DECA Marketing Competition at Middlesex County College

Chambers Hall, Middlesex County College

In January, high school students from various Marketing Education Programs across the State of New Jersey participated in the first of their DECA (an Association of Marketing Students) competitions. The regional conference brought me to Middlesex County College, where I was a volunteer judge serving in the role of a CEO of a nationwide supermarket chain.  

College Center, Middlesex County College

Teams of two students were given a hypothetical situation that the supermarket chain was facing. They prepared for thirty minutes, and then pitched a marketing campaign for the changes to the business that they proposed.   Each team was judged and scored.  This was a wonderful opportunity for high school students to compete, get real-life experience with business people, and to have the opportunity to earn scholarship money for college. 

Special food needs at college

Food sustains us and provides us a social outlet.  I typically suggest that all students visiting a college try the food and watch the interaction among students in the college dining facilities.  For some students, food is more important.  Eating can be a life and death decision for a student with a severe food allergy.  Gluten can make a student with celiac disease become ill.  There are also many students who have a diet based on religious and/or moral principles.  They may only eat vegetarian, vegan, Kosher or Halal food.  So what is a student to do?

Food allergies or celiac disease.  If you are a student with a food allergy or celiac disease, consider the guidance on Choosing a School, Dorm Living, Alcohol and Epinephrine, and The Kiss Study provided by Food Allergy Research & Education.  Make sure to ask questions of the dining hall staff and to speak to students with your health problem and see how well or poorly they are doing with the college’s food services.

The food service provider Sodexho has recently started the Simple Servings station, a station containing food prepared without milk, eggs, wheat, soy, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, and gluten.  This should be a good match for students with a gluten-sensitivity, like those with celiac disease, as well as the most common food allergies. 

According to the Department of Justice, food allergies may constitute a disability under the ADA. That doesn't mean I haven’t heard of cases where a student transfers after a year at a college because they have ended up in the hospital emergency room several times because of a severe allergic reaction to food from the college dining hall. 

  

Vegetarians and vegans.  If you are a vegetarian or vegan student, check out what food choices will you have on campus.  Check if vegetarian and vegan foods are clearly marked in the dining facilities.  There are often vegetarian or vegan food stations and occasionally, a vegetarian or vegan dining hall, like State University of New York Purchase's all-vegetarian eating facility, Terra Ve.

Terra Ve, Vegetarian Dining Hall at SUNY Purchase

Kosher or Halal food.  If you are looking for Kosher or Halal food, here are some questions you might have.

• Is the food available and acceptable to you?
• Is it fresh food or just “frozen” dinners, which you can reheat? 
• Is the food part of the normal meal plan or will you have to spend extra for a special meal plan?
• Where on campus is the food available?
• Is there special food available during Passover or Ramadan? 

The Hillel College guide and the Heart to Heart’s Map of Kosher Food on Campus are great starting places for students looking for Kosher dining on campus.  Since Kosher dining on campus is often both Kosher and Halal certified, this may also be a good starting place for Muslim students wanting Halal food.  Muslim students may also want to check with the Muslim student organizations on campus.  

What is your experience with special food needs at college?

Johnson and Wales University (JWU) - Part II

In January 2014, I visited the Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, which is celebrating its 100^th anniversary.  The university has two campuses in Providence: Harborside, with a view of the water and Downcity, in downtown Providence.  Both campuses have housing, dining, and sports facilities and there is free bus transportation between the campuses.  My tour guide Rain lived in campus housing at the Downcity campus, while attending class in the Harborside campus.

JWU is a good match for a student who knows what they want to study, wants to take classes in their major starting in their Freshman year, and wants practical, hands-on, experiential learning.  To learn more about Johnson and Wales University, see my December 2013 blog post.

Cuisinart Center for Culinary Arts

Harborside Campus -  The Harborside campus is the home of the College of Culinary Arts.  The Cuisinart Center for Culinary Arts, built in 2009, is the jewel of the campus.  This $38 million, LEED-certified four-story building is a unique facility filled with “labs” for culinary and baking students.  As you walk by each of the labs, you can watch the students cutting, cooking, baking, making chocolate, etc.

