FAQ: Undergraduate Social Enterprise Programs
Here are the comments that we received in response to a question from Scot Billington (Miami University in Ohio) about starting a undergraduate minor in social enterprise.
(1)
From Jim McClurg <jim@se-alliance.org>
According to a study by Seton Hall University, 114 colleges and universities
offer graduate degrees in nonprofit management, but an undergraduate focus on
social enterprise is less common. Consider contacting Sterling College (http://www.sterling.edu/academics/bu/se/),
a faith-based institution offering one of the few undergraduate degrees with an
emphasis in social entrepreneurship.
(2)
From Lonnie Dake <lonniedake@employmentstl.org>
Contact Washington University in St. Louis, more specific the business school.
They are currently teaching Social Enterprise with a combination of Social
Service students and Business students.
(3)
From Kevin Jones <kevin@collectiveintelligence.net>
What case studies do you find relevant that you have researched? is the course
for non profits learning to hit business milestones, or business people learning
to live with a focus on a social mission? a mix of the two? what poster children
do you have in your area? who is doing it in a way that illustrates both the
potential? who has failed locally in a way that could be instructive? what is
the local need? what student population are you imagining? professionals who
need a higher level understanding of the world they are trying to live into, or
undergrads looking for a way to do business without selling their souls to some
corporate faceless soulkiller?
(4)
From Norris Krueger <norris.krueger@gmail.com>
Why don't you ask Jill Kickul - your new star entrepreneurship professor -who
knows both the outreach side and the research? We collaborate on a lot, so I can
verify that she is VERY connected in the SE world & will instantly become the
best-known name in SE for all the Ohio universities.
There is MUCH to call on in the academic world and I hope you
will do so ASAP. As you're in entrepreneurship, I presume you must belong to
USASBE -they have a set of message forums, including one on SE. (Under-utilized,
alas - maybe you'll ignite it!) There should also be links to the kinds of
resources you seek.
There will be two excellent panels on SE at the Academy of
Management conference in August - one on research, one on teaching. There are
also specialized conferences. (To the list: If I can pass along info re any of
these conferences, e.g., the panels & panelists at the AoM.)
If you do not belong to USASBE and the Academy, get thee to
their websites stat. You will find these groups to be very helpful and
supportive.
Ashoka and Skoll have teamed up to grow a university network
that will become THE resource, I think. (Check with Andy Kuper at Ashoka or Alex
Nicholls at Oxford.)
On this listserv, you will also find multiple academic
experts on here who teach/train on the subject - Harriet Stephenson is one you
should definitely listen to (or Dave Dey or Bob D'Intino). Debbi Brock at Berea
College is a recent "alum" of the Redhawks; I assume she'd be a big help.
Basically, what you will find is that social entrepreneurship
is essentially entrepreneurship (and as Bill Drayton once noted... and
vice-versa). The one difference is that you'll likely get a much broader
spectrum of students!
My history is to make sure all students (not even all
entrepreneurship students) get an inside look at social ventures, hence it's
valuable to get this into, say, the business capstone course. However, I found
that a stand-alone course attracted students withe some amaaaaaaazing ideas (a
Native American Cult Ctr for Idaho, a new trade assoc. & Ride Idaho!)
The best way to do that is to take a problem-based learning
approach (or action learning if PBL is daunting) - focus your learning on the
experiential. Giving them the basic intel re entrepreneurship, the
what/why/how/etc. but get them out there either helping local SVs or ultimately
designing their own. Great value and great fun! (Here's a shameless plug for
what I've done -you'll see the SE section:
http://mg.boisestate.edu/teams_krueger ) One VERY interesting angle is
hepling economic developers.
Best text? One that works well with biz students is an old
Peter Drucker paperback, "Innovation & Entrepreneurship" (1993, less than $10 on
Amazon). I also used Dave Bornstein's book (also a bargain). Students love both
-and they spend a lot of time at www.ashoka.org, www.changemakers.net and
www.skollfoundation.org
What else? North Carolina (UNC-CH) has a great initiative
that spread ENT across campus - they even have an incubator for SVs. Jack
Kasarda at UNC could tell you more. Similarly, Fla Intl. is diving in seriously
(contact Alan Carsrud).
(5)
From Kelly Weiler KMWeiler@aol.com
I would love to stay on
your mailing distribution list. There are so few organizations working with SE
in the Dayton area....Miami University is close enough!!! I work for a 32
year old community-based agency that serves at-risk youth and I'm trying to get
our Board to understand and implement SE, but it's a SLOW process.