Announcements:Undergraduate programs in accounting, economics, finance, management, management information systems, and marketing.

Applications for Spring 2009 admission to the College of Business and Economics can be submitted from 8/18/2008 to 9/15/2008.

For more information call Catharine Thieme at (304) 293-4959.

WVU business class has $20,000 for local organizations

Twenty students at West Virginia University are learning how to think like corporate philanthropists again this semester. They are accepting applications for grants through, Friday, March 28, 2008. Then, near the end of the semester, the class will hand out $20,000 to local organizations.

Called the Corporate Citizenship Project, the program is in its seventh year at the WVU College of Business and Economics. Students have given away a total of $145,000 since 2001. Funding for the program comes from WVU alumni who recognize the importance of businesses contributing to the community.

The program was originally designed by Management Professor Gerald Blakely to teach future business leaders the value of contributing to society and the community. This year, Dr. Joyce Heames is leading the program.

The class solicits proposals for projects that would benefit the greater Morgantown community, develops criteria for judging them (including each program’s track record and the impact a grant would have), and then chooses the winners during the final days of the semester.

Each year, as part of the class, students make a trip to Cleveland, Ohio, to meet Robert Reitman, who graduated from the college in 1955 and provided funds to start the project. There they hear from actual community philanthropists and fundraisers; last year, notably, the Founder and Director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Director of the Cleveland United Way. During the trip students gain a better understanding and appreciation for their grant decisions, Dr. Blakely said.

Last year’s recipients were:

Mountain Heart Foundation
CASA for Kids
Monongahela River Revival
Bartlett House, Inc.
Scott’s Run Settlement House
Mon Co. Family Resource Network
Pace Tec, Inc.
Sundale Nursing Home
Coopers Rock Foundation
Christian Help, Inc.