As a Catholic, Vincentian university, we are called to prepare our students to make a positive difference in the world. Niagara University’s College of Business Administration has a responsibility to produce men and women committed to creating and managing business enterprises that will contribute to the social, environmental, and economic wellbeing of society. This is doing business with the triple bottom line in mind—people, planet, profit. To accomplish this in my courses, I employ project-based learning. In collaboration with the university’s Levesque Institute for Civic Engagement, I have student teams work with community organizations to make a real difference, for real people, on real issues. Students learn course content through application while experiencing the power of using business practices to address community concerns, such as poverty, housing, education, environmental sustainability, and vocational training. This is education that makes a difference.

-Mitch Alegre, Professor of Management and Leadership