Opus College of Business

Undergraduate Program

Service Learning

Learning Through Service: Business 200

Business 200 is a mandatory, noncredit, tuition-free course for all St. Thomas undergraduate Opus College of Business majors and minors. The course places students in a wide variety of supervised, direct community service experiences. Each semester, Business 200 students contribute about 8,000 hours of service to communities in the Twin Cities and around the world—and the learning they acquire will be applied every day of their business lives.

This page is meant as a introduction to the class—for more detailed information, contact the BUS 200 staff at BUS200@stthomas.edu or 651-962-5025.

Why We Require This Course

UST and the business community agree that businesses need to be socially responsible for the communities in which they participate. Communities are important stakeholders for every business, and the Business 200 program will increase your awareness of the importance of this partnership as you pursue your degree and prepare for a career.

When to Complete Business 200

The Opus College of Business recommends that you complete Business 200 sometime during your sophomore or junior year.

How to Get Started

Simply attend the Opening Learning Seminar to receive your syllabus and learn about the opportunities for service.

Some Examples of Student BUS 200 Work

To help spark your imagination, here are a few of the truly inspiring he student projects completed for BUS 200:

  • Students have committed to spending time with homeless people—providing food, cleaning shelters and forming friendships.
  • Weekly visits to the Humane Society to ensure that animals waiting for adoption are cared for and that people considering pet adoption make a sound decision.
  • Tutoring pre-kindergartners, students in alternative high schools and new immigrants trying to master English.
  • Cleaning rivers, parks, highways and recreation areas.
  • Constructing homes, schools, playgrounds and shelters.
  • Working within the context of Study Abroad programs in areas like health care and poverty intervention.
  • Staffing hotlines to assist callers who were depressed and considering suicide or had taken the step to seek assistance for drug or alcohol addictions.

How the Class Is Completed

Business 200 requires 40 hours of community service. You will attend an orientation session with your advisor before you begin, and toward the end of your hours you will meet again to reflect on your experience. Grading is pass-fail, based on a journal, evaluations by your off-campus supervisor and on-campus advisor, and a reflective project.

Service Learning Defined

Service learning is different from volunteering in two ways:

  • Service learners need to determine what they want to learn about themselves, whether public-speaking or project-management skills, simply becoming more patient and aware, or exploring the social service world for a possible career.
  • Service learners locate a site at which they can pursue their individual learning objectives where needed. This difference—service where it is most needed—defines service learning.

If You Already Volunteer

Wonderful! If your volunteer experience already meets Business 200 criteria you can continue with that organization and complete the journal, reflection paper and meetings with your on-campus advisor. The coordinator for the Business Service-Learning Programs can answer your questions about how to incorporate past service into Business 200, or how to involve your family into your project and other specifics about the course.