The Office of Economic Engagement recently launched a pilot Faculty Externship Program, which pairs Marquette faculty members with local corporate and community partners for mutually beneficial research and talent development experiences.
This competitive program allows faculty to have an immersive experience learning about issues facing various industries and community organizations. The externship is aimed at creating two benefits: providing an opportunity to explore new research areas and enhancing pedagogical approaches that allow faculty to bring their externship experience into the classroom and engage students in real-world projects. Additionally, outside partners will gain expertise from Marquette faculty and have access to future talent. Faculty apply to be paired with an organization based on areas of research and professional interest.
“The Faculty Externship will serve as a key strategic program for OEE, providing a pathway for new experiences and interactive engagement between Marquette’s strong faculty and our corporate and community partners,” said Dr. Maura Donovan, vice president for economic engagement.
This year’s recipients of the pilot externship opportunity are Dr. Marko Bastl, associate professor of management in the College of Business Administration, and Ms. Wendy Butler, an adjunct instructor in the College of Business Administration and director of organizational development in the Department of Human Resources. Bastl and Butler have been paired with two organizations that are pleased to be part of this inaugural program, Froedtert Hospital and the Next Door Foundation, respectively.
As a teaching hospital — the primary affiliate for the Medical College of Wisconsin — and Level 1 adult trauma center, Froedtert offers Marquette faculty an immersive experience to learn about its supply chain research in health care.
“We are delighted to partner with Marquette and Dr. Bastl to research and advance innovations in health care supply chain,” said Eric Humphrey, senior vice president and chief human resource officer at Froedtert. “Using our combined experience and inquiry, we believe this externship will yield further opportunities for success.”
Bastl’s externship at Froedtert will last three weeks and focus specifically on supply chain management during and post-COVID. The externship will allow Bastl to leverage his supply chain research and expertise to help post-COVID recovery and health care delivery.
The Next Door Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports the intellectual, physical and emotional development of children by partnering with their families for success not only with their education but in the community.
Next Door is currently working to launch a professional development program for aspiring leaders within its organization. Butler will offer her expertise in organizational development. Over the course of two weeks, she will work closely with Next Door to review program content and guide leadership training.
“We are really excited for the opportunity to work with Wendy! The program we are developing is one of our strategies for ensuring a diverse set of leaders for Next Door’s future, and Wendy’s expertise is helping us to develop a meaningful and relevant experience for our team members,” said Dr. Tracy Sparrow, president at Next Door Foundation.
About the selection process
The externship selection process included faculty submission of an application that indicated how the opportunity will contribute to faculty research and teaching and impact the quality of the student experience. Applications were reviewed by an interdisciplinary committee and selected faculty were asked to participate in a round of internal interviews, as well as interviews with the matched external organization.
To learn more about the Faculty Externship Program, contact Sumathi Thiyagarajan, senior director of operations.
