2023-2024 UIF Cohort
Filippo Sernesi Gori, Melisa Ibrahimovic, Victoria Michelacci, Ruby Juballa
PITCH DECK
UI Shadows
Menlo 101 Redesign
2023-2024 UIF Members
Class of: 2026
Major: Business Analytics
Hobbies:
About:
What UIF Means to Me:
LinkedIn: Filippo Sernesi Gori
Email:
Socials:
All: @Filippo.sernesi
Class of: 2025
Major: Psychology
Minor: Professional Sales and Business Development
Hobbies: Photography, Volleyball, Travelling, Reading
About: I am passionate about creativity and driven by empathy. I thrive on understanding and connecting with people. Fluent in three languages, I bring cultural awareness and a strong work ethic to any team. Currently studying Psychology with a Sales and Business Development minor at Menlo College and I am eager to use my knowledge and skills not only to innovate and create, but also to improve the world and help the ones that I can help.
What UIF Means to Me: Being a UIF to me, means being part of an inspiring community. Once you become a UIF you get to be part of a network that is filled with people who want to make a lasting and positive impact, not just in their institutions but also in their everyday life. It is inspiring to be part of UIF and I feel very grateful and proud to be part of the UIF community
LinkedIn: Melisa Ibrahimović
Email: melisa.ibrahimovic01@gmail.com
Class of: 2025
Major: Psychology
Minor:
Hobbies:
About:
What UIF Means to Me:
LinkedIn: Ruby Juballa
Email:
Class of: 2026
Major: Business Management
Hobbies: Reading, traveling, and music
About:
What UIF Means to Me:
LinkedIn: Victoria Michelacci
Email:
2023-2024 Strategic Priorities
Strategy #1: Improving students comfortability with public speaking in the form of a pitching activity while also further developing entrepreneurial skills
Based on the research conducted through a student survey and the landscape canvas, we identified the lack of tangible involved professional development opportunities on campus. Therefore, we developed a multifaceted approach to help students improve those missing components by creating a wide-ranging deck of cards. The cards are composed of three different categories: Instance, Audience and Reflection. Students would be required to pick both, an Instance and Audience card, which make up their specific pitch challenge. And after they finished their challenge, they then proceed to reflect on their experience with the help of the Reflection card.
Considering the combination of game, challenge and the use of resources on campus, we believe that with this idea we can encourage students to learn more about themselves both professionally and personally while meeting one of the needs expressed by our students (the lack of professional development support).
Strategy #2: Reimagining an mandatory course intended to help students transition to our college
Responses from our student survey gave us insight on the need to revisit the content of Menlo 101, our required introductory to college course. We intend to combine current MLO 101 units with new hands-on activities that empower students to utilize our institution and outside resources. What motivates this change is the desire to create emotional investment in our college, a more helpful transition to college life, and give students more control of their college experience. This will require us to consult various faculty members, consult the student body, and ideate with fellows who've expressed interesting in revitalizing the course in the past. In measuring the results of our impact, we will follow-up with student/community pulse-checks and implement a succession plan in which the course gets reassessed and updated every two years.
Our initial course additions include:
(Within first two weeks) What is Menlo College? A thorough introduction to provided majors, minors, study abroad programs, UIF, etc. This will be not unlike the landscape canvas we devised earlier in training. The activity would be followed-up with a guided walk-through of how to develop a rough 4-year plan of what they intend to do at Menlo.
A professional development support program that guides students through the building of a strong resume, the research for areas of career interest, and potential companies they would like to intern or work in. A set of activities that would align with and introduce the Internship & Career Services.
A detailed explanation combined with practical lessons on how to utilize different resources on campus, and how to engage in extracurriculars. This addition would lead students to truly understand the function of different departments existing on campus, and how to effectively get involved by taking initiatives such as creating a club.
Strategy #3 Curating excitement and better understanding of the role the University Innovation Fellowship program plays on campus along with developing sustained interest and support from the student body for future cohort pursuits
Throughout the progression of our training it became clear that cohorts encounter difficulties with executing and engaging student participation because a majority of our peers remain unaware of what UIF does and provides. This three part strategy begins with increasing awareness of the Menlo College UIF chapter and increasing interest in utilizing design thinking techniques. Once we've created awareness about the program, we will focus on providing an immersion or simulation that provides the students with the opportunity to experience recurrent UIF dynamics such as brainstorm sessions. Afterwards, we will be able to implement a "shadow program" that will serve as a succession plan for future UIF applicants, and students who want to be involved but have time limitations.
Menlo College UIF Group Photos