Over 350 senior school students from South East Queensland will visit The University of Queensland Ipswich Campus this week to engage in business.
Hosted by the UQ Business School, the annual Engaging Business conference brings together teachers and year 11 and 12 students to learn about contemporary business issues.
Now in its fourth year, Engaging Business will welcome 364 students from 31 schools to the UQ Ipswich Campus, 11 Salisbury Road, on Thursday, July 20 and Friday, July 21.
The Minister Officially Minister for Education and the Arts, the Hon Rod Welford will open the event on Thursday.
The Engaging Business conference is designed to introduce high school students to the excitement and challenges of today’s competitive business world and to the university environment.
Conference Co-ordinator and UQ Business School Senior Lecturer Dr Marie Kavanagh said the conference was designed to immerse students in current trends and topical issues in business.
She said the event provided an opportunity for students in high school to learn more about business dynamics by attending presentations delivered by academics and industry leaders and at the same time engage in real-life business scenarios.
“Through a series of lectures and small study groups, students will discuss the reasons behind corporate disasters and their effect on society, grapple with issues such as ‘are marketers liars or are consumers stupid’, hear from professional bodies about career paths for young people in business and be introduced to the fundamentals of business ethics, negotiation and teamwork,” she said.
“They will see how online business has become a routine part of doing business with customers, suppliers, and trading partners – and get a sense of the impact of terrorism and anti-money laundering on business in Australia.”
Participating students will be assisted during the day by a team of current UQ students, including the recently successful UQ SIFE team who are ranked fourth in Australia following the Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) National Competition held in Brisbane on July 6-8.
Pro-Vice-Chancellor Ipswich Professor Alan Rix welcomed the Engaging Business Conference and its ability to introduce and familiarise school students with the university environment.
He congratulated the UQ Business School and participating secondary schools for their involvement and recognition of the need for development of business knowledge for high school students.
For more information contact Dr Marie Kavanagh on 3381 1003 or 0402 640 597 or Loretta Porche on 3381 1068 or 0421 587 278.
