#KeepGlobalSmith in BMGT468Z: Creating the Future through Systems Thinking and Design

Having had Dr. Suarez before, I knew I was in for an awesome semester.

I was in Dr. Suarez’s only section of BMGT 363 during the Fall 2019 semester. The class was in-person, fully normal–not during a pandemic. Needless to say, the ways Dr. Suarez was able to captivate our class with storytelling and empathy was nothing short of amazing. Being an out-of-state student who pays more than double what a Maryland-resident pays, this was one of the handful of classes where I walked out the last day telling myself “Ross, this one was definitely worth it.”

As a result, when choosing classes for the Fall 2020 semester, I was ecstatic to see Dr. Suarez’s name listed next to a class I needed to take for my major; it served as the ultimate win-win. As the semester progressed, so did our experience with a completely-online environment. COVID never subsided, cases still skyrocketed, and we were never able to meet in person, in the Smith School. However, as the answers to the questions below (hopefully) exhibit, I still got so much out of BMGT468Z this semester. And for that, Dr. Suarez, I cannot thank you enough.

Describe your experience in the Global Classroom. What was the best part of your experience? What surprised you about your experience?

The global classroom tag on BMGT468Z this semester was most definitely as advertised. Never before had I been in a class, on Zoom nonetheless, that stressed collaboration and communication more than what we did with our international team members. This semester, our group task was, using design thinking, create something that would improve the patient care experience for Adventist Health Care.

(Picture taken from https://www.adventisthealthcare.com/)

Throughout the entire length of the project, we were reminded about the importance of integrating our team members from Spain and making sure they were up-to-date and informed about the group’s endeavors. In that vein–the best part of the experience for me was the experience itself–actually walking the walk. At the end, after incorporating our team members into the project and ensuring we were all on the same page about our project’s goals and scope, it felt pretty good to see everything come together. Additionally, having a real client and subsequently addressing this issue for them gave the project a sense of meaning and exigence. I’m sure the majority of students at the University of Maryland would relish the opportunity to work in the global environment we did this past semester. However, since we were a pilot class in bringing this experience to the Smith School and UMD, only a small, small percentage are able to put their wants into action.

What challenges did you face when interacting and integrating global students in your team and what did you learn from that experience?

Undoubtedly, some of the facets that made this project so unique also helped contribute to the challenges we faced as a team. Right from the get-go, given the six-hour time difference between the United States and Spain, we knew that communication was not going to be seamless. As the semester went on, at times, we fell out of touch with our team members. There would be some periods of a week or two where there would be no messages in our WhatsApp chat. While we got lucky that these “lull” periods were not during a week where an assignment was due, time was definitely wasted getting everyone up to speed once we would meet as a team. Once we were altogether as a team, another problem we ran into was the language barrier between the two countries. While our team members did know some English and did an admirable job trying to communicate with us as effectively as possible, there were still bumps in the road. From these struggles, I learned to take a step back and realize that project-based work will have its teamwork imperfections, and that’s okay. At that point, it’s up to the team to put their heads down, work together as a unit, and deliver a final product that everyone is proud of.

(Our final product! In one sentence–a compartmentalized, auto-functioning machine cart that would carry hospital materials to distressed nurses dealing with patients)

What was something that you learned from your participation in this course that you may not have learned otherwise?

Having a real-life, real-time client in Adventist was something that I did not take for granted. In addition to the class being one of the first of its kind in an international sense, this class was a first for me in another way. Never before had I been in a class where there was a real executive, with his real team, at a real hospital, looking to solve a real problem. While I have notoriously high expectations for myself, I knew that another level needed to be reached for this class. By doing this, I learned how to foster empathy in a professional setting, a setting in which a real solution needed to be delivered to the Adventist team.

What has this experience taught you about collaborating with global partners in a virtual environment and designing a solution for a real-life client?

As I touched on a little bit above, working and collaborating with global partners in virtual environment like this one was unique, impactful, and pertinent. That being said, it did not come without its challenges and shortcomings. However, more than anything, this experience taught me that work like this–in a team, solving a problem–is the basis of what is to come in my career. As a result, the experience served as a great stepping stone for learning how to conduct myself in this setting similar to this.

What advice would you give a student considering participating in this type of course?

Participate, PLEASE! See for yourself the impact a class like this can have on your undergraduate experience.

(Picture courtesy of Allison Davis)

A HUGE thank you to the Smith School and the University of Maryland for allowing us the opportunity to do something like this. For the sake of future Smith students, I hope the tradition is continued. And finally, another thank you to Dr. Suarez and the spectacular job he did conducting this class. Despite the circumstances with COVID, I was as engaged as ever and came to class excited to learn each and every day. I can say with a beaming sense of pride that after exiting our last Zoom meeting last week, I sat back and told myself, “Ross, this one was worth it.”