PBL teams tackle business challenges from every angle

Student-based teams now provide multifaceted business services for area nonprofit agencies, government and industry through RCB’s new "Business Consultancy Course."

Project-based learning has long been a hallmark of RCB business education. “What makes this course unique is that it involves students from accounting, finance, entrepreneurship, management and human resource management,” said Stephen Kozachyn, RCB’s director of experiential learning. “In contrast, traditional PBL-based courses are discipline specific. For instance, you may have a team of human resource management students work on a compensation plan for a client or marketing students develop a social media plan.” Kozachyn and Dr. Berrin Guner, marketing professor, developed the course to replicate the multidisciplinary teams students will experience when they enter the workplace.

Jerry McGough, co-principal of Total Turf Experience in Pitman, an indoor/outdoor sports and entertainment complex, was one of the first businesses selected for the program. Students set to work on a feasibility study for a membership program and provided social media and website guidance. Additional student teams provided services this spring for Yhanne’s House of Cheesecakes in Clayton and Rowan University’s Department of Theater and Dance.

At the outset, McGough invited the team to visit the facility so they could understand the complex, which features a full range of services and an onsite brewpub. “On their own time, they came to Total Turf Experience and spent four hours with me walking through the systems, walking through the logistics, understanding how that ecosystem works,” he said. “I believe that was imperative to the project.”

Nicolas Bonowski ’21, a finance major from Woodstown, analyzed pricing for the membership, determining the point where supply would meet demand to boost customer satisfaction and returns, and team members also performed a survey. In addition to Bonowski, the team included Matthew Garozzo, marketing; Jacob Grossman, accounting; and James Sarchese, management.

“Their results were all fact-based. There were no opinions, which I felt was tremendous,” McGough said.

Bonowski explained that the multidisciplinary approach was a valuable part of the process. “Having team members in finance, accounting, marketing and management, we were able to cover more ground and offer more depth and experience. Allocating jobs was more efficient, and we were able to use our backgrounds,” he said.

Students also advised McGough on optimizing the company’s social media and existing content, such as moving a commercial from a rarely visited page on the company’s website to the landing page. “Those suggestions were really insightful,” he said.

McGough said Rowan students provide a unique perspective on current marketing practices outside their business. “We need assistance, and for Stephen Kozachyn to recommend Total Turf Experience to participate was an honor,” he said.