Through Ball State’s partnership with the Vera Bradley Company, headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, students from the
Miller College of Business learned and applied marketing and management concepts and techniques through interactive team projects.
The students created plans for publicity, events, and media for the grand opening of three new Vera Bradley signature retail stores.
The 15 students worked in three groups of five, each doing research for a specific area. Students collaborated with those from different majors, from
finance to
accounting to
ISOM (information systems and operations management).
“The Vera Bradley project was definitely a great experience,”
says
human resource management major Shannon Terrell, ’09.
“Because of this experience, I can now say to interviewers, ‘I’ve not only done classroom work; I’ve actually done assignments with Vera Bradley. I presented my ideas to the company’s founder.’
"It wasn’t just, ‘Go read your textbook and do this assignment and take this test.’ It was real-world experience, and we were immersed in it.”