Bearcats Mean Business podcast

Grant Freking: (00:00)
Welcome back to Bearcats Mean Business. Today's guest is Liwei Chen, an associate professor at Lindner who now doubles as an Amazon bestselling author How Amazing Liwei's co-authored book generative AI for Business Frameworks, techniques and Governance was recently named the number one new release in the business education and reference category on Amazon. Liwei is here to talk about what students really need to know about generative AI from essential skills and responsible use to how AI will affect their careers, classes and more Liwei. Congrats on the book and thank you for joining me.

Liwei Chen: (00:34)
Thank you so much, grant, and very excited to be here today. It is very wonderful to share what we have been learning about generative ai, especially knowing that our students are using these tools every day now. And the book really come out of the needs of our business students. Mm-hmm . And business, um, professionals we are working with. So I think it's really meaningful to talk about it today here.

Grant Freking: (00:56)
Yeah. You put together this project pretty quickly, so I'm excited to kind of dive into it. Um, you know, in the book's preface, you note that the book was born out of common questions that you and your co-author Wei Chen from the University of Connecticut we're hearing from students, um, students at Lindner UC, students at Connecticut, maybe even students that weren't even at those schools. What were those common questions that you started hearing?

Liwei Chen: (01:16)
Yeah, that's a great question. Um, like in our teaching, students often come to us with two big questions. Okay. The first one is, as business students, where should they even start to learn generative ai? Because many of them do not have strong technical background. So, uh, many, but many of them are using generative AI every day, such as chatGPT, Gemini, uh, copilot, et cetera. And they read and heard a lot of news about generative AI every day as well. So they're really eager to learn more about, um, the technologies such as large language models, prompt engineerings, rag and agent ai. They're really eager to understand how, what these concepts mean and how do these tech, um, how do they work. Um, they wanted to learn in a more systematic and structured way. Okay. And the second question they ask, often ask is how do they, um, actually use, sorry, the second question they often ask is, how can they actually use generative AI to solve business problems?

Liwei Chen: (02:20)
Okay. And they often come from different business backgrounds. They want to learn how to use these technologies in the domains they are interested in. Uh, so this covers among many business majors including marketing, finance, accounting, uh, operations management, um, business analytics, et cetera, et cetera. So they want to see how generative AI is used today in different, um, industries and across multiple functional areas in, in their organizations. So when we look around, we notice that there is actually no textbook talking about, um, generative AI to business students and explain it in a more practical and, um, understandable way. Sure. So that's, um, makes us to think maybe, um, we can write one to compliment the existing resources, which are mostly, um, either to technical or to conceptual. Um, so that's how we come up with our book.

Grant Freking: (03:19)
Yeah. It's making sort of the technology kind of applicable and understanding for everyone. Now, once students start using this technology, you know, they come into some responsible use questions. Right. So what are a few ways that students can responsibly use generative AI in their classes?

Liwei Chen: (03:33)
Yeah. Actually we see students using generally AI every week, every day. And I definitely see both use a good use and bad use. Um, so I often offer students with some guidelines, first of all, be mindful that you need to keep, um, privacy and security in, in your mind. Um, do not just paste sensitive data or identifiable data into the public tools. Um, and second, very importantly, they need to use AI as a learning, um, partner instead of a shortcut. So they need to be responsible for any, um, like submissions they work on. They, they can use AI as tools to explain concepts, generate practice questions, or for brainstorming purposes, but they should not use AI to generate the solutions and submit it without their own thinking. Uh, if they use AI in that way, they lose the value of learning.

Grant Freking: (04:35)
Right? Yeah. You, there's the, the shortcut takes you nowhere. You're not, you're not learning anything. And then once you get to the professional setting, you, you're still stuck without the knowledge.

Liwei Chen: (04:43)
Exactly. Exactly.

Grant Freking: (04:45)
Yeah. So what are some of the top generative AI skills that all students need to know to thrive professionally?

Liwei Chen: (04:53)
Yeah, that's a great question. Um, we view there are, uh, four essential skills. I would say. The first one is prompt engineering. So basically you need to know how to communicate with AI, with clear instructions, context, and, um, constraints. And it now has become a basic digital literacy. Um, in the second one, I would say the retrieval augmented generation, which is the re. Um, so that will connect with AI to pro, um, to provide more accurate, um, knowledge resources. So I think that is very crucial in business settings where the accuracy of information is very, very important. And the third skill, I would say, um, the capability to work with AI agents and, um, develop and build agent workflows. Um, this is the new trend that requires people, human agents to collaborate with the AI agents and to accomplish some more complex tasks. Um, and the last skill, I would say is the avail, uh, the ability to evaluate AI generated content because we know that AI could, um, hallucinate and it could generate, um, unexpected results. So human students should be able to evaluate those, um, output generated by AI and, and, uh, detect the hallucinations and make some judgements when the output is problematic.

