Beth L. Renninger
University of South Carolina
Darla Moore School of Business
“Beth changed my life. She’s a student advocate, inspiring and positive person, and has grown the sales and marketing department at USC immensely. She continues to check in and offer her expertise years after graduating.” – Korey Aukerman
Beth L. Renninger, 59, is Lecturer and Director of the Center for Sales Success at University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business.
She is a seasoned business professional with a background in corporate leadership, sales, marketing, and higher education. Her leadership style fosters a collaborative and inclusive environment, empowering individuals to excel and innovate.
Her passion for higher education has led her to make significant contributions to the field in a short time. Through her roles in academia, she has worked diligently to enhance the educational experience for students, leveraging innovative approaches and technology to promote learning and engagement.
More than 90 current and past students nominated her for 2023 Best Undergraduate Professors.
BACKGROUND
At current institution since what year? 2016
Education: Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Marketing) Bloomsburg University; Master of Business Administration Widener University
List of Undergraduate courses you teach: Consultative Selling, Sales Scholars
TELL US ABOUT LIFE AS A BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR
I knew I wanted to be a business school professor when … I graduated from Bloomsburg. In an interview, I was asked “what’s your plan for your life” and without thinking I replied: “I want to get this job. I want to get my MBA in five years. I want to work in corporate for 30 years and then return to a university to teach the next generation of marketers whatever it is that I learn in my career.”
My grandfather was also a college professor and I always loved being on the campus where he taught, and where my grandmother worked in the college library.
What are you currently researching and what is the most significant discovery you’ve made from it? While I don’t do research for publication, as a Marketing and Sales professional, I am constantly observing and researching students, employers, and higher education institutions. I identify the intersection of opportunities and existing gaps between these three entities. This is where I established the value proposition for the Sales program at USC. Preparing students for career realities, setting up opportunities for them to meet employers and perform in interviews and competitions to earn job opportunities, and guiding the evolution of classes and campus experiences to meet today’s students where they are and to prepare them for tomorrow’s employment realities.
If I weren’t a business school professor, I’d be … Since this is my second career, I’ve had the luxury of choosing what I want to do. I simply cannot imagine a better choice or option for me, than this one that enables me to leverage my corporate skills, experience and knowledge while giving back to influence the next generation of business professionals.
What do you think makes you stand out as a professor? According to my students, I stand out because they know how much I care about them. They also appreciate the real-world aspects of business I bring into the classroom, and the stories of workplace realities. I treat them not as “just” students, but as the working professionals they are becoming, and I hold them accountable for their performance while inspiring and motivating them to be fully themselves as a professional, and not try to be “perfect” or compare themselves to others.
One word that describes my first time teaching: Authentic. I gave myself permission to be a student again, and to learn from my students and the teaching experience. I used my skills as a marketer, to observe behavior, to have clear goals for outcomes, to test and learn, then iterate. The first classes I asked for feedback on what they wanted to see, hear and do, and repeatedly students said they wanted content and delivery that was “real world” and relevant. So, I kept it real in every way, even when I tried new things that failed – I showed them and told them – ok, that didn’t have the intended outcome, so this is what we do in marketing and sales: we keep going and try again in a different, smarter way.
Here’s what I wish someone would’ve told me about being a business school professor: If you care about your students – it is a lot more work than it looks like it will be. The learning for students and for professors is not confined to the credit hours you spend teaching. I was told this fact, and it is absolutely true: it will be the most rewarding thing you have ever done in your life, creating a legacy that outlives the time on campus. I have always appreciated the Christa McAuliffe quote: “I touch the future. I teach.”
Professor I most admire and why: When I was an undergrad – hands down it was Dr. Peter Bohling, at Bloomsburg University. He showed me what it meant to be a college educator, committed to true learning, especially when a student (me) struggled with the class content.
As a professor, I am blessed to be surrounded by many brilliant colleagues. However, the one who I admire most is the one who mentored me when I first arrived, and who continues to inspire and guide me – Professor Jeff Rehling. In terms of Sales professors, it’s Dr. Bonnie Guy at Appalachian State who shows me how to lead and educate sales students with high standards as well as compassion.
