Strome GO PRO Campaign Prepares Students for Success
September 19, 2018
By Noell Saunders
The Get Ready to GO PRO campaign, now in its third year, is a student-development program at the Strome College of Business that features activities and events to help students develop core skills necessary to successfully compete for jobs and internships.
Jeff Tanner, dean of the college, said he started the campaign to help students improve their writing when sending emails to professional organizations. But it quickly evolved into other student-development initiatives.
"We decided to launch the campaign and develop standard verbiage that all faculty can include in their syllabuses about making a promise to help students get ready to go pro - which includes using every teaching moment possible," Tanner said.
In year two, the program added more than 30 soft skill-development events ranging from Dress for Success to Building the Brand of You, Tanner said.
Corporate partners like Electronic Systems Inc., Fastenal and ADP delivered the workshops and seminars, and members of professional organizations such as the Society for Human Resource Managers developed competitions that showcased student talent.
"We also aimed some events specifically at veterans, and we created an incentive program for students to participate," he added. "One important event was the Leadership Academy, intended to strengthen the skills of student organization leaders. Stronger leaders make stronger organizations, and overall it's better for everyone."
The program is already making a difference.
"When the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business Peer Review team came to visit last March, they commented on how students had seen an improvement in the college, referencing among other things, GO PRO," Tanner said.
For a list of upcoming GO PRO events, visit https://www.odu.edu/business/gopro.