Grant Freking: (06:19)
You mentioned trends, and we both know that a AI is changing by the minute virtually. Um, and as a generative AI instructor for Lindner students and masters and MBA and graduate certificate programs, you got a wide range there. How do you keep course content current with the constantly shifting landscape?

Liwei Chen: (06:37)
Definitely. That's a, that's a very true question. So I update the course materials continuously. Okay. Um, at least weekly . Wow. Yeah, because this space is evolving so fast, um, and I often, um, organize my information in a very, um, uh, structured way. Um, and even though the, the tools and app applications change the founda, uh, the foundations, the fundamental concepts remain stable. So I try to cover those relatively stable concepts in my lectures. Um, so, so these concepts would not disappear even though the applications might have changed. Um, and I also, I need to test these tools, uh, I use in the classroom before, um, the brief before each class. Um, but some things will happen , um, some updates in the system will make some function, uh, not working for the students. Right. The, the, the next day right after I test it, .

Grant Freking: (07:38)
Right. Yeah. And I imagine your students are who, who are actually very, the most, who are especially quite interested in the subject, are probably making you aware of, okay, this might have changed, you know, to your course material as well.

Liwei Chen: (07:49)
Exactly.

Grant Freking: (07:50)
Helping you out. Yeah. So speaking of those students, do you find that students that you instruct are, you know, once they become, I guess, fully aware or mostly aware of like the power of AI and its capabilities, are they worried about job security or even future job security if they may not be, um, you know, a graduate student who already has a full-time job, if they're, you know, still working toward that full-time job? How worried are they about job security?

Liwei Chen: (08:13)
That's an excellent question, and I definitely see mixed emotions on this, on this aspect. And very interestingly, I observed the emotions change, um, as the course progresses. So it's very natural to see some students are relatively more positive about gen generative ai. Mm-hmm . And others are more cautious. But at the very beginning of the course, many of them are just unsure and they do not know enough, um, to evaluate the impact on their own, uh, future job. But as we learn more, they kind of, usually they're very amidst to see how powerful and capable the generative AI has become. And at that point, that usually, um, spark them to develop some deeper thoughts how this will replace their job, um, and affect their, their work. Um, and later on we talk about some governance challenges, ethical issues. Um, those concerns might be, uh, uh, drawn back a little bit because they, they see the values of human beings to still, um, be included in this process to, um, to manage how to use generative AI and address those, um, potential challenges and issues.

Liwei Chen: (09:27)
Um, usually at the end of the course, my students are still very excited about, um, generative ai, and they're eager to learn more. But I would say that excitement becomes more infor, uh, informed. It's in a, a much more informed way, um, because they have a more comprehensive understanding about both the threats and the opportunities, and they see both the potential and the challenges. So, um, it's mixed . Sure. And they, one important point I want to make, um, for my, uh, for my students to understand is AI is not just replacing human's job. They are, they actually are powerful to augment human capabilities and human can collaborate with AI to achieve better performance.

Grant Freking: (10:13)
It's another way of partnering with, you know. Exactly. And that just an entity. Right, .

Liwei Chen: (10:17)
Exactly. ,

Grant Freking: (10:19)
Let's talk about non-AI skills for a second. What are s in your experience, what are your essential business skills or principles that you sort of consider timeless that are sort of maybe immune to AI disruption?

Liwei Chen: (10:32)
Yeah, that is a very thoughtful question. I have also been asking it myself. Okay. Right. So, um, to me, um, personally, three skills stand out. The first one I think is the critical thinking. I think it is very important to have the ability to ask great questions and have the ability to challenge AI generated solutions. Um, even though AI can generate content, but ultimately it's human who decide what is meaningful and what is responsible, right? And the second skill, I think is communication. Um, even though AI can help generate content, the clear communication still come out from the clear thinking. Um, and I think AI cannot replace human, um, intention and empathy. That is very important. The way we connect with others through our words still matters a lot. And the third skill, I think very important is, uh, the capabil, the ability to understand people and organizations, right? The, this is where the humanity really, um, jumps in. Um, AI cannot build trust and understand human needs, manage relationships, or, uh, navigate the team dynamics. So skills like empathy, listening, caring for others, uh, leadership, I think those are still very valuable skills that cannot be replaced by ai.

Grant Freking: (11:56)
Yeah, I have to agree with all that. So you're, you're saying that we're, we're not in danger of AI running major companies anytime soon, right?

Liwei Chen: (12:02)
?

Grant Freking: (12:03)
Yes. So let's talk future students to sort of wrap up here. If a high school student is listening to this and is sort of yearning to study business collegially, hopefully at the Lindner College of business, what should they know? Like, you know, early stage about generative ai, they're probably using it in their, in their classroom right now, and what makes Lindner a strong place to study this topic?

