Turner School opens entrepreneurship minor to all students

02/12/2013 10:48 AM

By Elizabeth Szalay ’13

The Turner School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation has approved a new program where all students can receive a minor in entrepreneurial studies.

Dr. Eden Blair, professor of entrepreneurship, helped spearhead the program’s approval and also teaches an entrepreneurial creativity course in the minor. She and her colleagues at the Turner School emphasize that the program is not just for business majors.

“The minor is designed to help teach all majors the language of business and to give them enough knowledge to work in any organization,” Blair said. “Almost every organization is going to need new ideas and new solutions to old problems or new solutions to new problems. Students in these programs can do that.”

Student in the 15-credit-hour program take three core classes on creativity, business acumen and business or technical writing for 9 hours followed by 6 hours of electives of their choice. 

The program is nationally accredited and ranked by Entrepreneur Magazine and the Princeton Review as one of the top 25 entrepreneurship programs in the nation. With innovative classes that encourage students to think creatively, the program exposes students to real world examples and ways to apply their knowledge.

“The minor is experientially focused, which means we want students out there starting businesses or talking to customers. So it’s not about sitting in a classroom, taking notes, reading books, and then reiterating what you just read; it is about going out there and starting something,” Blair said. “You can start something small in college, that you learn from, and it could grow into something bigger.”

Along with the core courses preparing students for the business world, the minor also allows for tailored electives that the student select based on their chosen career path. For example, music majors can take a course on music business and students considering working with family can enroll in a conflict management class. Thanks to this flexibility, students can customize their studies to their needs.

“The minor fits the goals of Bradley’s founder Lydia Moss Bradley,” Blair said. “This is an institution for practical knowledge, that makes us individuals that support our communities versus take away from them. We build on knowledge before us. This minor is designed to help put a spotlight on how great Bradley is at doing that. It has been happening, we just have to showcase it.”

Students can apply to the minor by speaking with one of the faculty members who collaborate with the entrepreneurship program on the President’s Committee at the Turner School. The faculty are spread throughout Bradley’s five colleges and their names are listed on the Turner School’s website.