From Industry Connections to Faculty Mentorship BUILDING BRIDGES
FACULTY GUIDANCE LEAVES LASTING IMPRESSION One thing unites all of the high-impact, hands-on
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH GIVES STUDENTS AN EDGE Dacass has made a point of involving undergraduate students in research projects, to help move the field forward. This approach also shows them that the applications of their education are limited only by their imagination. “My passion for working with students is very much inspired by my own experience,” Dacass said. “As a first-generation college student, it helped me see the opportunities that my degree presented me with. Coming to Central, I knew that I wanted to pass on that experience to my own students.” Dacass has worked with a group of students from the Economics Association since 2021 to develop a Student Price Index, measuring the cost of student life based on the prices of goods students were likely to buy. The group presented their findings at the annual SOURCE conference, and gained a new sense of their own capacity in the process. “It’s very empowering for them,” Dacass said. “They are able to take what they’ve created and use it to build relationships and skillsets that will be very important in their careers.” Economics alumnus Zach Dowdy (’21) continues to work with Dacass in an unofficial capacity, having recently collaborated with her on a paper examining the student debt crisis. “The opportunity to do research prepares you for the messiness of the real world in a way nothing else can,” he said.
INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS OPEN DOORS FOR STUDENTS
opportunities that the College of Business offers: mentorship. Jones is able to work alongside her peers, benefiting from engaged faculty members who know when to give them space, and when to step in. “It’s a great experience where they chime in once in a while if I have questions, but otherwise they leave me to succeed on my own,” Jones said. “I know they’re there if I need them, and that has helped me keep going.” Lee agreed, attributing her professional success to the guidance she received alongside her formal education. “The hands-on work you do as a student is incredibly important, but so is the mentorship you receive,” she said. “Thanks to my faculty mentors at CWU, I graduated ready to take on the world.” The bridge between knowledge and experience, fact and function, is an engaged teacher who’s willing to take the time to get to know students and work with them to achieve their goals. Assistant Professor of Economics Tennecia Dacass, a first-generation college graduate, sees this as a continuous cycle of mutual support, paving the way for the next generation of business professionals. “I am a product of faculty investing time in students, and I also know that working with students can push my own research forward,” she said. “When we support each other, everybody wins.”
When Tara Lee (’20) first applied for her internship with Tree Top, she never suspected that, as a supply chain management major, her future might be found in food manufacturing. “I never saw myself going into agriculture, but everything I did at Tree Top tied directly into my education,” she said. “It showed me that my skills are applicable in many more situations than I was expecting. My managers gave me the freedom I needed to complete some cost-saving projects and really flex my expertise.” Through her internships, Lee unearthed a new passion for her studies, realizing that the experience had equipped her with more tools to apply in the classroom as well as in the field. After receiving her degree, Lee returned to Tree Top, where she quickly rose to the position of production supervisor after only a month and a half. She says the connections and impressions she made over the course of her internships, as well as her Lean Six Sigma practicum course, laid the groundwork for her immediate growth as a full-time professional. Senior Daizie Jones found similar value in her internship with Boeing. Thanks to a personal connection, as well as CWU’s long-standing relationship with the company, Jones was able to work alongside seasoned industry veterans to develop the flying machines of the future, all while putting her studies to the test. “It’s scary, because anything can happen, but it’s also exhilarating to try new things and rely on my education and instincts to see me through,” said Jones, a supply chain management major. “My classwork and extracurriculars have prepared me, and the connections I’ve made here at CWU have taught me how to ask the right people the right questions.” Following her graduation in the spring, Jones is headed back to Boeing to pick up where she left off, ensuring smooth production for the single largest exporter by dollar value in the United States.
Tara Lee
Assistant Professor of Economics Tennecia Dacass, left, enjoys giving her students hands-on research experience.
Daizie Jones
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