UMC SIFE Team Earns "Rookie of the Year" Award

The Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) Chapter at the University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC) was named Rookie of the Year and First Runner-up, recently, at the SIFE Regional Exposition in Denver, Colorado.

SIFE is new to UMC this year, according to Steven Shirley, the group's faculty advisor. SIFE is a national collegiate organization of about 600 chapters around the country, plus some internationally. It is a non-profit organization for university students sponsored by individuals, businesses, and foundations. SIFE's mission is to provide college students with opportunites to achieve their goals and to develop leadership, teamwork, and communication skills through learning, practicing, and teaching the principles of free enterprise. Students are involved at both the two- and four-year level. UMC students competed in the four-year level.

UMC's SIFE team worked on projects throughout the year in elementary, junior high, and senior high schools in Crookston and surrounding communities. They also traveled to Minneapolis and Winnipeg. Team members presented educational outreach programs, helping others to better understand how the American free enterprise system works. They also taught some basic principles of business.

The students documented what they did throughout the year, and in early spring they prepared an annual report of activities, as well as an oral presentation which was presented to a panel of judges in Colorado. The students were judged on activities throughout the year and on how well they presented themselves in the oral presentation.

Throughout the year the students meet with a Business Advisory Board made up of local business people and UMC administrators, who served as a sounding board, giving feed back, advice, guidance.

"It’s a nice tie for us to interact with local business people," said Shirley.

The club had 15 members in its first year, from a broad reach across the campus. The students who traveled to the competition in Denver were:

• Jeremy Busch, son of Terry & Gary Busch, Alexandria, MN
• Angie Dufault, daughter of Steve & Carol Dufault, Crookston, MN
• Mark Erickson, son of Jan & Jerry Erickson, Fertile, MN
• Matthew Smith, son of Melvin & Marlene Smith, Wheaton, MN
• Amanda Benbo, daughter of Bruce & Gwen Benbo, Winger, MN
• Yvonne Hoffman, daughter of Karen & Don Hoffman, Westhope, ND
• Pam Reiss, daughter of Barbara & Ed Reiss,Winnipeg, MB, Canada

"SIFE serves as a bridge or link between education and business and industry. Students get a nice chance--whether locally working with city and business leaders, or nationally when we are at a competition--to present the projects in front of judges who are from major Fortune 500 Companies," Shirley said.

Shirley has a master of business administration from the University of North Dakota.

Posted: 06-01-98

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