Liwei Chen: (12:23)
Yeah, I think that's a great question. High school students I think should know that AI is not just for computer scientist. It is, it affects all the majors, all the industries, including our, uh, business majors. So no matter where you are interested in AI will be part of your, uh, future work, right? Um, and the second point I want to make is, uh, keep your curiosity and AI will reward your curiosity. Um, you do not need to have a very strong, um, technical background. You do not need to, um, know programming to start learning. As long as you know, um, how to ask good questions and think clearer, you actually can start exploring generative ai. Um, and the last point I want to make is that as for Lindner, we have built a very strong, um, ecosystem for AI for business. And we offer specialized courses across multiple programs.

Liwei Chen: (13:21)
And we have multiple, um, uh, labs like Applied AI labs, and we have business centers to support the learning. And we offer tons of opportunities to work on real world projects collaborating with companies. So these are great opportunities for the students. They are not just learning the concepts from the textbook. They also put those, put what they learn into practice. Um, so I think the students can get not only the conceptual understanding, but also practical skills, which is super important, um, in today's world. And I think Lindner is a wonderful place to prepare for AI education.

Grant Freking: (14:00)
That's a wrap on today's episode of Bearcats Mean Business. My thanks to Liwei Chen for appearing. And congrats once again to her on her new co-authored book, which is called Generative AI for Business Frameworks, techniques and Governance. Be sure to subscribe, leave a review and share this episode with someone who's ready to take the leap at Lindner. Your feedback helps more Bearcats discover the show. Until next time, keep showing the world how Bearcats mean business.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (00:00)
Hey Bearcats. It's Mirsayah Wasnuk and I'm a student at the Lindner College of Business and the president of Net Impact UC Consulting. Welcome back to Sustainability in Business, a Bearcats Mean Business Student series, a new series exploring key topics in sustainability, and how you can apply them to your future career goals in business. Today, my guests are third year Lindner student Serenity Pastor and Lindner Community Engagement Assistant Director Brienne Blair. We are sharing our unique experience attending the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference referred to as COP30 in Brazil, a major international climate summit that can be over 200 countries, thousands of NGOs and leaders from key industries including agriculture, forestry, renewable energy, and transportation. Thank you for being here, serenity and Brie.

Serenity Pastor: (00:45)
Hi. I am glad to be here.

Brienne Blair: (00:47)
Yes, I'm glad to be here as well.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (00:50)
Can you tell us about your professional experiences and how it led you to attend COP30?

Serenity Pastor: (00:55)
For sure. Um, I'm always a Lindner. I'm always engaging with students, and the atrium is the common ground for mingling with anybody that comes in. And so I remember talking to you Mirsayah, um, and you brought the idea of COP30 to my attention simply because we knew that, um, the Office of Community Engagement Main initiative was to strengthen, um, study away experiences. And so we saw this as a strong start to, um, start this initiative. And from there we hit the ground running as far as planning and delegating and making sure that we had all the boxes checked. And so I guess my personal, my professional experiences was just being present and open to the Lindner community.

Brienne Blair: (01:37)
Yeah, absolutely. Um, so I have never heard of COP30, so, um, I took the opportunity when the two, um, lindner women were saying Serenity came to me. They told us about, um, they told Nick and I about COP30. I looked it up and I said, Ooh, I think this is a great opportunity for our students to learn about sustainability. Um, I think this will be a, a great opportunity for, uh, travel. And, um, was I immediately interested? Absolutely. I was. So, um, Nick and I sat down and we, we thought this was gonna be a good opportunity for the two of you. Definitely for Sophia and Sarah. They were incorporated in our decision as well. So, um, I'm excited that you guys came to me. Came to us. Yeah.

Serenity Pastor: (02:23)
I feel like the main part of our negotiation process of convincing Nick and Brie, um, to allow us to come to this conference was what it, what does it appeal to business students? Mm-hmm . So you hear the word sustainability and climate change, you often think science or the College of Arts and Sciences. What was unique about this COP30 experiences or this this COP30 experience was that it was centered around creating, um, financial solutions and tools to be able to fund sustainable practices. And then we were like, bingo. That's why we're coming. There were many, many companies, of course you talked about the non-governmental organizations, um, the countries that were there, but what was the main factor for us was really ing in on those company practices, on, um, funding financial solutions.

Brienne Blair: (03:06)
Yeah, absolutely. And you know, to be honest, I really wasn't sold until we got there. Yeah. Until we got to the conference and I was like, oh, I get it now. Yeah. So, yeah. So, um, you know, of course it was an easy sell to go to Brazil, but , but the conference alone, um, when we walked in and they were talking about clean water sources and you know, who was there to represent and I, I really appreciate you both being there 'cause you did a well job, um, representing uc, um, and America, North America. So, um, once we got there, it was really, it solidified it. Yes.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (03:44)
That's amazing. And I know Serenity, you made a really awesome connection. Well, quite a few. Like, could you tell us about the connection you made, um, with the, it was like the vice president of the Global bank in Europe?

