What’s happening in the Business Department

Oklahoma Christian University’s business department has been continuously growing over the past few years. This has been achieved through various events and organizations within the school of business.

One of the current popular organizations in the business department is the American Marketing Association or AMA. The AMA has a main goal of helping business students gain professional development skills with help from marketing professionals.

Senior Julie Pekrul is the president of the AMA and has watched the program grow.

“The AMA has brought in speakers from various backgrounds to talk at our bi-weekly chapter meetings for many years,” Pekrul said. “Speakers ranging from: Pixar, Adidas and other media/marketing places.”

The AMA meets regularly to discuss marketing tactics as well as have guest speakers during their chapel time. Junior Olivia Seibels is the events planner for the AMA and has attended many of these guest speaker events.

“The coolest thing about AMA is the companies and business professionals that come in and talk with students about their hardships and accomplishments specific to them,” Seibels said.

Assistant professor of accounting Jillian Poyzer-Jonhson said she hopes her classes add to the skill set of business students.

“I want to make sure students have the ability to learn what they need to learn in the classroom,” Poyzer-Johnson said. “But also do some of that professional development and get the skills they need, and the only way you get good at it is through practice.”

Organizations like the Benchmark Society have a mission to reach out and grow the business community through the use of non-profit work .

“Benchmark society is important because it shows that the business department is dedicated to helping students excel in the business world when it seems too crazy to handle in some aspects,” Seibels said.

The business department is consistently looking for new ways to reach out to current and prospective students with developmental opportunities. One of these new events is the School of Business Pathways Expo.

“I want them to be able to walk away and say they could really see themselves taking this path and doing this job or working for this company,” Poyzer-Johnson said. “It gives them the confidence to know there is some tangible experience they can glean from that.”

The Pathways Expo will act like a smaller business conference for students to discover which business field they enjoy. The expo will take place on Oct. 29 in Harvey Business Hall and registration will last until Oct. 22.

Advancement opportunities are something Pekrul said are crucial to the success of an average business student.

“We will always be around business, whether it’s working for a business, doing business with another business, buying from a business, or a mix of these,” Pekrul said. “Both people and businesses evolve and are always needed.”

In the fall 2021 semester, the school has been able to provide ways for students to grow in networking and professional development skills.

“I find the concepts involved in business so incredibly interesting and important,” Seibels said. “The business world is changing all the time and it is so unique that there can be thousands of perspectives on it and each one is curated to one’s mind that is full of creativity and ample knowledge.”

The business department is aiming to provide outlets for all business students to gain experience in the field of study.

“I would really love to have a space for accounting students,” Poyzer-Johnson said. “Students in accounting and finance will have the ability to network with professionals and find out information about their career. I want to have something that keeps accounting students competitive in the job market.”

As the academic year progresses, Oklahoma Christian’s school of business will provide numerous opportunities for students to discover the different parts of business they feel comfortable with.