The best way for students to learn about change is to undergo the process themselves. Dr. Bell asks her students to undertake an individual project involving personal change and a team project involving group change. Personal change projects range from starting a weight-loss or exercise regiment, learning new skills like cooking or a foreign language, to tackling serious personal issues and making critical life decisions. The team projects allow students to choose an issue important to them and affect change in that area. They use management tools such as force-field analysis to determine if the project is viable, and they will be graded on their ability to successfully implement the project.
Classmates provide process consultation, analysis and feedback to help the teams reach their goals.
One team is working with Junior Achievement to teach elementary-school children about free enterprise, business and economics. A third team worked with Habitat for Humanity in Cabarrus County and will help build a house in Concord for a low-income family on April 29 as part of Habitat's Collegiate Challenge 2000. Clients of the Urban League of Central Carolinas, the Shelter for Battered Women and the Men's Shelter received the clothing to assist them in their efforts to find employment. Through the service project, the students hope to build camaraderie within the MBA program, between MBA students and the UNC Charlotte community, and between the university and the Charlotte community. They have recruited other MBA students to participate through flyers and e-mails and worked with local media to publicize their efforts.