Knowledge Transfer and Relationship Building Among Students, the Small Business Community and the University

As educators, we strive to make learning meaningful to our students and build respect and appreciation for the pursuit, advancement and sharing of new knowledge. Helping students develop the skills, ability and self-confidence to apply and test important research concepts and methods in the community can bring us closer to these goals. This paper presents the challenges, successes, lessons learned and valuable community relationships created from the introduction of innovative educational strategies in senior level undergraduate Tourism Management courses at Thompson Rivers University. Field-based assignments were designed to introduce students to important new knowledge in the tourism arena and apply research methods typically used in post-graduate programs. They were developed to enrich the student learning experience and build a culture of appreciation for research. Historically, this knowledge has been primarily available to large business organizations that possess the resources needed to acquire this expertise. The case of one particular course will be addressed here: TMGT 419 - Tourism Enterprise Consulting Project. The course adopted a "consulting" approach whereby students were assigned the task of securing potential community "clients", perform a "needs assessment", develop a project proposal, obtain client approval via an "engagement contract" and follow through with the implementation of the agreed upon project objectives. Over a period spanning two semesters and under the direction of a faculty supervisor, students were expected to gain expertise in the relevant fields of study related to their project and complete a project up to professional standards. Although the approach used by the course is quite unusual at the undergraduate level and has a number of inherent risks, it did promote the development of strong communication, relationship building, project management and research skills among the students enrolled in the course. Introducing relevant and useful new knowledge and expertise to small businesses in the community through the provision of student consulting services resulted in the development of a growing network of mutually rewarding relationships that include students, the small business community and the university: a win-win-win scenario.