Dr. Elise Riker, assistant professor of business administration at the University of Arkansas 鈥� Fort Smith, wanted her marketing research class to tackle projects that give students hands-on, project-based learning experiences.
So when the opportunity came about for her class to research and recommend strategies to improve downtown Van Buren, Riker jumped on the opportunity.
鈥淚 knew from past classes that students really like to do work that makes a difference. It鈥檚 more fun, it鈥檚 impactful, and we鈥檙e not just going through the motions,鈥� Riker said. 鈥淲hen students see immediate application of what we talk about in class, there鈥檚 increased motivation to understand and get it right.鈥�
Riker worked with Van Buren Original 鈥� a nonprofit organization founded to help foster a vibrant downtown in the city 鈥� and Fred Williams and Rusty Myers, executives-in-residence in the university鈥檚 College of Business, to come up with 10 areas of improvement for the city.
From there, students divided into groups based on the different focuses, from bringing new business to Van Buren to reviving the city鈥檚 riverfront. After spending the semester surveying local residents and gathering data, the students presented their recommendations last week at the King Opera House.
鈥淥ver time, they really came up with their own piece of the project,鈥� Riker said. 鈥淭hese ideas came out of the students鈥� heads 鈥� it wasn鈥檛 anything I assigned.鈥�
Landon Phillips worked in the 鈥淪treet Team鈥� student group, which focused on improving quality of place in downtown Van Buren through visual and atmospheric qualities. Their research included observing the behavior of residents traveling to downtown Van Buren and developing surveys to capture data on people鈥檚 issues and sentiments regarding the downtown area.
As a marketing major who is passionate about market research, the project offered Phillips exactly what he was looking for.
鈥淚t was a real-world application of what we learned in the classroom. We got to see the inner workings of what it meant to actually follow through with marketing processes,鈥� he said. 鈥淚ncorporating students like this is very impactful on our education. Sometimes, being in a classroom all day, knowledge can go through one ear and out the other. But if you鈥檙e actually able to apply what you learn, it has a huge impact on us as students.鈥�
Students participating in the course were:
Alma: Breanne Ring and Madison Timmerman.
Charleston: Christian Taggart.
Clarksville: Rocky Pruett.
Dallas, Texas: Zachary Partin.
Eureka, Mont.: Hannah Price.
Fort Smith: JD Clayton, Chasse Daniels, Brennan Dooly, Christopher Eckes, Payton Efurd, Brandon Evans, James Jackson, Jadyn Ketter, Brock King, Danny Nguyen, Grady McCain, Skylar Qualls, Aleska Sparks and Benow Stevenson.
Greenwood: Elijah Hayden, Randall Johnson, Sarah McLellan and Landon Phillips.
Hartford: Amanda Cravey and Dylan Griffiths.
Lee鈥檚 Summit, Mo.: Bailey Katzfey.
Little Rock: Jeremy Jones.
Muldrow, Okla.: Trevor England.
Pea Ridge: Logan Rose.
Pearcy: Madison Hunt.
Prosper, Texas: Kimberly Rosson.
Russellville: Mason Rhodes.
Sallisaw, Okla.: Keara Walters.
Siloam Springs: Chelsea Rhodes.
South Padre, Texas: Justin Kitten.
Van Buren: Britney Campbell, Kayla Jones, Alexa Torres, Derrick Woolsey, Maria Valente Sotelo and Sarah Wood.
Waldron: Twyla Robertson.
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