Tag: business

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Office of Engaged Learning Pathways to Industry Student Academic Engagement & Success

Advancing High-Impact Practices: A Semester of Engagement in Pathways to Business and Industry

Business Journalism alumni

This fall, PBI continued its collaboration with key partners, including the Hegi Family Career Center, Mustang Mentors, University Advising Center, and Peer Academic Leaders (PALs). We are also excited to announce new collaborations with the Lyle Career Center and the Meadows School of the Arts Alumni and Career Success office.

PBI hosts events that promote recruitment and engagement for students interested in careers in business and industry, particularly for those not majoring in a Cox School of Business program.

PBI Playbook: Key Plays
The PBI Playbook provides students with a roadmap of experiences they can engage in to explore careers in business and industry. Key plays that students could have checked-off this fall included:

  • Scheduling an Advising Session
  • PBI Welcome Social
  • Welcome to Lyle: Pathways Prep
  • Pathways to Careers in Business Journalism Alumni Lunch & Learn
  • PBI Coffee Chat with Steppingblocks Digital Career Counselor
  • Introduction to Business Research
  • Scheduling a Degree Planning Session with PBI PALs
  • History in Action: Pathways to Business and Beyond

Peer Academic Leaders (PALs) Office Hours
This spring, PBI PALs Ruth Assefa and Tiffany Nguyen will continue hosting office hours to provide mentorship and guidance to current PBI students. They are available for coffee chats and can assist students with navigating the Steppingblocks Digital Career Counselor platform. Meetings with Ruth and Tiffany can be scheduled easily through SMU 360.

Upcoming Events

  • Cox 4+1 Webinar: PBI and the SMU Cox School of Business will host a webinar on December 4th from 12–1 PM. This event is open to all undergraduate majors. Students can register here.
  • January Stampede Family Fest: PBI will be recruiting incoming transfer students on January 15th.

If you know any first-year, second-year, or transfer undergraduate students eager to explore careers in business and industry—especially those without a business degree—please encourage them to join PBI by signing up at smu.edu/pbi.

Categories
Office of Engaged Learning Pathways to Industry Student Academic Engagement & Success

Fall 2025 Pathways to Business and Industry (PBI) Events

Students attending alumni panel

We’re excited to kick off the Fall 2025 semester with a strong start! On August 28th, we welcomed 32 students to our PBI Welcome Social, a great sign of growing interest in professional development and career exploration. 

We’re especially grateful for the support from faculty and staff across campus — including the Lyle School of Engineering, Department of History, Meadows School of the Arts, Office of General Education, University Advising Center, Office of Engaged Learning, and PBI PALs Tiffany Nguyen and Ruth Assefa — who help make these opportunities visible and impactful for students. 

This semester, the Pathways to Business and Industry (PBI) initiative will host a variety of events designed to help undergraduate students explore career paths, connect with industry professionals, and build key skills for the future. These events are open to all students interested in business and industry, who are not pursuing a major in the Cox School of Business. 

Please encourage your students to check out the full list of upcoming events and register on SMU 360. 

 

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Mentorship Office of Engaged Learning Student Academic Engagement & Success

Tim and Sebastian: How Mustang Mentors Sparks Belonging and Builds Networks

Meet Sebastian and Tim – two Finance majors in the Cox School of Business and one of the first mentor-mentee pairs in the inaugural Fall 2024 Mustang Mentors cohort.

The Mustang Mentors Peer Mentoring Program pairs incoming first-year and transfer students with experienced peers who share similar academic and career interests. For Tim, a first-year student navigating the excitement and complexity of starting college, this connection provided him with guidance and opportunity.

After being matched in September, Tim and Sebastian realized they were in some of the same clubs. “After receiving an email from Mustang Mentors to join, I thought it would be cool to help someone out coming in as a freshman,” said Sebastian. “I really wanted to help someone through the things that I just went through.”

Tim discussed how the peer-to-peer model helped him define and set academic goals related to his major and career path. “When I first started the mentoring program last fall, I had a goal of getting an internship,” Tim said. “Sebastian helped me figure out what options were realistic, and I was able to ask questions about different programs and the different recruitment processes.”

Along with their mentorship being impactful academically, the benefits of the program extended beyond the classroom. Sebastian shared how being a mentor has helped him develop another component of his leadership style. “I know that I want to be able to lead by example. I don’t want to be someone who says don’t do ‘x’ but then I do ‘x’. Mentoring Tim has also built my managerial skills by being able to share my experience and guide him through this year.”

Both Tim and Sebastian emphasized the value of authentic connection and networking through mentorship. “A good way of formulating connections is by establishing a mentor-mentee relationship. This whole mentorship experience has taught me how to navigate relationships. I’m mentoring Tim right now, but maybe one day down the line, he might be working somewhere I want to be and might be able to reciprocate the mentoring relationship we have,” said Sebastian.

Tim echoed that “networking is super important. With Sebastian being my mentor, it opened me up to more information. Just having someone who has been through the process who can give tips and tricks about what you should do, or shouldn’t do, is helpful,” said Tim.

When asked about why a student should join Mustang Mentors, Sebastian said: “When you come to college, it’s a whole new world, and there is a lot being thrown at you at once. If you can have someone who’s already had it thrown at them and can give a digestible version of their experience, it’s super beneficial.”

Tim agreed, highlighting how welcoming Mustang Mentors is. “It can be hard to find a community when you come to college. This program is a good way to get to know someone in a way that feels less intimidating.”

Want to hear more inspiring stories like Tim and Sebastian’s? Discover the experiences of other students in the Fall 2024 Mustang Mentors cohort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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News Office of Engaged Learning Pathways to Industry Student Academic Engagement & Success

Reflecting on a Successful Year: SMU Pathways to Business and Industry

As we wrap up another incredible year, the SMU Pathways to Business and Industry (PBI) initiative is proud to reflect on its accomplishments and milestones. With 51 events hosted or co-hosted, we’ve been able to offer students countless opportunities to engage with industry professionals, peers, and mentors across various fields. 

One of the most exciting highlights was the hiring of Tiffany Nguyen as our PBI Peer Academic Leader (PAL). Tiffany’s dedication and leadership have been invaluable in fostering student engagement and success throughout the year. 

Our collaborations with key partners, including the Hegi Family Career Center and the University Advising Center, have played a pivotal role in connecting students to resources and providing the support they need to thrive. A particularly memorable event was the Pathways to Careers in Management Science Alumni Panel Lunch and Learn, a collaboration with the Lyle School of Engineering. This event provided an exclusive opportunity for students to interact with successful alumni and gain insights into the diverse career paths within management science. 

Additionally, we’ve continued to highlight valuable tools such as the Stepping Blocks Digital Career Counselor, which helps students better understand career trends and access personalized career insights. We’ve also produced the Pathways to Business and Industry Playbook – a comprehensive guide for students with campus resources and partners to know, as well as actions they can take to prepare for their future career.

Overall, this year has been filled with meaningful connections, exciting collaborations, and a continued commitment to providing students with the resources they need to succeed in the business world. We look forward to another year of growth and opportunities for our SMU community! 

PBI is currently planning programming and events for the fall, so if you are interested in collaborating with PBI for fall 2025, please contact us at pbi@smu.edu.