Everything Nac

More than 40 students from Stephen F. Austin State University’s Nelson Rusche College of Business gained firsthand insight into how manufacturing and heritage brand companies operate in a global context during a study abroad trip to Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary May 12-22.

“This study abroad experience is designed to take learning beyond the classroom, offering our students tangible insights into global markets and diverse cultures,” said Dr. Matt Lindsey, chair of the Department of Management and Marketing, who led the trip with Dr. Mikhail Kouliavtsev, chair of the Department of Economics and Finance.

“Witnessing their engagement with international business leaders and their thoughtful reflections on complex historical sites is incredibly rewarding,” Lindsey said. “They return not just with academic knowledge, but with a broader perspective and increased confidence that will serve them well in their future careers.”

Students examined international operations and marketing strategies up close through visits to the American Chamber of Commerce locations in both Budapest and Prague and businesses including the Zwack Unicum Nyrt beverage manufacturing and distribution company in Budapest, Škoda Museum and factory in Mladá Boleslav, Rückl glassworks factory in Nižbor, and Pilsner Urquell brewery in Plzeň.

“Each business has a very specific process they perform in order to produce the perfect product as efficiently as possible,” said Allie Buechter, a general business senior from Kilgore, after the Škoda factory visit. “This translates exactly into what we learned in our ‘Operations Management’ course. I found it exciting to see this actually applied in real life as well as in a foreign country.”

Students also explored cultural and historic sites including the Belvedere Palace in Vienna as well as the Hospital in the Rock Nuclear Bunker Museum, Shoes on the Danube Bank memorial, and House of Terror Museum in Budapest. In the Prague region, they visited the Old Jewish Cemetery, the Terezín concentration camp memorial and Prague Castle.

The students said the trip as a whole inspired their personal growth and expanded their worldviews.

“Every place we visited offered something unique that challenged me to grow, reflect and learn not only about other cultures and global business but also about myself,” said Baylie Parker, an entrepreneurship senior from Lufkin. “It opened my eyes to how much there is in the world to explore and understand.”

Ian Lahera, a management senior from Katy, said he can now see himself working abroad.

“This experience piques my interest in working in international business or communications,” Lahera said. “Most of all, I learned that stepping out of your comfort zone is where growth happens, and this trip gave me an even greater sense of confidence in who I am and what I’m capable of achieving.”

Colby Feece, a management sophomore from Sachse, agreed.

“I’m proud of how much I grew, and I know these lessons will stick with me for a long time.”

For more information on study abroad opportunities at SFA, visit sfasu.edu/international. For more information on SFA’s Rusche College of Business, visit sfasu.edu/cob.

ABOUT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY

Stephen F. Austin State University, the newest member of The University of Texas System, began a century ago as a teachers’ college in Texas’ oldest town, Nacogdoches. Today, it has grown into a regional institution comprising six colleges — business, education, fine arts, forestry and agriculture, liberal and applied arts, and sciences and mathematics. Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, SFA enrolls approximately 11,000 students while providing the academic breadth of a state university with the personalized attention of a private school. The main campus encompasses 421 acres that include 40 academic facilities, 11 residence halls, and 68 acres of recreational trails that wind through its six gardens. The university offers more than 80 bachelor’s degrees, more than 40 master’s degrees and four doctoral degrees covering over 120 areas of study. Learn more at sfasu.edu.

By University Marketing Communications

As Christian Women’s Job Corps Nacogdoches continues to gain both clients and volunteers, students in Stephen F. Austin State University’s Nelson Rusche College of Business are providing assistance to help with that growth while developing skills for their future careers.

“This is a multiclass real-world learning project under the guidance of several faculty members, and we’re really excited about it,” said Dr. Marcus Cox, coordinator for SFA’s Business and Community Services office and associate professor of management and marketing. “We want to thank the CWJC leadership team for this opportunity for our students to not only apply their business skills but also give back to the community. We hope this is the beginning of a growing partnership between CWJC and the Rusche College of Business.”

A registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, CWJC offers professional skills training and job preparation, mentorship and personal development, and faith-based support and encouragement to provide local women with the skills and resources they need to overcome challenges, discover their purpose and build brighter futures.

“Christian Women’s Job Corps Nacogdoches has undergone a huge transformation over the past year,” said Jasmine Hassan, CWJC executive director. “With new staff and a reenergized mission, we were very grateful to give Rusche students a rare opportunity to help with the foundations of rebuilding our organization to be stronger and up to date.”

During the 2024-25 academic year, undergraduate students in two Rusche College of Business courses focused their efforts on CWJC: “Strategic Management,” taught by Cox, and “Principles of Employee Development,” taught by Dr. Marice Kelly, assistant professor of business communication and legal studies.

Strategic management students offered ideas on how to manage growth, increase brand awareness, coordinate volunteers and engage with the community over social media, especially for events like the Pine Top Pickleball Tournament, CWJC’s annual fundraiser. Student recommendations ranging from the CWJC van to Google Ads for business, Facebook business accounts and search engine optimization were particularly helpful, Hassan said.

“We have been able to implement the ideas, and we continue to refer back to the presentations to brainstorm,” she said.

Employee development students researched instructional resources to help update CWJC’s curriculum for its clients. Students conducted strength, weakness, opportunity and threat, or SWOT, analyses to pinpoint the resources with the most benefits and fewest drawbacks for CWJC. Benefits included affordability, multilanguage offerings, and availability of an instructor’s guide and online content options, while drawbacks included high costs, aging content, instructor’s fees, certification requirements and lack of hands-on exercises.

The employee development students also continued a Flare app discussion started by the strategic management students during the previous semester. Kelly’s students adopted Flare to communicate with each other throughout the spring semester and determine if the app would work well for CWJC volunteers’ needs. They found it easy to use and reliable.

“We will be using the Flare app this fall semester for our volunteers, but we also definitely enjoyed the curriculum recommendations for our job readiness class,” Hassan said. “We are making decisions on two of them, but having Dr. Kelly’s students complete the research and have SWOT analyses really saved our staff an incredible amount of time and work.”

Kelly said working with CWJC to help both business students and CWJC clients prepare for their future careers was rewarding.

“It was gratifying to create a service-learning project for a local organization that also taught students how to conduct research and create a SWOT analysis on various instructional materials,” she said. “It has also been a pleasure to work with CWJC, and I look forward to collaborating on future projects with them.”

Hassan said she hopes to continue working with SFA students in the future, as well.

“They were hands-on, critical thinkers and were very excited to help us. We enjoyed their perspectives, ideas and comments,” she said. “Being able to help a local mission directly, instead of using standard textbook scenarios, is definitely a win for everyone and a priceless experience. I encourage other nonprofits and businesses to utilize our wonderful students who are right here in Nacogdoches, Texas.”

For more information on Christian Women’s Job Corps Nacogdoches, visit cwjcnac.org. For more information on SFA’s Business and Community Services office, visit sfasu.edu/cob/services/bcs.

ABOUT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY

Stephen F. Austin State University, the newest member of The University of Texas System, began a century ago as a teachers’ college in Texas’ oldest town, Nacogdoches. Today, it has grown into a regional institution comprising six colleges — business, education, fine arts, forestry and agriculture, liberal and applied arts, and sciences and mathematics. Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, SFA enrolls approximately 11,000 students while providing the academic breadth of a state university with the personalized attention of a private school. The main campus encompasses 421 acres that include 40 academic facilities, 11 residence halls, and 68 acres of recreational trails that wind through its six gardens. The university offers more than 80 bachelor’s degrees, more than 40 master’s degrees and four doctoral degrees covering over 120 areas of study. Learn more at sfasu.edu.

By University Marketing Communications