Byline: Sheena Harrison
As a first-year MBA student at Walsh College this fall, Alex Schwallbach was still unsure about what field he wanted to enter.
That was until he entered the Adams Entrepreneur Fellowship at Walsh. The program helped provide him with a yearlong job as the information-technology and operations manager at Advanced Insurance Agency Inc. in Harper Woods.
More importantly, owner Mark Van Den Branden has become Schwallbach's mentor. Schwallbach said working with Van Den Branden has provided him experience and good advice, as well as a strong desire to enter the health care industry.
'It gives me the ability to ask questions that you wouldn't normally get to ask your boss,'' said Schwallbach, one of two students to receive the fellowship in its first year.
Schwallbach's experience indicates the need for and benefits of programs that provide college students with career mentors. Program coordinators say mentoring provides students with direction that they can't receive from a textbook while creating employees who are well-informed and prepared when they enter the workforce.
Walsh College's new fellowship follows the school's philosophy of 'learning business from business leaders,'' said Jan Hubbard, director of public and corporate relations.
'It gives real-world experience beyond the classroom,'' Hubbard said.
Van Den Branden said the program has helped him bring fresh talent into his company while providing intensive training for an up-and-coming business professional.
'What I've agreed to is to help him understand what projects I want to work on, why I want to work on those projects and how I make decisions related to those projects,'' Van Den Branden said.
While Walsh's program centers on entrepreneurs, architect Thomas Mathison is assisting local architecture students through the American Institute of Architects' Michigan Mentorship Network. Mathison is a principal at Tower Pinkster Titus Associates Inc. in Grand Rapids.
Mathison created the network in 1999 after talking with his son, who was studying architecture at the University of Michigan and said he felt lucky to have his dad around for career advice.
'It occurred to me that every student ought to have that opportunity, whether their father is an architect or not,'' Mathison said.
Each fall, Mathison speaks to classes at each of the four accredited architecture schools in Michigan - U-M, the University of Detroit Mercy, Lawrence Technological University in Southfield and Andrews University, a private school in Berrien Springs.
Since the program started, Mathison estimates the program has paired about 1,000 architecture students with mentors in Michigan and about a dozen other states.
'We're trying to demonstrate to students that they are valuable, they're our future, and current architects are interested in their success,'' Mathison said.
While Mathison's program has assisted many students, he said he believes mentors also have the benefit of fresh ideas coming from their proteges.
'The best professionals are the best mentors and vice versa because they can encourage people to think differently and communicate their ideas,'' Mathison said.
Sheena Harrison: (313) 446-0325, sharrison@crain.com
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Alex Schwallbach, first-year MBA student, Walsh College, pictured on the left with Mark Van Den Branden
