A new student group on the campus of The University of Memphis is looking for new members from all disciplines.
Students in Free Enterprise or SIFE, is an international organization with more than 30 teams on more that 1,800 college and university campuses worldwide.
SIFE is a not-for-profit organization whose teams teach concepts and principles of market economics, entrepreneurship, personal and financial success and business ethic, thereby improving quality of life and standards of living in communities around the world.
The University's SIFE team meets every Thursday in the Fogelman Business Building to discuss upcoming projects and programs they will be working on.
"Projects have a terminal life, however, programs continue," said Dr. Albert Okunade, a professor of economics at The U of M. Okunade has been the faculty advisor of the campus SIFE team for the last two years.
Okunade said one project the team worked on involved helping a small business owner make improvements in the management and marketing of their business.
"The students of the SIFE team are able to apply the concepts and skills learned in the classroom as they work on their projects/programs," he said.
One of the programs the team plans to work on in the near future is geared toward helping high school youths.
"Our team will go into schools and talk to the students about the importance of getting a college education," said Dr. Phillip Kolbe, associate professor of finance, insurance and real estate. Kolbe is the co-faculty advisor to The University's SIFE team. According to the SIFE Web site, faculty advisors are named Sam M. Walton Enterprise Fellows in honor of the founder of the Wal-Mart store chain.
"The team will also teach high school youths how to go about finding money for college, including how to apply for scholarships," he said.
Membership in SIFE is easy. No minimum grade point average is required and students do not have to major in business or economics to join.
"We are looking for new members as some of our current members will be graduating soon," said Kolbe. "All majors are welcomed."
However, Kolbe did say that students need to be "dedicated to do the work" because there can be a lot of work involved with the presentation of projects and programs, especially when it comes to preparing for competitions.
Members of The University's SIFE team were hard at work, establishing their charter and preparing for their presentation.
However, they said being a member of SIFE has put what they have learned into perspective. They will also continue to work on programs during the summer.
SIFE teams compete with other teams both locally and from around the world.
Each spring, SIFE Regional Competitions and Career Opportunity Fairs are held in about 22 states across America, during which time, teams present a 24-minute multimedia summary to judges. These summaries describe and represent the team's educational outreach programs. It is also at these competitions and career fairs that SIFE team members find themselves courted by the heads of businesses and corporations looking to recruit new hires.
Last year, The University's SIFE team took home the "Rookie of the Year" award in competition for teams in the Arkansas to Ohio area. This year, the competition will be held in Memphis. The Peabody Hotel will play host to thousands of students, company presidents, CEO's and directors on April 15.
Winners from the regional competitions move on to the SIFE National Exposition. The team that wins this competition is chosen to represent the United States in the SIFE World Cup, which will be held Oct. 3 through Oct. 8 in Toronto.
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