Every summer, I have the pleasure of teaching an education abroad program, Business Communication Abroad, with my colleague Seth Frei in Management. In addition to taking a group of TXST undergraduates to Europe to visit businesses and learn about communication in global workplaces, one of our courses is designated as a “Service Learning” class. In the course, students act as pro bono communication consultants, applying their knowledge and giving back to a local business we visit.

Beyond teaching, Seth and I have long discussed conducting research together, and I’m excited that we now have a few projects in the works! One of those projects explores the role of international service-learning in strengthening global workplace skills, and we are thrilled to have recently received a Service-Learning Research Grant to support our work. We are grateful for the Service-Learning Excellence Program at Texas State for this award!