Criterion #8 - Utilizing College Mentors and a Business Advisory Board (10 points)

In their activities, how effective were the students in: Utilizing their resources, including at least one or two “consultants/mentors” from a nearby college or university, and a Business Advisory Board (each team should have at least three active BAB members, at least two of whom come from the private sector) to help them identify, deliver, assess and present their projects?

Interpretation – College Mentors: Each SAGE team should strive to work with older students enrolled at their nearest community college and/or university (e.g., alumni from your high school who were SAGE members, or older brothers and sisters?). The mission of almost all colleges and universities include a commitment to serving the educational, cultural and economic needs of their area. Many collegiate student organizations are given credit for delivering activities in the community, and K-12 students are a primary audience for these activities. Specific to the business discipline, there are many student organizations that are rewarded for community service work. Among these organizations are Beta Alpha Psi, the Marketing Association, Delta Sigma Pi and Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE). In documenting how a SAGE team has used its mentors, the team should explain what role the mentors played in helping them identify, deliver, assess and present their activities. The best mentors take on the role of coach and consultant to help the SAGE team achieve its goals.

As for the Business Advisory Board (BAB), one of the best external resources for a SAGE team is its BAB. As soon as possible, the SAGE students should actively recruit between 5-10 successful entrepreneurs, business executives, civic leaders and/or journalists to serve on their BAB. Many of these people will admire your SAGE team for completing activities linking entrepreneurship and community service. When they learn about your mission and goals, most of them will enthusiastically share their expertise, their time and sometimes their financial resources. SAGE judges will look beyond the financial resources, however, and determine if your BAB was instrumental in helping you deliver activities that have made a true impact in the lives of your SAGE students, and in the lives they have touched.

Sample Web Sites

To determine if a nearby college is willing to provide mentors to your SAGE program, you should first determine if the college has a chapter involved in one of the following organizations:

http://www.marketingpower.com;
http://www.bap.org;
http://www.dspnet.org;
http://sife.org.

As for using the Internet to recruit a BAB, go to your town’s Chamber of Commerce website and/or pick up a membership list from the chamber’s office. A SAGE team’s faculty adviser and SAGE students should scan the list and identify between 5-10 business leaders/ entrepreneurs who might be interested in serving on the BAB. Also, invite the mayor, city council members, and members of the School Board and PTA to sit on the BAB.

Sample Activities

Visit the nearby college or university’s main web site, and click on student organizations. Whether or not the college has an active chapter in any of these organizations, the high school SAGE adviser should contact the head of the business department or the “service-learning coordinator” and ask what student organizations are most involved in community service, and then arrange a meeting.

A SAGE team should invite all prospective BAB members to a welcome reception at its school or at a local restaurant. Team members should make a presentation about its goals and objectives. Also provide them a list of the 10 SAGE judging criteria, and provide them with ideas about how your team believes it can best meet the criteria. Then ASK THEM for ideas. Your second activity should be to schedule a strategic planning retreat, and invite prospective BAB members and university mentors to help you out as you complete your activities.

Sample Activities

When a SAGE team identifies its college mentors, the SAGE students should ask the mentor to review all 10 of the judging criteria. Ask the mentors what classes they are enrolled in, and whether or not they have completed any activities at the college level that can be adapted by the SAGE team. Ask the mentors for their help in tailoring the college activities to the SAGE judging criteria.