Serenity Pastor: (03:56)
Yes. So I was sitting in on a Deloitte session and the panel was called Driving Sustainable Growth. And I remember it being one of the few English speaking sessions and I was like, this is my time to network and find out, um, you know, where my people are, especially those who had an American accent. I'm like, okay, I need to follow this stream of people that are, you know, sharing information. So I ended up talk or walking up to a lady that was sitting in around the coffee sessions in the Deloitte, uh, cubicle, and I was just asking her about, Hey, where are more English sessions that I can find? Um, and where can I find more Deloitte or American company sessions? Because, um, I'm a student from the University of Cincinnati and I would love to, um, build my knowledge that way. First she was, she was surprised that I was an American student.

Serenity Pastor: (04:45)
Um, she expressed to me that this was her like 15th COP and her role in this industry for however many years. She has never, um, seen that many students, especially American students. She talked about there being European students, African students, um, south American students, but never American students. We then got into what was her role and why she was sitting on the panel for Deloitte and she told me that she was the global head of financial solutions for this major European bank. She mentioned how the bank wasn't in, it wasn't really, um, popular in America. She know she said that she worked with JP Morgan, um, and Bank of America, but it was more of a European, um, Asian type of bank. And so that, with that connection, I was able to really hone in on the key pieces of information that she, um, spoke about on the panel, but also get a, a, a worldview of, um, how the sustainable and financial solutions sphere collaborate and

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (05:46)
Serenity as President of Leonard Tribunal, how did your leadership experience prepare you for engaging with global sustainability issues? At COP30?

Serenity Pastor: (05:55)
My mindset going into COP30 was everyone is here for one thing. Everyone was on a mission. Everyone was either there to learn, um, there to negotiate a deal or to have some sort sort of outcome out of the two weeks that COP was happening. And so my mindset in going into COP was one to be, um, as best of a, a representative for the LENNER community, but two, also make sure that I am educating myself and now so that I'm able to spread the knowledge when I come back to Cincinnati. And so the way that I did that was I was really aggressive in making sure that I placed myself in the correct spaces, um, of course English or people that had, or people that had the translators to make sure that I was getting that knowledge. And so, um, as president, I went into the mindset of just representing my community well, um, and making sure that we got the Leonard community got the return on investment for sending us to, um, VM

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (06:49)
Brie. How do you see the Office of Community Engagement supporting uc students and understanding and applying sustainability principles discussed at COP30?

Brienne Blair: (06:58)
So the Office of Community Engagement can, um, support in empowering lender students by providing experiential learning opportunities, um, like driving sustainability initiatives on campus and, um, community projects and, uh, connecting students with, uh, the global goals of COP30 through impactful local actions, discussions, and collaborations across diverse fields.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (07:27)
Serenity, what were some insights from COP30 that you feel future business leaders should focus on, especially regarding ethics and sustainability?

Serenity Pastor: (07:35)
Um, the main theme that I got from COP30 as far as, um, keeping sustainability and ethics in mind was changing the narrative. Often I feel like when people think about sustainable practices as it relates to corporate governance, they're thinking about, oh, we have to cut back, or, oh, we can't do things the way we have to spend more money to, um, enable to be more sustainable. So when you change the narrative, um, it just eliminates the uncertainty when you hone in on the data that, um, the companies are using and garnering to be able to drive sustainable practices that'll be able to eliminate uncertain uncertainty. And so after you eliminate uncertainty and change the narrative, um, then you can use the financial instrument instruments to drive organizational change. And so using financial instruments to drive organizational change really is what I feel like that I got from COP30 was the main aspect of what appealed to companies to be able to adopt sustainable practices because, um, it's, it's commonly assumed that, oh, if we become more sustainable, we're gonna be spending more money. Or Oh, it's gonna cost, it's gonna cost or put aside a deficit if we were to cut back on any resources or energy use. And so when you hone in on those financial instruments, change the narrative and really, um, hone in on the facts, that's how I feel. Um, or that's what I got from COP30 about how future business leaders can align with, um, sustainability and ethics.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (09:08)
Brie, what opportunities exist for uc students to get involved in sustainability initiative initiatives inspired by COP30, both on campus and beyond?