Baking Lab

During the 1^st two years at the culinary college, the students spend two trimesters a year in cooking or baking labs and 1 trimester a year in traditional classes.  The labs are 6 hour a day, 4 days a week.  The culinary students earn an associates degree after two years and can stay for two more years for a variety of Bachelors degrees. 

Dough sculpture made by JWU students

Sugar sculpture made by baking students

Decorated cakes on display

Wildcat Center - Gym facilities in Harborside Campus

The Harborside campus has most of the green grass, and has the sports playing fields.  Freshmen in Harborside live mostly in triples or quads.  There is apartment style housing available for upperclassmen.  Housing for juniors and seniors is very convenient; housing for Sophomores is a bit of a walk.  School cost includes knives and uniforms that the students wear in the lab.     

Downcity Campus -  The Downcity campus houses the College of Business, the School of Technology, the Hospitality College, and the School of Arts and Sciences.  The Hospitality College students run the Radisson Hotel in nearby Warwick, Rhode Island, where I stayed overnight.  Freshmen in Downcity live mostly in doubles.  There is also housing for upperclassmen.  The food at the Snowden Dining Hall where I ate was tasty and cooked by students.  JWU is building new facilities for the Physicians Assistant program and for additional parking in the Downcity campus.  JWU is planning to move the building that houses the School of Technology closer to the other Downcity campus buildings.

Johnson & Wales University

I recently attended a Johnson and Wales University (JWU) breakfast reception for independent college consultants and I thought you might enjoy hearing about what I learned. 

Basics: JWU began as a business school in 1914.  The programs are experiential and work-integrated.  Faculty have industry-relevant experience and there are no lecture halls.  79% of students come directly from high school; 21% transfer from other colleges.  Since 2006, the college has become more selective in order to improve its graduation rate.  There is a 79% retention to the Sophomore year.  The 4-year graduation rate is 68%. 

Academics: The school is on a trimester schedule; each trimester is 11 weeks long.  Undergraduates must complete 40 courses to graduate. Students, who take 4 courses each trimester, graduate early.  Students begin to take classes in their major in their Freshman year.  Sophomores do an internship for course credit in their major.  Seniors complete a capstone and a third trimester internship.  4200 students had an internship in 2012-2013 school year. As a senior, students can take 1 MBA course per trimester.  Starting in 2015, the school will offer a Biology major that could feed into the Physician Assistant program. 

JWU has a career focus.  Over 1200 employers came to campus this year.  74% of students on a paid internship received a job offer from the company they worked for which is higher than the national average of 63%. 

Work and/or Study Abroad are available to all students.  All JWU Study Abroad Programs are for 20 students led by 2 faculty members.  Foreign language is not a requirement to do study abroad.  About 500 students study abroad each year.

Each student has 3 advisors: personal, professional and academic. 

Campuses: JWU has four campuses: Providence, RI; North Miami, FL; Denver, CO; and Charlotte, NC.  Some majors are not available on every campus. The number of students at each location is as follows:

• Providence – 10,369 (There is housing for 3500 students)
• North Miami – 1952
• Denver – 1529
• Charlotte – 2325.

The Rhode Island campus is physically split into two sections, separated by 2 miles and serviced by the University’s own shuttle system.  In addition, the Equine programs are in Rehoboth, which is about 20 minutes away.  Students can also ride buses anywhere in Rhode Island for free.  The university is building a Physician Assistant building on the Rhode Island Campuses.

Colleges: The University has the following undergraduate colleges:

• College of Business, which includes some unusual majors, like Equine Management and Criminology.  Many students sit for their Series 7 exams while still in school.
• Hospitality College which includes some unusual majors like Sports/Entertainment/Event Management
• College of Culinary Arts, which offers Associates and Bachelors degrees.  This college has the only accredited Culinary Nutrition program in the country.
• School of Technology (only in Providence) has Engineering and Software Engineering majors
• School or Arts and Sciences.

There are graduate schools in:

• Providence: including 4+1 BS/MBA, MBA, an MS in Criminal Justice and a new Physician Assistant MS
• Denver: MBA.

Housing and Extracurricular activities: Housing is required for freshmen.  There is an online roommate-matching program.  Freshmen are allowed to have cars but they are not needed.

JWU has over 100 clubs and has Greek life.  There are NCCA Division III sports in RI; other campuses have NAIA and USCAA sports.

