The Ivy College of Business offers a learning community experience each fall to transfer students and all incoming first-year students through the Business Learning Team (BLT) program. Ivy BLTs saw record attendance this year at the annual kick-off event. New students, guided by peer mentors, played games, won prizes, toured the Gerdin Business Building, and connected with each other.
BLTs are small groups of students who typically enroll in one to three courses together during their first semester at Iowa State University. Through the learning community, students form connections with peers who share similar academic goals, discover university resources, engage in career exploration, and receive support and guidance from a peer mentor.
Learning communities are designed to ease students’ transition to college life at Iowa State and the Ivy College of Business.
The Sunday before classes begin each year, a BLT kickoff event allows new students to meet their assigned peer mentor, learn about Ivy, and tour Gerdin to find their classrooms and discover college resources to help alleviate ‘first-day jitters’ a little early. The event also encourages social time with other new students they will see in class the next day. This kickoff typically sees around 250 students. This fall, it hit a record attendance of more than 400 students.
Kendall Kenis, a senior from Albert Lea, Minnesota, joined a business learning team as a freshman. Right away, the program helped her meet new people, ease those first-week nerves, and start recognizing familiar faces around campus. Once classes began, it introduced the many opportunities that Ivy has to offer.
“The benefits of business learning teams are endless! The friendships students build can last all four years of college, and sometimes even longer.”
— Kendall Kenis
Now a BLT peer mentor, Kenis’s favorite part of working in the leadership role is meeting the mentees, hearing their goals, and cheering them on as they grow more confident throughout the year. Some of the students she mentored last year are currently running for leadership positions and exploring new opportunities that they once discussed together.
“Seeing them take off like that is what makes mentoring so rewarding,” said Kenis.
Outside of class, students meet with their peer mentor to get to know each other. This provides a great opportunity to discuss how things are going in the class, ask more personal questions, and learn more about everything Ivy has to offer. Additionally, peer mentors help students develop a graduation plan.
According to the Division of Student Affairs at Iowa State, students enrolled in a learning community are 7.5 percent more likely to return to Iowa State and 8 percent more likely to graduate than non-learning community students. While many learning communities on campus are major-specific and have a few hundred students, the BLT program is a college-wide community of 1,200 students, coordinated by Academic Advisors Rhaechel Ohge Fritz and Ellie Schaben. Since fall 2020, BLTs have grown by 62 percent.
“The benefits of business learning teams are endless! The friendships students build can last all four years of college, and sometimes even longer,” said Kenis.
Learn more by contacting academic advisors Rhaechel Ohge Fritz or Ellie Schaben.
Interested in joining a BLT?
Learn more about Business Learning Teams or becoming a peer mentor at the Ivy College of Business.
October 22, 2025
