USD Magazine, Spring 2004

They Mean Business Think internship. Then super-size it. You'll get the kind of experience obtained by three USD seniors who in January hopped a plane to South Africa, where they analyzed operations at an Internee wine retailer and proposed new marketing and finance solutions, some of which the company already is implementing. The trio of business administration majors - Josh

created specifically to be a part of the center, offers legal advocacy and consultation. "To our knowledge, no other university– based center is as comprehensive as this one," Baron says. "Families now have a place they can call and be referred to the right service, and that service will be provided effectively." Nancy Cornelius, for example, was referred to the legal clinic. Students there worked with school officials to find an appropriate placement for her daughter, who now is in a private program and still lives at home. The legal clinic, which opened a year ago, was the first program within the Center for Families of Children with Special Needs to go live. The clinic, which students cake as a for-credit class, offers services ranging from simple "counsel and advise" sessions all che way through legal representation at hearings. just in San Diego County, more than 6,000 new families each year are confronted with the challenge ofcaringfor a child with a disability. The most common cases at the clinic, says family lawyer and clinic supervisor Margaret Dalton, involve school districts chat don't recognize a child as having a disability that qualifies chem for special education. "The goal is to keep these kids in school," says Dalton, who several days each month cakes students to consult with families at the EFRC. "It's not just a matter of a family's legal rights, chis is a matter of their lives." Her sentiments are echoed by Baron, who says caring for a child with special needs can exact a heavy emotional, physical and finan– cial toll on families. He hopes to add a full– time director to the center, and to perma– nently endow its programs. "We don't want to replicate services already offered in the community, we want to identify the gaps and work to fill chem," Baron says. "The center serves family needs created by the disability, because we want these families to function as best as possible."

Chris Hageman, Beth Tidmore and Josh Carr.

Carr, Chris Hageman and Bech Tidmore - spent three weeks working for Cybercellar, a wine broker in Cape Town. Along with USD graduate busi– ness students, they examined the company's niche in the wine industry. Based on their recom– mendations, the company is pursuing venture capital and government funding, ramping up its Web site and looking into new markets in the United States, Eastern Europe and China. "This was an investment in our future careers," says Carr. "It's pretty rare for undergradu– ates to gee this kind of experience." le may become more common. The trip was underwritten by the Student Internacional Business Council, a new student group char seeks out opportunities for students to work on projects for international businesses. The group was founded in September, and the over– whelming response from students resulted in two new business courses, The Dean's Path to Entrepreneurial Leadership and Internacional Business Consulting. The SIBC supplements skills caught in class by connecting students to work opportunities around the globe. "Our mission is to provide students with international business experiences that they can't gee in the classroom," says SIBC President Jennifer Holm, "and focusing those experiences on the importance of values in leadership." The New Spirit ofWork You've taken a class in ethics, right? Bue what about a class in spirituality? Answer no to the second question, says Barbara Quinn, and your education is incomplete. "Ethics courses encourage people to do the right thing, bur they don't always explore why you should," says Quinn, director of USD's Center for Christian Spirituality. "Spirituality transcends the action and examines che motivation." To encourage professionals and students to examine how spirituality affects their work, Quinn and USD faculty developed three courses to help participants find meaning and depth their careers. This semester, local business leaders are exploring spirituality in an eight-week "Business and Spirituality" course, while law students and local legal professionals are raking "Law and Spirituality." Last fall, rhe business school offered its first class in "Business Leadership and Spirituality. "

In each of these courses, Quinn says, che goal is to under– stand what spirituality is, to reflect on how it permeates life and work, and to learn how better to integrate spirituality into the work environment. "We all work from a spiritual place, but we often don't realize ic," says Quinn, who hopes to introduce similar courses in USD's other professional schools. "These courses ask questions like 'Are you rooted in your values at work?' and 'Do you prac– tice what you preach?' Those kinds of ideas encourage people to reflect on the meaning of what they are doing, rather than going through life on automatic pilot. "

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SPRI NG 2004