NORA Presentation
NORA Presentation
On December 1, five students from the Business and Technology experiential learning class presented their summary and findings from the 2022 NORA Regional Summit. This presentation was the culmination of the 8-week class under the guidance of Professor Dana Boren in collaboration with the Northeast Regional Alliance (NORA), a non-profit organization with the aim to improve the wellbeing of the 14 counties in Northeast Oklahoma. When asked about the class and the impact it would have on those involved in this opportunity, Professor Boren said, “The students leveraged all of their collective experience and education to deliver a presentation of the findings to the NORA board, this information was imperative to improving Summit outcomes in the future. Students were exposed to incredible networking opportunities and professional development.”
During the 8-weeks of the course, students completed background research on the NORA organization and attended their annual summit, where they analyzed and collaborated to create a presentation for the NORA board. Dr. Rob Cambiano, who assisted the creation of the class said, “As a form of “flipping the classroom” the class initiative involved learning outside the traditional classroom setting and served as an effective process for further developing the student’s knowledge and skills. The immersive learning opportunity promoted learning through practical real-life business and community scenarios and allowed the student team to apply theory to practice techniques that were grounded in business subject content.” The 2022 NORA Regional Summit held on October 25, was a great experience for the students to get exposure to industry leaders and also listen to numerous guest speakers. The summit also included specialized focus groups that were led by state or national content experts and featured a facilitated discussion that allowed for interaction between summit participants and 5 NSU students. The speakers included Oklahoma State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, NSU President Dr. Steve Turner, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation Chuck Hoskin Jr. and Futurist Gary Golden. The summit allowed students to identify common themes found within regional Northeast Oklahoma in education, housing, workforce and childcare. The summit was also a great networking opportunity for students to mingle with representatives from the GRDA, AEP Public Service of Oklahoma and Har-Ber Village Museum, among numerous others.
With a plethora of information, the class condensed and found recurring themes they identified throughout the summit. They explored the issues, barriers to change the current situation, what was working right now and new solutions they could see working. The course combined knowledge from previous business courses including problem solving, statistics and critical thinking, requiring students to apply their knowledge to a real-world situation. With this experience, students would be more prepared for the workplace by being exposed to professional focus groups, along with hearing from highly qualified speakers. One of the class students Nicole Harkreader agreed with this saying, “The NORA learning experience let me see into real problems rural Oklahoma was facing and apply what I have learned my past 3 years at NSU to gather data, analyze, and problem solve something that was real and not out of a textbook. I learned more skills during the NORA project that I can apply to a real career because it was so hands-on with real life scenarios”. A final assignment was completed by all students, comparing a similar organization in a surrounding state and identifying where NORA could improve or implement new ideas to the summit. An international component, choosing a similar organization in another country, was also completed by 3 of the students to add a global perspective. This opportunity to provide students access to experiential learning is one way to ensure NSU graduates are able to adapt to the workforce easily and be better equipped to navigate their first few years after graduation successfully.
With the plans to continue and explore more experiential learning opportunities within the College of Business, there is much to look forward to for current and future students. For further information on experiential learning opportunities, internships and classes, email cbt@nsuok.edu.
