Students at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business are making an impact across a wide range of organizations through their work with the Sprott Student Consulting Group. Over the past six months, Sprott student consultants have taken on projects that will help bring health care innovation to clinical practice, contribute to the future of a legacy multisport complex, and advance accessibility and equality for blind Canadians.
Bringing health care innovation to life
One of the organizations they worked with recently is Bruyère – an Ottawa-based, academic health care organization specializing in rehabilitation and complex care and spans three campuses with two specialized hospitals, as well as assisted and long-term care facilities.
“Health innovation and health care are going to require business-oriented, focused, talented leaders in the future, and I think that the work we’re doing between Sprott and Bruyère is helping to bridge that gap,” said Blake Daly (MBA/19), project manager of health innovation at Bruyère. “And it will lead to better patient care and a better social safety net for everyone in the city.”
(Photo: Bruyère)
The student consultants worked with Bruyère’s innovation team, which connects researchers and partners to bring health care innovation solutions into the clinical practice setting. The students conducted research to identify funding opportunities and to source potential partners for strategic relationships that would ultimately lead to better healthcare services for Bruyère’s patients.
Manjinder Saini, third-year Bachelor of Commerce student at the Sprott School of Business and a team member for the Bruyère project, said that the knowledge and skills gained from the experience helped him land two co-op positions for the winter and summer terms.
“We’re in a very competitive world where day by day companies expect to see that you’re not only well-rounded in a classroom but also have applicable experience in a real-world setting. Sprott is really great in offering students the opportunity to work with real companies and gain that experience.”
Raj Bhalodiya, another team member and an MBA student at Sprott, added that “every single time” he’s in a classroom now and learns a new topic, he is able to conceptualize it and relate to it due to his work over the summer.
“It was an experience that everyone should have once in their life and should learn from it.”
For Blake, a graduate of Sprott’s MBA program, it was a full circle moment as he was a member of the Sprott Student Consulting Group during his studies. He plans to engage the group in more projects with Bruyère.
“As this program evolves over time, the ever-growing number of graduates who have acquired experience through the SSCG, and now want to give back, will become one of our greatest strengths,” said Andrew Webb, academic director of the Sprott Student Consulting Group.
Ensuring the legacy of the Toronto Pan Am Games
Sprott student consultants also worked with the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre – a world class, multisport complex in Toronto and legacy of the 2015 Pan American Games – to review and advise on their 50-year capital expenditure plan.
(Photo: Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre)
The team focused on inflation projections, prioritizing and categorizing items that need capital, existing policies, and what adjustments can be made to their financial model – amongst other things – to ensure that the centre’s budget model is sufficient and allowed for the appropriate financial resources to conduct their operations in the coming decades.
Erin Ritchie, director of business administration for the centre, said the work done by Sprott student consultants will help them “ensure the facility has the resources to support our world class standard for many years.”
John-Bosco Agbasi, Professional MBA student and the consulting team lead for the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre project, said that applying the concepts he had been studying helped “crystalize” what he was learning in class.
“If you want to position yourself to graduate and hit the ground running, the Sprott Student Consulting Group is the perfect segue to that.”
Advancing equality for blind Canadians
Another recent client of the Sprott Student Consulting Group is the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians (AEBC), an advocacy group working to ensure that people who are blind have equal access to the benefits and opportunities of society in Canada. Sprott student consultants worked with AEBC to evaluate their operations and identify gaps, provide guidance on new avenues for funding, advise how to involve younger Canadians in their organization, and to raise awareness about their work.
“We’re really happy and excited that the Sprott Student Consulting Group was willing to help us with this initiative,” said Dean Steacy, a representative for AEBC. “It’s something that we as a blind group have struggled with, and the blind community has struggled with, is how do we get ourselves known.”
Ishaan Nijjar, a Sprott MBA student and team lead for the AEBC project, added that this “overwhelming and exciting” work led to an “instant realization” of concepts he had been taught in class.
Get involved with the Sprott Student Consulting Group
The Sprott Student Consulting Group is comprised of undergraduate and MBA students who work in interdisciplinary teams on a wide range for projects for diverse organizations that address business needs and opportunities. Students are also responsible for running the enterprise supporting the group.
Organizations interested in exploring how the Sprott Student Consulting Group can help are encouraged to contact Andrew Webb.
Students can register for roles within the Sprott on an ongoing basis, as volunteers or for credit. For more information, visit the current student information page.