The College of Business Administration will help foster innovative thinkers and young Einsteins with a new program in the fall 2006.

Faculty Senate approved Kent State’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation and a minor in entrepreneurship Monday.

“The Center for Entrepreneurship will be beneficial because it offers students a variety of opportunities to learn about entrepreneurship,” said Julie Messing, instructor and coordinator of entrepreneurship. “It will also give students a chance to apply what they learn in class so that when students leave Kent State, they will have already had real-world experience.”

The minor in entrepreneurship will be open to all majors at Kent State. Through the program, students will work to solve real-life problems under the direction of faculty.

A large part of the curriculum involves learning by living, with opportunities offered by the Entrepreneurial Lab, which ran a trial semester this spring. In the lab, students work with small businesses on everyday operations such as accounting, taxation, marketing and inventory.

“The College of Business Administration and the dean’s office are delighted that the Faculty Senate approved the Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation,” Associate Dean Lawrence Marks said. “This new option reaffirms the vision of excellence the college has.”

The approval by Faculty Senate will also give students the opportunity to join A Community of Entrepreneurs, a learning community that will create a place for students to live together in a residence hall and form friendships based on a common interest in entrepreneurship.

The learning community will give students the opportunity to participate in entrepreneurial courses and workshops, learn the steps required for setting up a new venture and gain access to the resources that can help create a business.

For more information, visit A Community of Entrepreneurs’ Web site at http://business.kent.edu/ace.

Contact business reporter Nicole King at [email protected].