a strong direction to go in the future.

"The university already has some strong internship relations established in the community, but there other businesses out there who could probably use interns, such as maybe people in nutrition or nursing."

Randy Shaw in the industrial technology department does a significant number of internships. "But we want to carry that theme university wide," Russell says. "Internships really make an increased difference on the students' resume because businesses want to see people with real experience applying for jobs and internships help."

In addition, the committee would like to also recognize the internship sponsors with some type of luncheon for them and the students. "We hope to try to do something like this in the fall or next spring in order to increase awareness of the internship program."

But the committee's main goal continues to be enhancement of university and business community relations.

"We want to see more interaction between the two, more internships and more speakers coming to classes," he says. "We want to bring the two together by identifying what each does well and put it to use."