Learning from Students: Duquesne University and Rukmini Foundation Collaborate

Duquesne University – Consulting Project

This recently over academic semester, Fall 2014, we had the pleasure to partner with the Palumbo Donahue School of Business at Duquesne University. Its mission is to achieve the student’s full potential as business professionals and community leaders, providing them with an understanding of the global context of business and its social impact; and that is exactly what Rukmini Foundation provided. With an insight of the foundation, students applied their learning from across multiple courses to help us improve processes and enhance competitiveness.

Rukmini Foundation worked with Duquesne

The consulting project was part of Dr. Ana Siqueira’s Strategic Management course, in which she set the guidelines and provided the students with the key knowledge and skills to develop business plans and new initiatives for client organizations and corporations. Students took on the management challenge of creating new partnerships and through the calculation of benefits and cost, strengths and weaknesses they presented very innovative projects.

Team 1 presenting their ideas and recommendations

We had monthly meetings in which the students would present their ideas and ask for details, and the Rukmini Foundation team, lead by the President Bibhuti Aryal, would provide feedback and advice. There was a strong engagement between the students and the Pittsburgh community, as they analyzed the Non-profit industry in the city.

Team 2 presenting their papers

In December we had the final presentations in which the three groups presented their ideas with detailed objectives and implementation actions and time frames. Not only did they fulfill the requirements set by their professor but they went above and beyond offering fresh and modern ideas.

Team 3 presenting their solutions

Business education is no longer about the acquisition of knowledge, but about giving students hands on experience that show employers what they can do with that knowledge; and the students we worked with showed us that they are more than ready to enter the professional world. A big thank you and best wishes in your future endeavors!

Sofia Trivelli
Rukmini Foundation