Brienne Blair: (09:17)
So COP30 is, um, sparking a wave of opportunities for students to connect global climate principles with local action. Um, uc offers over like a hundred sustainability related courses across its seven colleges plus certificates and minors that allow students to specialize in areas like environmental policies, sustainable design and climate science. And also students can team up with faculty on projects about renewable energy climate, um, justice or sustainable urban development. Kind of like, um, what Sarah did, she was, you know, very involved with her faculty member. That's how she was able to come to COP30. And this, um, all matches Cop thirty's focus on education and innovation and there's also opportunity for student led initiatives as well. So, um, as you guys are all part of, um, student orgs, you know, incorporating hands-on programs where students team up with local groups to tackle sustainability issues like food security, renewable energy, and cutting down waste, as we know when we were in Brazil, cutting down waste. Yes, .

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (10:31)
Alright, serenity, were there any specific discussions or innovations at COP30 that connected with your role in Leonard Tribunal and your interest in justice or policy?

Serenity Pastor: (10:41)
Yes. Um, one thinging about business practices, I remember a session where they mention organizational change and how they can utilize organizational change to be able to push sustainable initiatives forward. Um, and the way that I feel like that resonated, the way that I feel like that resonates with my role, um, is because I am making sure that all of the roles of the tribunal are aligned to best serve the Leonard community and our student leaders within the Leonard community. And so organizational change and making sure that everyone is aligned with that, um, can be used in sustainable practices and initiatives, but also can be used, um, for student government and community initiatives.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (11:24)
Were there any like specific instruments of organizational change that really struck you of like, I need to go back and I need to learn this, or I need to go back and use this?

Serenity Pastor: (11:34)
One of the main pieces of information that I got from the panelists was that incentive is a short term solution to drive organizational change. Um, they mentioned that what drives people to be motivated to come in and really push the initiative forward was that they know that the work that they're doing is important and the way that they align importance with the work that they're doing on the day to day is making sure that, um, they are constantly tracking the KPIs and making them evident towards the people that are producing those KPIs. Um, another thing that I learned about organizational change was that you don't have to don't cut short term profit for long term solutions. Um, that goes along with what I mentioned earlier about how the way we can really drive sustainable change is that if all companies or mi majority of companies are aligned with, um, sustainable practice is not about nitpicking at the, the beehive is just about making sure that, um, over a long term scale that you are continuously to cut, you're continuously cutting down

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (12:40)
Free. In your view, why is it important for university students to participate in global conversations like COP30 and how does it influence their academic and career growth?

Brienne Blair: (12:50)
Um, as a faculty and staff member, um, I think that it's important for students to have, um, a voice. Um, you guys are the stakeholders, so everything you say, I think we need to incorporate it. Um, I think this type of experience, um, allows you guys to show that what you're learning at uc, coming into a Lindner, this is what we're learning from our classrooms, incorporating it, sharing it with other organizations, sharing it in your leadership roles. So

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (13:22)
Serenity, what leadership skills did you strengthen through attending COP30 and how do you see them impacting your future career in business? At

Serenity Pastor: (13:30)
Cop, I saw myself being an a person that was ready to jump into action. Oftentimes I have calculated, um, responses and calculated actions. And so with cop, with everything going on, there's thousands of people there. Um, it's hot and it's a like a live and energetic, um, area. And so as a leader, I just saw myself just constantly jumping into action, whether it be something or a workshop that I've heard of last minute or someone of importance that I need to get some information from or interview or network with. I just saw myself jumping into action because I knew that, um, the return on investment for the Leonard community and my peers relied on the information that I was getting in this short amount of time. So it wasn't about, no, it was no time to think, just jump into action.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (14:18)
And I actually wanna pull that string a little bit and bring up an experience that you had. Serenity. Um, you had the opportunity to interview a really important person. Could you expand upon that and, um, just your, your, your courage that it took even doing it?

Serenity Pastor: (14:33)
Yes. So Sarah and I were sitting in on this session that Sarah learned from someone else at another session. Again, follow along the lines of people that are speaking English and you know, we can readily communicate. So I made a point to Sarah, let's sit in the front and let's go in on a session. And so as we're sitting in the front, we're seeing people just funnel in, funnel in, and we're like, there's people with badges and we know that the people with badges are from the blue zone. If you, you need a badge to get into the Blue Zone. So I'm like, okay, this is an important session because they're the important people are coming over to the Green Zone . Not to say the green zone is important, but we were like, okay, this is some serious matters. So as the session was going on, um, we are have, we have our translators on and we're seeing these people talk in such a, an energetic way.

