WittCAm Team Explores Grants for the Witt-in-Africa Initiative

October 8, 2009

Springfield, OH--This fall, Wittenberg University students Emily Ellermann and Rebecca Zajac will develop and expand the efforts of the existing Witt-in-Africa initiative serving Lesotho, Africa. Their project is focused on fundraising efforts that support service trips of Wittenberg students and faculty to aid the impoverished African kingdom. The team plans several fundraising events and will develop and apply for various grants from humanitarian aid, as well as local, organizations.

The team just completed its first fundraising event in cooperation with the Wittenberg women’s volleyball team’s annual “Border Battle” tournament, using a school challenge among the eight participating schools. The challenge raised more than $730.

Emily Ellermann, '10 is a senior Management and French double major from Littleton, Colorado. Ellermann was inspired to work with non-profit aid organizations by a high school service trip to India, and recently returned from a year abroad in Nantes, France where she studied management, the French language and international relations. Ellermann is currently an intern in the Wittenberg University Office of Admission where she actively participates in the admission process of future Wittenberg students by conducting interviews, reading application and working closely with admission counselors to fulfill departmental goals. Ellermann is a member of Mortar Board and Omicron Delta Kappa academic honoraries and Tau Pi Phi management honorary. She is a letter-winning member of the Wittenberg swimming and diving team, a committee chair of Colleges Against Cancer, and works as both a French tutor in the Foreign Language Learning Center and as an on-campus tour guide for the Wittenberg Office of Admission. After graduation, Ellermann plans to return abroad as part of a non-profit aid organization aimed at literacy initiatives in developing nations.

Rebecca Zajac, ‘11 is a junior double major in management and economics from Livonia, Michigan. She serves as a student representative on the Educational Policies Committee, as well as on the Student Appellate Board, is Vice President of the Merit Scholarship Award for Wittenberg Human Resources Management Association, a member of the 2011 Class Cabinet, University Honors program, Alpha Lambda Delta (a women’s honorary society) and is on the Dean’s list. Zajac also volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, Rotaract club, as an after-school mentor of middle school girls through Girl Power, and as a Peer Helper to other students on the Wittenberg campus. Zajac traveled to Lesotho, Africa this past summer on a month long community service trip, where she developed relationships with community residents while helping them create a sustainable lifestyle through the construction of houses, chicken coops, green houses, and playgrounds. Zajac plans to serve in the Peace Corps and then pursue a career in sports management.

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Wittenberg Center for Applied Management (WittCAM): The Wittenberg Center for Applied Management, better known as WittCAM, offers alternative coursework to upper-level students who are focused in management. As an alternative to a classroom-based course, WittCAM provides students with the opportunity to serve as consultants to businesses, government agencies and not-for-profit organizations. Students and organizations have a choice of opportunities, including: Small Business Institute, Project Management Assistance, Management Internship, and the Creative Advertising Partnership. Students may work in groups or as individuals on projects. Some projects require specific management course prerequisites; these vary depending on the nature of the project. Directed by Professor Pamela Schindler, more than 450 students have been involved in WittCAM projects in the last 30 years.