The Kreisler Impact: Enabling
the Extraordinary
The Kreisler Impact: Enabling the Extraordinary
Dear Amy and Nevin,
It is hard to believe a year has passed since our last impact report, and wow, what a year it has been! Your ongoing support of the High-Impact Experiences (HIEs) unit within Poole College of Management’s Undergraduate Programs led to some incredible accomplishments during the 2024-25 academic year (AY25), and we are so excited to share them with you in this report.
You will find more detailed information about our HIE initiatives in the following pages, but first, I wanted to revisit something I wrote to you in my last letter. In it, I described three key lessons I have learned throughout my career that I wanted to carry into my director role, and I thought I would start by sharing a few examples of how these have come to life in Poole College:
› Make it matter: “High-impact experiences” on its own is just a buzzphrase; we needed to make those words mean something to students, faculty and staff. This past year, we developed the HIE Quality Rubric for faculty and staff to assess current programs and build new ones as they pursue our inaugural HIE request for proposals this coming year. We also created “playbooks” to equip them with tangible, implementable tactics to infuse into their programs. In doing so, we have created universal terminology and clear expectations that will ultimately elevate the NC State student experience. On the student side, we revamped our orientation program and M100 and M120 lessons/action plans to educate our students early on about the importance of HIEs and help them take their first steps toward an HIE.
› Empower to excel: I mentioned last year that one word bubbles to the top when students reflect on their completion of an HIE: confidence. I recently completed site visits to all 11 of our Business HIRE internship locations throughout rural North Carolina, and from the moment I stepped into those meeting rooms, the students just seemed different. A cohort that had appeared timid, anxious and uncertain became self-assured, composed and decisive in just three months. These students, most of whom are from rural areas and did not previously have an internship, received glowing reviews from their supervisors and are now brimming with the confidence and experience needed to propel them forward on their professional journeys. On more than one occasion, I did not leave the room with a dry eye!
› Create a culture: Simply put, people in Poole College are starting to understand what HIEs are all about. Because of the weekly “HIE Spotlights” in our Need to Know newsletter, the Poole Packways boards posted throughout the building, tailored emails to students based on HIE interests, the infusion of defined critical reflection into study-abroad programs or any of our other new initiatives, everyone seems more excited and knowledgeable. In the first six months of my role, barely anyone visited the HIE office; now, faculty, staff and students seek us out daily for guidance, idea generation and implementation. And you know what makes these meetings so special? Rarely are they focused on the individual I’m meeting with; rather, they’re about how that individual can uplift other members of the Wolfpack and help them grow through HIEs. Now, that is a culture we can build upon!
Thank you for making all of this possible, and as always, please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/ tyler-wiersma/ or email me at tjwiersm@ncsu.edu if you have any questions or thoughts after reading this report.
Here’s to another great year of creating life-changing opportunities for our students. It’s going to be a big one!
Tyler Wiersma Director of High-Impact Experiences
HIEs are critical components of an NC State education, elevating an already invaluable academic experience to even greater heights. Your generosity is providing Poole College of Management students with opportunities to study abroad, take part in internships, delve deeper into the college’s core competencies and more without suffering financial strain.
Here’s how we were able to Think and Do in AY25 because of your ongoing support!
HIE Program Expenses
570 Poole students studied abroad during AY25 (Down 6% from AY24)
314 Poole students enrolled in Poole Practicum courses in AY25 (Down 4% from AY24)
Growing Poole Packways
31% of Poole students engaged with Poole Packways in AY25 (Up 1% from AY24)
• 82% of first-year students engaged with the core competencies program in AY25.
• 14 additional badges have been created to incentivize engagement and streamline learning opportunities for students.
• 12% of students have enabled program notifications on their devices, up 5% from AY24.
Pack Prep
Future Ready is a forthcoming three-credit-hour, co-curricular learning experience focused on personal and professional development. The program will equip all undergraduate students with a comprehensive skill set to thrive in a dynamic global business environment. Future Ready is tentatively scheduled to roll out in fall 2027.
Wolfpack Win
HIE funds enabled a team to attend the annual International Case Competition of the Maastricht University School of Business and Economics, located in the Netherlands. The students won the 24-hour case portion of the competition and finished fifth against 16 of the top teams in the world. Poole’s team could not have attended this event without HIE funding support.
Business HIRE (High-Impact Rural Experiences) program
› 12-week, 40-hour-per-week internships with rural North Carolina companies.
› Companies pay interns $15 an hour, then interns receive an additional $4,800 stipend via
› NC State University Foundation grant funds to help cover housing and food costs.
› 11 students placed in seven of North Carolina’s 78 rural counties in AY25.
› Industries involved in Business HIRE include: accounting/financial services, machinery manufacturing, government, steel production, chemical manufacturing, agriculture, consumer services and insurance.
› 100% of supervisors are interested in a Business HIRE intern next summer.
› 82% of supervisors would hire their intern right now for a full-time position.
“This inaugural year of Business HIRE perfectly illustrated how internships can be mutually beneficial for students and companies if they are thoughtfully crafted, and we are excited to impact more North Carolina rural communities in the future!”
— Tedd Szeto, Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs
Opportunities Used to Elevate
and Expand HIEs
Just as we encourage Poole students to take advantage of every HIE they can, we are also diligently working to promote HIEs. Here are some examples of how we got the word out in AY25:
› Outlined strategic framework and defined HIEs in Poole Practicum courses.
› Implemented new standardized application process for eight Practicum courses.
› Sent targeted HIE emails to eligible students by major.
› Produced social media posts and an article for Poole’s Need to Know newsletter.
› Removed administrative responsibilities for HIEs from Poole’s faculty so they could better focus on their curricula.
› Held an HIE Open House so Poole faculty and staff could learn more about these life-changing opportunities.
› Created HIE mini-grants for Poole faculty and staff.
» Beginning in fall 2025, Poole faculty and staff can request funding each semester to expand opportunities for undergraduate student engagement in Poole HIEs.
» Expansion includes elevating moderate-impact activities to HIEs, increasing access to current HIEs, and creating and implementing new HIEs to ensure our students receive a comprehensive co-curricular learning experience that sets them up for future success.
» Allocates $50,000 per semester, with the average award amount ranging from $5,000 to $25,000.
“Holden [Crane] definitely set the bar high for any future interns. He came in on day one managing projects, taking on a lot of additional tasks and responsibilities, and made life easier for the team as a whole. He will be missed by the business.”
— Holly Johnston, head of customer experience at ACTEGA North America
“From the very first project I was assigned to when I got there, to joining the billing team, to moving into a customer service role, to combining the two roles and taking on the role of all billing, to making a welcome packet for new customers (in three languages, by the way), I was able to take part in so many valuable experiences. The experiences I had at ACTEGA will help set me up for success in my future, and I look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead.”
— Holden Crane, Business HIRE customer service intern at ACTEGA
