Students in Free Enterprises (SIFE) will be holding its first meeting of the semester today in hopes of getting more students from all majors involved.
SIFE is an international student organization guided by faculty advisors. The University of Memphis chapter advisors are Albert Okunade and Phillip Kolbe.
Okunade is a professor of economics and Kolbe teaches finance, insurance and real estate.
SIFE works to help profit and non-profit organizations in the community resolve their problems dealing with market economics, success skills, entrepreneurship, financial literacy and business ethics, according to Okunade.
Students bring together all the intellectual skills and classroom knowledge to help community organizations resolve problems.
SIFE is a non-profit organization and claims to be the largest student organization in the world.
"I think it must be [the biggest]," Kolbe said. "There are so many chapters on every continent, not just in North America, "
The organization has chapters in over 40 countries and territories, including Africa, Asia and Europe, according to the SIFE Web site. SIFE is funded through monetary contributions made by corporations, entrepreneurs, government agencies and individual supporters.
The organization does not require its members to have a minimum grade point average or that they be business or economic majors. Students from any discipline on campus can join for free.
"It's open to any students at all, undergraduates, graduates, any students who have an interest in finding out about real-world projects," Kolbe said.
SIFE membership does include hard work on behalf of members. This can include work on presentations of programs and organizational projects.
"I hope the students can get into a project that is really fulfilling for them," Kolbe said.
However, the hard work can also be rewarding. Working with community outreach and getting real- world experience can mean the possibility of job recruitment and awards.
The SIFE team recently won a regional competition in Kansas City, Mo. where top executives from companies like Walgreens and Office Max judged them. The team took home the Rookie of the Year Award for helping a business owner on the brink of bankruptcy turn his company around.
"They look at new schools who have just started a SIFE chapter and say you're one of the rookies and you did the best job," Kolbe said.
The SIFE meeting will be held today in room 262 BB of Fogelman College of Business and Economics building at 5:30 p.m.