Serenity Pastor: (15:17)
They're talking really strong and they're just trying to get their point across. Um, Aing then comes on and says that, that Germany is pledging $1.8 billion to, um, indigenous climate justice. And I found it interesting. Um, so as he, when he made that announcement, I made it, um, again, jumping into action. I made a point of mine to follow him because I found it interesting about how he pledged that large amount of money from his country towards such, um, an impactful group of people. So then again, I dropped the mic, I hopped on the, I hopped on the, the wagon and I went out and I basically held up my voice recording Mike to his first, and I asked him, what does this $1.8 billion mean? And I later found out that he was a delegate representing Germany. And basically the totality of what, um, the $1.8 billion meant was that, um, they felt that it was a major contender in helping the indigenous communities and helping drive against sustainable change. And so I was really grateful to have the opportunity to get so close to someone that was, um, such an of importance for the country of Germany.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (16:30)
Brie, what role do you see student engagement playing in fostering a future where business and community solutions are aligned for sustainability?

Brienne Blair: (16:38)
Yeah. Um, I think that we had a really great opportunity and seeing that COP30 wasn't just for important people, quote unquote, with the blue passports and the and the yellow passports, you know, um, we, we saw indigenous people mm-hmm . You know, and I, I think that, um, we need to mention that experience. Um, those are people who are natives of Brazil, of Beem and, um, they were protesting. They got together as a community, they protested and they said that, um, what about us? You know? So I think that when I was watching it on my, um, phone, um, unfortunately I got to miss the, the protest, but when I saw it on my phone and I saw that they came together as a community and they were all in line with each other, it spoke something to the uc community mm-hmm . Like we could come back and say that as a community, we are going to be one unit and we are going to stand for this just like the indigenous people did at COP30.

Brienne Blair: (17:56)
And um, so to me that was, um, a very humbling experience seeing the Natives come. Um, I think that was something that we can bring back to community engagement, um, department and see that this is how they did it. You know, they came together as one. And, um, that's something that I think we need to kind of follow and lindner coming together as a college of business and, um, we have very bright sustainability majors, economic majors, um, accounting majors, so for all these student organizations that's, um, accounting and we have different, um, different business, um, student orgs coming all together and just building a tighter, stronger community. Yes.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (18:43)
That's amazing. And Serenity, I would say like that, that's exactly what like Lindner Tribunal is for

Serenity Pastor: (18:49)
Mm-hmm . Yeah. Um, I just wanted to just come off of what Bree's saying is that, um, the whole, the whole reason for COP is to drive energy and to just create interest around sustainable practices and eliminating uncertainty and just creating that availability of demand to increase impact mm-hmm . And so with this energy doubt they were bringing and you have all of these different assets that are just, you have all of these different facets that were working together. I feel like that really did Enco encapsulate, um, the 30 year long tenure of COP itself was to really generate that energy, um, to raise awareness and create impact is what we're here for in general.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (19:28)
My thanks to Serenity and Brianne for joining me today on the episode of a sustainability and business, a Bearcats means Business Student series. Be sure to subscribe, leave a review and share this episode with someone who's ready to take the leap at Lindner. Your feedback helps more Bearcat discover the show. Until next time, keep showing the world how Bearcat mean business.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (00:00)
Hey Bearcats, it's Mirsayah Wasnuk and I'm a student at the Lindner College of Business and the president for Net Impact uc Consulting. Welcome back to the Sustainability in Business, a Bearcats Mean Business Student series, a new series exploring key topics in sustainability, and how you can apply them to your future career goals in business. Today my guest is Jen Vasconcellos, assistant Sustainability Coordinator at the University of Cincinnati. Jen is here to discuss her role, the initiatives UC is taking to make campus more sustainable and how students can get involved. Thank you for being here, Jen.

Jen Vasconcellos: (00:31)
Thank you for having me. Happy to be here.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (00:34)
Can you tell us about your current role as the assistant sustainability coordinator at uc and what your main responsibilities are?

Jen Vasconcellos: (00:41)
Yeah, for sure. So, um, my main responsibility is so program management, and so I manage, um, a few of our volunteer programs, the Environmental literacy certificate, which maybe we can talk a little bit about later. Um, and then as well as our student team, um, who runs the bike kitchen, our garden, and as well as Bearcat Recycling

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (01:06)
As a uc alum, how did your experience at the university shape your path into a career focused on sustainability?

Jen Vasconcellos: (01:13)
So I had a little bit of a roller coaster going into a career focused on sustainability. Um, I was a transfer student, um, during the pandemic and I was originally, um, a major in neuroscience. And so shortly after, um, you know, shut down restrictions lifted and everything, and I was at my in-person neuroscience classes, I realized I don't know that that wasn't really something that I wanted to do. Um, I didn't want go into medicine. I didn't want to go into like, uh, a clinical setting or anything. And so, um, I had to kind of refocus and be like, all right, what do I care about? Um, and I realized that's always been the environment and so I transferred into the environmental studies program and being a double transfer at that point, I guess, um, I was a little apprehensive, um, having not known any of these people really for my entire college career.