TEACHING BUSINESS SCHOOL STUDENTS
What do you enjoy most about teaching business students? The challenge to reach this unique generation and help them to learn and then achieve. They have perspectives and ideas that are related to the times, the technologies, and the tasks they will have before them in the workplace – yet they are very different than the generations who have come before them. To reach them and see them accomplish things they are initially afraid to try, presents a unique and powerful reward.
What is most challenging? Today’s students have had an overload of external factors and impacts, and this means that on the outside they look like adults but on the inside most are still young and insecure and have been told they are “fragile” and not capable, and that has become their belief about themselves. In our sales classes and community, we support students while they learn to get familiar with “being uncomfortable” and trying new things. We create some small friction points in the classes to show them they can survive it, and then learn and gain strength and confidence from the experience.
In one word, describe your favorite type of student: Scrappy
In one word, describe your least favorite type of student: Lazy
When it comes to grading, I think students would describe me as … Fair. I am exceptionally clear about what is required in the class, and I communicate this repeatedly. The goal is for them is to take accountability for their own success, and not for me to have a hidden formula for grading or to force a traditional bell-shaped curve onto performance. Doing those things does not necessarily achieve better learning outcomes for students, which is my goal.
LIFE OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
What are your hobbies? Reading, walking, fitness, and baking
How will you spend your summer? I live where other people vacation, so I will be at home in Charleston area, and enjoying the low country life. I also plan to do some travelling but nothing firm yet, so leaving myself open to spontaneous opportunities. In addition, I enjoy doing consulting work in the summer and lining up new opportunities for the Sales Center and classes, so we have fresh experiences for students and partners when they return to campus in the Fall.
Favorite place(s) to vacation: Outside of Charleston, SC, I have been to Costa Rica twice and loved the people, the “Pura Vida” lifestyle and the preservation of natural ecosystems.
Favorite book(s): NonFiction: The Leadership Moment by Michael Useem – I often gift this to students to help them start their own leadership journeys by learning from others, and I love the story telling and analysis this book provides.
Fiction: This is a challenge because there are so many great options – I will go with “The Light in Hidden Places”. It’s a story (based on a real person and experience) that deeply touched me, where a young person was called and created to do an extraordinary feat, showing courage and capability well beyond her years, and her actions had a huge impact on other people and saving their lives.
What is currently your favorite movie and/or show and what is it about the film or program that you enjoy so much? Ted Lasso – I love the characters, the story evolution, the challenges, and triumphs at an individual level and how together they do the seemingly impossible. I also appreciate the way the “goal” or what success looks like changes over the course of the seasons.
What is your favorite type of music or artist(s) and why? I love music: in my house, in my car, in my office and even sometimes in the classroom. It’s a universal connector, to times, places, and people as well as shared experiences. My students surprise me by the depth of their knowledge and appreciation for older music. I might be listening to acoustic jazz, big band, 70’s, classic rock, or country – depends on the day and the activity.
THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS
If I had my way, the business school of the future would have much more of this: Relevance to contemporary work. Much of what we teach has been taught in the same way for decades yet work and business has changed dramatically. Required curriculum may have been tweaked, but not fundamentally changed. Workplace change is now accelerating even faster, and higher education especially has to quickly figure out how to adapt for relevance, define the value proposition for four-year residential learning, and adjust curriculum to be more flexible and personalized for today’s learners. Or the available substitutes will gain ground even faster. As Clayton Christensen said in the Innovator’s Dilemma, “we can either disrupt ourselves, or wait for the market to disrupt us”.
In my opinion, companies and organizations today need to do a better job at … Understanding the unique strengths of today’s new workforce and how they are different from the past. Don’t mandate that things “stay the same” as today’s grads can create a “better” way, if given the opportunity. This doesn’t mean lowering standards; it means being willing to listen to new ways to harness technology and iterate processes that foster empowerment as well as accountability.
I’m grateful for … My parents are my biggest fans who have supported me throughout many life challenges and taught me that I can do anything if I commit and believe in what’s possible.
My daughter Marykate has inspired me with her strength and courage, and she has helped me to better understand young adults.
My Students: their smart minds, their willing spirits, their trust in the process and their compassionate hearts.
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