Applying: The school is test optional. Applications are read by major and certain programs are harder to get into (or switch into) than others.  Baking & Pastry, as well as Counseling Psychology are difficult to get into. The college has an Honors program; students with an SAT score of 520 (Critical Reading) and 510 (Mathematics), typically qualify.  JWU accepts AP scores of 3 or higher. 

Visiting: There are daily tours at 9AM and 1 PM, Preview Days (one Saturday a month), and Wildcat Weekends.  Rising high school juniors and seniors who want to get a taste of JWU may want to attend the Culinary & Hospitality Career exploration program weekend over the summer.

Financial Aid: The Cost of Attendance is $38.9 – 40.8K per year.  JWU offers need-based and merit aid.  They do not front load financial aid and they offer:

·        Academic scholarships of up to $15,000. 

·        National Student Organization Scholarships for members of BPA, DECA, FBLA, FCCLA, FFA, JA, TSA, and SkillsUSA.

·        Legacy scholarships of $4000 a year. 

Early Enrollment - There is an early enrollment program where students do their senior year of high school at JWU.  Students pay half tuition for the first year and there is no Federal Assistance available for that year.

What is your experience with JWU?

Delaware Valley College

New Life Sciences Building

Student Union

Academics - In December, I visited Delaware Valley College (DelVal) in Doylestown, PA.  DelVal is a small residential college, only an hour from Bridgewater, with some pretty unusual majors and academic programs, especially for a small private college in the northeast.  These include Agribusiness, Conservation and Wildlife Management, Small Animal Science, Zoo Science, Animal Science, Equine Sciences and Management, Livestock Science and Management, Zoology, Equine Studies, Food Science, Hydroponics, Sustainable Agriculture, and Turf Management.  The school’s motto is “Science with practice” and it requires an experiential-learning component (i.e., all DelVal students will have a real-world experience).  Students with over a 3.5 GPA and 1100 or more on their SAT (2 parts) are typically invited to be part of the Honors Program.

Campus - Most of the buildings are white and are arranged around a grassy quad. In the Spring, the new Life Sciences building will open.  The college includes 225 acres of field crops, 60 acres of orchards, an apiary for beekeeping, greenhouses, dairy and livestock operations, and a farm market.  The school is an arboretum.  I got the feeling that parking may be in short supply.

Extracurricular activities - When you are not studying you can join one of the more than 75 clubs and organizations or one of the 22 NCAA Division III athletic teams.  Go Aggies!  When I visited, the Apiary Club was selling honey and beeswax candles outside the all-you-can-eat Dining Hall.  There is a SEPTA railroad station on campus that will take you to Philly in 30 minutes.

Merit Aid - There is sizable merit aid ($16K or more) for freshman with GPAs of 3.0 or more and SAT scores (Critical Reading and Math) of 1000 or more.

What is your experience with DelVal?

Fairfield University

Basics – Earlier this fall I visited Fairfield University, a private Jesuit University with 3300 undergraduate students on a 200-acre campus in Fairfield, Connecticut.



Academics – The university offers 41 majors and 16 minors. The average class size is 23 students. 96% of the classes are taught by someone with a terminal degree; there are no teaching assistants. Freshmen take a First Year Experience class one hour a week, with their summer orientation group, to learn about the school services. Students can double major or take a major and a minor. Students take 60 credits in the core and 60-70 credits in their major(s). 50 – 60% of the students study abroad and their scholarship/aid goes with them. There is a very high concentration of Fortune 500 companies within a commuting distance from the university.



There are 70 – 80 freshmen in the School of Nursing. The nursing students start their clinicals early and 100% of the nursing students passed their nursing board exam the first time. Nursing students can study abroad in Ireland or Italy.



There are 60 – 70 freshmen in the School of Engineering, which has five engineering majors. Students interested in other engineering majors can participate in a 3/2 engineering program. Engineering students can study abroad in Bolivia and often get internships at Sikorsky.



The students in the Dolan School of Business typically do two or three internships and can participate in a business plan competition. The competition winners get money to launch their business.



The largest school is the school of arts and sciences, which includes many pre-professionals. More than 96% of the pre-med students get into medical school.



Campus Life – 96% of the students live on campus. Housing is guaranteed all four years and is organized by the year of college the student is in. The dorms include a mini-frig/microwave. Juniors and seniors have options for apartments, townhouses or suites. Seniors can petition to move to Fairfield Beach, which is on the water, about one mile from campus.