Jen Vasconcellos: (02:19)
And at this point I was a junior. I only had two years left. And so, um, luckily there were so many opportunities to get involved. The first, uh, thing that stuck out to me were the amount of student organizations that are focused on sustainability here at uc. And um, that combined with my coursework and just the community that environmentally focused people have here on campus, um, that really helped me as sort of a stepping stone. Um, I do wanna specifically mention net impact uc, uh, for sure I was, um, little did I know when I showed up to a meeting, I was showing up to the first meeting ever, um, . And so then luckily I was there kind of at ground zero able to um, um, build a club up from the beginning. And so that was just such an extraordinary opportunity for me. Um, having not been involved in anything in the past really. And then being there with that first cohort of net impact people, it was a really awesome, and, you know, I do feel like, um, we were all just kind of taking a chance on that situation and taking a risk and running with the opportunity that was presented with us, and it turned into something really awesome. And so that was definitely a major stepping stone for me as I step into my career.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (03:47)
Are there any resources like clubs or student organizations besides net impact uc, uh, focused on sustainability that you would recommend for students to participate in?

Jen Vasconcellos: (03:57)
Oh my goodness, there's so many. I can't really pick favorites for sure , but I will say that, um, there are so many and they're all listed on the sustainability website. I kind of wanted to make sure that those organizations are consolidated somewhere just as a resource for people. Um, and I know there are other places such as Instagram where those are consolidated, but there's like 10, 15 plus organizations and they're all full of awesome people doing great things, so

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (04:26)
That's amazing. Are there any that like would be like very specific to a student within Lindner College of Business, um, that would help them grow their skills, um, to potentially help them in whatever career they decide to go in within business?

Jen Vasconcellos: (04:40)
That's a great question. Um, I would say most likely, there are a few organizations within DAAP. I know there's the Ecological Design club as well as um, urbanism Club, and those are both kind of getting on their feet. I believe they both just started in the past academic year. Um, that said, they already have some really great connections with professionals in the field, um, including, you know, planners, architects, landscape architects, um, and uh, people that are really experts in their field and experts of practice, you know, um, and so that's really one opportunity I see. Um, and just being able to network with those professionals is a really good opportunity, uh, for people in Lindner for sure.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (05:28)
Amazing. Um, I'm gonna kind of transfer over over to more of your direct role within the office of sustainability. Um, my first question would be, what inspired do you see to prioritize sustainability and what are some of the key initiatives your offices working on or now?

Jen Vasconcellos: (05:46)
So, uh, I can't necessarily speak to the exact inspiration. I do know, um, that the university signed on, one of was one of the original signatories to, um, the American University President's climate commitment, which originated back in 2006, um, between a few organizations including Second Nature as well as a i, which is the American Association for Sustainability in Higher Education. So there were several college presidents, um, back in 2006 who got together to form this commitment, um, for university presidents. And the commitment is essentially to establish a culture of sustainability at a university. Um, and that's for students, faculty, staff, you know, kind of across the board. Um, and uh, uc was one of the original signatories in 2007. The year after that, that commitment was formed. And, uh, ever since then, um, we've done all, we have had so many initiatives since then, especially on I would say the operations side.

Jen Vasconcellos: (06:57)
Um, and that includes all of the leed-certified buildings, um, as well as our utilities management, um, the Department of Utilities. It can be easy to forget about, um, that that exists within the university, but we essentially have our own power plant here on campus and, uh, they've done so much to reduce carbon emissions there, make everything more efficient. So that's cost efficient and energy efficient, um, as well as wastewater retention. And it's some things that we're working on right now include, um, establishing campus as more of a living laboratory for sustainability. And that includes, um, for example, there was a rain garden established back behind the DAAP annex, um, which, uh, is significant for water retention and that was a horticulture class who designed and implemented that all themselves. There's a micro forest that's been installed behind the DAAP annex as well, um, involving some DAAP professors, DAAP students, and that's an ongoing research project as well. So that'll be going on for the next five, 10 years. And so we're really thinking long term about all of these decisions.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (08:11)
What new sustainability projects can students expect from uc in the near future?

Jen Vasconcellos: (08:17)
So, uh, we're currently working on waste diversion across the board, both in, um, academic buildings as well as residence halls. And we'll be working with the city of Cincinnati's, office of Environment and Sustainability to implement, um, that recycling at residence halls as well as around different academic buildings including Lindner actually. Um, so keep an eye out for that for sure. We're doing some baseline audits right now and then we're going to implement the campaign as well as at Lindner. We're going to be implementing, um, sort of a new setup of bins with that dual setup trash and recycling as well as an education campaign and we're gonna see how that turns out and compare as compared to the baseline coming up in the spring semester.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (09:07)
How can students advocate for or contribute to uc's ongoing sustainability efforts?

