UNH Whittemore School “Apprentice” Programs Trump Trump

Contact: Lori Wright
603-862-0574
UNH Media Relations

April 20, 2005



DURHAM, N.H. – Students at the University of New Hampshire Whittemore School of Business and Economics don’t need to travel to New York City and endure the pressures of Donald Trump to participate in “The Apprentice.”

And they are more likely to hear “You’re Hired” than “You’re Fired” after completing one of a host of real-world apprenticeship programs offered by the business school at the state’s flagship university. This spring, students will be making presentations to their real-world clients, including The New England Ford Dealers, Yahoo! and NASA.

“Providing apprenticeship opportunities is a critical component of our programs at the Whittemore School. Business leaders expect our graduates to not only be competent academically when they graduate but also possess the leadership, project management and professional skills necessary to succeed in the business world,” said Steve Bolander, dean of the Whittemore School.

One class of marketing students is working together as a “corporation” to create a comprehensive advertising and publicity campaign for The New England Ford Dealers. The students will hold a daylong on-campus event April 21 as part of “The Ford Focus College Marketing Program” to promote the Ford Focus to college students. Another class of marketing students is working with three area businesses to help solve real-world marketing issues. The students will present their recommendations to clients in May.

Students in the school’s advertising workshop are putting the final touches on their advertising campaign for Yahoo! in preparation for the annual American Advertising Federation's National Student Advertising Competition Saturday, April 23, at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. UNH will face off against six other New England schools in the regional competition for a chance to compete nationally in June. According to marketing instructor Peter Masucci, Yahoo! challenged students to develop a complete advertising and promotion campaign aimed at recruiting and retaining users from 13 to 17 years old. The team also will present its campaign at UNH’s Undergraduate Research Competition Friday, April 29, in Durham.

In 2004, UNH students were finalists in the NASA Means Business student competition and will return to Houston this May as finalists once again to present their strategic marketing program for the International Space Station. Last November, Whittemore School MBA students placed second in the 2004 I2P Idea to Product International Competition at the University of Texas in Austin.

At the New England Center, where hospitality management students assist with daily operations of the conference center, they have rolled out the Pike’s Place Fish Market motivational program, helping to integrate it into off-campus facilities. This semester, 11 students in the senior operations seminar are working on a hospitality project with the Sheraton Boston. And next fall, hospitality management students will play a key role in planning and execution of the University Holiday Party. According to Joe Durocher, associate professor of hospitality management, the project will test students to see “how much they’ve learned in the class and to see if they really could Trump the Apprentice.”

In addition to these apprenticeship experiences, the school’s prestigious Paul J. Holloway Business Plan Competition, which will be held May 4, challenges undergraduate and graduate students to write a comprehensive business plan they would like to implement. Named after New Hampshire entrepreneur Paul Holloway, the competition has been the impetus of numerous successful businesses by Whittemore School alumni.

Apprenticeship experiences are not occurring just in Durham and the surrounding area. The Whittemore School has been expanding opportunities for students to gain real-world experience abroad.

In summer 2004, UNH was one of only six schools nationwide chosen to participate in an advanced culinary program in Tuscany. This fall, the Whittemore School will kick off the second year of its semester-long program in Budapest. Mark Michals studied in Budapest in fall 2004 and said that it enhanced his overall experience at UNH in ways that no other program has.

“In Europe, I believe that I learned as much out of the classroom as I did in class. Living in another culture has changed my view of the world. The most valuable international business skills that I've learned are in dealing with cross-cultural negotiation. 'Business Negotiation and Conflict Resolution' was one of my most interesting classes,” said Michals, a junior from Minnesota who traveled to Krakow, Poland; Prague; Croatia; London; and Serbia and Bosnia during his study abroad.

Four students are spending their spring 2005 semester at the Glion Institute of Higher Education and hospitality education in Switzerland as part of a partnership to provide hospitality students an international internship experience in a country that is world-renowned for its resorts and training of the executives who run them. “Going to Switzerland will enhance my overall academic experience at UNH because of the new learning style. It will give me the chance to prepare for my future, and may help me land a job with an international company after graduation,” said Bradi Lenentine, 19, a sophomore from Holderness.