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New Entrepreneurship Programs to Launch in Fall 2009
GREENSBORO, NC – The University of North Carolina at Greensboro will launch two new entrepreneurship programs this fall designed to give innovative thinkers the skills necessary to start a business.
Both programs – a revamped minor for enrolled undergraduate students and a post-baccalaureate certificate aimed at college graduates – will teach accounting practices, detail how to create a feasibility plan and how to launch and grow a business among other skills.
“Sixty percent of people who start businesses have never taken a business course in their life,” said Dr. Dianne H. B. Welsh, the Charles A. Hayes Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Bryan School of Business and Economics. That lack of training helps contribute to the high failure rate among new start-up companies, she said.
“The future in this country and in the Triad is in being creative and innovative in a corporate environment or by starting your own business,” Welsh said.
When students in the new entrepreneurship programs finish their studies, “they’ll have a product they can take to the bank, show their family and friends, and start a business with.”
Housed in the Bryan School, the minor and certificate programs will have interdisciplinary tracks that allow students to focus on one of seven courses of study. Available entrepreneurship concentrations include creative industries, health care, family business, international, social, franchising and technology.
The 15-hour minor is open to students in any field of study at UNCG who are in good academic standing with the university.
The 12-hour post-baccalaureate certificate is designed for people who have already completed a bachelor’s degree in any major from an accredited institution. Applicants will be required to have at least a 3.0 undergraduate GPA, three letters of recommendation, a resume and an essay for consideration. Applicants also must submit a completed application to the Graduate School and pay a $45 nonrefundable application fee. The submission of scores from the Graduate Management Admissions Test is not required.
The Bryan School has seen dramatic growth in the popularity of entrepreneurship programs in recent years. Since the fall of 2003, enrollment in the school’s Entrepreneurship/Small Business concentration for business administration majors has increased 86 percent, from 111 students to 206 students, making it the school’s fastest growing area of study.
The new programs also build on the university’s Building Entrepreneurial Learning for Life (BELL) initiative, which is designed to fuel the entrepreneurial spirit and ability throughout campus.
Entrepreneurship Program Requirements
For more information, contact Welsh at (336) 256-8507 or dhwelsh@uncg.edu.