Nationwide increase in entrepreneurial activity leads to SU’s Experiential Classroom VII

Nationwide increase in entrepreneurial activity leads to SU’s Experiential Classroom VIISeptember 10, 2006Amy Schmitzaemehrin@syr.edu

In recent years, an interesting phenomenon has spread in business schools nationwide — entrepreneurship has emerged as one of the fastest-growing areas of new curricula and programs. However, as the number of entrepreneurship programs has increased, and as more universities have recognized the value of entrepreneurial education across campus, the number of faculty and scholars in the field has not kept pace.

The importance of maintaining research, pedagogy and teaching at a high level that justifies the establishment of entrepreneurship into the core curriculum of many business schools is obvious. A key question arises: how can the quality of entrepreneurship teaching be kept at a very high level, given the huge growth in the field?

The Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises Department in the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University, in collaboration with its partners — Indiana University, the University of Colorado, the Beyster Institute and the Coleman Foundation — presents its national faculty development initiative, the Experiential Classroom, now in its seventh consecutive year.

The Experiential Classroom VII, hosted at the Whitman School from Sept. 21-24, is an interactive and intense workshop for faculty, practitioners and others new to the entrepreneurship classroom, designed to share leading-edge teachingpractices from master teachers in the field. The Experiential Classroom is a commitment to providing national leadership based on a philosophy of sharing. It attracts as many as 90 faculty delegates from around the country each fall.

“Entrepreneurship is the fastest-growing area in academe,” says Michael Morris, the Chris Witting Chair in Entrepreneurship in the Whitman School “It is a subject that crosses disciplines and redefines curricula. So there is clearly a pressing need for creative and effective practices for teaching entrepreneurship, and with our wide range of high-caliber facilitators and a proven program, there is no better place to learn how to teach entrepreneurship than at Syracuse University’s Experiential Classroom.”

One of the unique aspects of the Experiential Classroom is the diversity of expertise, skills and perspectives the delegates bring to the sessions. Participants in Experiential Classroom VII come from six different countries and 25 states within the United States, and represent 55 different universities, colleges and institutes of higher education. Because participants come from various geographic, cultural and academic backgrounds, they offer a wealth of different knowledge and experience.

For more information on Experiential Classroom VII, contact Lindsay Wickham, events coordinator, at (315) 443-3550 or lwickham@syr.edu, or visit http://whitman.syr.edu/eee/falcone/classroom/.

The EEE Department in the Whitman School is ranked among the top 10 programs in the nation by Entrepreneur Magazine and among the top 25 specialty programs for graduate business education by U.S. News & World Report.