Melanie McAvoy of Madison to spend winter break helping businesses in Nicaragua

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Melanie McAvoy

HAMDEN, CT (12/23/2009)(readMedia)-- Melanie McAvoy, of Madison will be among 16 Quinnipiac University students who will spend part of their winter break in Leon, Nicaragua, with members of the university's Albert Schweitzer Institute helping local organizations.

McAvoy, a graduate student pursuing a degree in the School of Business, will participate in the trip from Jan. 4 -12.

"I hope to learn more about the general business environment in a developing economy, as well as gain experience analyzing and developing solutions for local organizations," she said. "I also look forward to immersing myself for a week in Nicaraguan culture."

McAvoy will assist two organizations that need help with securing resources to expand and move ahead with their mission, said Kim McKeage, director of the Master of Business Administration program at Quinnipiac.

"It's going to be so nice," McKeage said. "The neat thing for the students is that they will learn about NGOs, the industries they are working with, microcredit and microenterprises."

McKeage said the experience will be a success if the students learn how to do business in a developing economy, as well as gain an appreciation for Nicaragua's culture, people and business environment.

"It's so important for people to get outside of what they know," McKeage said. "It's a big, big world out there."

Quinnipiac is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution located 90 minutes north of New York City and two hours from Boston. The university enrolls 5,700 full-time undergraduate and 2,000 graduate students in 52 undergraduate and 19 graduate programs of study in its School of Business, School of Communications, School of Education, School of Health Sciences, School of Law, and College of Arts and Sciences. Quinnipiac ranks among the top 10 universities with master's programs in the Northern region in U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges. The 2009 issue of U.S. News and World Report's America's Best Colleges named Quinnipiac as the top up-and-coming school with master's programs in the North. Quinnipiac also is recognized in Princeton Review's The Best 371 Colleges. For more information, please visit http://www.quinnipiac.edu.