Smith Business magazine, Summer 2024 - Magazine - Page 39
DEAN’S REPORT
OEL BY THE NUMBERS
Aiming for Zero
Students Help Md. County
Target Climate Action Goals
In 2017, Montgomery County declared a climate
emergency. Now with climate goals among the
most ambitious in the nation, the Maryland
county aims to completely eliminate greenhouse
gas emissions by 2035. Of昀椀cials are turning to a
group of Smith students for help.
The county collaborated with Smith’s Of昀椀ce
of Experiential Learning on a consulting
project. During the spring semester, 昀椀ve
graduate students gathered key metrics to help
Montgomery County reach its sustainability
targets. These included reducing vehicle
emissions and building energy use, and
preserving and increasing tree coverage.
“This initiative covers three of Smith’s four
strategic pillars, as we tackle the grand challenges
of our time, partner to advance the public good
and reimagine learning,” says OEL Executive
Director Nima Farshchi. “This collaboration
with Montgomery County didn’t just bene昀椀t the
students who were involved—the community
stands to gain from it too.”
The project aligns with Social Impact at Smith,
an initiative from Dean Prabhudev Konana
aimed at giving the next generation of business
leaders tools to positively impact society and
the planet.
rhsmith-editor@umd.edu
Building Relationships With
Alumni, Industry Leaders
The Of昀椀ce of Experiential Learning (OEL), which launched
in 2022, continues to bolster its engagement with alumni
and industry professionals. The center has impacted 4,160
students in the 2023-24 school year alone. It continues to
create integrated, interdisciplinary opportunities for Smith
students to solve companies’ real-world problems.
380
Smith Advisory Council members,
including 309 UMD alumni
FALL 2023
157
2,440
companies participated
in an experiential
learning event
students experienced
OEL-organized
components in class
133
61
guests engaged with OEL,
including 58 UMD alumni
classes had experiential
learning components
SPRING 2024*
*AS OF APRIL
117
1,720
companies participated
in an experiential
learning event
students experienced
OEL-organized
components in class
69
43
guests engaged with OEL,
including 26 UMD alumni
classes had experiential
learning components
summer 2024
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