Student-run groups and their leaders provide a variety of opportunities for business-minded peers at the College. From learning to shake hands to developing technology-based marketing strategies, groups at the College provide workshops and direct experience for enterprising entrepreneurs.
The Council on Student Organizations oversees over 24 pre-professional student organizations on campus, including the Dartmouth Minorities in Business Association, Women in Business, the Dartmouth Investment and Philanthropy Program and the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network. These organizations provide support, guidance and opportunities to students interested in specific fields such as business, math, health and science.
Dartmouth Minorities in Business Association is an organization started in 2006 to help minority students on campus gain opportunities afforded to everyone else, DMBA president Goodwill Batalingaya ’16 said.
DMBA aims to provide undergraduate students with potential business opportunities, including internships, full-time employment and preparation for joining the workforce.
The organization seeks to bridge the divide between minority students and opportunities in the business field. Batalingaya said that DMBA provides skill-building exercises and opportunities to help with company recruiting.
The skill-building exercises range from stock management to handshakes to dressing professionally. Last Friday, DMBA hosted a Google recruiter who helped students write a Google-specific resume. Because Google has its own prompt for its application, writing a company-specific resume as opposed to an industry-wide resume is the best approach, Batalingaya said. Two weeks prior to this clinic, DMBA held a resume workshop in which students could receive feedback from their peers.
Batalingaya joined his freshman year and has been involved with the organization ever since. DBMA has helped him think about the difference between leadership and management, he said.
As the president, he said wants to build DMBA around three main principles — prepare, polish and present.
“The most personal impact is the connections you make,” both professionally and socially, he said.
Women in Business, an undergraduate women’s network organization, seeks to expose women to the business field though networking, professional development workshops and conferences.
WIB offers women on campus many opportunities to engage with the business world by hosting corporate panels and speakers.
This term, WIB hosted a lecture with Tuck School of Business assistant dean Stephen Lubrano T’87, who presented on how to sell oneself at an interview, WIB co-president Jasmine Xu ’16 said.
WIB also has a mentorship family within its organization in which a senior executive is paired with six or seven younger students interested in business, she said.
Xu said she was inspired by her own mentors before she became a leader in the group.
“I really enjoyed the people, first and foremost, which kept me in the organization,” Xu said. “I definitely would not have been able to get where I am in my career without the help of the people I met through WIB.”
Xu is a member of The Dartmouth senior business staff.
The Dartmouth Investment and Philanthropy Program provides a platform for students to learn about finance. Funded in 2007 by a group of alumni that believed in hands-on investing experience, the organization emphasizes education of its members.
DIPP focuses on giving back to the Dartmouth community by donating its earnings from investments into student-initiated philanthropic endeavors.
The organization has a main focus each term. In the fall, students are introduced to the basics of finance, stocks, presentation and company evaluation. DIPP co-president Bob Klingenberger ’16 notes the increased interest in the fall, saying that the group has moved its weekly Thursday meetings from CarsonHall to WilderHall to accommodate new members.
Klingenber said that it is niceto have a strong interest in the club, adding that "it's a great opportunity." He said the group is not about making money solely for the purpose of makingmoney, but rather it hasthe goal ofdonating to groups on campus and educating its members.
"I think a lot of people, including myself, have gotten a lot out of it, Klingenberger said. "Especially at a liberal arts school, you don’t really get a lot of exposure to these sorts of curricula.”
DIPP has collaborated with the Center for Professional Development for events. Recently, DIPP has been doing more work with employers including recruiting sessions with finance and consulting firms. DIPP tries to create a bridge and make sure everyone in the club are aware of the opportunities that are happening, Klingenberger said.
Since College President Phil Hanlon’s was inaugurated, he has emphasized the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network.
“It was a result of [Hanlon’s] emphasis of experiential learning at the College,” student leader Bailey Miller ’18 said. “DEN focuses on entrepreneurship from a fairly early stage up to later stages, in addition to providing experiential learning opportunities for students that don’t have an idea, but are very interested in learning more about entrepreneurship.”
DEN offers many opportunities for students to get involved. There is an event almost every day of the week, with a sales course on Mondays, group meetings on Tuesdays and entrepreneurial boot camps on Thursdays.
“We have all these resources, but part of our role is to engage Dartmouth students in entrepreneurship and help them build this entrepreneurial skill set that we think is very valuable,” Miller said.
Miller, who got involved with the DEN even before matriculating, lived in the DEN Living Learning Community his freshman year.
“It’s obviously been a good experience because I’ve stuck around since the beginning,” Miller said.
This year, the annual The Pitch competition will be on Nov. 9 in the Black Family Visual Arts Center. The winner receives as much as $3,000 and will collaborate with the Digital Arts, Leadership and Innovation Lab to bring the entrepreneur’s vision to life.
Correction appended: Oct. 26, 2015
DIPP moved its meetings from Carson Hall to Wilder Hall. The original version of this story had the buildings flipped.
Clarification appended: Oct. 26, 2015
This article has been changed to clarify that Klingenberger said DIPP has the goal of donating money to groups on campus.