Freshmen cannot have cars on campus. Sophomores cannot have cars on campus, except for the nursing students. There is a bus on campus, as well as zip cars. There are two train stations within walking distance of the campus. Students can get to New York by train in 1 to 1.25 hours.



There are over 100 clubs at Fairfield University. You can start a club if you have between 10 and 12 students and a club advisor. There are NCAA Division I sports, club sports and intramural sports. Basketball is the biggest Division I sport. The university brings in outside speakers.



Mass is available daily; there is no required chapel attendance.



Admissions and Financial Aid – Fairfield University accepts the Common App. The school offers Early Action, Early Decision, and Regular Decision. The school is test optional and there is an optional interview by a counselor or senior student. Most high school students accepted by Fairfield University had an A-/B+ average in high school.



The Cost of Attendance at Fairfield University is about $56K per year. The school offers both need-based and merit aid and uses the CSS/Profile. The largest merit aid package is $22K a year. It typically goes to students with an A/A- grade point average, who scored 2000 or higher on their SATs, and who had strong involvement in their high school/community.



What is your experience with Fairfield University?

Lynn University

Basics – Lynn University is a small, private coed university in sunny Boca Raton, Florida established fifty years ago.  When you arrive you come into a circle of flags from around the globe.  50% of the students are from Florida, 30% are from other states, and more than 20% are international.  Typically there are thirty to fifty NJ students each year.  Perhaps you have heard of Lynn University because they hosted one of the presidential debates.

My tour guide, Katya, was an international student.  She was an undergraduate at Lynn and is currently pursuing her MBA there.  Her sister also attends Lynn.  Katya had been on the dance team, was a Resident Assistant, and was a buddy to students with Autism and Downs Syndrome in the ACCESS program.  She liked Lynn because the professors were very accessible. 

Majors – Popular majors include marketing, hospitality and international business in the School of Business.  Investment management is a new major.  A new business building is being built.

The International School of Communication includes majors in media design, multimedia journalism, film and drama.  I saw the hands-on TV and radio production studios in the communications building.

The conservatory of music has 50 students, all on full scholarship. The liberal arts college includes a criminal justice major.  Lynn University offers aviation management in their flight academy.

Other Academics – All freshmen get a mini-iPad loaded with course material for required classes. 

The school offers three-year Bachelors degrees as well as 3 + 1 Bachelors/Masters degree for many majors.

Lynn offers study abroad in 40 countries for the January term, the summer, a semester or a year.  Lynn has sister schools in Dublin and Greece.

Support Services – 19% of the students take advantage of the comprehensive learning disability services at the Institute for Achievement and Learning, where an academic coach works with students on a weekly schedule.  This institute has 20 professional tutors with at least a Masters degree, a Writing Center with professional staff, and assistive technology.  There is support for students with Aspergers.

Retention – 69% of students return for their sophomore year and 40% graduate within 6 years.  To improve their retention, Lynn has recently instituted a mentor program for all students.  One staff member, who is not a professor, mentors five to ten freshmen. 

Extracurricular Activities – The school has NCAA Division II athletics.  The biggest sport to watch is basketball.  The women’s golf team recently won a championship.  Lynn just started a men’s Lacrosse team.  A new stadium for soccer and lacrosse will be finished in the Spring. 

There are three sororities and two fraternities at Lynn. 

Students are very involved with community service, cultural clubs, the psychology club, the communications club, intramurals and club sports. 

The second photo shows the monument built to remember students and faculty who died while doing community service in the January term in Haiti when the earthquake hit.

Campus housing – The freshman housing was pretty typical of most universities: doubles with a shared bathroom down the hall.  The unique feature of the freshman dorm was a sink in each room.

Admissions / Financial Aid – Admissions are rolling and the college is test optional.  95% of applicants are admitted.  Students with SAT scores for Critical Reading and Math between 890 and 1040, with a minimum GPA of 2.9, qualify for merit aid between $6,000 and $12,000 a year.  There is one Presidential full scholarship. 

Who would be happy at Lynn? – A student who is open to interacting with students of different nationalities and who is interested in participating in the school’s extracurricular activities would be happy here.

What is your experience with Lynn University?