UT business class awards grants to non-profit organizations
By Ken Lay
Five non-profit organizations received grants last week thanks to a class offered by the University of Tennessee’s Haslam Business School Wednesday night.
UT and Professor Dr. Alex Miller offers a class each fall, Learning Through Giving, which instructs students and puts them in roles of tendering grants to non-profit organizations.
The class, taught each fall semester, has students determine how to disperse grant money.
Non-profit organizations apply for grants and the class’s students determine which organizations receive the money and how much each organization receives.
The class has been offered for the past several years and the 2022 fall semester was culminated Wednesday night.
Lakeway CASA received $6,000. Special Growers and Maryville College received $3,600. East Tennessee STEM and the Assisted Community Schools Unitive was tendered $1,750. Emerald Youth Foundation and Centro Hispano received $3,600 and Bridge Services, Inc. and the Center for English received $5,050.
Miller said that he came up with the idea for the class while at a conference several years ago and he said teaching the course has been an honor.
“We offer this class through the business department and we approach non-profits as business,” Miller said. “We have students from all schools on campus.
“This class always has an impact on students and the students always get their hands dirty working with non-profits and you won’t believe how seriously the students take this class.”
The selection process was extensive and Miller noted that the students deliberated for three nights as it determined which organizations would receive the grant money.
“I am absolutely privileged to work with the students in this course,” Miller said.
Kitty Cornett wrote letters informing the organizations of their awards and, like Miller, she said that the course is a life changer for the students.
“Students often decide they want to work with non-profits,” said Cornett, the Haslam College of Business’s Graduate and Executive Department.
