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New certificate program for business owners begins this fall at IU Kokomo
May 22, 2003 | |||||
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KOKOMO, Ind.—Entrepreneur: One who organizes, manages and assumes the risks of a business.—Webster’s Dictionary IU Kokomo’s new Certificate in Contemporary Entrepreneurship program can show would-be and existing entrepreneurs better ways to organize and manage business ventures and to deal with those inevitable risks. Starting in fall 2003, program classes will be offered under the auspices of the Division of Continuing Studies with administrative oversight by the School of Business. Small business owners, their employees and franchise operators wanting “more concrete capability to function” can benefit from the program, said Director of Continuing Studies Fred Hakes. “People considering whether they want to own a business can take classes, as a way of exploring the next step.” The program’s five required classes will cover fundamentals in accounting, economics, business law, personal finance and contemporary entrepreneurship. “These classes are designed exclusively for non-business majors, for those who may not have a strong business background,” said Hakes. By learning basic principles and terminology of the business world, future entrepreneurs can “talk more effectively to a marketer or accountant, write a business plan, or be more proficient at bottom-line analysis,” Hakes said. “A lot of businesses fail because the people running them don’t have these skills,” said Rick Hamilton, president of the Kokomo/Howard County Chamber of Commerce. Currently, small business start-ups create many more jobs than large corporations do, he said. “Nurturing new companies is the best way that a community can grow its economy and jobs,” Hamilton added. Niranjan Pati, Ph.D., dean of the School of Business, said the Certificate in Contemporary Entrepreneurship program is new in the Indiana University system, “and probably in the state, in the sense that it is hybrid course where Web delivery will complement face-to-face learning.” IU Kokomo will offer the courses exclusively in its revised ACCELerated Evening College format, with 50 percent of instruction presented in the classroom and 50 percent on the World Wide Web. The certificate can be completed in one year, with the student taking two classes in fall semester, two in spring semester, and one in summer session, according to Pati. The full-time and adjunct School of Business faculty who will teach the certificate classes all have real-world experience in business. Many candidates for the new adjunct faculty appointments are “on career leadership tracks in private or public companies,” Pati said. “Their focus would be relating the ‘hows’ to the ‘whys’ of business operations from their respective areas of expertise.” Suggestions from Pati and School of Business faculty significantly strengthened the initial program proposal, the dean said. Associate Professor of Finance Steven Cox, Ph.D., who chairs the School’s Undergraduate Planning and Curriculum Committee, and Director of the M.B.A. Program Kathy Parkison, Ph.D., served pivotal roles in shaping the curriculum, Pati said. The idea for the certificate program was sparked in part by conferences held at IU Kokomo in 2001 and 2002, looking at the ties between new business starts and technology availability in north central Indiana. At those conferences, area residents with ideas for commercial ventures could compare their plans with the advice of successful business leaders and learn what works. The Third Annual North Central Indiana Entrepreneurship and Technology Professional Development conference is planned for October 2 on the Kokomo campus. “This year, we’ll look at venture capital, state education policy, the entrepreneur’s experience and other important professional development topics,” said Hakes. The conference is a joint venture of IU Kokomo, the Purdue University School of Technology at Kokomo and more than a dozen area development agencies and businesses.
For more information on the conference, the Certificate in Contemporary Entrepreneurship or other Continuing Studies courses, call (765) 455-9395 or (800) 991-1459, or visit www.iuk.edu/scs.
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