When B&E undergraduate Jeremy Liebman speaks, the dean listens.

That's because Liebman, BE 2003, and nine of his peers make up the College's Student Advisory Board, an organization designed to facilitate communication between students and the B&E administration. To that end, the board organizes several educational and social projects each year, actively solicits suggestions and comments from the student body and meets regularly with Dean Michael Ginzberg to discuss student concerns.

"The first board was set up in the 1995-96 school year by [then-Dean] Ken Biederman to get more input and feedback from students," says Sandra Fields, instructor in business administration and the board's faculty adviser since its inception. "I think it's been very effective and helpful. Because the members are students themselves, and because they're talking with other students all the time, they are able to think of things that we don't."

For example, Fields says, when board members heard from many of their fellow undergraduates that they would like more informal opportunities to chat with faculty, staff and administrators, the board instituted a "mix and mingle" picnic and a breakfast with Ginzberg, which have become annual events. The first board also led a petition drive and other lobbying efforts that were successful in obtaining new equipment for the College's computer lab.

"This year, we've been working on ideas for programs that would increase business students' communication skills," says Cara Spiro, BE 2002, who was co-president, with Liebman, of the 2001-02 advisory board. "We all felt--and we've heard from other students about this, too--that that was an area of concern."

The two most recent advisory boards also were busy implementing the new Student Choice Teaching Award, a project funded by an anonymous donor to reward a B&E faculty member selected by students for excellence in teaching. The board members created guidelines for the annual award, including the use of student nominations, classroom evaluations and other criteria. The board then educated students about the new award and developed ballots and other methods to obtain as much input as possible.

Winners of the award were John "Jay" Gil, instructor in accounting and management information systems, who was the first recipient in 2001, and Kenneth Lewis, Chaplin Tyler Professor of Business, who won the 2002 honor.

In obtaining student input for the award, as well as for other projects, board members "act as liaisons between students and the administration," Liebman says. "We look to address concerns that we hear about from our peers, and we sometimes suggest new programs. We discuss ideas, come up with a proposal and present it to the administration."

Board members say they get a sense of the student body in a variety of ways, including maintaining a web site, [www.be.udel.edu/besab], and online "suggestion box"; conducting an annual survey of undergraduate concerns, including such subjects as course availability; and generally keeping their ears open as they interact with their peers. A possible initiative for this school year, Liebman says, is finding ways to make the board more visible so that students will contact members more frequently with problems or suggestions.

Students must apply to join the board and be recommended by a faculty member. The selection process is designed so that each board has a diverse membership. "We represent different departments of the College, different programs and different class years," Santino Ceccotti, BE 2002, says. "The goal is for the board to be a real cross section of the student body."

Members benefit personally as well as serving the College, Fields says, calling the board "a great opportunity and a great experience for students who sit on it." She notes that they meet with leaders in the College and business communities, including an annual presentation they make to the B&E Visiting Committee of area business persons.

"I work in the College's advisement center, and there are always issues that students bring up, so I thought this would be a useful process for me to participate in," Donna Westerman, BE 2002, says.

"When I first heard about the board, I thought the idea just made a lot of sense," Tony Polselli, BE 2004, says. "It's a great way to get involved in the College community."

Members of the 2001-02 board were: Liebman and Spiro, co-presidents; Christa Carberry, BE 2002, representing the management information systems program; Ceccotti, representing economics; Andrea Klausmeier, BE 2003, representing marketing; Lauren Marciano, BE 2004, Tara McCarthy, BE 2003, and Polselli, all College-wide representatives; Heather Steigerwalt, BE 2003, representing accounting; and Westerman, representing operations management.