Gratitude based business

As another school year comes to a close, the Alberta School of Business is sharing student testimonies as a support to our donor community and what you help make happen. We reached out to bachelor of commerce, MBA and PhD students to share their experiences and what donor support means to them and their education.

Building a legacy

With a family of University of Alberta alumni, the Alberta School of Business bachelor of commerce program seemed like the perfect place for Francis Rweyongeza to begin his post-secondary education.

A self-proclaimed “numbers person,” he knew it would be a privilege to study how math and numbers could be applied to solving real-world problems. Now months from convocation, the bachelor of commerce student said that it’s the students and faculty that make the Alberta School of Business extraordinary.

“The willingness of my University of Alberta peers to expand their networks beyond their cohorts and contribute positively to the school through academics, friendship, and service,” said Rweyongeza.

Rweyongeza is entering the JD program at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law this August. He believes that donor support is about a desire to claim a lineage between the past and the future that endorses the shaping of enterprising minds and the standing of our local community in shaping an international order and worldview.

“The eagerness of donors to help steward our learning and research environment is inspiring, and sets a strong precedent to be carried forward,” he said.

Whether in making new friends, pursuing volunteer or leadership experience or enrolling in interesting classes outside of one’s discipline, one of the most valuable lessons Rweyongeza learned throughout his degree was to never let self-confidence get in the way of taking risks.

“Opening oneself up to opportunities alongside peers who navigate life through their own uncertainties goes a long way in one’s career, and promotes the mutual understanding that makes the Alberta School of Business a vibrant community.”

A ‘say yes’ mentality

When Saveta Cartwright lost her job as a result of the Covid-10 pandemic six months before she was due to begin her MBA, she also lost out on six months of savings to support her full-time education. Fortunately, she received a scholarship endowed by Michael Lang last year, which gave her some breathing room.

“Scholarships play a really important role in student experience and enrichment,” said Cartwright.”Without that money, I don’t think I would have been as engaged and involved in the school and in giving back to the community.”

From weekly Covid-19 news reports with CJSR FM and sitting on the boards for the Campus Food Bank and the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) to participating in both internal and external case competitions — she won her very first one — Net Impact and the MBA Games, she has little downtime.

Currently, Cartwright is the president of the MBA Association and, after realizing the school could do a better job of celebrating the diversity of the MBA class, she started the MBA Diversity & Inclusion Club.

She’s also working with classmates to launch an investment platform called Honeycomb that provides another option for budding student entrepreneurs to seek investment and mentorship.

Cartwright said that even though the majority of her extracurricular activities don’t directly translate to her career — she’s accepted a job in the federal government as an economist in Environment and Climate Change Canada — she knows that each one has helped her develop as an individual.

“I know myself better today than I did yesterday,” she said. “I have picked up on a lot of really good skills, such as how to interview better and how to ask better questions, both of which are challenging to develop if you're not seeking out these different opportunities.”

Enhancing learning environments

As the winter 2022 term instructor for Introduction to Indigenous Business, a new course first offered by the Alberta School of Business last year, Teddy Carter knows the importance of real-world experiences to well-rounded student education.

“Restricting learning to classrooms doesn’t get in touch with Indigenous ideas or allow for listening to and learning from the land, which is really important to Indigenous culture,” said Carter, who is a PhD student in Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Management and from the Michel Band, an Indigenous nation of central Alberta whose ancestral lands are located north of Edmonton.

Carter incorporated as much land-based learning as possible (the students had the opportunity to sit with and share meals with elders, for example) but said ideally the course would be offered in the summer to include other land-based activities like hide tanning camps, which are in keeping with Indigenous ways of learning.

“The focus of the course has been really to draw attention to Indigenous perspectives and ways of knowing because if you want to be working with Indigenous communities and companies, you need to have that respectful knowledge of Indigenous culture,” said Carter.

Carter’s research focuses on workplace stigma facing workers in the sex trade industry from an Indigenous perspective. She’s also currently studying the reclaiming of the Indigenous cultural tattoo practice.

With construction on the Carruthers Student Commons set to begin this spring, Carter is looking forward to a designated accessible and open PhD office space to conduct research, learn and grow alongside her peers and colleagues, which is a key part of the PhD experience.

“Office space can be vital in order to be able to focus on our work and still have a space for social interactions and building relationships,” she said.

Validating student research

Feyzan Karabulut has always been passionate about research. With an undergraduate degree in business and a masters degree in marketing, she’s long felt energized in an academic environment. Now a PhD student in the Alberta School of Business, she’s happy for the opportunity to satiate her curiosity and share he knowledge with others.

“The Alberta School of Business provides a research-focused, nurturing environment, which is highly critical for a Ph.D. student to generate creative ideas and develop skills to explore them,” said Karabulut. “Additionally, having the opportunity to work with the School’s top-notch faculty members is invaluable.”

Her research examines consumer behaviours and their communications on digital platforms. She’s particularly interested in verbal and visual cues that affect consumer satisfaction in videoconference and online chat service interactions. Currently, she’s exploring how consumers interact with artificial intelligence chat agents and how verbal and non-verbal cues used by artificial intelligence agents impact consumers.

“Research requires abundant resources and the role of donors is significant for universities to access these resources,” said Karabulut, adding that donations have a lifelong impact because they contribute to the creation of an intellectually stimulating environment which is important for PhD students to be able to create impactful research.

“Their contributions provide intangible support to Ph.D. students by implying that our work and education are valuable.”