Student Conference at the Jindal School Provides Tools for Academic and Career Success

by Jimmie Markham - September 12th, 2024 - Events, Students

The Naveen Jindal School of Management recently presented its inaugural Undergraduate Student Conference. Held Aug. 30 in the Executive Dining Room, the event brought a select group of sophomores, juniors and seniors together to give them an opportunity to experience a conference — for many, it was their first one — while also providing them with resources and knowledge to set them up for success in their academic and career journeys.

Dr. Dawn Owens, associate dean for undergraduate programs at the Jindal School, said the conference was timed to give the students experience and training so that they could increase their chances for success in the Jindal School’s Career and Internship Expo, which followed a week later on Sept. 5. Targeted sessions included presentations and discussions about student success, leadership and personal branding.

Owens said the most rewarding aspect of organizing and leading the conference was getting immediate positive feedback from the students.

“When I asked the students if we should do this again, they all unanimously said ‘yes,’ with at least two or three of them asking if we could do it again next week,” she said. “That tells me that they found tremendous value in attending. It was also fun to read some of their LinkedIn posts documenting their experience at the conference. We truly made an impact.”

Photo of Denise Cordova (right), an associate professor of practice who oversees the Jindal School’s Business Communications Program, presenting a session — “Managing YOU” — that went into detail about establishing presence in any given situation at the Jindal School's inaugural Undergraduate Student Conference. — Denise Cordova (right), an associate professor of practice who oversees the Jindal School’s Business Communications Program, presented a session — “Managing YOU” — that went into detail about establishing presence in any given situation.

Denise Cordova, an associate professor of practice who oversees the Jindal School’s Business Communications Program, presented a session — “Managing YOU” — that went into detail about establishing presence in any given situation.

Presence, Cordova said, is being able to express one’s authentic self and allowing others to do that as well in a given encounter.

“It doesn’t mean being confident in a way that’s arrogant,” she said. “Presence is you leaning in to understand those different cultures, to enjoy the different projects that you’re working on, to be able to network well with individuals and meet those folks that you meet on the day-to-day. So presence means you’re giving them your full attention.”

Cordova explained that being overly connected, as is the case for most people who are trying to do too many things at the same time in this technological era, is a detriment to having presence.

The key takeaway from her presentation, Cordova said, was “by practicing presence, you will make the most out of your experience, life and career and help others along the way.”

Photo of Sana Dharani (center), a business administration junior, who attended the inaugural Undergraduate Student Conference — Sana Dharani (center), a business administration junior, attended the inaugural Undergraduate Student Conference

Sana Dharani, a business administration junior, attended the conference. One of her goals for the semester was to attend as many networking events as possible. One thing that intrigued her was that the conference would have interactive components. Cordova’s presentation about presence struck Dharani as particularly refreshing.

“I learned that often you don’t realize that you’re always running for something in the future, and so you forget to live in the moment,” Dharani said.

Photo of a leadership panel at the inaugural Undergraduate Student Conference that included JSOM alumni and students. — Left to right: Beth Nikopoulos, Noah Miller, Sahiti Maturi, Safa Ashraf, Kyro Abraham, Sara Lemrick

Dr. Beth Nikopoulos, senior director of student development and leadership programs at the Jindal School, moderated a leadership panel that included JSOM alumni and students. Kyro Abraham, BS’24, a brand technical specialist at IBM; Sara Lemrick, BS’22, a manufacturing supervisor at Texas Instruments; and Noah Miller, BS’23, project planning management analyst at Toyota, were the alumni panelists. Safa Ashraf, a computer information systems and technology senior; and Sahiti Maturi, a finance junior, were the student panelists.

Abraham, when asked how his experience as a student leader prepared him for his current role, said he had to learn leadership on the fly in his role as president of the Computer Information Systems and Technology Leadership Council.

“I kind of fell into the role of president with the CIS Tech Council and I did not know what I was doing,” he said. “I don’t think any of us really did and I just kind of grew with the role and the organization. I realized as I grew, the organization grew — and that really opened my mind to this growth mindset idea. You just have to be open to learning, open to growing, open to trying new things… And I still carry that growth mindset with me as I begin my new job at IBM… I think growth is really the biggest thing I could take away from that.”

The afternoon ended with two presentations and workshops related to networking, professional success and personal branding given by Jason Cirilo, associate director of undergraduate professional development in the Jindal School’s Career Management Center, and his special guest Justus Ekeigwe, director and technology risk management principal at Charles Schwab.

Photo pf Sharif Abrar Labib, an information systems and technology junior, who said the conference was a good opportunity for him to interact with peers and faculty outside of the classroom — Sharif Abrar Labib (center), an information systems and technology junior, said the conference was a good opportunity for him to interact with peers and faculty outside of the classroom.

Sharif Abrar Labib, an information systems and technology junior, said the conference was a good opportunity for him to interact with peers and faculty outside of the classroom and that it was inspiring to learn from them. Having switched majors from computer science, he said the conference helped him in his goal to become more communicative.

“JSOM has given me more opportunities than ever,” he said. “Being an international student, it’s not that easy to go to a whole new different country.”

Owens said that the conference was an idea that she and her staff had discussed for some time.

“Thanks to my amazing staff, the idea became a reality,” she said. “Everyone jumped in to help, but Courtney Graves and Victoria Montgomery really took the lead to make this happen. They all continuously work behind the scenes to offer support and services to our students that truly make JSOM a special place. My hope is to offer this conference annually and that previous conference participants, once they become alums, will come back as speakers and mentors for JSOM undergraduates.”