Group of Turner College Undergraduate and Graduate Students Visit Kia Assembly Plant in West Point, Georgia

Students from Tesa Leonce's principles of economics course, Tom Ngo's principles of management course, and Wen Shi's managerial economics course recently travelled to West Point, Georgia, to visit the KIA assembly plant. According to Leonce, "Learning happens beyond the four walls in a traditional classroom with graphs on a presentation slide or whiteboard. It was my pleasure to lead a group of 50 to experience first-hand the intricacies of KIA's auto assembly process where a single assembly line is used for all the models which are produced at the plant, with a new Kia vehicle coming off the line every 51 seconds." Most of the students attending represented Leonce's revamped course, a result of being part of the inaugural cohort of the Core Course (re)Design Institute (CCDI) led by Susan Hrach and her team at the Faculty Center. The CCDI initiative is supported and funded by the CSU President's Office. "I am truly grateful to my CCDI mentor Kimberly Shaw, who met with me almost every week this past summer as we worked through the different pedagogical innovations that would work best with this redesign. This field trip was one of many," Leonce explained. Leonce's students are currently studying topics on production, efficiency, scale, operations management and costs. "Thank you to Dean Deborah Kidder and the Turner College for sponsoring the trip and for the continued support of these initiatives where student success is at the core. Our sincere thanks also to April Bartley of Kia West Point, GA who coordinated and facilitated this entire experience for our students," Leonce added.