Jen Vasconcellos: (09:13)
I would say between the student organizations, um, as well as so many volunteer opportunities, there are so many ways to contribute. Um, Bearcat Recycling would be that number one right there, recycling after athletic events. Um, it's super quick and easy. There are always volunteer opportunities as well as just reaching out, um, to the office. We are open to talking and seeing how any individual might be able to get involved, um, using their talents and interests. And so, um, yeah, our inbox is always open.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (09:50)
Awesome. Do you mind sharing your inbox?

Jen Vasconcellos: (09:53)
Yeah, it's Jen.vasconcellos@uc.edu I believe. Uh, in order to spell that people might have to take a look at the show notes, but , um, and then our total office inbox is just Green@uc.edu.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (10:10)
And then what are some of the biggest challenges uc faces in becoming a more sustainable campus and how is your office addressing them?

Jen Vasconcellos: (10:19)
One major challenge right now includes funding, and I think that's kind of across the board for sustainability, not just here, but a lot of places, especially post pandemic sustainability has been kind of put on the back burner, um, in a good amount of sectors. I mean, I work in the restaurant industry as well, and I know certainly that's no longer a priority, um, post pandemic because people are just kind of trying to keep afloat, you know? Um, so funding is definitely a challenge.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (10:51)
So for students who are just beginning their journey into the realm of sustainability, do you have any advice, um, for, you know, ways they can think about things or apply things in their lectures, um, or just within their day-to-day life?

Jen Vasconcellos: (11:07)
Yeah, so, um, I'll start out by saying there's three pillars to sustainability. Um, there's the environmental pillar, which is the one that most people think of, but there's also the social and economic pillars, um, which are just as important and they all tie back together. And so being able to think about sustainability as a systems problem rather than all of these disconnected parts, um, especially for students in Lindner, you know, thinking about just the supply chain for example. Um, that all is so incredibly tied in with, uh, all three of those pillars of sustainability. And so just thinking about things sort of through that systems lens, um, and through the bigger picture is, uh, something that got me really focused on sustainability as well. Um, just realizing how interconnected everything truly is. And so being able to apply that to your lectures is a great skill to have. Um, and also really helps you kind of integrate the knowledge that you're learning in your classes. So it's not just, you know, rote memorization or anything. It's thinking about how these concepts apply to the real world and how they're implemented and are they sustainable. I don't know. That's, uh, just a good question to ask. I think regardless of what class you're in.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (12:39)
Do you have any recommendations on certifications or, you know, ways for students to develop their, their skills within sustainability and, you know, is there anything geared more towards Lindner students?

Jen Vasconcellos: (12:55)
So, um, I facilitate the environmental literacy certificate, which is a free co-curricular certificate, um, that students of all backgrounds can sign up for. And essentially in order to earn the certificate, you just have to get involved in sustainability focused events on campus. That is the main requirement. There are a couple short writing assignments and a couple reading assignments, but that said, it's not consolidated to one semester. You can take a minimum of a year and maximum your entire academic career to complete this certificate. So it's really go at your own pace. That said, I think it really introduces people into that systems thinking view that I was mentioning. Um, and uh, it's really just all a conversation and really helps people get, orient really helps students get oriented to the concepts of sustainability and I really like to advertise that certificate to people who aren't already in the environmental field, um, because it really is a good, just like 101, you know, and gets you thinking about that bigger picture.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (14:13)
Do you have any advice for how Lindner students can leverage or articulate the importance of their certificate, let's say if they get one, um, during interviews or talks with recruiters?

Jen Vasconcellos: (14:27)
Absolutely. Um, so I think having that interdisciplinary knowledge of, uh, what sustainability is, what it looks like and those three pillars, for example, and how those concepts apply, um, in the classroom and outside of the classroom in the real world especially, I think that gives everyone a huge advantage regardless of if you're even getting an environmentally focused or sustainability focused job or not. I think being able to have that interdisciplinary base where you understand what the bigger picture looks like and things that might be outside of your potential role but still affect it, is huge for employers. And so I think that would be a really good way to leverage the certificate.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (15:17)
And then where would a student go, uh, to apply to receive the certificate or get more information about it?

Jen Vasconcellos: (15:24)
You can go to the Office of Sustainability page on Get Involved UC. Um, it's a really quick form, you just fill it out and then I check those weekly. And so, um, about every Friday I'll accept applications. The only way I don't accept an application is if you graduate in less than a year, so as long as you got some time on your hands, Yeah. And you're ready to enroll, then I'll get you, I'll get you on the roster for sure.

Mirsayah Wasnuk: (15:52)
Thanks to Jen Vasconcellos for joining me today on this episode of Sustainability in Business, a Bearcats Mean Business Student Series. Be sure to subscribe, leave a review and share this episode with someone who's ready to take the leap at Lindner. Your feedback helps more Bearcats discover the show. Until next time, keep showing the world how Bearcats mean business.