The final event was held on March 18th, 2019 in Curl Viewpoint North. We had about 30 attendees; the majority of our participants were from ICE or STEM EE Scholars, but there were students who did not have a connection to either program. The evening began with guided questions from the information we had gathered before the event, an open question and answer session, a speed networking event, and a Chipotle dinner! The website with more information advertising the event can be found at: https://u.osu.edu/steminbusiness/.

This event will hopefully set the path for similar events to happen in the future. STEM EE Scholars has the opportunity as a young and diverse program to be flexible in its offerings to university students early on in their educational journey. Even though the majority of students involved in the program will go onto a STEM career with a heavy industry component (e.g. pharmaceuticals, engineering firms, technology companies, etc.), there is not a large amount of information available at a university level to facilitate the education that is necessary for students to gain knowledge about the industry side of their respective fields. As a Scholars program, we have the unique opportunity to enhance the educational component of the university experience to ensure well-rounded and successful students are leaving the university with the skill set to effectively and efficiently improve the world around them and give back to their community.

As a result of this program, an internal document will be made available to future student leaders of the program to replicate a similar event and provide guidance on how to shape Scholars programming that not only appeals to students, but will provide a valuable supplementary educational experience throughout their time in the program. Engaged students that are able to clearly see the value in their involvement in the program will guide its future.

The second phase of this program was planning:

Following the ideation phase of this project, the planning stage was necessary to ensure a successful event. The planning of this event was led by a student team of six first-year scholars. Three of these were from ICE Scholars and the other three were from STEM EE Scholars. We met for a brief meeting to get to know one another, learn the objectives of the event, delegate tasks, and establish a timeline. Over the next several weeks, I had the opportunity to speak with each team member and figure out what they needed to succeed. This was an opportunity to not only learn how to shape this event in future years and advise future program leaders, but also to learn how to manage a group with diverse backgrounds and strengths from a distance.

On top of the logistical portion of the event, there were several other activities that needed to be coordinated. Among these was contacting and assisting speakers for this event. We had the opportunity to have Dr. Mitchell from Plant Pathology and Dr. Schulhaus from the TCO to speak at this event. Planning for the speakers involved pitching the event to them, sharing their role in the event, and developing questions that would be asked during the event. To accomplish this, we had to look into where current disconnects could be found in STEM and business and develop questions off of this information. This contributed to minimizing the work required for the speakers to prepare for the event and assisted with the tight timing of the event.