Alumni Association

UMD Students and Alums Connect on Target Day

For years, Target Corporation’s marketing campaign has been supported by the idea “Expect more. Pay less.” And when a group of UMD alumni (now working for the corporation) decided they wanted to give back to their school, current students in the Labovitz School of Business and Economics (LSBE) were given much more than they ever expected.

“Jake Konerza (’04, Marketing) contacted me to discuss the large UMD alumni group that has developed within Target Corporation,” said Linda Rochford, LSBE Associate Professor of Marketing, who helped coordinate the Target Day event. “They were interested in coming to campus, and before long, we had Target speakers lined up for seven marketing classes, three management courses, two human resource management courses, and a section of Production & Operations Management. It was just wonderful—everyone wanted to get involved!”

The Target Day event included presentations by Jake Konerza, a Target Merchandise Planning Manager; Robert Dreischmeier (’06, Marketing), a Business Analyst for the corporation; Joelle Hero (’06, Finance), also a Business Analyst; Tiffany Kullhem (’06 Communication), a Target Merchandise Coordinator; Adam Surma, (’04 Organizational Management), a Target Store Team Leader; and Katrin Grinaker (’06 Marketing), Plymouth Executive Team Leader-Softlines.

“Our UMD alumni group (and specifically our young alumni group) is designed to help graduates stay in touch, to provide networking opportunities, and ultimately to give back to LSBE,” said Konerza. “A small gift of our time gave these business students a look at real-life work situations and showed them that what they are learning today will be applied in their careers.”

Meghan Keil, an LSBE Human Resource Management/Political Science major who completed an internship with Target, helped organize the event through her role as UMD Target Campus Liaison. After graduation she will begin working for Target as an Executive Team Leader of Human Resources.

“We wanted students to see how the materials studied in class are actually used in everyday life,” said Keil, “and hearing those things from alumni validates what they’re learning. Alumni have experience and wisdom you can draw from when you get out into the ‘real world’.”

In addition to in-class presentations, the speakers from Target also held two career information sessions.

“Target is on track to become a 100 billion dollar company,” said Konerza. “To do that, we need exceptional people, and we’re always looking to attract the best and the brightest students—many of whom come from the Labovitz School.”

Rochford added, “I think the event was a success not simply because our alumni wanted to give back, but because they worked with the LSBE faculty to make sure their presentations were relevant and topical within the course content. Getting that type of input from alumni is simply invaluable.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION SEE:
http://www.d.umn.edu/lsbe/
http://sites.target.com/site/en/corporate/page.jsp?contentId=PRD03-000482