By Sharon Oster, Frederic D. Wolfe Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship and Director of the Program on Social Enterprise

Since Yale SOM began, we have always had opportunities for students to work with outside organizations while still in school. In theory, these workshop experiences, as we sometimes term them, are a win-win venture. Students gain the benefits of learning how to apply their new-found skills in real world settings while helping deserving organizations, often in the nonprofit or small business setting, while those same organizations get the benefit of pro bono work by a bright group of soon-to-be expensive MBA students. The lure of this value proposition both for students and for community organizations has led SOM, along with many other MBA programs, to offer these opportunities.

As it happens, while in many cases these programs deliver win-win opportunities, there are other times—even at Yale-SOM—when the experience turns out to be problematic for either or both of the parties involved. Students have on occasion found themselves working with clients who—perhaps because the consulting has come without a fee—have little time to work with those students. On other occasions, the expectations of clients have been over ambitious given the demands on student time.

As the School has matured, we have tried hard to create programs that live up to the potential that we all see for this type of learning experience. For Yale SOM, one way we have done this is through the involvement of the alumni. In our recent multi-year Yale-Goldman Sachs Partnership on Nonprofit Ventures, alumni not only read and evaluated hundreds of proposals, but also worked with student groups in helping to provide technical advice on business planning to the entrants.

In the Global Social Venture Competition, a new venture we are running on business plans in a consortium with Berkeley, London Business School, and other schools, we are using alumni to work side by side with students in evaluating proposals. In advising students in a range of local workshop activities, we have made good use of the services of our generous local alumni who work in consulting.

This year we have begun a partnership with the New Sector Alliance who are helping us to run a workshop, focused on consulting to local nonprofits, that relies on the help of professional consultants to help advise students as they in turn advise clients. For us, this structure has helped not only in improving the quality of the learning and consulting experience for both students and organizations, but improved the already vibrant network between our student body and the nonprofit and social enterprise sector. A win-win all the way around.

Service Learning at SOM

• BoardService Club
• Community and Economic Development Clinic
  
• Community Development Financial Institutions Clinic
• Global Social Enterprise Club
• Nonprofit Consulting Workshop (New Sector Alliance)
• SOM Outreach Club

We want to hear your thoughts on service learning. Whether you are an academic, a faculty member, or an industry practitioner in social enterprise, please share a post on the value of service learning and how it has impacted your own career and experiences.